Lectionary Texts: Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17:5-10, Luke6:17-26

In the Monty Python movie "Life of Brian" Jesus goes up on the mountain side to teach the people. A large crowd has gathered around him. The crowd is so huge that some of the people who are on the outer edge cannot hear his words. So they ask others what the master has said. As Jesus proclaims what have become known as the beatitudes - one of the characters at the edge of the crowd - 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!"

It is good to remind ourselves that we often get wrong what Jesus said. And in this instance it was who is blessed and who is not.

All three of our lectionary readings today have to do with blessed ones and cursed ones. The dichotomy is very stark. Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 even use the same image. The blessed ones, they say, are like trees planted by the water. Such trees yield their fruit in due season, says the Psalmist, and Jeremiah says, that when the heat comes its leaves of such trees stay green and in the time of drought it is not anxious because it has sent its roots into the river.

Who are these blessed ones anyway? And who is it that God warns – or threatens - with woes? If you listen to the average preacher TV preacher the answer seems clear. I know, there was a time I used to watch them just to get the dramatic effect down!

Those who succeed in life are the ones that God favors, they seem to say. Those who gather in fancy suits and dresses in churches made of glass and steel and who have a perpetual smile on their face, dollars in the pockets, a nice car in the parking lot, a large house in a fancy suburb - these are the blessed. Those who struggle to find meaningful work, to live as best they can despite the depravation in their inner city communities - those who perform menial tasks each day – serving others rather than live as equals, those whose children have to attend schools that are sub-standard, and those whose struggles cause them to live in despair and depression - these are the cursed, they seem to say. But that’s not just the TV preacher that what everybody in TV seems to say. Not just the TV that’s what everybody our neighbors, our colleagues seem to say. Not just our neighbors and colleagues, that what we think most of the time – is that not true?

Here comes Dr. Luke, the author of the third gospel. He clearly thought a lot about how we get mixed up 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 from Matthew's version. Luke doesn't contradict what Matthew had to say, rather he gives us a different view of Jesus' sermon.

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 as it were. Rather, it is set on a plain - on a level place - where a large crowd has gathered is pressing in on him and where Jesus has been walking among them, making new friends, teaching and healing.

Second, Jesus is not only announcing who is blessed by God. Luke’s list is more graphic than Matthew's list. He is also announcing 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."

Wow! That just hits us in the gut, doesn’t it? What does this list say about our aspirations -- about our American dream? What does it say about our desire to make more money – our secret fantasy to be a contestant in Who wants to be a millionaire? What does it say about our achievement mentality -- our desire to rise to the top of our company or our profession and make more money? What does it say about our rushing out to buy lottery tickets so that we might win the big one? What does it say about our attempts to fill our days with mindless diversions and endless entertainment so we can just escape those stresses? And what does it say about the value of our sorrow, our pain, and our hunger?

What does this list of blessings and woes say about what God is about? About where God is? About who God is for? Despite all my preaching over the years, if it has not been clear to you, or you had even a little doubt that God is on the side of those who are poor, hungry, weeping and standing firm for God’s kingdom, this is where Jesus makes it absolutely stark. Jesus is saying, don’t follow that false God that is consistently portrayed on television. That image of success, happiness and prosperity that is portrayed 24 hours a day -- that image that you can't make real for yourself no matter how hard you work, is a false image, a false image of blessedness. You need to know that when you are poor and hungry, weeping and mourning God is beside you - where you live - on the plain – on the level. You need to know that when you are sick and in need - when you struggle to do what is right - and when you fight to retain your faith under enormous odds, God is with you. You need to know that God reaches out to touch you right here and right now; that you don't have to have all the answers - or understand all the mysteries - or be successful or confident – because God cares for you. Jesus’ promise in both the sermon on the mount in Matthew, and in the sermon on the plain in Luke, is that there is joy on the other side of grief, laughter on the other side of tears, fulfillment 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.

Prophet Jeremiah was called on to confront the people with their sin. They had turned from God, they had worshipped false gods, and had placed their trust in everything except God. And to illustrate what they were doing, Jeremiah used the imagery of water and trees. Those who trust in themselves and turn from God are like a shrub in the desert, he says. It is easy to read Jeremiah's words and answer with a hearty "Amen." Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals, cursed are those whose hearts turn from the Lord!" That's right. We agree. Those heathen are going to get theirs – we say. But look at this… who is Jeremiah addressing here? Jeremiah is addressing Israel -- not foreigners, not Gentiles, not self-professed pagans, but God's chosen people. And these were not words for Israel to take comfort in. Listen! Good Christian folks like us can turn our hearts away from God. We can become the shrubs in the desert.

Harry Emerson Fosdick, the famous Baptist preacher at New York’s Riverside Church, who wrote the famous hymn that we sang last Sunday, God of Grace and God of Glory, said in a sermon once: "When a man talks about music, he does not say, ‘How little music can I know and still be called musical?’ When a woman thinks of friendship she does not say, ‘How little can I venture into it and still be called friendly?’ When a man thinks of his family, he does not think, ‘How little of a father can I be?’ What a terrible world this would be if that's the way we thought and acted. And yet, sometimes that's the way we want our Christian life to be: How little can I get by with? What's the minimum I have to know? What's the smallest amount of myself I have to give?"

Its like the parishioner who complained to the pastor that he was constantly harping on the theme of "drawing nigh unto God". She confessed, "I don't want to get close to God. I just want to get over in a corner and sneak into heaven quietly. I don't want to be a saint. I just don't want to go to hell". "I can't believe what I am hearing" the Pastor exclaimed. "I can explain that easily" she said calmly. "When I started the 9th grade I set my heart on finishing high school with straight Cs. And I did. You see, if you fail you have to repeat, and I wanted out. But if you start making A's people begin to expect things from you." "It’s exactly like that with God. If you are too bad you'll go to hell, and I don't want that. But if you're too good he'll send you to Africa, and I don't want that either." You know what? When we live out our faith like that, the grass starts to turn brown. The flowers stop blooming. You become like a shrub in the desert.

For your heart to be turned away from God doesn't mean you have to consciously reject Jesus. It hardly ever happens that way. It comes more subtly, in our decisions, in our values, in leaving God out of the picture as we make choices. Living that way, living on our own, can get to be like living in a desert. And what's more, we can become used to it. There is this interesting statement in verse 6, where Jeremiah says "and they shall not see when relief comes." It is possible to get used to living in the desert.

There is a danger in getting used to living apart from God. And that can happen when we try to live by this minimum requirement concept of faith and then wake up one morning to feel pretty parched. What happens when the drought comes? What happens when you get the bad news from the doctor, or when they "downsize" at work, or your child breaks your heart or your marriage begins to fall apart? What happens when, as Jeremiah says, your world becomes a parched place of wilderness, an uninhabited salt land?

Fortunately, there is another way to live. The prophet does have Good News. "Blessed are those who trust in the LORD; they shall be like a tree planted by water." Living our lives in dependence on God, with trust in God, is like a tree planted by the stream. In times of drought, its roots still provide needed moisture, its leaves stay green, it still bears fruit.

I hope you understand that blessedness - is not found in wealth, in three square meals a day, in mindless laughter, or in the good opinions that others may have of us. Blessedness is found surrendering - in letting go - in knowing our need and the need of the world around us and in knowing that God really cares about those needs. It is found in knowing that God will vindicate all those who cling to him in the midst of those needs - to him, and not to the god of material success, or the god of self-reliance or the god of blind happiness.

Blessedness is found in trusting in God and in doing the works of God, the works of loving and caring and healing and sharing and forgiving. So I want to say, blessed are cheese makers – those who take great care to do the best job they can, even when they are probably working at minimum wage, because they know it goes on people’s dinner tables and in children’s lunch sandwiches. And I must hasten to add: Blessed are those who continue the struggle to see God’s church right here through to a place of health and wholeness. Blessed are the ones who give of their time and energy to minister to the children and youth and to each other through Bible Study and choir on Sunday mornings. Blessed are those who come here to this place to tutor and mentor children despite their heavy schedules and deadlines in school. Blessed are those who take time to organize God’s people to stand in the gap between systemic powers that oppress and the people who have to live in poverty in our neighborhoods. Blessed are those who intercede standing in the gap between heaven and earth representing God’s healing and wholeness to those who are in need. Blessed are those who take time to build relationships with neighbors and colleagues so that God’s love and presence can be shared with them. Blessed are fathers and mothers who spend time with their children instead of spending extra time at the office getting ahead. Blessed are those who are rooted in their faith and are able to share what they have, materially and spiritually, with others. Blessed are those who know their need, but through that continue to trust in God, and follow in God’s way.

Blessed are these, says Jeremiah, for they are like trees planted by streams of water sending out its roots by the stream. They shall not fear when heat comes, and their leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought they are not anxious, and they do not cease to bear fruit.