**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from
Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced
to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
Introduction to the Day
Blessings and curses abound on the sixth Sunday after Epiphany. We would
do well to listen closely to whom the “blessed ares” and the “woe tos” are
directed and to find our place in the crowd among those who desire to touch
Jesus. The risen Christ stands among us in the mystery of the holy supper with
an invitation to live in him, and offers power to heal us all.
Thanksgiving for Baptism
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, the fountain
of living water, the rock who gave us birth, our light and our salvation.
Amen.
Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God’s
mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We give you thanks, O God,
for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters
and by your Word you created the world,
calling forth life in which you took delight.
Through the waters of the flood, you delivered Noah and his family.
Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery into freedom.
At the river your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy
Spirit.
By water and your Word, you claim us as daughters and sons,
making us heirs of your promise and servants of all.
We praise you for the gift of water that sustains life,
and above all we praise you for the gift of new life in Jesus Christ.
Shower us with your Spirit,
and renew our lives with your forgiveness, grace, and love.
To you be given honour and praise
through Jesus Christ our Lord
in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen.
Gathering Song – Open Now Thy Gates
of Beauty (ELW #533)
Greeting
The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
Kyrie – Kyrie Eleison
Canticle of Praise
– Glory to God
Prayer of the Day
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Living God, in Christ you make all things new. Transform the poverty of
our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make
known your glory, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Readings
A reading from the Book of Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who
trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a
shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in
the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed are those who
trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a
tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear
when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of
drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.
The heart is devious
above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it?
I the Lord test the
mind
and search the heart,
to give to all
according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 1
Happy are those
who
do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that
sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and
on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and
their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
The wicked are not
so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives
away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the
judgment,
nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches
over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
A reading from the First Letter from Paul to the Corinthians 15:12-20
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised
from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If
there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if
Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your
faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we
testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that
the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not
been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are
still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If
for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be
pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from
the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation – Alleluia
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 6:17-26
Glory to you, O Lord.
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. 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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
Grace, peace, and mercy are yours from the Triune God. Amen.
Good
times. Bad times. Blessings. Curses. We feel and experience them all.
It
is with these images that we approach the gospel of Luke and his account of
Jesus’ beatitudes for today.
We
usually deal with the beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 when we
hear Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Luke’s version is slightly different in that it
is shorter, and it is delivered on the plains.
It
is possible that this is the same sermon with Matthew and Luke remembering it or
writing it differently. But it is more likely that Jesus gave this sermon more
than once and in more than one place.
The
beatitudes are, after all, the foundation of a Christian’s baptismal life, so is
it hard to imagine that Jesus told them over and over again?
While
Matthew's Beatitudes give us nine blessings, Luke has carefully paired four
blessings with four woes or curses, even using the same words in corresponding
pairs.
- Blessed are you who are poor
- Blessed are you who are hungry
- Blessed are you who weep
- Blessed are you who are hated, excluded, reviled, defamed
These
are the blessings. And we are being told to rejoice and leap for joy because
the reward of the blessed will be great in heaven.
The
reward will be great in heaven because the prophets’ reward was great in
heaven.
And
these blessings are followed by some “woes”:
- Woe to you who are rich
- Woe to you who are full
- Woe to you who are laughing
- Woe to you who are well spoken of
Luke
draws the contrast in the pairs between groups of people:
- poor-rich,
- hungry-full,
- those who weep-those who laugh, and
- those who are hated-those of whom people speak well.
More
than simply pairing the blessings and curses and thus contrasting the groups,
Luke also reverses the groups of people within each saying, so that, for
example, in the blessing the hungry will be filled, while in the corresponding
woe those who are filled will become hungry, and those who laugh will now mourn
and weep.
On
the surface, this passage seems quite controversial.
If
you are poor, you are blessed and if you are rich, you are cursed?
If
you’re hungry, crying, hated, reviled – blessed?
Full,
happy, loved – cursed?
You
can see why this might be seen as controversial.
But,
as I have said again and again, when reading the Gospel, you must consider Jesus’
audience.
To
whom is he speaking?
Sometimes
we have to guess or do some historic digging to figure it out. But this reading
tells us straight-up who the audience is:
Line
17 – “Jesus came down with the twelve and stood on a level place, with a great
crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people…”
Line
20 – “Then he looked up at his disciples and said….”
In
Matthew, Jesus delivers his beatitudes from on top of a hill or mountain. In Luke,
he comes down to eye level, to equal ground, with his disciples and gives them
his blessings and curses, his owes and woes.
Jesus
is not saying, as we are often tempted to read into this passage, that to be
poor is to be blessed. He is not saying that to be hungry is to be blessed, or
weeping, or hated.
Jesus
is speaking to his disciples who happen to be poor, who happen to be hungry,
who happen to be weeping, who happen to be hated.
He
is speaking to his disciples and helping them to figure out how to feel about
being in this situation. He says, in verse 23, to rejoice in that day and to leap
for joy.
Jesus
is telling his disciples that despite the fact that they are poor, hungry, sad,
hated, reviled…because they have faith in God, they will be blessed with the
rewards of heaven.
Now
what did I mean earlier when I said “owes and woes”? Let’s look at that…
The
reward promised to the first blessing is “yours is the Kingdom of God”. Blessed
are you who are poor for yours is the Kingdom of God.
What's
the counterpart to that? The counterpart is “woe to you who are rich for you
have received your consolation.” Jesus says woe to you who are rich now because
that's what you get.
In
your poverty, you are the beneficiaries of the Kingdom. Jesus is your king, and
you are rightful heirs of all that the Kingdom of God is.
All
that the king can do for you, he is doing for you and for your good, right now,
even in the midst of poverty and weeping and slander.
So
when Jesus says “woe to you who are rich”, he means what is your portion right
now? Rich is you wanted, you got it, then in the end, that's it that’s all.
You
have received your consolation, this is what you get, and that will be the end
of it.
So
what's my point here? The point is not that poverty and hunger and weeping and
being hated are the way you become blessed, the means of blessing, the
qualification you meet in order to get the blessing. That's not the point here.
That
might be the point in Matthew’s form where he says “blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the Kingdom.” Matthew's version of the blessings is much
more spiritual than Luke's and it may be that in that case Jesus meant there's
a certain quality of spirit which sets you up to be a rightful recipient of
this blessing.
But
that's not the point here. Jesus is not saying that if you want to be blessed,
you better be poor.
He
is not saying if you want to be blessed, you better not have any food.
He
is not saying if you want to be blessed, you better be a weeper and not have
any joy.
He
is not saying if you want to be blessed you better get yourself hated.
No,
the point is many disciples are in fact poor, so how should you think about it?
That yours is the Kingdom.
Many
disciples are in fact hungry, so how should you think about it? That you will
someday get the reward of satisfaction.
Many
disciples are now weeping, and in all kinds of difficulties and pressures and
afflictions. So how should you think about it? That day is coming when that's
all going to pass and you will laugh again.
And
so the point of this text is not to give us qualifications for how to receive
the blessing of God.
The
point is that Jesus said “you are my disciples and therefore you are blessed. You
are following me and you are trusting me. Therefore, whether you’re poor,
whether you're hungry, whether you're weeping, whether you're hated, you are
blessed for all these reasons.
By
all worldly standards, I am rich, full, and well-spoken of. I have a home, food
in the cupboards, and people who care about me and love me.
As
I have listened to Christ and experienced God’s love for all, I have learned
that to be rich while others are poor is to not live in the promise of the kingdom
of God. The consolation of self-contained riches is real but very limited,
shallow, and fleeting.
We
all live in the house of God’s love and grace. Our response to the “Woe” should
not be paralyzing guilt but receiving the gift of being put on a new path.
What
a great adventure of grace to discover ways we can live in the promise of
sharing God’s abundance and knowing that God is always declaring “Blessed are
you.”
In
the beatitudes found in Luke, Jesus is not giving us conditions for us to
fulfill in order to be blessed.
Jesus
is declaring that God’s blessing is for all, even (or most) assuredly in times
and experiences that the world despises, ignores, or overlooks.
Jesus
declares this blessing not to minimize the suffering, but to promise that the
blessing of God is forever real, powerful, and lasting.
This
blessing is for us, and we are invited to enter the hard places of life to be a
blessing to others.
God
wants us to thrive, to know we are blessed, to know we have a place in the
kingdom.
Bless
you people who are poor for God’s kingdom belongs to you.
Bless
you who are hungry for you will have plenty to eat.
Bless
you people who are crying for you will laugh.
Others
may hate you or won't have anything to do with you, but God’s blessing will be
yours forever.
Amen.
Hymn of the Day – If You But Trust in God to Guide You (ELW #769)
Creed
Let us confess the faith of our baptism, as we
say the Apostles’ Creed:
I
believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator
of heaven and earth.
I
believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who
was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born
of the virgin Mary,
suffered
under Pontius Pilate,
was
crucified, died, and was buried;
he
descended to the dead.*
On
the third day he rose again;
he
ascended into heaven,
he
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and
he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the
holy catholic church,
the
communion of saints,
the
forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
and
the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
The Spirit of the Lord is poured out upon us in abundance; so we are
bold to pray for the church, the world, and all that God has made.
Silence
Blessed are those whose trust is in you. Strengthen the faith of those
who profess your name and bring reassurance to those who doubt or fear. Through
your church speak continued blessing into the world.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Those who trust in you are like trees planted by streams of water. Bless
fruit trees with an abundant harvest. Protect rainforests from destruction.
Restore land that has eroded after deforestation. Resurrect woodlands after
forest fires.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Search the hearts of those who govern, that they lead with humility.
Inspire leaders to collaborate on policies that protect people and the planet.
Sustain truth-tellers and social movements that challenge society to become
more honest and just.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Send your blessings of mercy upon those who long for consolation. Tend
to those struggling with poverty, unemployment, or uncertainty. Provide for all
who are hungry. Console those who face persecution. Grant peace to all who
suffer.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Renew this congregation in our shared mission. As we plan and dream for
the future you are preparing, inspire us by the examples of Martin Luther and
all the reformers. Bless new projects and new ministry partnerships.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or pray in silence.
Christ is raised from the dead, and so we cling to the hope of the
resurrection. We praise you for the lives of the saints who lived and died in
the hope of eternal life with you.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Since we have such great hope in your promises, O God, we lift these and
all of our prayers to you in confidence and faith; through Jesus Christ our
Saviour.
Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Hymn
of Thanksgiving – We Come to the Hungry Feast (ELW #479)
**Although
not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would
encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off
or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the
church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking
place.
Thanksgiving for the Word
Let us pray.
O God of justice and love, we give thanks to you that you illumine our
way through life with the words of your Son. Give us the light we need, awaken
us to the needs of others, and at the end bring all the world to your feast;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy
Spirit, be honor and glory forever.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time
of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the
power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Blessing
God, who leads you in pathways of
righteousness, who rejoices over you, and who calls you by name, ☩
bless your going out and your coming in, today and forever.
Amen.
Sending Song – Canticle of the
Turning (ELW #723)
Dismissal
Go with Christ into a weary world. Share the good news.
Thanks be to God.
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