Sermon Tone Analysis

Epiphany 6

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.

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.

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.