Luke 6:20-31
One of my favorite movies of all times is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It is usually watched each year in my family,
but an unspoken tradition at best. There
is this brilliant scene where the entire family is gathered around the dinner
table and the father who is hosting, Clark, played by Chevy Chase taps his
knife against the crystal glass, “Before we begin, since this Aunt Bethany’s 80th
Christmas, I think she should lead us in grace.”
Aunt Bethany is kind of confused. Her husband prods her. Grace.
“Grace passed away 30 years ago” she yells. Her husband is frustrated, points at his
dentures and yells, “They want you to say the Blessing!” Aunt Bethany nods and begins saying the
Pledge of Allegiance. All of the sudden
the whole family led by crazy cousin Eddie (Dennis Quaid) and his full denim
suit, chimes in and places their hands over their hearts, “And to the republic
for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.”
Beautiful movie.
And Aunt Bethany has no idea what a blessing is. And I think to some extent many of us
struggle with this concept as well. What
does it mean to be blessed? It is a term
we use freely and probably just link Aunt Bethany, we fail to miss the
mark. We look at someone who is wealthy,
they are blessed, or someone who is really smart, or really good looking, or
has hair that is combable and say, they are blessed. But are we missing something? What is a blessing?
There is an uneasiness in our culture that has dominated
the last two years of economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Index has reached record heights climbing to
nearly 16,000. Stocks and mutual funds are valued at all-time
highs, interest rates are still incredibly low and the housing market is
starting to pick up. Home values are
increasing, houses are moving, and jobs are being created. And I would wager that most people in this
room do not entirely buy this notion of the good old days of economic growth
such as the 90s has returned. People are
uneasy. They are skeptical. They are concerned. What is being experienced on Wall Street is
not mirrored in the inner rooms of our spiritual self. While the world shows signs of stability, we as
humans doubt that this stability is for the long haul.
Today’s Gospel shares with us Luke’s Beatitudes from what
is commonly referred to as Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain.” We hear about the Beatitudes often; popular
scripture often spouted by Christians.
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, blessed are the meek. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake.” But these are not
the words of Luke, but Matthew whose comments seem to resonate with us so much
more deeply.
Luke on the other hand sets up parallels. Blessed are you who are poor, hungry and
weep. Blessed are you when people hate
you and exclude you. But woe to you who
are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now. Woe to you who are laughing now. Woe to you when all speak well of you. There is no sugar coating this passage. There is no diminishing this lesson to
allegory or parable. It is Jesus’ sermon
on the plain that reaches out, grabs our attention, and says wake up!
As someone who preaches every week, I have a sort of rhythm
I move with. On Monday’s I read the
lessons and do some research. I then let
the different readings become the backdrop for my week. All of this played into our church outreach
project yesterday. About 10 of us headed
down to Faxon Avenue to the Firehouse Ministry yesterday morning. The Firehouse is an interesting place. It looks boarded up on the outside, yet on
the inside is painted a majestic purple and gold. Every Saturday, vans drive around the
neighborhood picking the neighbors up.
On the outside, the yard is rundown, littered with some trash and broken
appliances, yet inside people gather, this Saturday 95 from the community came
for a meal, a warm shower.
And yesterday, the Beatitudes were on my mind. I chatted with my new friend John about the
NFL, his favorite team the Detroit Lions, and our utter amazement at Calvin
Johnson’s year. We talked about the
games that are scheduled to take place today and neither of us could remember
who was playing. I pulled out my Apple
Iphone 4s, two years old, and there John looked. “Oh you have a fancy phone… Alright.” Me, rich.
Wealthy. And not very
hungry. I could hear Jesus’ sermon on
the plain, and I was uncomfortable.
Ms. Vicky asked the gentleman sitting next to me to stand
and tell about the event that many witnessed a few days earlier. Apparently, Jermaine was fatally stabbed by
James over a bowl of soup. I realized
that I have never eaten a meal in fear or worried about my safety in a way that
nearly every person in the room knew every waking moment. And I could hear Jesus’ words, blessed are
you who are hungry. Blessed are you when
people hate you. And woe to you who are
rich. Woe to you when all speak well of
you.
Ms. Vicky was pretty upset. She was mad at the group for arguing over
soup. Most of the people in the room were
at the soup kitchen a few days ago when this event went down. She was mad at the girls for seeking
protection from the wrong guys. She was upset
with the guys for taking advantage of the girls. She was upset, and so she yelled and
cried. Ms. Vicky was getting her
preaching voice going, volume was increasing and she had the whole room’s
attention. “Don’t you understand… You
are blessed. Each one of you is
blessed!”
I could hear the words of Jesus in a new tone, with new
emphasis, in new away. And she was
talking about the others. Not me. I didn't feel blessed. I was hearing the woes so much more clearly
and loudly.
The Gospel according to Luke, points to a world which is
turned upside down. Roles are
reversed. People’s situations are
changed. Maybe the uneasiness of our
culture is experienced because we know that fiscal security, a well respected
reputation, and even a full stomach are only temporary. Maybe Luke is pointing not only to the
temporary nature of these, but to how, wealth is also deceptive and can keep us
from seeing true blessing.
Today is All Saints Day.
It is the day that we remember all the people, both the saints in our
own lives and those who the church remembers who tell the story of faith. It is also a day where we do not recite the Nicene
Creed, but instead renew our Baptismal vows.
We say the same prayer we said when we were baptized, or the prayers
that were said on our behalf, because today especially we remember that it is
through our baptism that we are united together. The prayer for today that we said says, “Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion
and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace
so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may
come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love
you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and
reigns, one God, in glory everlasting.”
Today we remember that God has
bestowed a blessing on us through baptism.
This is not, wealth, it is not fortune, security, food, reputation, or looks. It is a bond with God. Maybe those who Jesus encounters who are
hungry, who are poor, are able to see more clearly their bond with God so much
more clearly because it is not covered up by the temporary things we call
blessings in life. Maybe they can
understand a dependency on God that we ignore.
And maybe those who Jesus’ reaches out to know a little bit more than we do what it means to be blessed.
This means those who are poor,
those who are hungry, and those who are hated by others, have something to
teach us. They can understand more than
we can imagine when it comes to being blessed.
I think so often we approach ministry with the idea that we are there to
help someone or to offer them something that they don’t have. This is a true component to caring for one
another, but we can fail to recognize that those whom we minister to have
something even greater to offer each of us, and that is an understanding of
blessing that our prosperity limits us in seeing.
Sermon preached on November 3, 2013
Church of the Annunciation
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