February 17, 2019

Helen Jacobi

Ordinary 6     Jeremiah 17:5-10     Psalm 1     1 Corinthians 15:12-20     Luke 6:17-26

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You are all brave souls turning up for church this morning.

Brave because by being here you have to listen to this gospel from Luke.

Blessed are the poor and woe to you who are rich. 

Very uncomfortable stuff.

Woe to you who are rich, who are full, and those whom others speak well off – the outlook for you is not good.

I sat for a long time this week with this reading thinking what do we say about it? Do we want to be beaten up by these words?

Sure we are rich – but we give away some of our money, we help others – that is ok isn’t it?

Well, welcome to the gospel of Luke. 

Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes was written for people like us – Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who recognise their poverty of spirit, their need for God in their lives. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers. 

Matthew’s Beatitudes are a lot easier. 

But that is not the way Luke tells it. Luke is going to make us uncomfortable all year. We have had Mary’s Magnificat, we’re going to have the rich young ruler who couldn’t give up his possessions, the rich man in hell and the poor Lazarus in heaven, the man who builds his barns full of grain and then dies suddenly, the wedding guests who can’t be bothered coming to the wedding feast, and Zacchaeus the tax collector.

Luke always emphasises Jesus’ teaching on the poor.

No escape for us this year.

However, as always it helps to understand the setting and the way this story comes about. The way Luke tells it Jesus has been travelling about with his followers for a bit. The Pharisees – the religious leaders of the day are keeping an eye on him and prior to today’s reading have pulled him up for picking grain on the Sabbath (which was classified as work and so was forbidden) and for healing a man on the Sabbath in a synagogue, also forbidden.

The Pharisees we are told “are filled with fury.”

So Jesus retreats and goes up a mountain to pray all night.

After this he selects 12 from among the followers to be “apostles.”

They are no doubt, excited, thrilled, he has chosen me – wow – but then as they come down the mountain they see the crowds coming, and they are afraid. 

They have already seen the demands placed on Jesus, and they see that he has no home, he travels, he has no money, no food.

What about their families, their businesses – a reasonable question to ask – they are attracted to this dynamic man and his teaching – but give up everything to follow him? 

And so Jesus looks up at his disciples and says:

 blessed are you who are poor, because you have given everything up to follow me – yours is the kingdom of God – right here, right now.

And you who are hungry and worry what will we eat – blessed are you, you will be filled not only with food but with love.

And you who weep and mourn because you leave behind your families to follow me, you will laugh, laugh with joy at the new family.

And yes people will hate you on my account, they will revile you and defame you – my blessing will sustain you.

But over there – you Pharisees standing in the back there, criticising and cursing – woe to you.

You might be rich now but that is all you will ever have. 

Your bellies are full now but there will come a day when you hunger. 

And you laugh and scoff, but you will weep one day. 

And woe to you if you listen to the false praise of these people – they don’t mean it – their ancestors praised false prophets and where did it get them.

Can you imagine the silence, the mouths open, the Pharisees melting away into the crowd, and the disciples .... what would they have felt – encouraged? I think actually they would have felt even more scared.

This is Jesus being very clear and very bold – not story telling, not being compassionate and caring for someone who is ill. 

This is Jesus the prophet, standing in the tradition of Old Testament prophets and naming things as they are. 

Like Jeremiah telling people to be like trees with their roots in water, not cut off from the stream, the source of life. 

And so it is for Jesus’ disciples getting their job descriptions, and for us his followers of today.

Do not allow yourselves to be shrubs in the desert; but be like a tree planted by the water. 

Our roots need to drink of the waters of justice and compassion, in our scripture reading and our prayer and our community sharing and worship. We need to be continually reminded and helped to follow in the way of Jesus. 

We cannot do it alone.

Which is why we bravely turn up today to hear these challenging words.

What will help us move away from standing with the Pharisees, ensnared by their sense of privilege?

What will help us stand with the poor so that we are reminded of our own dependence on God?

Being here will help.

Being honest with ourselves and each other.

Allowing the words of Jesus and the words of our liturgy to sit with us.

Giving ourselves time and space to seek God’s spirit.

And being gentle with ourselves. 

We are not perfect – far from it!

If we continue to seek God

We will be like a tree planted by the 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. (Jer 17:8).

That is until next week we will be back and Luke will tell us to love our enemies. 

But that is next week’s preacher’s problem!