Sermon Prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church
The 6th Sunday after the
Epiphany, Morning Promise Service – 2/11/01
by Gregory S. Kaurin
Associate Pastor for Spiritual Care and
Development
Text: Luke 6: 20-26
The Sermon:
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{Whole Body Salvation}*
There is a message that St. Luke wanted to
make clear for us in his gospel. He
wanted to make sure we understood that—Jesus is the Son of God, yes—but he is
the Son of God with and among us!
This emphasis in Luke starts at the beginning of his gospel.
For St. Matthew, his stress was that Jesus is
the Son of God who fulfills and is in line with the Old Testament. St. Matthew told of wise men following a
star to speak of “all nations” coming to bow before this King, this
fulfillment. But instead, St. Luke told
about shepherds, commoners, coming to give Jesus reverence. Jesus came for the salvation of all God’s
people, especially for “everyday kind of people.”
This morning, Jesus preached a list of
blessings. What do we often call this
list? [The Beatitudes.] Here, Luke wrote four beatitudes. Matthew remembered and passed on nine. For both Matthew and Luke, this preaching
scene involved a small mountain—what we would call a hill. In Matthew, the mountain was key. In fact this was called Jesus’ Sermon on the
…? [Mount.] St. Matthew wanted to show
Jesus as the New Moses, or the fulfillment of Moses who also spoke with God and
spoke to his people from a mountainside.
Luke wrote that just before this sermon Jesus
went up a mountain to pray. Then, in
its shadow, he found a “level place” from which to speak. That is key: Jesus spoke to the people “on
the level” (God among his people).
In Luke, it’s called Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain.
This focus, God’s concern for common people,
doesn’t stop there. You’ll here it in
the first beatitude:
{Blessed
Are You Who Are Poor: The Kingdom Is Yours. – Alas For You Who Are Rich: You
Have Your Consolation.}
Jesus was God among his people. He is concerned—not just about our
spirits—but about us entirely, whatever binds us. “Blessed are you poor. Look! the whole Kingdom’s yours!” And a few verses later, Jesus added the
converse. This is the part that does
and should make us uncomfortable. “Alas
for you who are rich: you have your consolation.” Jesus made this solid clear statement, he
said, “I am concerned about my people’s lives.”
St. Matthew immediately “spiritualized” or
interpreted Jesus words:
{Matthew
5:3—“Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit.”}
and I think we are too quick to run to
Matthew’s beatitude. Both are true and Jesus
probably said both statements at some point, so we cannot bypass St. Luke’s
“Blessing” and “Alas.”
Later, near the end of his ministry, Jesus
met a rich young man who asked him, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit the
Kingdom?”
Jesus answered, “Keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?”
“You know them,” Jesus told him and named off
several of the Ten Commandments.
As Jesus spoke, a smile began to spread
across the young fellow’s face, “I’ve been keeping all these since I was a
boy!”
At that Jesus said, “Wait a second, there is
one more thing that you lack. Go, sell
all your possessions, give everything to the poor (your treasure will then be
in heaven), then come and follow me.”
The young fellow walked away sad. He had much wealth, and found that he couldn’t
let go.
I have to chuckle because of the way I’ve
heard this passage used by some as a message of giving to the church. (It is a message of Stewardship in
that it is about keeping our priorities straight, not allowing wealth and
accumulation and stuff to determine our lives.
As much as Jesus loved this young man, he knew that the fellow had to
lose all the things he valued most so that he could follow the One
he needed most!) But it is not a
message about giving to the church. Did
Jesus say, “Give everything to my ministry here?” Did he tell the young man, “Give it all to the church?” No.
He said, “Divide it among the poor. Give up your greed!”
The “Alas for you rich,” really includes all
those who chase after wealth. I’ve used
this movie a number of times as an illustration; I get a lot out of it: Star
Wars. In this scene Han Solo has
just helped rescue Princess Leia, but he didn’t do it for the cause, and has
gone as far as he intends to go.
{Film Clip: Star
Wars IV: A New Hope— Princess:
…It’s not over yet.
Han: It is for me,
sister. Listen, I ain’t in this for
your revolution, Princess. I’m in it
for the reward. I expect to be well
paid.”
Princess: You needn’t worry about your reward. If money is all you love, then that’s what
you’ll receive. (To Luke Skywalker:)
Your friend is quite a mercenary. I
wonder if he cares about anything, or anybody.
Luke: I care!}
{Slide: “If money is
all you love, then that’s what you’ll receive!”}
“Alas for you who chase after and sit on your
riches: you have all the consolation you’ll get …and no kingdom!”
The next beatitude is similar:
{“Blessed Are You Who Hunger: You Shall Have Your
Fill. – Alas For You Who Have Plenty: You Shall Go Hungry.”}
It seems clear to me that Jesus preached against
the American Dream if the extent of that Dream is only accumulation of
comfort and self-satisfaction, especially if that is done at the expense of any
of the people God loves.
{Against Sitting Happily On Our (Metaphorically)
Large Posteriors.}
Jesus was against sitting happy and
lethargically on our large posteriors (and I do mean that metaphorically;
working our hard at the gym and losing twenty pounds does not satisfy Jesus’
warning).
But, clearly, the good news for all people
and us is that Jesus empties us of this endless and unsatisfying chase after
wealth and comfort as our highest priority.
He makes it clear that God is truly and fully concerned about us—not
just in some untouchable, spiritual way—but truly concerned for us, here and
now, in our physical lives.
{The Salvation Jesus
Offers Is A Salvation From All Bondage—Spiritual And Physical.}
For the poor, for the hungry, Jesus assures
them that “On that Day in my Kingdom, never again will you be bound and suffer
like this!” The Kingdom releases us
from all evils that bind us, whether they are spiritual or physical.
How, then do we experience this freedom? By practicing it. Let me give you three ways out of many to live more freely.
1)
Practice
generosity. Discover how good it feels to risk letting
go. Make some personal challenges. Give creatively in ways other than just
writing a check. And do it with prayer,
always placing your generosity in God’s hand.
2)
Look at your
spending and earning. What percentage
do you use for personal accumulation and pampering? What do you wish that percentage was in light of your priorities
to God, faith and family? Try adjusting
them so that your spending and giving reflect your higher priorities.
3)
Finally,
compare the way you pay your bills to the way you give in generosity. If generosity is a high Christian value,
then should it really only get “what’s left over,” from our “spare”
change? Or, should generosity be seen
in what we Biblically call “first-fruit” giving? First-fruit giving is based on income. One of the first things we set aside is that portion which we
intend to give away generously. I’m not
just talking about church offerings.
It’s kind of scary at first to take on a more free and generous lifestyle. It may even hurt a bit. So, maybe the third beatitude will help ease the pain. It comes with a promise:
{Blessed Are You Who
Weep: You Shall Laugh. – Alas For You Who Are Laughing: You Shall Mourn And
Weep.}
Letting go may hurt in the evening, but joy
comes at the new dawn.
I am reminded of another movie: Life of
Brian. The setting happens at the
time of Jesus. It is this scene, like
our lesson today. Jesus is preaching
from a slight rise to a crowd of people.
He is saying, “Blessed are the poor, …the hungry,” etc.
At first, you can hear his words quite
plainly, loud and clear. But the camera
pans backwards into the crowd. And the
further back, the harder it is to hear him.
“Eh, what did he say?” someone asks.
“I think he said, ‘Blessed are the cheese
makers.’”
“Cheese makers? What kind of blessing is that?”
Someone else responds, “Well I’m glad he
blessed them. They’ve got a hard lot in
life and could use a bit of blessing!”
A hard lot in life. Tears come to us all. We
could all use a bit of blessing. This
is true: Tears affect God. The face of
Jesus showed what has been true about the love of God all along. He weeps with his people and feels our hurt.
{God Weeps With Us, And Promises An End To Pain.}
And God does not cause or value what causes true pain. He is against it: against destruction, disease and death. That is why he battled against them, created a victory and salvation from them! It is why he promises a Day without destruction, illness or death. He promises a place of laughter!
In that spirit, he calls us to be hearts of caring sympathy.
{God Calls Us To Feel With and For Each Other.}
As if your pain could just as easily be mine. In the Spirit of Christ, it is my hurt, too.
We, like Jesus, should be against injustice and whatever causes others’ pain and unfairness. We need to avoid taking our pleasure at the expense of others’ pain. Even if we are imperfect at finding it, our goals should be “justice for all,” “equal voice,” “equal rights,” and “equal responsibility.”
Finally, that brings us to Luke’s fourth and last beatitude. This one is the most challenging. It is a call to speak up on behalf of our faith.
{Blessed Are You Who Are Hated: Rejoice, Dance, You Shall Be
Rewarded. – Alas For You Who Are Spoken Well Of: This Is How They Treated False
Prophets.}
Last week, Pastor Joe preached one of the strongest sermons I’ve heard about our sinfulness, and the way we use our imperfections as an excuse for being inactive Christians. You might remember the lesson. After they hauled in an incredible catch of fish, Peter said, “Get away from me! I am a sinful man!”
Jesus said to him, “I know. I know you are sinful. But come. Follow me, and I will send and help you to catch people anyway.”
We are not held down by sinfulness or imperfection. So, we can risk being annoying or politically incorrect. We can even risk mistakes.
{We Are Not Held Down By Imperfection. We Can Risk.}
Jesus was and is often accused of “turning things upside down.” You can see that in these beatitudes. The poor get the whole Kingdom. Those who trust riches will lose them. The hungry get fed. Those satisfied with themselves are hungry.
His apostles later were accused of the same …in the Book of Acts. Paul and Silas were preaching in Thessalonica. People began listening. Some of them were convinced and joined them: God-fearing Jews and Greeks, as well as a number of leading women. The Jewish authorities got upset and stirred up a crowd. They got the city in an uproar.
They swarmed to Jason’s house where Paul and Silas had been staying. They found only Jason and a few followers and brought them before the city council. There, they made this accusation about these Christians: “The ones who are turning the whole world upside down have come here now. They break Caesar’s laws by claiming that there is a higher king called Jesus.”
{Acts 17:6-7—“The ones who are turning the whole world upside down
have come here now.”}
May Christians always be turning the world upside down! May we use our words and hearts, our wealth and influence, and our prayers to make it clear that Jesus Christ—far and away above political party platforms, above the rules of a Darwinian economy—Jesus, far and away, is our King! He was and is the King because he, our God, placed himself last and lowest in order to lift us all to heaven.
If we speak only to smooth and placate, just so everyone is happy, then I am afraid that we speak as the false prophets, like “yes” people around a king who allows his tyranny to hurt and kill others.
We have a higher calling. Be brave. Invite. Speak your mind. Ask God for guidance.
Our Creeds speak of a “bodily resurrection.” I actually believe it is true that we will be bodily raised in perfected, immortal and imperishable bodies.
It’s because I believe that God loves us—more than just some spiritual essence within—but loves us wholly and completely, the person he created, body and soul. And, in the end, when all this around drops from importance, he will lift us each, whole and renewed, into his Kingdom. There we will be given everything and will lack nothing. Our mouths will fill with laughter!
{Whole Body Salvation}
God promises “Whole Body Salvation,” and a salvation for the whole universe.
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