Fill My Future with Vision

Luke 6:17-26 NRSVue

17 He came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:  “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 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. 26 Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”

INTRO

This week, we continue our worship series Six Stone Jars:  The Economy of Jesus. Four weeks ago, we began at the wedding at Cana. As we asked God to fill our houses with hoping, we named our need to hope in and share God’s abundant, extravagant love with others. Three weeks ago, we found Jesus in the temple reading from the scroll of Isaiah. As we asked God to fill our plans with purpose, we acknowledged our call to live into God’s purposes where there is no less than or more than, where all of God’s children are welcomed and embraced. Two weeks ago, we asked God to fill our wounds with healing as we let go of what was, the ways we’ve been hurt, and embraced God’s plans for our future. Last week, we asked God to fill our days with meaning as we find our meaning in God’s plans for our lives. By this, we find hope, purpose, and healing, too. This week, we continue as we ask God to fill our future with vision. 

Our Gospel lesson begins in what has become known as the “Sermon on the Plain.” Just before our text, Jesus had been praying on the mountain, discerning who would be the twelve apostles. Jesus called the assembly of disciples all his followers together, and named twelve of them to be apostles. After this selection, Jesus comes down to the plain, to the level area, and begins to teach. As Jesus prepares to teach, there is a mixed group around. There are those in the crowds, disciples of Jesus, and the twelve apostles. As Jesus begins to speak, he speaks directly to his disciples, his followers. 

As Jesus speaks, he draws on the text he read in the temple. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). As Jesus teaches his disciples, he points directly to how this is fulfilled in the world. God’s new order is ushered in direct and even harsh terms. 

When we hear this text, we prefer to hear Matthew’s version. In Matthew, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3, NRSVue). We can easily justify ourselves as “poor in spirit.” But in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus comes down and gets on our level, looks us in the eye, and proclaims that the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the hated are blessed while the rich, the full, the laughing, and those who all speak well of need to be warned. With this plain language, we often find ourselves on the “wrong” side of Jesus’ proclamation. 

If we are honest, it is hard to hear that we are not the “blessed ones.” After all, we feel blessed. We have a roof over our heads; we have jobs, cars, and are self-sustaining. We can even afford a nice vacation from time to time. If we are able to do all these things, how are we not blessed? First, we need to redefine what it means to be blessed. To be blessed does not mean that we have materialistic prosperity, nor does it mean that we are self-sustaining or happy with life. To be blessed holds a more theological rationale whereby one who is blessed follows after the heart of God. As disciples of Christ, our call is to share and embody Jesus’ message and surrender to ourselves to God. The question that we must ask ourselves is, do we truly surrender everything to Jesus? Even more significant than that, we must ask ourselves how we see God at work in the world. So often, we try to box God to fit into our vision for the world. We see God as one who thinks like us, looks like us, and believes like us. In doing so, we limit God’s work in the world as we only expect God to act in certain ways. 

Some portions of Christianity encourage us to think this way. The prosperity gospel teaches us that when we do what is right, we receive success and financial blessings. Thinking that we can each God’s favor or blessings boxes God in and conforms God to the ways of the world. Some even box God in using our Gospel lesson because they wrongly define blessed. They think that this text tells us that if we are poor, crying, or oppressed, we will receive financial blessings from God. But Jesus doesn’t mean physical blessings.

When Jesus says blessed, Jesus is talking about one’s position before God. It is a way of seeing the world and the gifts that God bestows on us freely without merit. Being blessed doesn’t always equal success measured in the ways of the world. Instead, it is about our dependence on God. When Jesus talks about the poor, he means the destitute. Jesus means the poor who are so poor that they can’t do anything else but rely on God. All they can do is totally surrender. Their disposition is not based on their poverty but on their reliance on God. 

In fact, Jesus names this when he says, “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” Our call in this life is not found in making a good impression or based on appearance. It is found in giving ourselves to the other just as Christ has given himself to us. If we find our worth and vision in the ways of the world, we focus on who we hang out with and where we hang out. Others judge us from the company we keep and the places we go. Yet Jesus eats with sinners. Jesus hangs out with the least, the last, and the lost. It’s part of why the Pharisees continually challenge Jesus for those he ministers to. But people who are close to the savior aren’t bitter. They don’t judge. They don’t hold back. They fully surrender to God, trusting that God will guide them in their work and lives. 

In pastoral ministry, I have constantly been amazed by those who trust God will continue to show up. I have seen families in the midst of terminal diagnoses, persons dealing with addictions, divorce, and death draw their strength from their trust in God. I have witnessed families learn to love again after enduring devastating losses. The source of their faith, the one to whom they cling in those moments, is Christ. Even in life’s most difficult situations, they find peace in the assurance of God’s promises made in and through Jesus Christ. The hope that God will never forsake or abandon us is what carried them through their difficulties and what enabled them to find healing, and forgiveness, and to continue loving. I have watched as faithful members of Christ’s church brought their anguish to God, their deepest desires, their hurt, their pain, their joys, and I have watched as they offer it to God and I have seen how God’s Grace is enough even in the most devastating pains of this life.

This is what Jesus calls us to this morning. To offer it all to the savior, to stop holding back, to stop judging. To offer our resources, our building, our time, our money, and ourselves completely to the work of God in the world. To realize that God’s grace is enough in the “good times” and in the “bad times.” 

You see, blessings and woes in our scriptures for this morning are not about whether one is rich or poor but about the disposition of the heart.  There are plenty of ethical, wealthy people. Jesus lifts up examples of rich individuals who choose to live correctly, like Zaccheus when he repents. Yet we each have one area of our lives that we like to hold back from Jesus. There is something that we don’t fully surrender to God. John Wesley writes about our call to self-denial, writing, “But if the will of God be our one rule of action in every thing, great and small, it follows, by undeniable consequence, that we are not to do our own will in anything. Here, therefore, we see at once the nature, with the ground and reason, of self-denial. We see the nature of self-denial: It is the denying or refusing to follow ours own will, from a conviction that the will of God is the only rule of action to us.” In other words, we must refuse to follow our will, reject our plans, and fully surrender to God.

If we fully surrender to God, our understanding of life begins to shift. We stop seeing our earthly resources as ours and begin to see ourselves as stewards of all God has given us. We move from a mentality of scarcity to a mentality of abundance. If we see ourselves as stewards of all that God has given us, then we begin to use our resources to build up God’s kingdom. We begin to feed the poor and the hungry, stop hoarding our resources, and instead start giving it away. We begin to live out Wesley’s rules for money….to earn all you can without harming yourself or others, save all you can by not spending your money on unnecessary things, and by giving all you can away. In other words, we use the provision God has given us on earth to begin to cling to God’s vision for us, our congregation, and the world around us. This call to abundance is about more than just resources such as money….but our time, our gifts, our passions as well.

When we turn our attention to God, our hearts are awakened, and we start to take action. Whether we have plenty or very little, the scriptures urge us to build relationships. We are called to feed the hungry, comfort those in distress, and shelter the homeless. It's one thing to contribute to missions; it's quite another to seek opportunities out to volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen or to mentor an underprivileged third grader. It’s another to offer our time to put together a library, or to read to children in our building, it's another to step into the spaces such as the backpack program and to continue to fight food insecurity, or to try new things such as community day instead of VBS where we strive to connect folks to resources that can be life-changing, life-altering, and holy. 

Our calling from God seems at times to be too much until we begin to realize and trust that God will supply, God will show up, God will make a way. So the question becomes, will you trust in God? Will you offer yourself to the kingdom building work? Will you continue to find hope? Will you open yourselves up to God’s vision? For when we focus on God’s vision, our ways, our desires stop being important. What we think doesn’t matter anymore. For in God’s vision, we find God provides provision to accomplish the work. In God’s vision, we stop seeing scarcity and begin to see abundance. For in God’s vision all are known, loved, and valued. For in God’s vision there is no least, last and lost; just beloved children of God. So this morning I invite you to join me. Let’s hold nothing back. Let’s surrender everything we have. Let’s trust God as we seek and carry out God’s vision for our lives and our congregation. Fill our future with vision Lord, and may your future start now.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.