Charlotte
Collins Reed
Christ
Church Episcopal
February 19,
2019
6 Epiphany C
I met my match last fall when I
starting taking the Monday yoga class here at Christ Church. A new practice would be good for me, I
figured, and how hard could breathing and stretching be? Was I ever in for a surprise! Yoga takes concentration, balance,
flexibility, and strength, none of which are my strong points, along with the
ability to breath at the same time. Yoga
requires a lot of practice to achieve the mental clarity and focus that benefits
daily life. In fact, as our teacher says
to me repeatedly, yoga is a practice. A
good yoga teacher changes everything up so often that yoga will always be
practice and will always take a lot of practice, at least for me. Sixth months in and the main difference for
me is that now I have some idea what I am in for!
The twelve apostles must be wondering what
they are in for this morning. Jesus is
standing with them on a level place along with a great crowd of other disciples
and throngs of people seeking healing.
But it is the twelve to whom Jesus is speaking this morning. Jesus’ first words seem palatable
enough. “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.” These sound like words of comfort to those
who are poor, hungry, or sad. The
problem is that there is no evidence that the 12 were any of those. Some owned boats, and one was a tax
collector. A few chapters later in
Luke’s gospel the 12 will be told to take nothing with them on their journeys,
so they must have possessions. These are clues that Jesus may be up to
something other than words of comfort here.
But then, however, Jesus takes his teaching to a new level. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and
when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”
How does Jesus think he is going to attract and keep disciples talking like that? And then, Jesus gets down right rude. “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.” The irony of hearing those
words on the Sunday we have the Big Reveal Party for our capital campaign is
not lost on me. What on earth does Jesus
have against the ability to support oneself, a full belly, or a good laugh?
We don’t know what the 12 apostles made of
Jesus’ words, although we know they did not turn tail and run. The real question is what are we to make of
these words as 21st century Christians in Hudson, Ohio where
relative to most of the world, we are rich, full, and happy?
First, to be clear, Jesus is not
saying poverty, hunger, and grief are good.
Nor is he saying that riches, food, and joy are bad. He is simply saying that those who are poor,
hungry or sad are blessed, a word that in the Greek means content or at peace. Jesus is saying “woe” or “watch out” to
those who are rich, full, and joyful.
Jesus is not saying that one group is saved and the other group is
damned, even though there is an eternal ring to Jesus’ words. Jesus is not saying that those who are poor
are the only ones who are blessed or that those who have riches cannot be
blessed. Jesus’ followers included many
people of some means in Luke’s gospel. Mary and Martha hosted Jesus in their home. Zacchaeus the tax collector climbed a tree to
see Jesus then hosted Jesus in his home.
The book of Luke/Acts is written to the most excellent Theophilus, likely
a patron of some means. Poverty is
apparently not a criteria for being a follower of Jesus.
So what is Jesus saying? When Don
and I lived in Springfield, Ohio, a city a lot like Akron but smaller, we
encountered people in poverty on a regular basis, whether in the public
schools, through our food pantry or the yearly neighborhood fair. In conversation, the folks in line at the
food pantry would tell me about their faith and all the ways God had blessed
them. Just getting out of bed and facing
the day was a practice of faith for many of them. Their stories were raw and often involved
shut-off notices, evictions, prison, raising grandchildren, addiction, the
humility of standing in line for free food, and problems I cannot begin to imagine. Many of them relied on God for their security
because there was not much else reliable in their lives. I, on the other hand, have a home, family,
friends, a great job, a retirement plan, and all sorts of other thing I can
hold on to for a sense of security. According
to Jesus, the people at the food pantry are blessed because they have only God to
hold on to for security, and they are well aware of their dependence on God
every day. They put their trust in God into
practice day in and day out, when there is no food, money, or much else to hang
on to.
The prophet Jeremiah says this morning
“Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their
strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.” Their roots are shallow and cannot find water
when they need it. Jeremiah then says “Blessed
are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” The roots of their faith are deep and find
water, in the words of both Jeremiah and the psalmist. Jesus says to those of us with plenty “Watch
out! You can too easily put your trust
in earthly things.” Jesus is telling us
that if we want our faith to sustain us when the going is hard-when grief or
hardship or illness strike and our possessions and accomplishments give us
little to hold on to-we have to practice trusting God for our security and our
joy now.
Perhaps what Jesus is saying is this:
“Blessed are those who will sit with their need, their hunger, and their grief,
for I will fill that hole. Woe to those
who can fill their need, their hunger, and their grief with work, food and
drink, or another order from Amazon Prime because there will be no room for
me.” Jesus comes to level ground to offer
deep and lasting security to all of us. Some
of us just need a lot more practice loosening our grip on what we have and
trusting the security Jesus offers.
Amen.
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