Same, but Different

SAME, BUT DIFFERENT Luke 6:17-23 March 7, 2021 OK, finish this sentence for me - 'Love God, and ...' Thank you. I don't know how many times I have spoken those words from this pulpit. Jesus says all of our faith, and all of the Bible is summed up in the 2 commandments; Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. And, love your neighbor as yourself. Twenty-eight years ago I boiled that down to Love God and be nice to people. And, as often as I can, I work that into my sermons. Hopefully, never the same way twice. But, I do recycle. When you find something that communicates an important truth, you don't just use it once - and hope people remember - and then move on, never to say those words again. You keep saying the truth. And, I do that, because Jesus did that.1 From about 1950 through 1990 it became very popular in seminaries around the world to criticize the authenticity of the Gospels. First it was Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not written by Matthew, or Mark, or Luke, or John. Someone else wrote them. Of course, that can't be proven, or disproven. Next was - Jesus didn't say, what the Gospels say he said. Hundreds of years after Jesus the church made up what Jesus said. Critics justified this belief because in different Gospels the words of Jesus are different. They're close, but they're different. Critics felt, if the Bible were actually quoting Jesus, the words would be exactly the same all the time. And, my response to that is - bunk! Jesus recycled. We know he recycled parables and used them in different ways for different crowds. Depending on who he was talking to he might use the exact same parable to make a different point. Or, he might slightly alter the parable to connect with this specific audience. Today's text is a perfect example. Today we read the Lukan beatitudes. Most of you are very familiar with the beatitudes from Matthew. They are the most popular. The beatitudes from Luke are similar, but different. Jesus recycled. Today's pericope takes place roughly one year into Jesus' ministry. It's been about one year since his baptism. He spent 6 months in the southern part of Israel, preaching in Judea. He didn't really catch on. But, he did form the relationship with Peter, Andrew, James, and John which would permeate the rest of his ministry. He went back to Galilee and spent 6 months in Capernaum; either living with, or near, Peter. And, in Galilee, his message is well received. The people in the south looked down on the people in the north. They considered them inferior Jews. So, Jesus' message that God loves everyone - even Galileans - really resonates. His message is so popular the crowds have begun to grow huge each time he makes a public preaching appearance. He definitely has hundreds of people following him. Some of the passages indicate thousands in attendance.2 He has so many followers that the church headquarters in Jerusalem has taken notice. They assign Pharisees and church officials to follow Jesus, and take notes each time he preaches. Collect information which will allow us to prosecute him when the time is right. It's not just the size of the crowds that disturbs the church. They are bothered by who comes.3 Today, Luke tells us there were lots of people from Galilee; northern Israel. But, there was also a sizeable group from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is both the religious and cultural center of Israel. The people of Jerusalem are supposed to be too educated, and too sophisticated to be lured by this charlatan Rabbi. That's very bothersome. Not only that, but people from Tyre and Sidon are there. Those are cities in a whole different country. Jesus has foreigners coming to listen. That's never good. We hate foreigners. They are filthy, disgusting sinners. And, God hates foreigners. There's nothing good about a preacher who brings the riff raff to town. Now, we can understand these huge crowds because of miracle healing. You have leprosy or some other incurable disease? Come see Jesus. Are you paralyzed? Come see Jesus. Are you insane, or possessed by a demon? Come see Jesus. No wonder people are coming from all over the world. Except, in today's text Luke shares something very important. Today, he tells us they were coming primarily to hear Jesus preach. After that, many were coming for healing. But, most of the people are following Jesus because of his message - God loves everyone. That's a big deal. So, not a surprise the official church is concerned. Every time Jesus goes out in public he has hundreds to thousands of followers. So, he goes up on a mountain, by himself, to pray. He spends the entire night in prayer. When he comes down, he separates 12 of the Disciples away from the others. And, he gives them a new designation. They are now Apostles. Most Rabbi's limited their disciples to 12. Jesus is not restricting his disciples. He has thousands of disciples. But, he will have something other Rabbis do not - 12 Apostles. Jesus now delivers a sermon to these brand new Apostles. He allows everyone to listen in. Doesn't matter whether you are a bonified disciple, or a miracle seeker from Jerusalem, or a Gentile foreigner. Everyone gets to listen in. But, the message is primarily for the 12.4 This is called the Sermon on the Plain. It is not the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew. They are different sermons. They both have beatitudes. But, they are entirely different sermons, to entirely different crowds. Because this message focuses on those who would follow Jesus closely, this sermon is particularly relevant to you and me. We get the word 'beatitude' from the word 'blessed'. Jesus is going to pronounce 4 blessings on the Apostles - 4 beatitudes. When Luke writes in Greek he uses the word makariōs.5 And, that's a difficult word to translate into English. It does not mean happy. It does not mean you should be happy about your situation. It does mean, that your situation may indicate God has paid special attention to you. You should be joyful because God has focused his attention on you. God has put you in the situation you are now in. Unfortunately, your current situation may be very, very unpleasant. So, a beatitude encourages you to feel joy, not because of what is happening, but because God caused it to happen. The Apostles should feel joy because they were chosen by God. But, being chosen will not result in an easy and happy life. In Matthew Jesus says - blessed are those who are poor in spirit. It's a religious situation. Blessed are people who know they need more God in their lives. Today, in Luke, Jesus says to the Apostles - blessed are those who are poor. And, he means exactly that. It is a blessing to be broke, busted, bankrupt, and out of money. And, he's telling the Apostles that is exactly where they are headed if they follow him. They will not be rich. They will be poor. But, it's a poverty chosen for them by God. Now, how can that be a good deal? Later in Luke, Jesus will say it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to get into Heaven. Money leads us away from God. We begin to worship money, and not God. So, if eternity in Heaven is important to you - poverty is a blessing. It keeps you focused on what is really important. In Matthew Jesus says - blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. It's a religious situation. Blessed are the people who are tired of being sinners, and want to live their lives as an offering to God. In Luke, Jesus says to the Apostles - blessed are you who are hungry now. He's talking about not having enough to eat. Not being able to sleep at night because you are so hungry. And, he's promising hunger to the Apostles. How can that be a good deal? Instead of working for their meals, the Apostles will learn to trust God to provide. Don't worry about lunch. God will find lunch and bring it to us. Believe. How powerful is your faith when you stop chasing what you want, and long for what God gives? In Matthew Jesus says - blessed are those who cry for their sin. It's a religious situation. In Luke, Jesus says to the Apostles - blessed are you who are crying right now. Crying because the world is an unfair place, and we treat each other horribly. And, he's promising tears to the Apostles. How can that be a good deal? Starting a new church is hard. They will be deemed illegal by the Romans. They will be hunted, persecuted, and murdered by the Hebrews. And, it would be easy to give up. It would be easy to tell God - this is just too hard. Unless, you actually love your neighbor. Unless it breaks your heart to see injustice. If seeing cruelty brings you to tears, maybe you have what it takes to keep on going, and start a new church. Jesus says to the Apostles - you are all excited about being chosen special. You are not part of the thousands. You are the 12. But, you need to understand where this blessing will take you.6 In Matthew, Jesus says - blessed are those who are persecuted for doing what is right. It's a religious situation. Following all of God's rules is hard. It puts you in conflict with the majority of your society. And, that causes a type of suffering which challenges your faith. Is it worth being religious? In Luke, Jesus says to the Apostles - blessed are you when people hate you, and exclude you, and mock you, and curse you as evil, just because you follow me. Jesus promises the Apostles pain and suffering, just because they follow him. Blessed are you when they throw you off the temple wall, and beat you to death with sticks; James. Blessed are you when they crucify you upside down; Peter. Blessed are you when they run you through with a spear while you're sleeping; Matthew. Blessed are you when they stone you, and your daughters; Thomas. Blessed are you when they cut off your head with an axe; Paul. This isn't religious. This is as real as it gets. But, look what they did. Look what they did for God. Two thousand years later we are still in awe of them. Being poor, and hungry, and weeping, and suffering produces 12 men who changed the world. This last week at the Dollar General in Ponder a woman was standing in line, waiting to check out, with an 8 or 9 year old boy, and a toddler. The toddler was crying and fussing and very unhappy. He was making everyone else in the store unhappy. The woman opened a package of glow sticks and handed one to the toddler. He immediately stopped crying, and was happy to wave the stick, and whack his older brother with it. Finally, the older brother took the glowstick away from the toddler, who immediately screeched and screamed. The older brother snapped the glowstick, so it began to glow with an intense light. He gave it back to the toddler. Now, the toddler is twice as happy as he was before. And, the older brother says, "I'm sorry I had to take it from you. And, I'm sorry I had to break it. But, it's the only way you could see how good it is." Are you poor? Are you hungry? Are you weeping? Do you feel like life is an unending struggle filled with suffering? I'm sorry God had to bless you like that. I'm sorry you have to endure these hardships. But, sometimes, it's the only way you can see what life is supposed to be. It's the only way to keep you focused on your real goal. Sometimes we need to be broken to see how beautiful to God we really are. 1 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1614. 2 Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 564. 3 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 1755. 4 Julia Van Den Brink, "Luke's Beatitudes and Woes: Are They Covenant Blessings and Curses?" Stimulus, 23 no. 3 (November 2016), 12-17. 5 James W. Thompson, "The Background and Function of the Beatitudes in Matthew and Luke," Restoration Quarterly, 41 no. 2 (1999), 109-116. 6 Sproul, 1614. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2