Luke 6:17-26--Desperate Preacher's Site, lectionary text and commentary

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Scripture Text (NRSV)

Luke 6:17-26

6:17 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.

6:18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

6:19 And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

6:20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

6:21 Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

6:22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

6:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

6:24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

6:25 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.

6:26 Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Comments:

Mae West once observed, "I've been poor, and I've been rich. Believe me, rich is better." Most of us have never viewed poverty or powerlessness as desirable states of being. It was no different in Jesus' time when he spoke these words we refer to as the Beatitudes. What could be good news about poverty, hunger, or being hated? Moreover, Jesus concludes these verses with a series of woes: woe to those who are rich, who are full, who are laughing, for they will have already received their consolation. How did Jesus' listeners receive his words, and how do we receive them now?
Over and over again, Jesus' message to his listeners is one of God's astounding promises to those who listen and believe. For many who were listening to Jesus, these words must have been a word of surprising mercy, but for others they must have seemed uncompromisingly harsh. Jesus speaks of God's great reversal of expectation in these verses of blessing and woe. Considering that the vast majority of people in the ancient world were poor, these words of grace must have provided great hope.
How do we hear these words today? Most of the world continues to live in great poverty. The Beatitudes carry with them the messages of both blessing and call to action as powerfully today as they did 2000 years ago. Grounded in them, we find strength to bless and heal and to participate in the vision Jesus offers of a world of abundance, joy, and mercy for all.

After choosing his twelve apostles, Jesus teaches a crowd of followers about the nature and demands of discipleship. He begins his great sermon with surprising statements about who is truly blessed in the eyes of God.
Many would say that nothing is more inevitable than death. But St. Paul contends that the resurrectionfrom death is equally certain. The greatest epiphany is the resurrection of our Lord. Perhaps the next best will be our own—or that of a loved one.
The lack of such hope is, for Christians, unthinkable. As Paul said, "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact..." (1 Cor 15.19). In fact, as Jesus himself promised, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh" (Lk 6.21).
The resurrection from the dead, wonderful as it is and will be, does not stand alone. It represents the ultimate point in the life of faith, a life that is summarized in Jesus' beatitudes. "Blessed are you who are poor, ... who are hungry now." God's people are continually being raised from such little deaths and reassured of their citizenship in the kingdom of God.
If we fail to pay enough attention to such words of blessing, perhaps it is because we are aware of the associated woes, "Woe to you who are rich, ... who are full now." Those bring God's care for the poor into sharp relief. Or perhaps, childishly, we simply want to wish away realities like poverty, hunger, death. As poet Edna St. Vincent Millay put it,
Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age / The child is grown, and puts away childish things. / Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies. / Nobody that matters, that is. (From "Childhood Is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies")
But people do die, and suffer from poverty and hunger. In faith we look to the final resurrection that will end all such sorrow. Until then, we "who trust in the Lord ... shall be like a tree ... [that] does not cease to bear fruit" (Jer 17.7-8).

I just came from Cuba, the only ones who are poor are those without God in their life. Anything they get they do not see as charity, but as God answering prayer. It is poverty of the Spirit that kills. Nancy-Wi

Every minute the world spends $700,000 on war while 30 children die from hunger and inadequate healthcare. Poverty kills! Ask these parents! Poverty of Spirit in "Christian" countries like ours, countries who take the majority of the world's natural resources and give very little in return, directly contribute to the other, more deadly, poverty! curbside prophet in NY

Luke saw Jesus as a great physician for all the sphere of life: spiritual, physical, and emotional. The commoners were attracted to Jesus because of their felt-needs; but toward the disciples, Jesus addressed a deeper-need, an assurance that God will triumph at the end.
What interesting is Jesus didn't promise that things will get better in this life, instead in v.22 he outlined the cost of discipleship, to willing to endure persecution and hardship on the account of Him (the Greek here are aorist subjunctives "might hate you", "might exclude you", "might revile you", "might throw out your name as evil", so persecution is not a certain destination for all Christians by any mean.)
Luke also reversed the coin with the series of "Woes" - the first woe of riches, the rich "have already received" their "consolation", which implied they are not going to get any additional comfort beside their riches (I wonder why Jesus didn't say, "for you will be poor").
The tough part is the hermeneutical one. Obviously Luke recorded Jesus's speech as addressing societal context (there is no wiggle room for "the poor in spirit" as in Matthew). Perhaps, we can escape the spectrums of "Blessed" or "Woe" by getting into the "middle class" neutral. But was that the intention of the text? No, the text cause us to examine ourselves, to be encouraged if we in the rough spots, and to be cautious if we are in the soft spots. What the text did, is to cast our vision forward, correcting our courses and attitudes for our lives.
All that was addressing to the crowd of disciples. As contrast to the great multitude of people who came to Jesus. So the implication is clear: that we can come to Jesus to meet the felt-needs in lives; but to be his disciples we need to see where we are, and constantly re-adjust our courses and attitudes according to Him.
Coho, Midway City.

sermon on the Mount on a level place? Nancy-Wi

OOOOPS! I should have read more carefully, Guess a nap is in order. Blessing and Woes. I am still intrigued with the idea that Jesus was on the same level with all of them. The level playing field, leveling with you, level surfaces, level meaning honest disclosure. Maybe I will level with the congregation and they will level me. Enough! Nancy-Wi

In Eric Law's "The Wolf Shall dwell with the Lamb, he has developed a wonderful explanation concerning the difference between Jesus ministry to the powerful(rich)and Jesus ministry to the powerless(poor). If I conceive it right, then in a given situation one can determine wether one is in a powerful or powerless position, and what Christ message to you should be at that time. I have found it most helpful.
Shalom

Bammamma

Is this really the time to be talking about the cost of war vs. dying children? There is no call to repentance here. The rich can give away all they have to help starving dying children, but they are not going to receive any consolation in the kingdom. The good news here is that those who have no consolation now, will receive it later on. I am having trouble thinking how to preach this pie in the sky theology when people want practical answers for today. PH in OH

Blessed are you when you are able to look beyond the limitations and pains of your humanity and see that which is eternal.
I'm dealing with a guy in the church who was very reluctantly divorced 3 years ago - still wears his wedding ring, still calls her his wife. He has health problems, is out of serious work so cannot help support his children, has legal problems with his driver's license and an impounded car he can't afford to rescue, he's got clinical depression, he's got about every problem you can point to. He has been shunned by many for being a bore. He has been shunned for others for "talking God". He lives an isolated, sparse existence, while everyone around him seems to have an abundance of blessings. Yet, through it all, he sees the power of God to lead him into tomorrow. He is centered more in Jesus than he is in his earthly concerns, and it amazes me sometimes. His faith has not wavered for a moment, and he proclaims a Good and Faithful and Loving God at every turn.
In the one way that counts, he is the most blessed among us.
I wish I could use him for an example in my sermon, but he'll be sitting right there.
KHC

Thought I had seen everything form those coming to our church asking for some kind of assistance (besides spiritual) until this past Wednesday. A man comes into my office, and he begins by saying that I probably have other things to do than to really help somebody. So I ask him what he wants, and he tells me that he sold some land several years ago, and he wants someone to help him buy it back. I sak him how much land it is, and it's a hundred acres, and it;s worth at least $250,000!
What he wants to do is to contact Oprah Winfrey, and see if she will buy his land back for him. I let him call, and the poeple at the Oprah Winfrey show (wisely) pretty much ignore him. They tell him to try e-mail, and of course, he doesn't have a computer or a phone. So. I e-mail Oprah, all the while telling him that he just needs to forget about this and move forward. he says that he can't, and that it's just worrying him so much. Did I mention that he sold this land in 1982?
When you think you need something more than you need to know God's love, when you let any possession, big or small, run your life you are in big trouble. This may not be as much of a temptation for the poor as it is for the rest of us (and probably everyone on this site is better off than 99% of the world, so what does this passage have to say to us North Americans?)
early thoughts
revgilmer in texarkana

I'm thinking about this one particular guy in my church. He can be a pretty good guy, but he can also be so negative! And it puts me in mind of the people who think they're poor when they're not.
This text can be twisted to apply to ourselves no matter what!
This particular man has said many times, "Why won't the Conference help us little churches out instead of starting new ones?" Well, this is also the guy who had a perfect opportunity to take some training on Saturday (I was paying tuition for anyone who wanted to go) and just acted disgusted at the whole prospect, as if "why won't they help us instead of giving us more work?" This is the guy who doesn't think getting appointed a turn-around pastor is "help." What about those who insist on being in this kind of poverty? No amount of help is going to help because he (and thus, many in the congregation) doesn't see the riches of the resources right in front of his nose!
I see the resources as wealth, and yet all he can see is the poverty.
Maybe it really is as simple as "glass half full" vs. "glass half empty!" If we see life optimistically, we'll see resources. If we see life bitterly we'll see poverty and helplessness even when they're not there.
Sally in GA

Oh - and this woman who lives in a BIIIIGGG house who gave us a tour and all the while saying, "I'm so poor!" Three floors, something like 6 bedrooms, a living room, den, office, and work-out room, plus a den downstairs... you get the idea!
Sally

Dear Sally in GA,
We're all with you. I have the brother and sister of your guy and gal in my church. The irony is those like them rail at the welfare system we have set up in our country yet they asking for spiritual welfare to be applied to them.
Mike in Sunshine

Is there an antonym for beatitude? My dictionary says it is a state of bliss. Does that mean the woe part of Luke is the Woe+attitude=Woeattitude? Cursed+attitude=cursedattitude? Bet we don't quote those to make ourselves feel good.
Grace and peace, Mike in Sunshine

Woetitude. Love it!
There is a psychological term that I can't remember-dysmorphic body image, or something similar to that - where people look in a mirror and "see" what is not there. Rail-thin young girls see nothing but fat, and areas to be improved. The opposite is true going the other direction, too - overweight people just not seeing the real body, but seeing the buff body of youth staring back. The gorgeous see that little bump on the nose and run to the plastic surgeon. Etc.
We often have a dysmorphic view of what makes us happy. We don't see what's real because we're focused on what we think we see. We think we see that the world affords us our greatest blessings.
As several have pointed out, it's all perspective. The kid who got all the loot at Christmas is most likely dissatisfied with it by New Year's. But the kid who got one toy truck plays with it happily for a long time. The person with the huge home (as Sally posted) is not happy with the home, but with the attention it garners. Give her a chance to get a swimming pool and a cabana put in next summer, she'll be happy all over again, until she can't live without a tennis court. It's a more-is-not-enough attitude. Or woetitude, as Mike brilliantly suggested. We feel impoverished because none of it satisfies what we are looking for - our sense of purpose and a firm, unshakable knowledge of who we are as people.
People who are impossible to satisfy are just that. Impossible to satisfy. You can't do it. Even if you give them exactly what they want, they'll want more next time. They are bottomless pits of need, even though they are wallowing in abundance.
Jesus knew that and said "Blessed are you when you truly are in need, for you CAN be filled".
Monday musings....
KHC

"Blessed are those who trust in the Lord...they shall be like a tree planted by water..."
I had never noticed it before, but in the middle of our Luke text for today - verse 19 - that people were trying to touch Jesus because the power was going out from him and healing all of them. Just like a thirsty plant near water.
Tigger in MN

Barabara Brown Taylor in her sermon "God's Ferris Wheel" says something about this passage that I find rather interesting: Paraphrased: "The Beatitudes describe different types of people ... Jesus hopes people will recognize themselves as one or another ... the promise to both is that the way things are is not the way things will always be. We often equate the blessing and woes with reward and punishment, however the beatitudes do not tell us what to do, but who we are and who Jesus is." I, like most of you, would like to somehow bring to reality the disproportion of wealth and poverty in the world. Is that not the obvious way to go with this passage? However, people might be more inclined to tune out and say, "Here goes the pastor guilting us once again?" Unlike Matthew, Luke truly is dealing with the physical aspect of life and not so much the spiritual. I don't think Jesus was trying to guilt the rich, just show them that their current reality would not be the only reality they might ever know. Will we concentrate on the temporal world or concentrate on the eternal world? Which is more important according to this scripture? I am still struggling this Monday afternoon on what God wants to speak through me. I am going to continue to delve deeper into this text and look forward to your conversation. GLN

I've been thinking about the paradox of scripture. Blessed are you who are hungry now... Blessed are you who when people hate you... Yesterday, I was on a plane coming back from Washington DC. I hadn't had an experience like this on a plane in a while. There was soooo muuuuuuuuuuccccccccccchhhh turbulence. Yikes! My stomach was turning. The plane was not only shaking, turbulence-like, but we were hitting air pockets, which was giving us a feeling of free-falling. This took place for about 15 minutes, until the pilot was able to get us out of the wind.
I was praying to God for safety. I was praying for the people in my life who were not with me. We were not sure if this was to be our last plane ride. It felt that bad.
When I prayed with the scriptures again last night, I was thinking that even though God's blessings are in our lives, in our midst always; we don't always notice them with intensity. It is in the difficult or scary times, that we naturally and more intensely connect with God. In the difficult times there is one focus. Maybe, that's why Jesus calls us Blessed-- because it is an opportunity to experience God more deeply and to have a single focus.
When life is wonderful, we just go one with our day. I am not saying we are not focused on God, but there isn't that extreme emotion of needing God. Maybe, that's why Jesus tells us we will mourn and weep for we missed God's blessings in our midst.

I like that connection to "level place" "levelling with one another"..."getting levelled". We're planning for a morning focussed on communion and foot washing, followed by a potluck meal and an annual business meeting. I've been working at casting this entire day's events as a collective "communion" where the elements and the footwashing serve as appetizers and reminders for the real-deal of banquet and service that is the life of the church and the image of God's kingdom. Now, the point of Jesus' sermon 'on the level' becomes a piece for me to work both on the lections and on the particular agenda of our day.
thanks Nancy!
Perry in Kitchner/Waterloo ONtario

This is my first posting at this site. I really enjoy all your comments and am very glad you all are regularly posting.
This comment isn't about this week's readings but a response to last week's uninformed discussion of AA. Besides being a theolgy student and lay reader [preacher] in the Anglican Church of Canada, I am an alcoholic and grateful member of AA. My dry date is July 26, 1994.
Please rest assured that AA is a spiritual program and only a spiritual program. There is no optional spiritual side - there only is a dependence on a Higher Power. After we admit powerlessness [Step 1], we admit we need a power greater than ourselves to return us to sanity [Step 2]. Step 3 is "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives to God, as we understood Him." God is brought into the picture very quickly and does not leave the picture.
While us Christians have a common idea of God, at least in the person of Christ, the "God as we understood Him," allows all those fallen away Christians, athetists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Wikans, etc. to enter into the AA program of recovery. We do not tell you what or who your Higher Power should be, just that you must have one.
Alcoholics are spiritually sick people with the symptom of the over-consumption of alcohol among other things. We must develop our spirituality to stay sober, heal, and grow. While I was a church goer, and had even started my theology training, it wasn't until I sobered up and started practicing the AA program that I was able to grow spiritually. AA has enhanced my personal Christian life.
The Big Book, "Alcoholics Anonymous", acknowledges that many of us have fallen away from the God of our upbringing, indeed from any God. It encourages us to find a Higher Power that works for us and suggests that our concept of a Higher Power will change and grow as we work the Steps. It also tells us that many of the first 100 that wrote the book found themselves eventually returning to the church of their upbringing and that this is a good thing.
Step 11 is "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out." Can any of you find a fault with this? Isn't it what we all seek to do and encourage others to do?
AA is not a religion and does not support any one religion. But it is a spiritual program and as succh encourages us to do what ever works for us to grow spiritually. Without AA I wouldn't be the useful citizen I am today - in and out of the Church.
In keeping with our Traditions, I will stay anonymous and just give my first name, ann

He looked up at his disciples said "Blessed are you..." Matthew's version (as I recall it)seems more directed at the masses. Lukes version seems more specific, for the disciples. Maybe this is a pep-talk. Maybe they think now that they are insiders, chosen, special, things are going to be better. Jesus tells them no, it will seem like curses but actually be blessings, and woe when things seem easier. He is "levelling" with them (I like that) about the road ahead. 2000 years later the "faithful" still moan at trouble, "Why is God letting this happen to me, or mine?" Blessed ARE you, not 'will be' but 'are', now blessed, for God is with you and for you and utterly faithful, even when our faith falters. GOOD NEWS!!! tom in TN(USA)

Mike in Sunshine - you've got him pegged! I'd stopped short of including his opinions on welfare, but you've got 'em.
*sigh* and love 'em where they're at.
It's just that it's so frustrating that it's hard to keep from the temptation to "holler" at folks. I'll be praying to stay in the positive this week, I can tell! (and I complain about Mr. Negativity)
Sally

I find myself thinking about these texts in an "Us and Them" attitude. Then I look closer and realize that I find myself on both sides of the street.
Perhaps Luther's Saint and Sinner would be a good fit.
RevJohn in Juneau

I've been giving a little thought to the messages from Ann and from RevJohn. How often do we find our churches to be meetings of Saints Anonymous instead of Sinners Anonymous. We forget what it was like before we found Christ and pray that God will save us from what He has blessed us with because it's not enough. At the same time, we can become so self-righteous that we forget that the Church is, at once, Sinners Unanimous and Saints Unanimous, sharers (and therefore also recipients) of both blessings and curses depending on our love or lack thereof. Mike in Soddy Daisy, TN

ann thank you for your insight. I know that some AA members do not feel ok in a church, if they only knew how many are already there now I think that they would feel more at ease in our fellowship. Nancy-WI

"Blessed are those who trust in the Lord...they shall be like a tree planted by water..."
I had never noticed it before but in the middle of our Luke text for today, it said that people were coming up to Jesus because the power was going out from him and healing them. Just like a thirst plant near water.
Tigger in MN This was posted on the Jeremiah site, but I thought others might find it useful too. nancy-Wi

GLN
Thanks for your insight that Jesus is talking about the fact that what we experience now is not all that there is, whether we are in poverty or in comfort
It has been a lot of years, but I still remember the one week when I lived on a pound of baloney, a loaf of white bread, and a jar of mayonaisse. NO, I didn't feel very blessed. Still, I got through it (with a whole lot of help from family and friends). And as much as I hate to admit it, I am stronger for it and much lessprone to judge my worth on material posessions because of that time (which I absolutely do not want to repeat!)
revgilmer in texarkana

KHC, revgilmer, Sally, Mike -
Interesting stories about interesting folks...who seem to mirror back for us who we are and what we are like. And they all seem stuck... The question is: How do these words of Christ help "unstick" us in our stuckness? I think that Coho is on to something with the call to examination of ourselves to get us out of the "middle"...out of where we like to stick ourselves. Thank you for helping me get unstuck as I am just beginning! Karen

My title is "Truth is Stranger than Fiction," and I'll be highlighting the phrase from the epistle, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile ..." Fiction tells us that logically there can't be any such thing as resurrection, but truth says there is. It's fiction that tells us we're helpless, where truth says, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile ..." Fiction says we're defeated, Truth says "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile..."
In a larger context, I'd assess these blessings and woes as addressing the inability of human beings to truly know whether they're blessed or full of woe (unless they're living in faith). We have people who, by any outsider's measurement, are blessed but perceive themselves as helpless. We have people who have plenty of money, nice houses, and enough food on the table yet who view themselves as impoverished. Wealthy folks who know they're blessed ... impoverished folks who feel they're blessed ... you get the idea.
In other words, we're WOE-ful when we're not able to live in the truth of the resurrection - and all that that means (victory and spiritual empowerment). We can't see the truth if we're blinded by our hearts being turned away from the Lord.
I've got people in and out of the office and I'm distracted, but I hope those ramblings made some sense.
Sally in GA

I came back here on a whim this evening. I no longer preach regularly so I follow your conversations less frequently, which is a shame because "desperate preacher's" is a kind of beatitude certainly a blessing.
In front of me I have a translation of the Bible by André Chouraqui who is Jewish and French. His translation of "Makarios" is "en marche" which could I suppose be translated into English as "rise up" or maybe even "get going" or perhaps in the words of the famous soccer - we Brits still call it football :) - anthem "walk on" (and you'll never walk alone...) The beginning of his translation goes something like this: Walk on, the humiliated! Yes it is yours, Elohim's kingdom! Walk on, the hungry of now! Yes you will be fed! Walk on, today's weepers! Yes you will laugh! Walk on, when people hate you, banish you and throw your name out as if it were criminal, because of the Son of Man....
Don't know if this rather inelegant retanslation from the French is of much use to any of you but I can still see a wonderful 86 year lady in my congregation grinning when I used this translation of the beatitudes. Rise up, walk on.... she had just had a second hip replacement and really knew this meaning of beatitude...she had passed on the chouraqui translation to me in the first place too.
Beatitudes really should get us going and not encourage passive acceptance. Maybe that's part of the way to understand the "malattitudes" or curses too - encouragements, blessed encouragements, to rise up against sin, injustice, and walk on...
Enjoy preparing worship in all your places. Blessings Jane in France

Here's a "take" on the blessings and woes we (at least I - ) struggle with. Riches and comfort does not necessarily make one greedy or selfish, and poverty does not necessarily make one virtuous, generous, and kind. Some wealthy people are very generous and humble, and some poor folk are mean, lowdown and greedy. Thus, what we have or do not have is not a major issue - its the relationship we take to it that is important to God. The key thing - the challenge is to be able to put all I have on the table before God - all my $$, possessions, or poverty, and say "God, it is yours. I'll do whatever you wish me to do with it. .... this comes from the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius... an old Jesuit retreat model I went thru as a fairly newly minted Congregational minister a few yrs ago. Jim in CT.

Ann and Nancy in Wi,
Ann, thank you too for your response. A woman in my congregation who is a recovering alcoholic, told me that at the beginning of her becoming sober and being in treatment, had she heard a hardline talk on the higher power being Jesus, she would have tuned out. She needed it to be more general, and then allow her to discover her higher power as she grew more healthy. She was then baptized and is doing so unbelievably well, very centered on Christ.
To Nancy in Wi. Phillip Yancy talked in his book "What's So Amazing About Grace" that he wished the people in the upstairs congregation were as honest in their spirituality and growth, as those downstairs in the AA meetings! He knew that those upstairs were dealing with many of the same issues, and yet, he felt "Church" was happening more at the AA meeting that in the sanctuary. Interesting thought, and probably, sadly true.
Susan in Wa.

Is anyone thinking about reflecting upon Valentine's Day? It is named for a saint and thus became a Christian holiday, so how does it affect how we understand this day? just wandering if you anyone is going to touch it?
RB in CA

"Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon." The crowd was very diverse, and came a distance to hear Jesus to be healed. I guess I am having trouble getting past the first verse. I wonder if they only expected to be healed or if they also knew that Jesus would be preaching? Nancy-Wi

This is a tough text. I struggle with those interpretations that seem to suggest those who are in absolute pain have to wait until the next life to receive blessing.
I can't just seem to put my finger on it, but there seems to be something inordinantly heavy and laden in this passage when we try to apply it to modern western civilisation.
I am not poor. I have a beautiful wife, 5 children, clothes in my wardrobe, a car, a boat, a clothes dryer, a washing machine, a fridge, etc, etc.
And yet I am not happy. I am not happy that people treat each other so abysmally. That there is not the level of intimacy that would suggest that my neighbour even knows I exist. I live my life at such an incredible pace attempting to achieve so much. Expectations that I should do this or that.
The truly poor only have one focus. Where their next meal is coming from. If anyone has ever read "City of Joy" they will get some idea of my thinking here.
I think Jesus saw the incredible trap we fall into, when we attempt to make life comfortable. It then consumes us. It dominates our very existence. Our energy and effort is totally orientated towards avoiding the pain.
The paradox is, that we experience only more pain by trying to avoid it.
These words of Jesus are not easy to hear or reflect on. They explain my condition, but I don't like the solution.
I'm sorry, but I have found this post extremely difficult to write. I have simply written off the top of my head, but I feel that these words convey something of the pain Jesus himself was feeling as he discerned the inner condition of humanity.
ie; A people yearning for a solution, that we would never accept.
Thanks for the space as always. I trust you unravel a great week, and an even better message.
Regards, KGB in Oz

Thank you Jane in France! Wonderful translation and excellent insight. Thanks to GLN for reminding us that a negative approach will raise the defenses of our hearers. The prophet Nathan approached David's exercise of sexual and political power to achieve selfish ends - not with an outright attack -but a story of a Shepherd and a Lamb. If we can engage 'Mr. Negative' and 'Mrs. Miserable' with a picture of the fullness of life that Jesus wants for us - we might be on course to win people over to a reassessment of their attitudes.
One more thing. . .this text does not make poverty a virtue. A hermeneutical approach which purely focuses on physical poverty, hunger, and weeping misses the spiritual dimension to the images of poverty, hunger and sorrow which have clear antecedents in the OT. I'm not suggesting for a moment that we 'spiritualise' Jesus' words BUT rather that we must not fail to ignore that they have a spiritual dimension - ie - the kingdom of God, reward in heaven etc. . .. I. Howard Marshall's "The Gospel of Luke," (a commentary on the Greek text) is very helpful on this point: "It follows that in the message of Jesus the hopes of the poor and the promises of Yahweh to them find fulfilment through the One who has been anointed to bring good news to the poor. . .it is not poverty as such which qualifies a person for salvation: the beatitudes are addressed to disciples, to those who are ready to be persecuted for the sake of the Son of man. It follows also that poverty as such is not a state of happiness. The happiness is because of the promise made to the poor" (W. B. Eerdmans: 1978), p. 249. A Canadian in Scotland.

Oops. . .above should read, ". . .we must not ignore that they have a spiritual dimension. . ." etc. . .
Excuse me. . .A Canadian in Scotland.

A pity there are no corrective lenses for moral myopia! To be shortsighted about true values can be crippling for human society, as it can for the individual. Yet the one who announces true values to a society gone mad for false ones looks more the destructive revolutionary than the savior. The only reason Jesus does not appear to us as the revolutionary savior he is lies in our ong-practiced inability really to hear what he says, really to take him seriously. His beatitudes are simply a reversal of all the values by which we live. What he blesses we try with might and main to avoid; what he says is detrimental we spend our lives trying to achieve. Why are the poor, the hungry, the mourning, the despised and persecuted, the subjects of Jesus' special blessing? Could it be that our society is so turned around that those are most blessed who are rejected by our values? Is God's kingdom so different that only those who are despised in our value structures will have a chance for entry? Is God's will so different from our self-will that what we count for happiness God counts for woe? These verses can well serve as the basis for a sermon which calls its listeners to reexamine their value system. On whom does their life really center? On themselves, with the search for happiness, wealth, good reputation? Or does it center, as Christ commands, on God and fellowman, and a willingness to serve and give rather than be served and get? Note how the passage begins: with Christ's healing power. Perhaps Luke is telling us that Christ's power, which can heal us as it once healed others, must reverse our values.
Another line of development contained in this passage points to Christ himself. Who can promise what he promises in these verses? Who can bless the impoverished, who have been defeated by our commercial society? Who can tell those upon whom circumstances force mourning that they are the truly happy ones? He is either deluded or so wise he can see right through to a totally different reality. And who would seek out precisely those least able to protect themselves from abuse, those most vulnerable to any promise, to speak such words? It is either a cruel hoax, perpetrated on those least able to defend themselves, or it is a power beyond anything of which we can dream. One cannot be neutral toward such a figure. He is either God's power come among men, or he is the bearer of an evil and heartless deception. These verses force us to a decision: we must be for him or against him. We cannot be indifferent.

Oscar Wilde's short story, "The Happy Prince," is the story of a statue that gives himself away. It's a wonderful parable, and it's the Gospel. In Eugene Petersen's The Message, his subtitle for Luke 6:17-21 is "You're Blessed," and for Luke 6:24-26 the subtitle is "Give Away Your Life." That is what the disciples have been recruited to do. However, it's hard to give yourself away to people if you do not see them or love them. In Luke 6:17-21, Jesus opens our eyes to the people God sees and loves. People the world would label less than are renamed greater than. It takes that little scoop of something extra to achieve balance, right? Surprise! God is so gracious with God's love, mercy and grace. As William H. Willamon comments, "Here is a God who takes sides with those whom we often exclude or put down." Put the two subtitles together and you get the Good News, "You're Blessed when you give away your life." Again, in order to do that, first we must love the people who need to be given to! Can we see and love the people God sees and love? Can we fall in love with generosity, so that God's kindgom come? Can we trust God's vision when the world around us tells us a different story? In The Message, Luke 6:26 reads, "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...Your task is to be true, not popular." Okay, church..."Your task it to be true, not popular?" Do we know the difference? What motivates our congregations? Where is the church putting its money and energy? Are we concerned with being popular, or are we concerned with God's truth? revdlk in nebraska

Like Perry in Kitchner/Waterloo I am considering using the connection of "level place" as my theme this week. And it got me thinking about a carpenter's level. When we build anything that needs to hold up for any length of time it is imperative that it is built so it is level from top to bottom. The only way we know things are level is when the bubble in the carpenter's level is in the middle. How true it is for Christians. When we place Christ in the centre of our lives our foundation is firm and our thoughts are "centred" on the important things in life; like helping our neighbour and anyone else in need in our society today. When we feel blessed to be Christian there is little doubt our attitude towards others will rub off in a way that maybe they too will feel blessed no matter what their life has been like in the past. Thanks for listening. Doug in western Canada.

I am "right there" with KGB in Oz. I feel exactly the same way about this text -- it is damned uncomfortable!
I last preached on these lessons, as you all did, three years ago. At that time I wrote a sermon entitled "Sighs of Sincere Sadness." In part I wrote:
The Greek word for "woe" is "ouai"(pronounced "ooo-why").
Do you remember from literature classes the concept of onomatopoeia? It is the "formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions to which they refer." (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd Ed.) "Ouai" is that sort of word ... it is a sigh of sadness. "Ouai........" Jesus' "woe to" is not a prediction of any sort; it is an expression of present great sadness, or current profound grief. Jesus was simply recognizing, and expressing his heartache, that wealth, fullness, temporal (and temporary) happiness, and status can separate us from God.
============
Looking over that sermon, I find myself saying to myself, "I can't write anything any better now." I seldom "recycle" sermons ... but that one preached for a different congregation is equally applicable to the congregation I am now in. I may just "recycle"! If you'd like to take a look at the sermon you can find it at http://thefunstons.com/sermons/c021101.html
Remember - don't use the feedback form - the links are still broken.... I really must update and fix that website.
Blessings, Eric in OH

Someone posted on 2/10 with a sentence about Christ's healing power. It's that verse I can't get away from - verse 19. Whatever the blessings and woes say, the level place compared to Matthew, the inside outs and upside downs that Jesus creates with these words, I can't get away from those words - that they were all there because of the power coming out of him to heal them.
Aerin in So Cal

Eric in Oh,
thanks so much for printing your sermon "Sighs of Sincere Sadness." I was very much moved by it. Having grown up in a wealthy community, but a family with less income than the majority of the residents, I learned a lot early on about how spirityally impoverished many of the wealthy truly are. But more importantly, I think it is so important for us to get ahold of the fact that rather than Jesus condemning those people, that he loves them, and that it breaks his heart that so much has been placed before their relationship with him. I believe it is Richard Foster, in his book Freedom of Simplicity, where he talks about those who have so much money that they are imprisoned in their own homes with bars over their windows and alarm systems on their doors and windows. He asks the very simple question, now who do you think is truly free? A good question for all of us.
Susan in Wa.

Hi All, thanks ann -your spirit lifts my soul. Don't know the source but a quote I heard/read: The richest person is not the one who hs the most, but the one who needs the least.
deke of the north

Eric - thanks for the onomonopoeia (?) information about ouiai ooo-why. It put me in mind, if you can find a recording of it, of a section of Randall Thompson's 'The Peaceable Kingdom" (from, yes, the Isaiah text - one wonders what mood he was in to decide to put THAT text to music) and all the "woe's." Thompson was a superior text painter and I'm just now learning that the sound produced in "The Peaceable Kingdom" (with a double choir) is just that otomotopoeia - or whatever.
My former choir has a CD with it on it - www.mosingers.com (I think it's dot com; may be dot org).
I'll buzz off now.
Sally in GA

I would have to say the posts this week, seem to me, to be even better than normal. When faced with a difficult text the Holy Spirit uses each and everyone of you, to help me discern the text. Thanks for the insights. I live in the Badlands of Western Dakota. It is a very dry, rough and often times harsh place to live. There are not many trees out here on the prairie. There are some planted around homesteads and ranches, placed their by people trying to improve and protect their land. Then their are the trees that God has planted. They exist next to streams or land formation's called "draws", which is for the most part an intermittent stream or a place where water will run after the snow melt or hard rain. Out here with an annual precipitation level of under 14 inches (semi-arid) when God plants a tree it is by a place where God and only God can nourish it. Since God nourishes it and it only relies upon God: it is truely blessed or "cared for and protected by God". I like the direction many people this week have gone with the text: the poor, hungry, and mourning are blessed for, like a tree planted by God, they must rely completly upon the Lord. Whereas those who are rich, full, and are laughing are like trees planted by people. For when people plant trees around the land, if they want them to grow and survive, they need to put in some sort of irrigation system. So the trees rely upon people to be nourished and grow. The blessing or woe is found in who it is that noursihes and strengthens us, in whom we trust. I also want to echo the conviction that God does not damn the wealthy, for then too our "faith has been in vain" that the blessing and woe are not eschatological, but temporal in nature. This text is for right now right here on this side of the great divide. It is a call to trust in the Lord and not in ourselves, for regardless of economic status, it is only by trusting in the Lord that we can be blessed. Grace and Peace, Badlands Paul

It is helpful to me to think of Jesus' ministry here on earth as almost exclusively a prophetic ministry. (with some notable priestly ministry as exceptions - last supper for example)He is now our priest and will eventually rule as King. Taking this view helps me see these blessings and woes as continuing prophetic themes which ring loudly through scripture as God speaks through human beings to apply the diving corrective to human excess. Counter to the cry of the falst prophet - "progress, infinite progress, peace, universal peace, happiness for everyone!" (Jeremiah)- the true prophet declares that in prosperity, peace, acclaim, happiness, etc. lie seeds of destruction that, when used outside God's direction, turn these wonderful virtues into weapons of destruction and oppression. This warning forces us to ask if our excess is being used to bring in the Kingdom (thy will be done on earth as in heaven), if our wealth is blessing the poor, and if our success models glory to God or agrandizement of self. I am going to raise this question of ourselves as individuals, as a church, and as a nation. A prophet after the manner of Christ, is not one who condemns but one through whom the blessings and warnings of God are lovingly but honestly revealed.
Stan in Tacoma

"Blessed are the Cheesemakers."
"The Cheese-makers? What's so special about the cheese-makers?"
"It isn't to be taken literally. He means all dairy farmers."
Life of Brian - Paraphrased.
I think about the people that are on the outskirts of the scene, trying to hear what Jesus has to say.
I wish I had a hard time hearing what Jesus says, but these texts say it loud and clear.
And it makes me a little nervous.
RevJohn in Juneau

I think that it was heavy laden back in the time of Jesus too. The have had a lot more the have not's. I like the illustration of a level. I am starting to think of ending my sermon with Christ in the center of the level. Nancy-Wi

This text always stirs me. I am by the rest of the world's standards, rich, yet very middle class in the US. In my family, we have both extreems. Those who are needing assistance, and those with millions. A truly strange thing to see. But The one with millions are very devout in their church. Bible study leaders and ones who feel they must share the news of Christ, while the ones who are poor sit back and play, expecting others to take care of them because they have it. Church is a forign word to them and if asked what they beleive, I am not sure what they would answer.
I struggle with this text as we have a family in our church who are truly needy....and truly unwilling to help themselves in any way. The welfare system has supported them for as long as they have been a family and their only need is to manipulate one member after another to take them on as the poor they will help. They suck the charity out of everyone they come into contact with, unwilling to help themselves in any way. When the church holds them accountable for themselves in some way, then the church is selfish and unfeeling. It is a strange thing to watch and an even stranger thing to deal with with the current text....
Tammy in Texas

A request unrealted to the the text...
My son will be 14 next week and will likely spend part of his birthday here at MD Anderson Cancer Center, donating lymphocytes for his sister. I will not go into a long explanation, but he donated stem cells when he was only 11. Now as his sister has relapsed and is not looking at a good prognosis, they are trying the lyphocyte thing to clean her bone marrow. It is something they do with Leukemia patients, but have never tried with Neuroblastoma... It will not cure his sister, but give her a chance to recover from chemo in an easier manor. He truly is a hero. Something I tell him often. But I want to do something to WOW him. I have no ideas. He wears a dogtag that his sister gave him after her transplant 2 years ago..
it says Josh Sharp Kelly's Hero 11/2/02 (day of transplant)
back says Thanks for the chance at life.
This is a treasure he will always have, but I feel the need to remind him at this stage that what he is doing is not being taken lightly....any suggestions?????????
thanks tammy in Texas

Tammy: When I donated bone marrow for a leukemia patient his wife gave me a star. She had a star named for me on his behalf -- nice certificate and everything. Here's the website: http://www.starregistry.com/
I would suggest that, if your family is OK with publicity, you call the features editor of you local newspaper -- they love to report this sort of stuff and your son can be a great example for others.
Blessings, Eric in OH

I have not read thru all the contributions, I am not as early as I was last week, but I think I know how I am going to preach this sermon. My title is "I Don't Wannabee". You see, I don't wannabee one of those "woe to you's" but I sure don't wannabee hungry, or weepy or hated and excluded, reviled, so gosh Lord, isn't there another option? Maybe that is why there are not more workers, we don't like the choices?
I hope this goes in with some of the stuff that is already here. Will read later, have to go to Bible Study now. Blessings! Toni

As some have pointed out, I think that it is important to notice that there is a distinction between 'crowd' and 'disciple'. Jesus, in delivering his 'blessing and woe' turns not to the crowd but to his disciples. The crowd's stated objective was seeking healing and to touch him, it is the disciples that recieve the sermon. As is typical of Luke, we are invited in to the story to go deeper with the disciples. Some hear the 'simple' yet profound message of being healed, some are invited to hear the deeper truth... none, I suspect, actually get all of what Jesus has to say!
That being said, I also make the assumption that Jesus speaks out of love. With that assumption in mind, I reject the either/or, good/bad interpretation and try to look a little deeper. I see Jesus' words delivered with compassion; even the woes. 'Blessed are the poor...'--- imagine the gentleness of the words, maybe a caress with healing hands to the face as he speaks, the warmth and softness of the delivery. Jesus knows poverty and the struggle of living. 'Woe to the rich..."--- again, imagine the warmth, the knowing lilt in the voice, the aching love in the words. Jesus knows the human struggle of temptation. I hear Jesus saying that he is one of us, with us and loves us. He knows our struggles and shares our life.
The story from my own life that opens up this teaching is this: I passed a panhandler and, as he jingled the change in his styrofoam cup at me, I gave him a quarter out of that twinge of guilt that hits your heart when you see the homeless. He said, "God bless you" to me as I walked away. That was twenty years ago. I doubt that my quarter did much good for him but that 'God bless you' still echoes around in my mind. He offered me a blessing from God, I gave him 25 cents.
I hear the 'woes' as a compassionate warning that life can turn on a dime (or a quarter).
TB in MN

TB in MN Thanks for your reflections. They are truly a blessing, and a wonderful testimony. As you preach this Sunday, I hope all will be coming as disciples and not as the crowd. If as the crowd, I hope they hear the gentleness of the woe warning.
Shalom
bammamma

I agree, Badlands Paul, the posts this week have a special quality about them. Thank you, KGB, for your comment "A people yearning for a solution that we would never accept." It helped to solidify for me the direction I seemed to be leaning toward. (bit of a mixed metaphor there!) This is a tough piece of scripture. I think my sermon title may be "Now why did Jesus have to say that!" or "Things we wish he hadn't said." Thank you all for the wonderful posts - I'm not feeling quite as desparate as I was. Tammy in Texas, all the best in finding something to WOW your son. He has the wonderful blessing of a mother who thinks he's wonderful and lets him know. You and your family are in my prayers. Blessings to all LGB

What great comments and insights this week!
I like the "Don't Wannabe's" - and think of the "Wannabees" - I wanna be blessed and so therefore will think of myself as poor, hungry, or persecuted.
Sally in GA

I have planned to use the Jer. and Ps. passage this week to focus on planting our lives in Christ. Also this passage scares me as a rich person particularly after just read "The Everlasting Hills" by Thomas Chahill. However, Pastor Beth in the archived sermon "Blessings and Curses" really helped me with the following two points "I imagine that some of the crowd was laughing and scoffing as Jesus said these things. After all, they thought that wealth meant that God was blessing them and poverty meant God’s punishment. Who was this nut who was saying just the opposite of what they believed to be the truth?! Only the rich would have laughed at that, though; the poor would have received it like water after a walk in the desert. It would have been food for their souls and they would have received it eagerly."
"Jesus wasn’t condemning the rich; the word translated “woe” is an expression of grief."
Don't we feel sorrow for rich people who are so consumed with advancing and holding on to their riches. Had a beautiful conversation yesterday with a Priest who is from India. He believes that, for the most part, the poor he once ministered to are happier than the rich he ministers to now. I reminded him that this is probably true except when their children are sick.
One more quick thought, This week in our town that has been hit hard by the loss of textile jobs a new store had its grand opening. Two policement were hired to deal with the traffic. I am told that even the opening of K Mart some years ago did not attract as many people. The store is "Goodwill". jrbnrnc

to rb in ca In my newletter aritcle this week I did mention that Valentine Day origionally had to do with martyrdom. If we get a message from Jesus that says, "Be My Valentine", it may have a depth of meaning we don't want to hear. RB in NC

Here is something to think about. The blessings are worded, "Blessed are you...now." While the problems of the poor in Luke's congregation may not being addressed now, the people are still receiving God's blessings now, today. If we will remember that in Jewish society people felt blessed because of material blessings. There would have been those, like Job's friends, who would be saying, "Well, you must be doing something wrong in your relationship with God or he would have blessed you." It is indeed good news to know that we are blessed by God even when things are not going so well, when we are poor, in mourning or being persecuted for our faith. PH in OH

I am thankful for the weekends in seminary being long over when I had only enough money (59 cents) for a box of cup of soup mix, which was to feed me from Friday evening to Monday lunch when our cafeteria re-opened. I am sure most of you also went through this.
By the way, I just got back from a spiritual life retreat. There one pastor shared really poor conditions they found in Southeast Ohio. They compared to what we usually think of as being elsewhere in the world. PH in OH

Gosh, isn't there a third alternative, a way not mentioned in any one of these readings for Sunday. There is no doubt we are being forced to make a decision and I don't like what I see. If I am going to follow the way of the blessed, I have a lot to surrender, to let go off, that I am not sure if I am ready; and if I continue to follow in the way of the wicked, which is due to my own disobedience and sloth, then I will never enjoy what it means to live in the freedom of the Children of God. How do I move away from self and the cobbwebs that prevent me from embracing my life; and enter the new day where God is, and I am?
tom in ga

Thank you for all of your wonderful insights. I think this week's discussion is material proof of the truth of this text -- blessed are you who struggle and don't settle! Thank you especially tom in TN for a reminder of the good news some folks in my congregation need to hear, and to RevJohn in Juneau for the Monty Python sermon opener. <g>
Some of my thoughts so far ...
Last week I preached about Jesus taking the disciples out into the deep water to receive their blessing/conversion/call)
That's feeding this week's ruminations ...
Jeremiah shrub (shallow roots) vs tree (deep roots)
Luke Beatitudes + woe-to-you

If your roots are only in this life that you can create for yourself, this life of material wealth and drink and thrills, if those are the roots of your happiness (i.e. you are the shrub, you are the "woe to you" people) then you will wither, you will end in bitterness.
But if you keep seeking beyond that, if you are hungry and not full, if you are dissatisfied with this life, if you are weeping in this cruel world, if you see Jesus crucified on the cross wherever you look, if you pick up the cross, then you are like the tree, you are seeking the kingdom, you are seeking the deep ground water that God supplies, you are seeking eternal life, which only Jesus and his resurrection can give.
The first tribulations we have to deal with are the ones that come to us. If we accept them, and deal with them, and cry through them but keep going anyway, then we are heading for the kingdom.
If we let our tribulations win, if we don't do the hard work of crying and weeping and mourning, if we shove our feelings aside, either through drink or work or some other way, then we can never receive the blessing they bring. We can never cry the tears that will bring us blessing, feel the hunger that will bring us toward God's kingdom of blessing.
{NB: I wrote this part before reading the AA comments in this week's discussion -- I think there's a direct tie-in.)
Once we have learned to accept and go through our own tribulations then God calls us to the heart of the suffering world. Henri Nouwen says that that the heart of God and the heart of the suffering world are one. Once we have accepted our own woundedness, cried through our own pain, then (and only then) are we are able to face the pain of others and be a channel of God's grace to them.
We go through our tribulations by faith; by believing that this is not the ultimate reality for us; God wills us to a life of blessing, not of pain. Once we go through the pain our roots can reach the deep, life-giving water of God's love.
kmd in CT

As has already been said, the postings this week have been very rich. I am writing just to encourage fellow preachers to involve the listeners in an interactive manner while the scripture is read. It seems like that will increase the ownership as the "blessings" and "woes" are read... I'm planning on asking 12 folks to don a large construction paper nametag as they enter the sanctuary. Then, as an intro to the scripture, have other folks be identified in groups as those that traveled from the various places... The scripture can then be read with a little more license and perhaps in a more personal and powerful way... In keeping with the "level place," the reader came leave any raised altar or platform (the "mount" found in Matthew's text) as the passage is read. I am guessing that this reading needs a little drama to jolt us into owning rather than knowing this passage." The sermon that follows, I'm guessing, will be more "personal" because it was introduced in that manner. Have fun! It has been speaking to me all week because of the excellent sharing. Wing's Warblings

tom in ga - thank you for articulating what I've been trying to say all week. That'll preach: rather than truly surrendering to be among the blessed, we simply declare that we dont' have anything.
Yet, I still say there's some relativism in here. I'm considering my mother's grieving when my dad died. Even 2 years later, she often relives it as if it was the most tragic senseless death ever. Truth is, it wasn't. I've seen much more tragic things than a 75 yr old man having a burst aneurysm - that we even knew was there! But for her it was probably the most traumatic thing she's lived through. It was her experience.
So, where is the plumb line, the carpenter's "level" that a few have mentioned? How do we know truth from fiction?
OK, I admit it; I have an existential bent.
sally in gA

Sally,
The 'level', as I see it, is our shared humanity. Rich and poor, happy and sad, good and bad, we all share the common unity of God as our creator and our fellow human beings as companions. Jesus too shared our humanity, our fears, our tears, our joys and our life.
The 'unleveling' enters in as we try to seperate others from us or seperate ourselves from those we label undesirable, failures, losers. We unlevel when we accept the lie that we are individuals and not the family of God.
I think that, in this little sermon, Jesus is asking: Do you really think that the suffering family next door has nothing to do with you? Imagine: rich- you'll be poor... happy- sorry, you'll be sad one day... full, you'll have hungry days too.
I see Jesus as trying to gather everyone together, just as he has just been gathering disciples for his journey. In a sense, he's offering an existential choice- be the community that God has created you to be or live the delusion that you can go it alone.
TB in MN

Tammy, Blessings on you and your family. You all are in my prayers. I don't know that "wow-ing" your son is the best way. Tell him you love him. Show that you believe he is doing something great for his sister. It is only God who "wow-s" me. I realize your son is young and has done much already and will continue to give in love. That is what the Christian life is about....giving in love. Being like Jesus. Loving even when it hurts. The message of the cross is harsh, difficult but we who follow Jesus cannot run away from it. The shadow of the Cross comes to us at sometime in our lives. The younger we are the harder it is to understand but the earlier we learn to embrace it the fuller our lives will be in Christ.
God bless you all!

Tammy,
14 is an amazing age and what your son is doing deserves credit (especially for someone so young). I don't usually post on this sight (just read) but all who gather here are so caring, generous and concerned not only about your family, but about all (after all - that is what we are about) I would almost guess that if you were to provide a name, address and birthday he might received birthday cards from around the country. Consider each card to represent a cell (or blood vessel). This would certainly show Josh that he is special. Good Luck in creating a special day. Silent Listener in PA

You know I am having a bit of trouble with this whole poor thing. I know that there is poor and then poor. I just got back from Cuba. We stayed with the families their. Some of the people their are the richest people I know. Even on here we keep talking about what they do not have, but not what they have. Anything and everything we left or all the projects we did were not charity, they were blessing from God. They had prayed and God answered through us, and provided for needs. If they didn't have it they just figured God decided they didn't need it or maybe in the future. Maybe we need to pray more, feel more and give from our hearts rather than guilt. I think that this passage is about following Jesus by having a rich faith.
Sorry but I am still wresling with all I saw heard and felt. Nancy-Wi

Tammy, I know that when I gave bone marrow over 30 years ago to my sister, it was extremely strange to experience seeing my marrow flowing into her veins, via an IV. It occurred to me that I was "technically" living in two bodies. It is most important that the donor not feel that the result is in their hands, otherwise feeling of failure can creep in, ( speaking from experience) The gift is that a gift, it is a gift from the heart. Maybe the best way you can affirm him is to give him a heart as a keepsake. Don't know if this is helpful. My sister failed transplant was the ground laying for many sucessful ones. Nancy-Wi

Thanks for your responses to my personal delema. I thank each of you. Know that I continue to affirm him and his teachers are going to acknowledge it all when he returns to school after a 2 day bit at the hospital. I know it is what we do as Christians. And I affirm that in him. I like the heart idea. ANd Nancy, we have worked hard to make sure he understands that no matter the outcome his gift is amazing. she got a year cancer free because of his stem cells. That is a year more than they expected. These Lymphocytes may just give her some quality of life that she doesn't seem to have right now! Thanks for the love and the prayers. Tammy in Texas

I met with a grandmother of 2 children. The daughter has strawberry blotches (sorry, I forget their 'real' term) on her face and body, and every 2 months goes to Wash DC to have more removed. The brother, 2 years older, is very resentful of this 'special' time the sister has with the parents. There is much jealousy between the children, and it seems, the parents and grandmother are doing nothing to stop it. The grandmother laughs about the brothers 'heartlessness' (my word) and it breaks my heart to hear about the poverty of this family. We live in interesting times, don't we. Where some have optional surgery (as this sister) and others have life-giving cells transfered from siblings who love.
But I keep going back to the poverty and the richness. My family says 'why us?' and Tammy doesn't convey that feeling at all (maybe she has already worked through it!!). We get caught up in our own little dramas (I was right there with Sally a few weeks ago!! still am!!!) and forget about God's working through the poverty, through out tears, crys of help, frustrations and anger. I know when things are going great, it is so easy to carry on my way, that I nearly forget God's way... yet I am the first to cry help when things get sticky...
My sermon title is "Be-attitudes & Woe-attitudes" going with the suggestion earlier in the week. For many of us our woes are when we feel God is with us and our 'be's' are when we turn away from God.
Friday night ramblings.... peace, cbh in pa

Gee, it's so late for this! It's almost 12:00 a.m. on Friday evening (it will be Saturday soon, and I'm still stuck on this poor and hungry thing. You see, I pastor a small congregation where everybody is struggling to survive in a country that is not their own, mostly single mothers with terribly small incomes. I know, they may like the fact that they are blessed, but, can someone give me an idea as to where to go with this sermon that will help these people?
Idia in Virginia

Idia in Virginia: Could you try preaching it from "the other side of the coin"? Not telling them how great and blessed they are, vs. everybody else, and how they should be grateful, etc., but rather about the grace of God. God is present in times of struggle. Just because they are not overflowing with material goods does not mean that they have not prayed hard enough, or that they have done something wrong. God is not only present in sparkling cathedrals, but is with us in our crumbling little churches too.
California Preachin'

Democratic hopeful Jonathan Edwards (from NC) keeps talking about the 2 Americas. Funny he does not give Luke any credit. Possibly he does not want to have to answer to the same authority. Forgive me for anything political, I just thought it was timely in regards to the Luke text.
Thank you all for the wonderful insight. MB from NC

KHC, your idea of the bottomless pit of need in the people who have so much vs the people who can be filled up is right on. That's going to be part of my sermon this week. We think our joy comes from our earthly gain when our joy needs to come from spiritual sources. People think they are rich when they have everything but if their spirits are poor they have nothing of value. It is right in line with Paul saying if I gain the whole world and have not love, I am nothing. Real blessings are the things that last a very long time not things that can be stolen or rusted or broken. I am thankful for your thoughts KHC.
Broken Arrow in the West

California Preachin'
Thank you so much for your insight. Approaching it from that angle the text becomes so rich! Truly it's all about God's grace. I'm sure they'll be comforted and encouraged tomorrow. Peace.
Idia in Virginia

SALLY!!! I read your contribution and I said (in a loud whisper) THAT'S IT!! This is what I have been struggling with in my research of this text. I think anyone of us could be at any given stage of poverty and wealth in our lives and still not see what is right in front of our "noses". This nails the Iowa church I serve. They have money and they share the money...we honestly pay our bills and apportionments (UMC) but have not the excitement for ministry in terms of taking a hold of the outreach and evangelism that is right in front of us. We are not about saving souls in our church. We are more about saving money for that future roof leak or boiler malfunction. The Rainmakers are a rock group that sing a song that goes, "spend it on love, spend it on the children spend it on the ones who need it the most..." We have relatively good amounts of wealth in our congregation in terms of money and we spend it on the children but that is all we do. We give them money and as long as they can buy food we will let someone else teach them how to give thanks for it and who to thank. pastrlrson lmrs

TB in MN - it was a rhetorical question, but I would qualify "shared humanity" as the level. I disagree; we share sinfulness.
But even then by human standards at least, there are sins and then there are SINS.
Rather than "shared humanity" I'd say "shared dependence upon God" where the degree of sin becomes irrelevant before God's grace.
Sally in GA

Makarios, someone wrote, was translated by a french theologian as en marche (sp?); march on. "Happy" just doesn't do it for me, somehow. Since Luke is clear about making Jesus' sermon on the level, we might as well come out and say that mourning or being poor doesn't equate with happiness (not in the immediate, anyway).
Maybe this french theologian is on to something because if you 'walk on' after someone exludes you, happiness in the deepest sense of the word may indeed be yours. On the other hand trying to be happy with staying where you are when this happens is guaranteed to make you sadder by the hour. The hardest thing to do sometimes is to 'walk on'. To wallow in self pity or burn with hatred and revenge are the temptations we live with. Jesus is 'leveling' with us in Luke's gospel. Matthew has a completely different perspective, which is right also -- certainly Jesus had many dimensions like all of us--and the mountain always was important to his ministry in the respect to finding ways to Bless God (eulogetos). This is simplifying, of course. But it's interesting how the two words get co-mingled in the English blessing. I'm thinking of doing something with that because I think it ties in here.
Sorry I don't have the documentation for the theologian's translation. The word blessing was substituted with 'walk on'. Walk on you who are poor and.... God walks with you... God has walked before you through the prophets in their poverty, perhaps. Walk by faith....etc. "Shake the dust of your feet" and keep going. You'll find a rare happiness in this world were so many get stuck in those situations and spend the remainder of their days unhappy to the hilt. Do you think Jesus is leveling with us? this has been a most needed word for me.
Steve

Lin M, What a great story! I remember in College, going on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. We worked at an orphanage. The woman there told us about the well intentioned families from the US who would pick up the kids and take them to Disneyland, and then bring them back to the orphanage. She no longer allowed it because it only let the children know what they didn't have, but didn't help their situation at all. As a 21 year old girl, it was a very important lesson to learn. Wealth and abundance does not make us rich.
Susan in Wa.

Thanks to Jane in France for the 'en marche'. It was Andre chouraqui, and Jewish and French Bible tanslator. Thanks Jane.
Steve

With all the reality shows on TV lately, this passage begs the question: What is the reality? This image Jesus paints with the Beattitudes or what we live and work in and see on TV? JHG

Maybe the 'crowd' who have walked (there, I'm still stuck on en marche, Jane) to receive the power that is going from Jesus, is the illustration in some ways of what Jesus is teaching his disciples.
God's blessing was viewed to be given only to those who were upright -- their wealth being a sign of that blessing, of course.
Now, this crowd of people, made up of all sorts of people,which wouldn't necessarily be 'the righteous' were receiving God's blessings. This is a reversal of the world's economy; a revolution, you might say.
Steve

cbh in pa,
I have found myself, on several occations over the last 3 years, say "why not us?" I am continually amazed at the grace of God. Friends who had very good prognoisis...easier cancers to cure than Kelly, died very early in their treatment, while Kelly, a totally negative prognoisis, lives to fight another day. We have seen it happen several times. I have even heard well meaning yet ignorant Christians say things like "well you have so many praying for you, God is listening to you." It implies that if you have enough people pleading your case to God you win. I do not see it that way. God is loving and gracious and holds us through each difficult day. Why Kelly continues to live, I have no idea, yet I am greatful for each day and trust in God's mercy each and every day! Thanks for the thoughts, I will pray for the family in your congregation.
tammy in Texas

JHG - I'm using those as a sermon illustration, too!
Sally

Tammy,
I am a layperson who acts as moderator in a UCC church in Wisconsin and also teaches the high school group. They might be interested in including your daughter's story somehow in their Relay for Life effort. If this has possibilities, please e-mail me at ackerlaw@hotmail.com. I'll await your comment before I propose anything to them.
Moderator Dave

A Study This set of verses introduces and begins some of the most famous sayings of Jesus, and together with its corollary text in Matthew's gospel, can certainly be considered "hard sayings." There is a very large body of meaning in just a few verses, and oddly, neither the earliest Gospel, Mark, nor the last in the canon, John, takes notice. The Mark source is often considered to be primary in Matthew, Luke, and John. But the Sermon on the Plain is omitted in half the gospel accounts.
The context of this scripture is that Jesus has just spent the night in prayer on a hill above a level plain. At daybreak, he summoned [apparently only some of] his disciples and called out twelve to be his apostles. This is the point at which today's reading begins.
Many (ochlos -- often referring to the ignorant crowd, with some contempt) disciples and a large crowd (plethos -- an unqualified noun: large group) from Jerusalem to the coast had assembled there seeking healing, among other things.
Jesus then looked up at the disciples (were they somehow segregated from the rest of the people?) and began to speak. The poor, the hungry, the sad of those to whom he spoke -- the disciples -- would be taken care of. But then, 'you disciples will be hated, driven out, as their ancestors treated the prophets.' The only "they" there was the non-disciples, the crowd. And then he reverses his thrust and speaks of woe to the rich, the well-fed, the happy, those about whom good is spoken, because this is the way "their" ancestors treated false prophets.
A Reflection The crowd came to touch -- the Greek translates as "attach to," -- Jesus to draw his power to them to satisfy their physical needs. Jesus never denies those needs, and even proactively works to assuage them, as in the feeding of the five thousand [plus their women and children].
But Jesus is addressing the disciples here, not the crowd. He begins the next verse after this selection with "But I say this to you who are listening...." . Then it was not just the disciples whom he had fixed with his uplifted eyes.
What is he telling those who are separate from the crowd, those willing to be his pupils, who will follow his teachings, and especially to his newly-minted 'delegates'? Two things: "If you're poor, hungry, sad, separated -- it's going to get a lot better." And, "If you think you've got it made, you are like the false prophet that the crowd's forbears thought were so great." Those he addressed had the concept of eternal life well in hand. He was posing the eternal question to those who want to walk in his footprints: "Do you want a tiny bit of happiness today, or a great amount of happiness forever?".
His burden is easy. His yoke is light. His questions are hum-dingers.

It's late on Saturday and I don't suppose anyone will read this ... but as much as the "en marche" translation of Makarios appeals to me, it just doesn't honor the text! That is not what makarios means in any way shape or form. I wish it did.
Blessings, Eric in OH

An even later post.
I often hear this text called, "Blessings and Curses." However, I don't see the "woes" as "curses," but as warnings...
Michelle

I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts for several months now, and for once it's early enough in the week that I can ask for your help!
John McClure, in New Proclamation Year C '03-'04, points out Moses as a mediator "between the people and God and between God and the people." He also makes a clear distinction between the role of the baptized as mediators for others with God through our intercessory prayer, and the face-to-face encounters with God experienced by Moses and others described in scripture.
What I'd like input on is the meaning/connotation/nuance of "mediator" in light of the Transfiguration story. Here's why:
My husband and I just returned from a week's visit to Nicaragua, where we visited my daughter who's in the Peace Corps there. Since we do not speak Spanish, she had to translate everything for us. She gave us a few words and phrases, and by the end of the week we were able greet people without her help, but we still have a long, long way to go to be able to converse with Spanish-speakers on our own.
What I'm wondering is: can I safely use "mediator" and "translator" as synonyms in my sermon? Moses (the law), Elijah (the prophets) and Jesus all helped make God's nature and will clearer to God's people ... and while we keep working at understanding, we don't always have a grasp of the "language" - turning what we've heard into something we use.
I'm still not sure where I'm going with this, but it will be my first time in the pulpit since returning from our trip and I'd like to be able to use this as an illustration if it works.
Thanks for your thoughts. Nancy