Focus on God (2)

We are spending the next few weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent having the Gospel of Luke help us look at what it means for us to “Follow God.”

Last week we looked at what it means to follow God. You can find that on our You Tube Channel. This week we look at focusing on God. Our scripture comes from Luke 6:17-26.

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Let us pray…

We live in a world full of distractions. We can find lots of ways to turn our focus away from what is most important. We find ourselves distracted by trying to get rich quick or by wanting to buy the next in thing or you can just add to the list whatever you find distracting you.

This was also true for the Jewish people. Their distractions may have been different, but they also were distracted by things that got in their way of focusing on the most important thing. A desire to follow the will of God.

Our scripture could be considered the second most known sermon from Jesus. It is often known as the sermon on the plain, P-L-A-I-N, this is in comparison to the most famous which is often referred to as the sermon on the mount.

(Transition)

Both of these teachings from Jesus are best known because they contain what we call the Beatitudes. The word “Beatitudes” is Latin for the word “happy.” It is believed that it is through a society having the focus offered to us through the Beatitudes can become happier or blessed.

I have also heard the Beatitudes described using its name. They are “attitudes” that should “be” a part of our lives. This teaching from Jesus is to lead us to understand what God desires from his creation both as a community and individually.

(Transition)

We find in the book of Luke that Jesus offers this sermon right after he has prayed and with help from his Father decided who would become what we know as his “twelve disciples.” Those that he will spend most of his time leading and teaching about what God desires to and from humanity.

This decision occurs on a mountain which is why our text mentions that Jesus and the disciples were going down to a “level place.” We have a crowd that has gathered there waiting for Jesus to come down from the mountain.

The crowd includes those that are also called his disciples, this would mean people who were following Jesus. This would be a larger number than the twelve. The word “disciple” means “student.” These would be individuals who considered Jesus to be their Rabbi, their teacher.

We also have a group not listed as disciples, that believed in the healing power of Jesus. They have come to mainly to either have themselves or others healed by him. The scripture tells us that their wish was fulfilled, and Jesus was able to heal those that had come to him.

It is at this point in the scripture that we find Jesus about ready to teach. Luke seems to want to make it clear that this “sermon” is directed towards his disciples. The scripture tells us that he is “looking at his disciples” as he begins to speak.

(Transition)

Before we get into the “sermon” let’s stop for a moment to make a couple of points. The first is that a group of people came mainly for the healing, but they were about to receive the message. What we do and what we say in public can affect how Jesus is viewed by those around us.

Those that follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior are called to be salt and light. We are called to be helpful and meaningful to society. We should be attempting to live our lives in such a way that will have people desire to get to know our Savior.

We never know who is watching and listening. We need to be vigilante in how we are living our lives. We are the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus to the world.

This means that what we do and what we say can impact how those around us view Jesus and the church. Therefore, it is important that we attempt to live lives that would be pleasing to God.

The second point is that in the Gospel of Luke we are about to hear the first words that Jesus is offering to his newly chosen twelve disciples. When a person is taught a new subject where does the teacher usually begin?

They begin with the basics. Jesus is giving his disciples the basics into following the will of God individually and as a community.

(Transition)

Jesus does this through a list of blessings and woes or how it often is explained, blessings and curses. We have Jesus’ listing those that through the way they are living their lives will be blessed by God. This is followed by a list of those that will face hardship through how they are living here on earth.

Many within the Jewish society believed that a person was either being blessed or cursed by God based off of the good or bad things that were occurring in their lives. Meaning if “gooder” things were happening to you the more blessed you were by God. If “badder” things were happening, then you must have done something to lead you to be cursed by God.

Jesus uses this idea of blessings and curses to pass on to his disciples how the society should view what it means to be right with or blessed by God. We find that the Blessings and woes seem to be opposites of each other throughout this sermon.

(Transition)

Jesus begins by blessing those that are poor and offering woes to those that are rich. This beginning would have opened the eyes of the disciples to an understanding that this is a different message than what they had been taught their whole life.

They are receiving what are first reading calls “wisdom from God.” This wisdom from God turns Jewish thought at the time upside down. It was those that were following the ways of God and were rich who were considered blessed by God and those that were poor had either themselves or their parents for doing something to lead them to be cursed by God.

We will often hear the stories of those that were rich feeling like they were missing something in their lives. That something often ends up being a relationship with Jesus. This is different than who society may call the poor who believe they are blessed by God even though they may lack worldly wealth.

It is through a person not believing they need to rely on God that could lead them to be cursed. They may find themselves at a place in their lives where they are heading down a wrong path and may find themselves with no one to turn towards.

Their humanness has caused them to miss what is before them. The chance to begin a relationship with the one who will always love them and is willing to lead them towards happiness. The woe for the rich is the belief that they don’t need God.

Jesus continues and brings up that the hungry, the sad, and the hated. They will be blessed while the well fed, the happy, and the well liked will be cursed.

Again, these are the exact opposite of what these disciples would have expected. No wonder they asked so many questions, in their eyes what was up is down and what was down is up. Their lives are being turned upside down.

(Transition)

It is my belief that Jesus is not speaking blessings and curses per say in today’s text. What he is attempting to say to his disciples is that the expectations of these groups will not meet their expected results when they join their creator in Heaven.

Things will be better than the poor, hungry and hated would ever expect. Money will have no power, food will not be needed, and love will prevail. Jesus is saying that those that feel cursed on earth will feel blessed in Heaven.

On the other hand, those used to having power, having enough to eat, and are well liked by society will feel like they got the raw end of the deal because power and privilege will no longer prevail. What is really being said by Jesus is that all people are equal in the eyes of God.

The twelve should have already recognized this just by being chosen to be the disciples of a Rabbi. No other Rabbi would have chosen fishermen and a tax collector to be his followers. They would have looked for the best students in Jerusalem to be their students.

(Transition)

This understanding that all people are equal in the eyes of God is further shown within our first reading. Paul is speaking to this group in Corinth and he is attempting to help them understand that what society views as important is not important to God.

He points out that they were not wise, or influential, or royalty. This does not matter to God. God chooses the weak, the lowly, and the despised. He wants no one to be able to boast. He wants all people to feel loved and equal within society.

God created all people and therefore his focus is on those that want to be saved by God, be more like God, and follow God. We are to focus on God. We are to turn our heart, mind, soul, and strength towards listening and following the will of God.

We call that within the United Methodist Church, sanctifying grace. We call it in our mission statement “growing in faith together.” God doesn’t care if society considers you the best and the smartest.

He wants all people to come to him. He wants all people to desire to be in a relationship with him. God wants all people to turn their focus towards him.

Jesus is trying to get his disciples to understand that there is no one unworthy to talk to or to help. All people are to be considered loved by God and by those that will be associated with him. Jesus is love and wants that emotion offered to those that they will meet in his ministry. That is to be their focus.

What does that say to us. We are to show the love of God to all people around us from the rich to the poorest person we run into. We are to show the love of God to the Republican and the Democrat.

We are to show the love of God to the one that can help us out and to the one that needs are help. We are to show the love of God to those that look and talk like us and those that don’t. There is no one that God does not want us to choose to love.

It is why we say in our mission statement that we desire to connect in love with all people. We that believe in Jesus are the disciples. If you are here or watching online and do not yet believe God wants, you to know that you are loved even if you don’t believe you deserve it.

Let us live our lives both individually and as a church in such a way to show the love of God to those around us. We are offering a way for you to do that on Wednesday as we are serving lunch to the members of the members of the Gay Straight Alliance at Beechcroft High School.

See Kay if you would like to be a part of showing the love of God to these students. Maybe you have your own way that the church can fulfill this part of our mission. Pass it on and we can look into the ways that we can be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus to our communities.

Please pray with me…