All Are Blessed

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Revised Common Lectionary Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Old Testament Jeremiah 17:5–10

Psalm Psalm 1

New Testament 1 Corinthians 15:12–20

Gospel Luke 6:17–26

Psalm 1 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

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.

Matthew 5:2–11 ESV

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

If you like to see everything in black and white, yes or no, cats or dogs, these passages are both appealing and dangerous. If you like nuance and gray area, they are troubling and hard to deal with.

From Presbyterian Outlook: Clearly, I am looking for nuance, gray area, the ability to add my own, more comfortable interpretation to these texts. But what if I set that temptation aside and, as those medieval clerics did, start with the literal interpretation of the text, the simple reading, the most straightforward understanding. What would that be?

Put your trust in God. Question your certainty about yourself, your abilities, power, wisdom and strength. Practice a good dose of humility. God provides, sustains, gives the growth.

Do not equate earthly success with divine approval. That means setting aside the prosperity gospel. That means we can't assume that those who are suffering are a) being punished by God b) deserve their plight c) are in such dire straights because of something they have done. That interpretation would be counter to the Word of God.

It’s not about the way the world thinks things work. And Luke doesn’t sugar coat things the way Matthew does. In Matthew’s beatitudes, he says blessed are the poor in spirit and blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, while Luke simply says, “Blessed are the poor and the hungry.”

All are Blessed

Three weeks from today, Martha, Tom, and I will be packed and heading out for Rwanda to meet with church leaders to learn about forgiveness. In 1994, Rwanda was the site of what is undoubtedly one of the worst genocides in history. Around a million people were killed in 100 days because of their ethnic identity. Pray for us, because it’s going to be intense. We won’t come back to you the same Charissa, Martha, and Tom that we left as.

One of the things that I both love and hate about these Peacemaking study trips is that they confront you head on with the pain and injustice in the world. We’ve started our reading and group reflection in preparation for Rwanda, and it’s intense. I was sort of prepared for that this time, having had similar readings to do for the Israel/Palestine trip last year. If you’re thinking of joining me for one of these trips next year, get your reading glasses out. These aren’t “we’re gonna build a school” kind of mission trips, but neither are they just group tours to go site-seeing.

The book I’m currently reading is full of interviews with Hutu soldiers talking about the mobs they participated in to kill innocent Tutsi neighbors. The book I read before this is stories of forgiveness - Tutsi survivors reaching out and forgiving repentant attackers who had killed their friends and family. It’s based on the documentary “As We Forgive” which I highly recommend to all of you to watch as you’re praying for the team. This the sort of stuff that you have to read and watch in little pieces because it’s just too intense to take in at once.

As far as I can tell, the biggest catalyst in all of this was the wealthy, privileged colonizers coming in, taking advantage of and misunderstanding the local people, then just. . . leaving. It’s a similar story in other parts of the world too - maybe not as recent, or as consolidated in a tiny place and time, but it’s happened in many places around the world.

It’s interesting, because for a long time, mission trip was associated with humanitarian aid or spreading the gospel, but the world has changed a great deal since the days of the missionary heroes I read about and looked up to as a kid. (Again - I know . . . I was a weird kid.) Today, there are still many places that need humanitarian aid, but there are more effective ways of providing that than going to build a house for someone. And most of the places in the world that are the least in need of humanitarian aid are the ones that are the most in need of the gospel. So what does that mean for mission today? It means that it’s pretty darned important for us to go learn from others in different places and bring it back here to spread the gospel in our own time and place where it is becoming less and less a part of our cultural narrative. And according to Luke, we have a great deal to learn from those who are in the darkest of worldly circumstances.

There will never be a shortage of places to explore on these learning trips, because there are always places in the world that are plagued with war and poverty. And not just poverty, but POVERTY. The 32 hours between meals, less than $2/day income, no clean water kind of poverty. This is not to poo-poo the poverty and financial inequality we see in our own part of the world, but rather to put into perspective that this is what Jesus is talking about when he says “poor” in the context of this passage. This is the sort of poverty that we are confronted with on these trips. And as difficult as it is, it’s so important for us in the West to acknowledge that struggle and to meet people in those places and get to know them because they know God’s blessing in ways we will always struggle to understand.

It’s important for us to understand that we, sitting here in our warm church building in our nice clothes, having driven here or gotten a ride here in a warm car or bus (or maybe just walked a block or two in a warm coat), are solidly among those Jesus is warning in this passage. “Woe” can be a hard word to contend with, especially when we know it’s aimed at us. We like to gloss over or soften the blow of passage like this in our location in the world. We look at the “Blessed are” section of the passage and sweep quickly through the “Woe to”. We want to know that when the rug is swept out from under us entirely, God will be there, but we don’t want to confront the idea that God does not ask for or even accept the half-heartedness that comes from not having to rely on God as much as the poor and hungry do.

“Woe” can be a hard word to contend with. We like to gloss over or soften the blow of passage like this in our location int he world because we are among those that Jesus is warning in this passage.

The Message Chapter 6

But it’s trouble ahead if you think you have it made.

What you have is all you’ll ever get.

25 And it’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself.

Your self will not satisfy you for long.

And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games.

There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it.

26 “There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.

You tell you kid not to touch a hot stove, but you’re not the one who actually burns them.

“Christians are to have a Jesus-first agenda. Not country first. Not family first. Not wealth first. Not fame first. Not power first. Not security first. Not safety first. Jesus takes priority and all else comes after our loyalty, allegiance and service to him. The Bible is clear about this truth.” -https://pres-outlook.org/2019/02/my-jesus-first-agenda/?fbclid=IwAR0h7L4YjxccAwDXHFscc5wxBET5S5bGA6Wm0d_P2Ttpd_qS6a2FEHiZt6Y

God does not ask for half-heartedness. God does not even accept half-heartedness.

From Pres Outlook article: “Christians are to have a Jesus-first agenda. Not country first. Not family first. Not wealth first. Not fame first. Not power first. Not security first. Not safety first. Jesus takes priority and all else comes after our loyalty, allegiance and service to him. The Bible is clear about this truth.”

There is a reason we tend to use Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes far more often than Luke’s. Matthew is much gentler. Luke doesn’t sugar coat anything and it makes it really uncomfortable for us sitting here very far away from no clean water, famine level, refugee type poverty and strife. Matthew and Luke are doing a bit of a good cop, bad cop routine with the gospel here and we’d rather talk to the good cop. In Matthew’s beatitudes, he says blessed are the poor in spirit and blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, while Luke simply says, “Blessed are the poor and the hungry.”

There is a reason we tend to use Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes far more often than Luke’s. Matthew is much gentler. Luke doesn’t sugar coat anything. Matthew and Luke are doing a bit of a good cop, bad cop routine with the gospel here. In Matthew’s beatitudes, he says blessed are the poor in spirit and blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, while Luke simply says, “Blessed are the poor and the hungry.”

Put your trust in God. Question your certainty about yourself, your abilities, power, wisdom and strength. Practice a good dose of humility. God provides, sustains, gives the growth.

So which is it?

It’s fun for me sometimes to other hear people recap my sermon. Because some people will connect to exactly the point I thought I was making, while others will find one line I didn’t even think much about and be totally blown out of the water by it. That’s how you know this is the Holy Spirit’s work and not mine. Things I don’t even remember writing or saying will stick with people. Two people can hear the exact same sermon and come away with completely different summaries of it. And I can often hear in these summaries what it is that God is working on in each of those people because of the way they heard it.

This is what’s happening in Matthew and Luke when we see these very different recaps of the Beatitudes. Matthew and Luke don’t even agree on if Jesus said them before or after coming off the mountain. In Matthew, Jesus is still on the mountain, but in Luke, they come down into the plain first. Matthew puts the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, while Luke includes them in the Sermon on the Plain. So of course, when they are writing their impressions and summaries of the sermon, they are a little different. Matthew and Luke are two different people who were in two different places in their relationship with Jesus when they heard this, as well as when they wrote it down (which were almost certainly not even remotely at the same).

But, different as they are, they are both important in gaining a fuller picture of what Jesus was saying here.

Grace in the Text

God is not punishing those who have in this lifetime and don’t have to rely on God at the bottom of the barrel. God is not punishing those who are half hearted because we can be. God is warning us. You tell you kid not to touch a hot stove, but you’re not the one who actually burns them. “If you touch the stove, you’ll get burned.” is not a parent’s way of saying they will hurt the child for touching the stove, it’s the parent’s way of trying to help the child avoid pain.

Jesus is saying that God wants you to seek God’s Kingdom with EVERYTHING you have. God wants you to come to the banquet table ready to eat - don’t ruin your dinner! God wants you to know the power of real joy! And those things are easier when the world has taken away all the obstacles, all the things that distract you. When you have enough in life, it’s harder to find the motivation to set it aside to seek God’s Kingdom. It’s harder to understand the meaning of the heavenly feast when you already have enough to eat now. If things are happy for you now, it’s harder to understand the power of the party to come.

The Message Chapter 6

You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all.

God’s kingdom is there for the finding.

You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry.

Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.

You’re blessed when the tears flow freely.

Joy comes with the morning.

God does not bless people because they are poor, but rather it’s not until you’ve lost it all that you can really really understand the weight of what Jesus is offering. Jesus’ feast it not offered only to those who are hungry now, but they understand the power of it even more. The joy of heaven isn’t only for those who struggle now, but they are going to have a far easier time understanding it.

We are not all able to travel the world with Presbyterian Peacemaking. There are physical and circumstantial limitations for sure, but we all have a call to learn and grow and to seek God in the unlikely places. Not just sometimes, but as a regular spiritual practice - a built in part of our life.

While we sometimes like to think of extreme poverty only during times of special offerings and we prefer to read Matthew’s slightly more spiritualized beatitudes, it is in that human connection and allowing ourselves to be exposed to that discomfort that we are able to draw closer to one another and to God. While it is difficult to read books and articles about war and poverty and genocide and suffering, it is in understanding the depths of woe on earth that we can begin to understand the heights of compassion given to us in Jesus. Without knowing the depths of suffering that happened in Rwanda in 1994, it is impossible to even begin to understand the ridiculous grace seen in the forgiveness of those who attacked. It’s hard to spend time with those who suffer or have suffered greatly, but it is in knowing their faith and passion that we can begin to see what seeking God with all we have really is.

Grace in the World

Last week, I left you with a challenge in regards to fishing. I said to the leadership to be willing to fish at what others think is the wrong time of day and I asked everyone else to trust the church leadership’s fishing strategies. Keep doing that.

But here is this week’s new challenge - it’s an addition, not a replacement:

(I gave a version this same challenge to the elders on both sessions over the past two weeks as well.) Go learn about someone new and different from you. Go find some stories of faith in the midst of adversity. Go watch “As We Forgive” or read about Corrie Ten Boom. Pick a place in the world that you don’t know much about and read about the people there and what they have been through. Maybe you have Jewish grandparents like I do - talk to them or the family historian about what they went through to survive in Poland in the 1930’s and 40’s. Perhaps you have a tiny bug in the back of your mind nagging you about going on a peacemaking trip in 2020. Go learn about one of the trips and the people you’d be interacting with on that trip (Central American migrants, Palestinian refugees, or those affected by the slave trade in the Phillippines) Think about what Jesus’ message of freedom and joy and plenty means in the light of what you learn. This is what it means to grow closer to God by growing closer to one another, dear ones. This is where those who Luke warns are able to find the blessings of finding the Kingdom, eating at the banquet, and joy in the morning.

Are you a person who likes clear, black-and-white instructions, or would you rather have room for interpretation?

As We Forgive for purchase (dvd or digital) or rental (digital) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/As-Forgive-Narration-Mia-Farrow/dp/B002RBHDFU

Do you read these texts as either/or texts? Why or why not?

Books by and about Corrie ten Boom: https://www.amazon.com/Corrie-Ten-Boom/e/B000APFFSC

When have you conflated success with God's blessing?

Upcoming Peacemaking trips:

When have you conflated suffering with God's judgment?

https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/peacemaking/travel_study/rwanda-reconciliation/

If you had to summarize these texts in one sentence what would it be?

https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/peacemaking/mosaic/

Compare Luke's Sermon on the Plain with Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. What differences do you notice in the beatitudes? What do you make of those differences?

Matthew 5:2–11 ESV

7. When do you find it challenging to trust God?

When have you been tempted to take matters into your own hands and trust yourself? What happened?

8. When have you been tempted to take matters into your own hands and trust yourself? What happened?

9. If God tests the mind and searches the heart, what do you think God discovers in your mind and heart?

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All Are Blessed

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All are Blessed

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Grace in the World