The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke.
Jesus came down with the twelve apostles 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. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Then he looked up at 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 will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 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.”
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“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.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:17-26)
-------------------------------------Are you impressed by the fame and power that comes to those in show business or sports.
You can read in the paper about how wealthy these people are. You can watch a television program whose sole purpose is to show you the houses where such people live.
I am not impressed.
But a lot of people are, impressed, otherwise such programs wouldn’t sell, and magazines and newspapers that rely on news about the stars would have nothing to print and would go out of business.
Obviously, famous lives are of interest to many millions of people.
But something is even more interesting to those millions, and that is hearing of the downfalls, the failings, of such people.
Reading about big name star in trouble with the law, is like a great piece of gossip. We like to see that the people we have idolized have clay feet, and we relish it when they fall. The National Enquirer, and other such papers have existed on such content.
Then, what price success?
Jesus in his sermon on the plain, in Luke’s Gospel today, is warning his listeners of the pitfalls that come from chasing after success on the world’s terms.
The key is in verse 24: Woe to you who are rich ( read ‘have success in the world’s eyes’) because you have all the comfort you are going to get.
If you set your heart and bend your whole energies to obtain the things which the world values, you will get them – but that is all you will ever get. But if on the other hand you set your heart and bend all your energies to be utterly loyal to God and true to Christ, you will run into all kinds of trouble; you may by the world’s standards look worse off, but much of your payment is still to come and it will be joy eternal.
Anybody can be rich. J. Paul Getty’s formula was, “Rise early, work late……and strike oil.”
Anybody, with the single-minded determination to do so, can become rich. Getty was right, that a little luck goes a long way, but some people having struck oil have still not become rich. They didn’t have the killer instinct.
The killer instinct is the quality one needs to get on in the world. That is especially so in the world of sport.
When Mike Kollin was a line backer for the Dolphins and a graduate of Auburn University, his former college coach, Shug Jordan asked him if he would do some recruiting for him. Mike said, “ Sure coach. What kind of player are you looking for?”
The coach said, “Well Mike, you know there’s that fellow you knock him down and he just stays down?” Mike said, “ We don’t want him, do we coach?”
“No, that’s right. Then there’s that fellow you knock him down and he gets up. But you knock him down again and he stays down.”
Mike answered, “We don’t want him either, do we coach?”
“Coach said, “ No, but Mike, there’s a fellow you knock him down, he gets up, knock him down, he gets up, knock him down he gets up., knock him down he gets up.”
Mike said, “ That’s the guy we want isn’t it coach?”
The coach answered, “ No, we don’t want him either. I want you to find that guy who is knocking everybody down. That’s the guy we want.”
See, the one with the killer instinct is going to get on in this world.
But he isn’t the fellow that Jesus wants.
See, many times, success in this world is obtained on the backs of others. Knocking others down so you can get ahead.
Serving Jesus, obtaining ‘heavenly success,’ if you like, comes not from knocking people down but from picking them up.
Because the people who are down are the ones that Jesus is telling us will be blessed. They aren’t patsies, they aren’t losers, they will see their time. They will be blessed.
And that is good news, isn’t it?
Because, I need a God who understands my pain – my poverty – my despair – my sin – my fear.
I need a God who is with me just the way that I really am – and that the image of joy and success, and happiness and prosperity that is portrayed 24 hours a day on television, that image – that ‘success’ I can’t make for myself no matter how hard I work – is a false image.
I need to know that God is beside me – where I live – – where I am sick – and in need – where I struggle to do what is right – and where I fight to retain my faith.
I need to know that I can touch Jesus – and be touched by him – right here and right now; that I don’t have to have all the answers – or understand all the mysteries – for him to care for me.
I like a good joke. I am pleased when I can laugh and forget my problems. There is nothing quite like a fine meal and a bit of fun when the day is done. It feels good to shut out the troubles of the world and just relax.
But I feel God’s presence most – I feel God’s power most – not in the good times – not when I am relaxed, no, I feel God’s power most – his presence most – when I am helping someone.
And I feel it most when someone touches me – when someone helps me.
Jesus was where we are in this world – and he had doubts – uncertainties – fears – he had no home to call his own – no friends that he could really count on when times got tough – he wept, and he got angry too – and God was with him in all those times – and God strengthened him and gave him the victory.
Happiness – blessedness – is not found in wealth, in three square meals a day, in the latest toys or in the opinions others may have of us.
Blessedness is found in surrendering – in letting go – letting go of that need for everything that is going in this society.
Blessedness is knowing that God will vindicate all those who cling to him in the midst of their needs -cling to him, – rejecting the god of material success, or the god of self-reliance or the god of blind happiness.
We are called to face the eternal choice which begins in childhood and never ends – will you take the easy way which yields immediate pleasure and profit of the moment, or are you willing to look ahead and sacrifice them for the greater good?
Jesus in this sermon on the plain, is telling us that the people that society looks down upon – the losers in society – are those who are blessed.
Blessed are the single moms who struggle to feed and clothe their children and to teach them self-respect, and the lonely widowers who weep and who visit those who have suffered the same kind of loss as they.
Blessed are the daughters who nurse their dying mothers rather than leaving them to strangers, and the fathers who spend time with their children instead of spending extra time at the office – ‘getting ahead.’
Blessed are those who are rooted in faith and who share what they have, – materially and spiritually, with others.
Blessed are those who accept with thanks what God has given them, and using it to help others, and not being seduced by the desire for more.
Now we know this. We have heard it time and time again. Haven’t we? But does it really make us want to change?
Can we stop wishing that we were as well off as those people we see on television? Can we be satisfied with what we have?
If you answer, ‘Yes,’ then why do you still buy lottery tickets?
There is a story about a farmer who had lived on the same farm all his life. It was a good farm, but with the passing years, the farmer began to tire of it. he longed for a change, for something – better.
He saw plenty of people who didn’t work half as hard as he did, and who seemed to be doing very well, thank you.
Every day he found a new reason for criticizing some feature of the old place.
Finally he decided to make a new life, and he listed the farm with a real estate broker who promptly prepared a sales advertisement.
The real estate broker rang the farmer, and asked if he would listen to what he had written in the ad, and give his approval.
Well, the broker had, as you might expect, emphasized all the farm’s advantages: ideal location, modern equipment, healthy stock, acres of fertile ground, etc.
When he had finished reading it, the farmer cried out, “Hold everything. I’ve changed my mind. I am not going to sell. I’ve been looking for a place like that all my life.”
Take stock of what you have. Examine the ways in which God has blessed you, and rather than working to be such a great success in this world, work to be a success in the next.
The challenge of the beatitudes is, “ Will you be happy in the world’s way or in Christ’s way?”
Blessed are those who know their need, and who trust in God, and follow in his way, for they are like trees planted by streams of water. Their leaves do not wither – in all that they do, they prosper.
Amen