Jeremiah 17.5-10; Luke 6.17-26
Karl Barth, a Swiss pastor and theologian from the first half of the 20th century once said that the task of preaching was to hold the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. This was back in the day when both Bible and newspaper were only in print versions, not apps!
Barth was a towering theological figure. Even today people grapple with what he said and wrote. His advice about the Bible and a newspaper was meant to remind us all, preachers especially, that theology doesn’t exist for theology’s sake. The biblical text isn’t something merely to observe, a bit of philosophy to admire from a distance, speculation that may or may not speak to our lives as we know them and live them. “The word of God is living and active,” the scriptures say about themselves in one place; and in another, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” This speaks of relevance and guidance, an expectation that this ancient wisdom can be a voice of wisdom in our day. The Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.
But have you tried to keep up with the news lately? It’s like a non-stop game of whack-a-mole, the arcade game with erratic plastic moles popping up in seemingly random order and you trying to knock them down with a mallet. As soon as you think you’ve dealt with one, another pops up to surprise you. I’m not sure any of us need that when we come here. How much better to come here and find, at least for a bit, a sense of stability that offers an alternative to the present moment?
Chad Bird wrote about this very thing some years ago. Speaking about what happens in worship he said, “For at least an hour, I am yanked out of this week’s tumultuous raging into God-soaked liturgy, hymns, readings, and preaching. These gifts graft me into an eternal kingdom that transcends the vicissitudes of humanity’s frail and failing crusade to remedy all its own problems.”
Now that’s a great quote because how often do you get to say the word ‘vicissitude?’ It’s a better quote because it’s true. The opportunity that Bird describes to have your worldview shaped by God gets worked out, for example, in the scripture readings. The appointed readings are part of a cycle developed over time and repeated every three years. They are meant to shape how and where you see God at work in the world, how you see who you are in God, and to see how you can live as God’s people in the world—all from a different point of view than whack-a-mole headlines. On any given Sunday, we may not hear particular things addressed in particular ways. But we are formed and shaped over time by worship, sacrament, and scripture to be renewed in God’s grace; and then we go from here to work out the implications of it all in our daily lives and into the world as it is and not the world as we wish it would be.
Today, the Gospel of Luke paints a vivid picture of the world as it is and of where God is at work in it. Jesus is surrounded by people who are poor and hungry, sorrowing and suffering. “They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases…And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.”
Only this is not a power that we instinctively recognize as power or maybe even trust as true. On the face of it, Jesus’ blessing of the people who have come to him—the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful, the ostracized—makes no sense. “Blessed are you who are poor?” There is little apparent blessing in wondering how you’ll pay your rent this month or where your next meal is coming from. “Blessed are you when people…revile you?” There is little apparent blessing in trying to face a new day after being belittled for who you are. A writer named Diane Langberg says, “Not a single word in the Beatitudes relates to human notions of what a kingdom is like. Human ideas of kingdom building focus on nation, race, tribe, military strength, and wealth. But Jesus teaches that greatness in the kingdom is found in the character that reflects his likeness.”
Except not everyone trusts this, then or now. Think, for example, of how the poor and hungry are often criticized for bringing their condition upon themselves. You know the stereotypes: lazy, don’t want a job, taking advantage of the system. Yet Jesus, who became poor for our sake, blesses them. Or how often do the sorrowing and suffering carry deep hurt quietly and go unnoticed, uncomforted? Yet Jesus, ‘the man of sorrows,’ notices them and blesses them. As for being excluded, reviled, and defamed? The truth is that followers of Jesus are sometimes met with resistance or outright hostility by those who want to build a kingdom on nation, race, tribe, military strength, or wealth. We’ve seen that recently with our news app in one hand and our Bible in the other. Jesus’ blessings don’t describe a world we instinctively recognize or trust. His words actually sound impossible, impractical, foolish, and worst of all, irrelevant. Even among Christians themselves.
Russell Moore is an American evangelical theologian and ethicist. In an interview from August a year ago, Moore said pastors were telling him stories about how their congregations got upset when those pastors read from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This is the same sermon that is the source of today’s gospel reading. In the broader text of that sermon—beyond Jesus blessing the poor and merciful and warning the self-satisfied—Jesus speaks about loving your enemies, lending and not expecting anything in return, not judging others so that you will not be judged. In response to pastors reading this passage from the Bible, people would ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?” When pastors said, “I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ,” the response was, “Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak.” (See link at the end of the sermon)
Now, as then, not everyone thinks a life formed by Jesus Christ is a good idea, apparently even among some Christians. We come to worship because, after being formed by a different message Monday through Saturday in a whack-a-mole world, we need to have our view of the world, and of our lives in it, formed and reformed by the wisdom of God. Because in Jesus, there is blessing.
Jesus’ blessings today follow a pattern that the Gospel of Luke makes clear from the chapter one. The Magnificat, the song that Mary sings when the angel Gabriel announces Jesus’ conception—God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry with good things and set the rich away empty—are now made real for people who have no apparent blessing at all. The theme Jesus himself chooses in his inaugural sermon at the beginning of his ministry when he reads from the prophet Isaiah—“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted…to comfort all who mourn”—today becomes a blessing for those very people.
And at the same time that Jesus blesses, he announces woes, warnings about the priorities of our lives. For all the people he includes, there are also warnings about being excluded. And this list of woes is striking. It reads like a list that, for many, includes role models to emulate. The rich, obviously; the red carpet is rolled out for them. Those who are filled; even their next meal is certain. Those who are praised by all; don’t we all want a good reputation and to have people speak well of us? And don’t we think well of ourselves in contrast to other people, even other Christians, who apparently have deemed Jesus as irrelevant. By pronouncing woe and warning over people who are wise in their own eyes, Jesus echoes biblical prophets like Jeremiah who today warns about people trusting their own strength. Wealth, pride, and self-satisfaction easily become a substitute for God so that we think we can manage just fine on our own, thank you very much.
Yet a life of faith is not about your strength but God’s strength at work in you, your eyes opened to see the world the way God sees it, your life as who you are in God, and to go from here to work out the implications of it all in the world as it is. In Jesus alone, there is blessing: God satisfying the hungry, healing the hurting; forgiving sinners; and bringing joy in unexpected places, even in our sorrow, suffering, and anxiety. In Christ, there is an anchor to hold you secure in this week’s tumultuous raging. He is the ancient wisdom that speaks the voice of wisdom in our day. And he gives you wisdom to make you a blessing.
Interview with Russel Moore, https://www.npr.org/2023/08/05/1192374014/russell-moore-on-altar-call-for-evangelical-america
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