Untitled Sermon (2)

Epiphany 6

Luke 6:17–26 ESV

And 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 and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In today’s Gospel Jesus reveals Himself to be Messiah by what He teaches. This is Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount— sometimes called the “sermon on the plain” but it is the same thing. The portion of the Gospel that we have today is known as the “Beatitudes”— the Latin word for the Greek word makarioi, which is the English word “blessed.”

Luke adds something here that Matthew does not include: Jesus not only speaks of the blessed, he pronounces judgment upon those who are the polar opposite of those who are blessed. He uses the word “ouai” the Greek version of the Hebrew “Oy” that we heard about last week. And He uses this word four times. Remember, oy, or woe is our equivalent of “damning” someone to hell. Strong words, horrifying words, when spoken by our Savior who has come to save.

Theology of Glory/ Theology of the Cross

Martin Luther often spoke of the Theology of Glory and the Theology of the Cross. Of it he once said, “The theology of glory calls evil good and good evil. The theology of the cross calls the thing what it actually is.” There is certainly a lot of this going on today, where evil is exalted over good, and where those attempting to do good are vilified. This is clear in the horrific new laws that allow for late term abortion. That’s the stuff of the theology of glory. Put another way, the theology of glory tells me that “i must do”; the theology of the Cross tells me that “I must die.” The Lord plunged you into death in your Baptism. It was there that you died to yourself, to the world, and to the devil. It was there that your sin was forever washed away, and that that Lord called You His New Creation.

The beatitudes are only for those who have died to themselves in Christ Jesus. They are not about what you do, but who you are and whose you are.

The problem is, the Theology of Glory always surfaces, always looms near, when the Cross is doing its work.

The entire Church had fallen prey to this immediately prior to the Reformation. Focus was taken off of the Cross and placed on my works. And so the belief of many today is that “I can be saved by doing works with God’s help.” Sounds legitimate. But it indicates that your “theology of Glory” is showing.

So, when it comes to the beatitudes that follow, there are those who believe that they must practice deep spiritual disciplines to make themselves poor in spirit, or certain practices that they can do that will increase their hunger for righteousness, or that if one had enough faith he would not grieve during loss. If you want to be blessed, so the theology of glory goes, then do or become these things. When you achieve fullness of spirit, blessedness is the reward. Such is the way of the devil.

The beatitudes are only for those who have died to themselves in Christ Jesus. We are only blessed in the Cross. Blessing is a part of the Resurrection that Jesus bestows on those who have died in Baptism and live in faith. It is not a goal to be achieved.

It is THIS exact teaching that sets Jesus apart from all of the teachers of the law. While always God’s intent, this was something radically new that His hearers were taking in. The Pharisees would tell you how to keep the law perfectly. Theology of glory. The priests would enable you to make the right sacrifice. Theology of glory. The money changers would provide the convenience of purchasing an animal for sacrifice rather than offering one of your own. Theology of glory.

But not Jesus. It wasn’t the strong he came to save. It wasn’t the well he came to heal. He came for those downtrodden, trampled out, who knew the enormity of sin. Those, who like the tax collector in the temple beat their chests and cry “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” While what Jesus taught began at the foundation of the world, the Word of God had become distorted, trivialized, culturalized, and subject to human opinion rather than maintaining the authority with which God gave it. And the people heard this. Jesus taught with authority. He taught the truth that they had never heard before.

Makarioi

Luke’s version of the Beatitudes is shorter than Matthews account.

Luke 6:20 ESV

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

The theology of glory looks at the checkbook. But not Jesus. Those who are poor in spirit are the ones, who by the power of the Holy Spirit, realize that they are broken people. Sin has destroyed their lives and their hope. They realize that they cannot approach God in the filth of their sin. They realize that there is only one destiny for them, and it is ouai.

But it is in this moment of despair that poorness in spirit is exemplified. Their only hope can be in someone else. Their only hope can be in the mercy of the Lord.

Psalm 34:18 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

I’ve got no where to go but down. But the greatest blessing is that Jesus lifts me up. Jesus forgives my sins. Jesus restores to the poor in spirit the joy of their salvation and upholds them with His free Spirit. Blessed!

Hunger

Those who hold to the theology of glory love this one. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas our food pantry is stocked beyond full, which is a beautiful thing. But come June and July and the shelves are bare. Could there be theology of glory lurking here? You betcha! People are hungry all the time. And, of course, Jesus speaks about feeding the hungry as a work of the church, not of the government. It’s a “Right Hand Kingdom” issue, not a Left hand one. In the Last Judgment Jesus tells the blessed that when when He was hungry the blessed fed him, thirsty and gave Him a drink of water....

Physical hunger is not the only hunger to which Jesus refers here. It is hungering and thirsting for righteousness. The word hunger here means a deep need that must be filled. If one is poor in spirit, one is hungering for Jesus to “feed” him. This is no earthly food. Jesus fills us with His righteousness. That means that this poor-in-spirit, doomed to oi existence is turned around by HIM, not by us. We are the passive receivers of His righteousness, not the active takers. Jesus fills us with His forgiveness, love and salvation.

Weeping

Men don’t cry. It’s a really stupid cultural norm. In working with police officers over the past 30 years, for instance, these are those who are very reluctant to let anyone see them crying. It’s really hard right now, with the death of NYPD officer Simonsen who will be buried this week after being killed by friendly fire in a horrible hold-up situation.

Weeping is no weakness. If we go through a loss and don’t weep, if we short-circuit grief, we will destroy our own lives, neglecting the painful gift that the Lord gives us. We must grieve or we will never be alright. It will alter our personality.

But there are times that we do weep. When sadness or hurt or pain or abandonment or loss leaves us with no recourse. When we cry at times like these, it really does seem that there is no hope, no healing, no peace. But God knows our hearts.

Psalm 103:13–14 ESV

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

The Lord does comfort us in our loss. And this is precisely what the Lord calls the Body of Christ, into which you were baptized, to do:

2 Corinthians 1:4 ESV

who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Persecution

Luke 6:22 ESV

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!

This is the theology of glory verses theology of the cross of which Luther spoke. Evil— hatred toward God and others— is seen as good; and the righteousness that you are given by Jesus Christ through Faith is seen as evil. As we move closer to the end of time the Scriptures assure us that these things will happen more frequently and more intensively until it appears that evil has conquered. But the Lord assures us that when you go through suffering like this you are blessed.

Blessed because you’re marked with the blood. Blessed because you are the Lord’s. Blessed because while Satan may kill the body, he cannot kill the soul. Blessed because

Isaiah 43:1–3 ESV

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Rejoice in that Day and leap for joy! skirao. Even when the world throws its worst at you it cannot harm you. You are already dead to the world. Heaven is yours. The Kingdom of God has claimed you already.

The Woes

The woes are helpful here because they show the opposite what it means to be blessed. But they are very real for those to whom they descend upon. Woe implies lost forever in hell. That’s what happens to those who call evil good and good evil. That’s the destiny of those who are rich in their own minds and have no need for God or a Savior. That’s what is going to happen to those who think they are full of their own righteousness, or who refuse to be comforted in their grief, or who persecute the Church of God. Hardness of heart, not lack of doing, is what becomes their demise.

Full Circle

Jesus is teaching us something never grasped by man before. He shows us that the way to heavenly riches is in poverty of spirit, the way to righteousness is in recognizing the lack of it in our lives, the way to consolation is through looking to Jesus and bearing each others burdens, and the way to life is through the death of the Cross. So Rejoice and leap for joy.