Third before Lent
Luke gives us a picture of the world which most of us will not recognise. It is not the poor who are blessed surely, it is the rich, that is why we want to buy lottery tickets. Mourning follows death and even Jesus cried at the funeral of his friend Lazarus. What is uplifting about grief, loss, parting from those we love by the finality of death, there is a reason why we call him the 'Grim' Reaper not the 'Happy' Reaper. Jesus is not surely claiming to have found that in some way he can turn sorrow into laughter, so what is going on?
Well we know Jesus wanted to reverse death, he wanted the hungry poor ones to be fed. Everybody had a right to pray for their daily bread. Jesus is showing where the sympathies of God lie. Not with those with full tummies who sleep soundly while their neighbour is in need. Jesus went about addressing the wants and needs around him to show that God was on the side of those who had nobody to fight for them. It is all a far cry from the thinking of the time and subsequently that God gave much to his special ones. To be on God's side meant the winning side, the man who followed God would be like a tree getting all the water. Jesus sees that it is not always like that, sometimes the ones who receive all the good things do things by trampling over the needs of others. Jesus wants to show a new way, God's real way, it is better to give than to get. It is all a part of his reversal of the standards of the world, turning our expectations inside out.
Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 19
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray
Almighty God, who alone can bring order to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity: give your people grace so to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, among the many changes of his world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. CW
Eternal God, whose Son went among the crowds and brought healing with his touch: help us to show his love, in your Church as we gather together, and by our lives as they are transformed into the image of Christ our Lord.
CW
First Bible Reading Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the LORD: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the LORD. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse –
who can understand it? I the LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings. NRSV
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 15 Verses 12-20
If Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ – whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. NRSV
Gospel Reading Luke 6:17-26
He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. NRSV
Post Communion Prayer
Merciful Father, who gave Jesus Christ to be for us the bread of life, that those who come to him should never hunger: draw us to the Lord in faith and love, that we may eat and drink with him at his table in the kingdom, where he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Commentary
Luke tells us that Jesus has just spent the night on a mountain in prayer when he chose the twelve apostles from a larger group of disciples that was present with him (v13). The mountain has spiritual meaning because mountains were places where great prophets like Moses went to pray and to encounter God. This makes a mountain the perfect place for Jesus to call those who will constitute his core leadership. The number twelve, of course, corresponds to the twelve tribes of Israel to show Jesus establishing a new order. Luke tells us that Jesus ‘came down with them, and stood on a level place’ to deliver his sermon (v17). We then have the blessings which Luke delivers which we know as the Beatitudes. There is another episode just like this recorded by Matthew but in his account Jesus goes up on the mountain to deliver Beatitudes and they are markedly different. Matthew has nine beatitudes, while Luke has four beatitudes and four matching woes or threats which Matthew does not mention. In his gospel Luke records Jesus being sensitive to the lowly and poor, perhaps having Jesus come down to the level place is his way of emphasizing Jesus’ ministry to ordinary people in ordinary places.
We are told that there was present a crowd of disciples, and a great number of people from all ‘Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon’. Judea is the southern province. Jerusalem, located in Judea, is the home of the temple and the most orthodox Jewish leaders, it represents the religious status quo who oppose Jesus. Tyre and Sidon are Gentile cities on the coast just north of Capernaum which indicates the presence of Gentiles among the crowd. When put together these places emphasize the breadth of Jesus’ ministry from orthodox Jews to Gentiles. Everybody came to Jesus because they heard that he could help them and Jesus did so with miraculous healings.
Some modern translations translate the Greek makarioi as ‘happy’ instead of ‘blessed.’ Modern words probably fail to express the meaning which is that blessing is found by the one who is right with God. The beatitudes which Jesus gives address the most basic needs of people for food, clothing, shelter, health, safety, and education. These are needs which Christians have sought to meet over the centuries and of course the need is as great today. Matthew records the words of Jesus in a more spiritual way, it is not the poor but the ‘poor in spirit’, not the hungry but ‘those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.’ Matthew also leaves out the four ‘woes’ which Luke records to announce judgement upon those who are complacent about the needs of others and enjoy their own self satisfaction. In Luke Jesus warns, ‘woe to you who are rich!’ and ‘Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry.’
We know that Jesus wants change but he doesn’t want to just change the sides around, make the rich poor and the poor rich, that would be ridiculous. It is transparently obvious that Jesus doesn’t like poverty, illness, hunger, suffering or bereavement, that is all clear from his life where he went around changing these things. He healed, fed, comforted and raised the dead back to life. Jesus is saying that the standards of his kingdom are fundamentally different from the kingdom of God, indeed diametrically opposed. We know how things work in the kingdom of this world, now Jesus is telling us how they work in the kingdom of God.
Luke presents a strong emphasis throughout this Gospel on the great reversal that the kingdom of God brings, beginning with Mary’s song (1:50-54) and Zechariah’s song (1:74-77), and extending to the parable of the rich fool (12:13-21) the parable of the dishonest manager (16:1-13), the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31), the parable of the widow and the unjust judge (18:1-8), the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (18:9-14), the blessing of little children (18:15-17), Jesus’ encounter with a rich young ruler (18:18-30), the parable of the talents (19:11-27), and the widow’s offering (21:1-4). This emphasis on reversal encourages disciples, who might be suffering but who know that they belong, not to the kingdom of this world, but to the kingdom of God.
The woes serve to remind us that we do not have clean hands and we are not innocent observers when we look at the plight of the poor and the hungry. We all have a duty of care towards others. These are challenging words and they serve not to exalt poverty but rather to engender generosity in us. Charles Royden
Hymns
- O for a heart
- I will enter his gates
- Ascribe greatness
- In Loving kindness Jesus came
- There is a Redeeme
- Glorious things of thee are spoken
- Holy, Holy, Holy
- I have decided
- Now the green blade riseth
- Your mercy flows
- O God beyond all praising
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
Our God, forgive us for failing to understand and accept the great demands placed upon us by your love. We enlist in your causes, but find ourselves losing interest. We promise to be courageous, but find ourselves afraid. We want to be sensitive, but find ourselves hard and callous. Forgive us; take our limitations and turn them into possibilities for service. Have mercy on us and grant us your peace. Amen.
God our heavenly Father, when the thought of you wakes in our hearts, let its awakening not be like a startled bird that flies about in fear. Instead, let it be like a child waking from sleep with a heavenly smile. Søren Kierkegaard
The Grail Prayer
Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet to go your way. I give you my eyes to see as you do.I give you my tongue to speak your words. I give you my mind that you may think in me. I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you my heart that you may love in me your Father and all mankind. I give you my whole self that you may grow in me, so that it is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me.
O Christ, our Morning Star, Splendour of Light Eternal, shining with the glory of the rainbow, come and waken us from the greyness of our apathy, and renew in us your gift of hope. Amen. (Bede the Venerable)
God of the day and of the night, in me there is darkness, but with you there is light. I am alone, but you will not leave me. I am weak, but you will come to my help. I am restless, but you are my peace. I am in haste, but you are the God of infinite patience. I am confused and lost, but you are eternal wisdom and you direct my path; now and for ever. Amen Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906-1945
Almighty God, who alone can bring order to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity: give your people grace so to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, among the many changes of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Loving God, like Peter and Andrew, and James and John, we sometimes feel discouraged - we work hard at what we do - work hard and yet sometimes our labour seems in vain. Help us to not be discouraged - bur rather grant that we might hear your voice and accept your direction and venture forth again in obedience to your word.
Holy God - we know that you seek messengers today as you sought them in the day of Isaiah. You call us, as you called Peter and later Paul, to follow in the path of Christ Jesus and to bring to you all who are in need of you. Cleanse us, Lord, as you cleansed them, touch us with coals from your alter, lift us up from our knees where we fall before you, pour your grace out upon us -- and help us to remember that is your purpose and your power to which we bear witness - not our own. As you filled the nets of the disciples, O Lord, so we ask you to fill the nets we cast at your direction. -- grant that our prayers for healing might be answered... -- grant that our work for justice might lead to a more equitable sharing of what this world affords -- grant that our words of forgiveness might bring reconciliation -- grant that our acts of compassion might satisfy those who are in need and grant that our way of being might prompt others to praise and glorify your name.
Grant us, O Lord, a resurrection faith - a faith that is radiant in the knowledge of your victory over sin and death - a faith that is confident in your care and your love. Bless now, we pray, with joy those who call out in your name and those who labour as you have directed. Bless too those we hold before you - and work a work of healing and salvation in their lives.
O God, you know us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
Jan Brueghel the Elder - The Sermon on the Mount, (Flemish, 1568 - 1625)
The Dutch artist Jan Brueghel painted this picture on a thin sheet of copper at the time of the Reformation. A friend of Rubens these were the leading Flemish painters in the first three decades of the 17th century. This is a small painting (26.7 × 36.8 cm for such a big scene, the Sermon on the Mount, which Luke records in the reading this morning as the Sermon on the Plain. The setting is a glade in the wood on a mountain, in the distance you can see the city and the sea. This was a time when scripture was significant and sermons, like this one delivered by Jesus were important. So of course was the reaction to what was preached and Brueghel is inviting us to think about the different responses to the Word of God which like in the parable of the Sower can fall on good soil of end up on rocky ground.
Look at the different people in the story who have been gathered together. The whole of society is represented, soldiers with swords, a man on a horse, young and old, rich and poor, the educated and the jester. Jesus is in the middle of the picture, identified with a halo on a makeshift stage with branches. If you look behind Jesus you will see only eleven disciples, perhaps to indicate the absence of Judas, the disciples hang on the words of their teacher.
Those closer to Jesus are in stronger light and generally seem to be more interested and listening to what he says. However in the darker areas of the picture many folks do other things. Some are talking among themselves, one man sells pretzels from a basket to the woman in the yellow dress. She is patting her dog and attracting her own attention, no doubt partly due to her ample bosom a worldly distraction from the teaching of Jesus! The words of wisdom from Jesus are also falling on the deaf ears of one gentleman who has his palm read by an old gypsy just to the right of the two dogs. Are you listening to Jesus, is your attention elsewhere or are you seeking guidance in darker places?
Additional Resources
Sermon - Luke and the Beatitudes
Jesus reminds me a little bit of Boris Johnson this week. Why could that possibly be I hear you ask? Well apart from the fact that they both liked parties, it’s the idea of Boris expressed in the phrase ‘Levelling Up.’ There is now a £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund which Michael Gove said will:
"shift both money and power into the hands of working people".
Its an attempt to reduce the economic imbalances between areas and social groups. Its quite appealing because it sounds ‘fair.’
Jesus often spoke about this and did things to promote ‘Levelling Up.’ He too wanted money and power to go to ordinary people. So much of the ministry of Jesus was focussed upon him calling out things which were just not fair. He sought out those who felt excluded left out and forgotten about, or those who experienced the consequences of the fact that people just didn’t care about them.
So today we have the beatitudes which sound like the ultimate in levelling up.
· ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
· ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.’
Those of you who came to the nativity Advent Course will remember that one of the differences between Matthew and Luke is that Matthew softens the Beatitudes with phrases like
“blessed are the poor in spirit,”
instead of just “poor” people
and
“blessed are the those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,”
instead of plain old “hungry,” people
Luke keeps Jesus “Sermon on the Plain” real and as far as Luke’s Jesus is concerned, God’s preferential concern is for the poor is crystal clear. God’s blessing rests on those who have absolutely nothing to fall back on in this world. If we want to know where God’s heart is we look to those on whom life has not been fair.
It wasn’t that Jesus disliked like rich people, indeed in his ministry Jesus depended upon people with the wherewithal to support him and his disciples. The Gospel of Luke itself was written to Theophilus who it seems was probably a benefactor or wealth patron. So Jesus is not advocating that the wealthy be poor and the poor be wealthy, that is just a revolution which perpetuates inequality.
Neither should we think that Jesus wants a race to the bottom, there is nothing pleasant about poverty such that we should all want to be poor, or hungry.
Before Jesus wealth and poverty were discussed extensively by the Greek philosophical schools. Epicureans and Cynics were divided over whether it better to have or to have nothing at all, to live in a house or be a beggar on the street.
Epicurus said his followers were not to be poor whilst the Cynic Crates, known as the teacher of Zeno the founder of stoicism, sold his lands and gave away his wealth and then he and his wife Hipparchia lived and slept together in public places. (Musonius Orat 14)
Jesus is not following the Cynic philosophy. For Jesus poverty of itself is neither holy or to be desired. Jesus ministry is all about healing, abundance, liberation, and joy. As I say he liked parties and so much that they called him a drunkard. Rather what Jesus wants are two things
· Those are getting a raw deal to get a fair deal
· Those who are comfortably off to care for those who are not
So whereas people like women, widows, children, sick were on the margins of society, he brought them in close. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, comforted those who mourned. Luke shows that Jesus is very grounded in real life problems. Jesus doesn’t just care about what could be termed ‘spiritual’ needs, he worries about the day to day practical daily needs of getting by.
Some folks see faith as a crutch to help people cope emotionally and spiritually with life. A favourite are the words of Karl Marx,
‘religion is the Opium of the people.’
Actually these words themselves are a distortion of Marx who actually said
‘Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”
Marx was not being critical of religion and we need to remember that in 19th century Europe, ‘opium’, was considered a good thing. Opium was a medicine prescribed by doctors for everything from depression to tuberculosis and it was used by Marx himself regularly.
Marx is agreeing with Jesus in that true religion is
‘the heart of a heartless world’
Christians cannot stand by and watch without compassion and Jesus calls for action and change here and now.
We all know that there is nothing blessed about being either hungry or poor, but the point which Jesus is making is that these people have God on their side. It is a Christian principle that people deserve to be fed and not be left hungry, and given the all the resources they need to survive.
We could probably write our own modern beatitudes and woes. It is a matter of thinking about how God turns the tables, reassuring those who lack basic needs and warning those who stand back and let it happen. Ask yourself today where is the imbalance and what scales need to be reset? Who is having a fine old time enjoying themselves whilst others are suffering?
We might take as an example of a modern beatitude
Blessed are you when you sit with your elderly and little children in cold houses
And correspondingly
Woe to you who can afford cosy warm central heating
What Jesus is saying is that we should care that fuel poverty hits so many households who have to spend such a high proportion of their household income to keep their home at a reasonable temperature
that they don’t have enough left over to be above the poverty line
Figures show that 9,588 households or 13.9% of all households in Bedford Borough are estimated to be in fuel poverty. Areas of Brickhill and Putnoe have these levels and fuel poverty negatively impacts on health. Living in cold and damp homes with inadequate heating leads to cardiovascular diseases (strokes and heart attacks), bronchitis and asthma.
A really good example of the difference which Christians can make today is seen in Foodbanks which continue the concern of Jesus for the hungry. We should not be surprised that The Trussell Trust which operates 1200 food banks across the country is based on, shaped, and guided by Christian principles. The inspiration to start the first Foodbanks were the words of Jesus
‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ (Matthew 25:35-36)
May God make us mindful of the needs of those around us and show us ways to demonstrate his compassion in Jesus name. Amen
Meditation
Kierkegaard once said, "Oh, would that there was truth in the intercourse between men! One man defends Christianity, another attacks it and in the end, if one examines their lives, neither of them bothers very much about it."
Commentary - ‘The Sermon on the Plain’
In the Monty Python movie "Life of Brian" Jesus goes up on the mountain side to teach the people. There is a huge crowd gathered around him - so huge that some of the people who are on the outer edge of the crowd cannot hear his words and must ask others what the master has said. As Jesus pronounces what have become known as the beatitudes - one of the characters in the movie - desperate to know what Jesus is saying asks a man who is ahead of him the crowd — "what is he saying - what is he saying?" The man checks with a person in front of him, who in turn checks with someone else and then the message is relayed back—the Master says - "Blessed Are The Cheese Makers."
This is perhaps just a reminder to us of how often we get wrong what Jesus has said. and as a way of making us think about who is blessed and who is not. Who are the blessed ones anyway? Who is it that God favours? And who God looks askance at? Who is it that God warns - that God threatens - with troubles and woes?
If you listen to the preachers on cable TV and in some churches the answer seems clear. Those who succeed in life are the ones that God favours: - Those who have money in their pockets, smiles on their faces, well behaved children and who do not get sick without a miraculous healing next week in church. These are the blessed - while those who struggle with depression and despair, - those who live in poverty who perform menial tasks each day - those who serve others rather than living as their equals - and whose children are an embarrassment - these are the cursed and the afflicted. But is it true? Is this what Jesus taught?
The author of the third gospel - the Physician we know as Luke - clearly thought a great deal about whom God blesses and whom God does not. I say that because Luke's account of what we call the Sermon on The Mount is different than Matthew's version. Luke gives us a different view of Jesus' sermon, and in some ways a clearer view. First - in Luke - the sermon is not set on a hillside - where Jesus can look over the top of the crowd and hand down the word from on high to those who are beneath him. Rather it is set on a plain - on a level place - where a large crowd has gathered and pressed in upon him - and where Jesus has been walking among them - healing their diseases and curing their afflictions. Secondly in Luke Jesus announces a series of matching curses or woes:
'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God - woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled - woe to you are full now, for you will be hungry. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh - woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on the account of the Son of Man, - woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.'
Think about it. What does this list say about our aspirations? About our dreams? About our rushing out to buy lottery tickets so that we might win the big one?
God reverses all our expectations and we need to know it. God understands our pain, poverty, despair, fear. The promise of Christ in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel according to Luke, is that there is joy on the other side of grief, laughter on the other side of tears, fulfilment on the other side of hunger, and joyful reward on the other side of the abuse and the ridicule we receive because we cling to him and live in a way that is strange to the world - a way that is opposed to the world's way.
Charles Royden
Commentary
Luke reports people coming from large distances to see Jesus. Jesus instructs the people and heals them and they become aware of God’s power through Jesus words and actions. At a stage in the Gospel when opposition from religious leaders is rising, Jesus is represented as a charismatic teacher who speaks and acts with divine authority. It is this Jesus who addresses his followers, both those present and the wider group of Luke’s readers then and now. Mirroring the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus teaches in what could be described as the “Sermon on the Plain” (vs17). The Beatitudes, a series of promised blessings, are given to those who really are poor, starving, disconsolate and despised for their faith, for God’s concern and blessing is for them. However, in contrast to Matthew, Luke does not allow any possibility of the spiritualizing of Jesus’ words: in reality, these people have little or no status, power, influence, they really are the poor, the marginalized and oppressed. The contrasting woes are a timely warning to those who enjoy a luxurious lifestyle in the present, without doing anything to help those who are suffering.
In the Gospel of Luke the theme of the values and assumptions of society being turned upside down is frequently heard. Jesus constantly challenges the ethical and moral standards of his contemporary society and this of course presents a challenge for us today as we seek to follow Jesus. The promise of blessing not only needs to be regarded as being fulfilled at some point in the future, but we must also consider that it should be made a reality in the here and now. This can only happen when the existing world order is challenged and overturned. As disciples of Christ we need to consider how we endeavour to ensure the Blessing of the Poor is realised in our society today. If it is not, then we should challenge the structures and practices which keep the poor in poverty, the marginalized on the edge of society and the persecuted in oppression. It is a challenge which we dare not neglect. Let us seek God’s guidance as we work towards a fully inclusive and integrated society, where the poor and marginalized are not just patronised with words, but are empowered to lead just and fulfilling lives.
