A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 43

Chapter 43 – God’s Kingdom First

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew (6:33-34)

 

Jesus wasn’t a king, nor did he want to be. Jesus was sent to us to teach us how to love. He didn’t ask for worshipers and wasn’t looking to start a new religion. He wasn’t asking anyone to call him “your majesty” or to fall to their knees before him. Wealth and fame meant nothing to him. I mean c’mon! The guy rode to his death on the back of a donkey! No luxurious horse or carriage to be seen.

 

At no time did Jesus claim to be a king. He was certainly a leader, a great leader, but he was not a king. In fact, he reflected that question back at Pilate in Luke’s chapter 23 verse 3: “Then Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ He answered, ‘You say so.’”

 

Jesus was mockingly labelled as the King of the Jews and ridiculed by the crowds, the soldiers, and even the criminals hanging from their own crosses next to Jesus. Everyone mocked him, asking why as King and Messiah, he didn’t save himself. The crowds were furious because they believed that if Jesus wouldn’t save himself how on earth could he save the people of Jerusalem?

 

But Jesus does not come down off his cross to prove his supposedly kingly status. Instead, he remains on that instrument of torture and humiliation as a representative of all who suffer unjustly. And he does not promise a better tomorrow but instead offers to redeem us today.

 

Jesus was not sent to rule the people of Israel and all the earth. Jesus was sent to be a teacher…a mentor…a leader…to show us how to love ourselves and how to love one another in order to find peace. Peace and reconciliation for all of creation are signs of the kingdom of God in Jesus. Whether it will reside above the clouds, beyond the stars, in our hearts or, most likely, in a dimension well beyond our current comprehension: Christ’s kingdom will come. Jesus will reign in love and peace and serenity: King of Kings, Lord of Lords. That’s the kind of king we have. The question now becomes – what kind of subjects will we be?

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 42

Chapter 42 – Beyond Worry

 

‘“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.’ (Matthew 6:25-32)

 

Do not worry. This is the message from Jesus in this bit of his sermon on the mount. Do not worry. Not exactly the easiest statement. It is in our human nature to worry – about food, clothing, money, other people, etc. We humans worry about everything! What Jesus wants us to do is lay our worries at God’s feet. Hand our worries over to God and let God do the worrying. Easy as pie, right? Ha!

 

It's not easy, but it can be done. Through prayer, we can lay out our worries and ask God to walk with us, to help us carry the burden so that some of the weight can be lifted. We can pray to God to help us find someone willing to share the burden with us. We can talk it out with our family and/or our friends. We can release our worries to our therapist or our psychiatrist. There are many ways that we can use to relieve ourselves of the worry that we have in our hearts.

 

And sometimes, we need to realize that there are worries that we can’t do anything about. We can only control what we can control. Anything else is out of our hands. It’s of these things that Jesus calls out to us, “Do not worry.” Knowing the difference between what is and is not in our control will mean the difference between crumbling under the worry and working our way through it.

The King’s Subjects: A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

May only truth be spoken and may only truth be heard. Amen.

 

I had to double check the calendar to make sure that we were in November and not April. The passage from Luke’s Gospel today sure seems like something out of the Easter season, didn’t it? Today is the last Sunday of the church year and being Year C, the lectionary has landed this beauty of a reading in our laps. Although it seems out of sync with the rest of the church calendar, it is an important set of events that perhaps really does deserve a second look as we head into the season of Advent.

 

Not only is today the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar, it’s also Christ the King Sunday. It’s a celebration of the all-embracing authority of Christ as King and Lord of all things. Officially called "The Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King," these festivities were instituted by Pope Pius XI in the 1920s as a way to fight the rising secularism in Europe by reminding Christian faithful that Christ must reign in our hearts, our minds, our wills, and our bodies. The feast is celebrated on the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Sunday before Advent.

 

Actually, it is quite fitting that the feast celebrating Christ's kingship is observed right before Advent, when we liturgically wait for the promised Messiah. During Eastertide, the Passion narrative emphasizes the trials, pain, and suffering that Jesus endures as he makes his way to his gruesome death. The point is to show how he suffered and died to atone for our sins and then there is the celebration of his resurrection as he is risen from the dead to be with God for all eternity. And I could talk about that again as it is important for us to remember what Jesus has done for us. Instead, let’s talk about kings.

 

What do we know about kings? Today, the language of kingship is outmoded and sometimes offensive. There are good reasons for this. We don't live under kings, so the metaphor feels irrelevant. And we're rightly repulsed at how the reigns of kings, at times, meant a reign of terror for most subjects — massive wealth and power attained by cruelty and exploitation, which was then passed on by birthright to people who did nothing to deserve it.

 

Kings have become almost obsolete, a way of leading that no longer holds much of our attention, at least here in Canada and here at St Peter. But, once upon a time, Christ was hailed as king in the midst of a people who did understand kingship, and particularly Christ’s kingship over them. But what kind of king was Jesus?

 

Each of the synoptic Gospels presents a slightly different picture of Christ as King. In Mark, Christ is Israel's true king, but his kingship is hidden in suffering and rejection. In Chapter 15, a centurion declares, "Truly this man was God's Son!" but yet Christ dies on the cross under the mocking banner "King of the Jews."

 

In Matthew, Jesus is the God-authorized Son and Israel's Messiah who teaches with heavenly authority concerning the will of God and performs miracles that give authority to his teachings. Jesus as King in Matthew is, in the words that both open and close his gospel, "God with us".

 

In Luke, Jesus is the Son of a God who, through Jesus' ministry, grants forgiveness of sins to the repentant and the gift of salvation through the bestowal of the Holy Spirit. In today’s Gospel reading, three times Jesus is mentioned as king: by the soldiers at the cross in verse 37 “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”, on the inscription nailed to the cross in verse 38 “This is the King of the Jews”, and by the criminal asking to be remembered when Jesus comes into his kingdom in verse 42.

 

But really, Jesus wasn’t a king, nor did he want to be. Jesus was sent to us to teach us how to love. He didn’t ask for worshipers and wasn’t looking to start a new religion. He wasn’t asking anyone to call him “your majesty” or to fall to their knees before him. Wealth and fame meant nothing to him. I mean c’mon! The guy rode to his death on the back of a donkey! No luxurious horse or carriage to be seen. At no time did Jesus claim to be a king. He was certainly a leader, a great leader, but he was not a king. In fact, he reflected that question back at Pilate in Luke’s chapter 23 verse 3:

            “Then Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’

            He answered, ‘You say so.’”

 

Jesus was mockingly labelled as the King of the Jews and ridiculed by the crowds, the soldiers, and even the criminals hanging from their own crosses next to Jesus. Everyone mocked him, asking why as King and Messiah, he didn’t save himself. The crowds were furious because they believed that if Jesus wouldn’t save himself how on earth could he save the people of Jerusalem? But Jesus does not come down off his cross to prove his supposedly kingly status. Instead, he remains on that instrument of torture and humiliation as a representative of all who suffer unjustly. And he does not promise a better tomorrow but instead offers to redeem us today.

 

Jesus was not sent to rule the people of Israel and all the earth. Jesus was sent to be a teacher…a mentor…a leader…to show us how to love ourselves and how to love one another in order to find peace. Peace and reconciliation for all of creation are signs of the kingdom of God in Jesus.

 

I found a poem that I would like to read to you. It is by Alyce M. McKenzie.

What kind of King is this? Who is crucified at a place called the Skull?

With a criminal on his left and a criminal on his right?

What kind of king is this who forgives rather than executes judgment on those who contest his power?

What kind of king is this? Who allows himself to be disrespected and abused without speaking a word in his own defense?

What kind of king is this who allows even criminals to mock him without putting them in their place?

What kind of king is this whose thoughts are on others rather than his own pain at the peak of his own undeserved suffering?

How can a crucified king bring us life?

How can a forgiving king right the wrongs done to us and that we have done to others?

How can a peaceful king end the wars that rage within us and around us?

How can a compassionate king find the strength to lead us?

 

From the very beginnings of all the gospels, the “the kingdom” is proclaimed repeatedly. It is clearly more than a metaphor. It is a state of mind. It is a destination. Whether it will reside above the clouds, beyond the stars, in our hearts or, most likely, in a dimension well beyond our current comprehension: Christ’s kingdom will come. Jesus will reign in love and peace and serenity: King of Kings, Lord of Lords. That’s the kind of king we have. The question now becomes – what kind of subjects will we be?

 

Can you feel how the world has changed this year? Over the last few years? Can you feel the tension growing, the fear? Stories of racist graffiti spray-painted on Mosques, Synagogues, churches, and schools. Governments working to remove access to gender-affirming care and safe spaces for the transgender community. People being taken from their homes and places of work to be deported to their country of origin. Shelters for the unhoused being torn down without a plan to help the people affected.

 

Are these the types of subjects the Jesus wants? I highly doubt it. Now more than ever we need to listen to the Gospels and take to heart Jesus’ emphasis on loving all people, not just a select few. No one person or group or ethnicity is better than any others. We are all human. We are all God’s creation. And we all have the right to exist, to have beliefs, to love, and to be loved. That’s the kind of subjects we need to be. If we are calling Jesus our king and he is the king of love and kindness, then as his subjects, we are meant to be the givers of love and kindness, as it is through love and kindness that we will reveal the existence of Jesus’ kingdom here on earth.

 

Amen.

I Will Not Be Afraid: A Sermon for the 23rd Sunday After Pentecost

Photo Credit: Jon Tyson on unsplash.com

May only truth be spoken and may only truth be heard. Amen.

 

We had something a little different in place of the psalm today, and not just because it was a hymn, although singing it was definitely appropriate. A canticle is a hymn or song of praise from the Bible, similar to a psalm but specifically from texts outside of the Book of Psalms. Today’s lectionary called for Canticle #3 which is an excerpt from the scroll of Isaiah dubbed the Song of Thanksgiving. It goes like this:

“Surely, it is God who saves me;

I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defence,

and he will be my Saviour.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing

from the springs of salvation.

And on that day you shall say,

Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name;

make his deeds known among the peoples;

see that they remember that his name is exalted.

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things,

and this is known in all the world.

Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,

for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.”

 

Line 2 says: "I will trust, and will not be afraid". These words were spoken by the prophet Isaiah to the people of Judah and Jerusalem more than 2700 years ago, when the Assyrian Empire was the dominant power, and Judah lived in the shadow of its might. Foreign invaders, political instability, and crises of one kind or another formed the context of Isaiah's proclamation. The people to whom he was sent and those for whom this book was originally composed lived in a world that was unpredictable and out of their control.

 

Not much has changed, in my opinion. While the headlines are different now than almost 3 millennia ago, the news of the day reminds us that always there are events happening on a scale far beyond our reach and our ability to control them. Whether the threat is widespread, such as the worldwide economic crisis, or whether it is personal, such as illness, the loss of a job or the death of a loved one, it is no small thing to stare the menace in the face and say, "I will trust, and will not be afraid."

 

I don’t know about you, but one thing that I tend to do when I’m afraid is sing. The palms can be a great source for prayer and strength during times of fear. And I absolutely love it when the psalms are sung or chanted. The reason today’s canticle is called the Song of Thanksgiving is because Isaiah is calling the people to sing praises of thanksgiving to the Lord.

 

The first song in this passage is sung by an individual, offering thanksgiving for deliverance by the God who is "my salvation". Although the individual is not identified, the end of the song hearkens back to the deliverance from Egypt, quoting Exodus 15:2: "The Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation".

The image is one of a great warrior, one who is strong enough to defeat even the armies of Pharaoh in order to free the people from slavery in Egypt. To anyone who is caught up in fear, this echo from the Exodus and all the events attending it is a reminder that earthly powers cannot defeat the power of God.

 

The second song offers a refrain of Thanksgiving to the "Holy One of Israel", the one whose "name is exalted", and who "has done gloriously". Isaiah calls on the people to lift their voices in praise to God: "Give thanks...sing praises...shout aloud and sing for joy!" This is a communal song, as if a whole choir has joined voices with the soloist who sang in the first two verses. No longer is there a lone voice singing out against fear, as though whistling in the dark, but rather a chorus of voices offering praise for all that the Lord has done.

 

"Make known his deeds among the nations," they will sing, and "[the Lord] has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth". This reminder of past experiences with God, how the Lord has already acted for the benefit of God's people, is a strong defense against the grip of fear. So, also, is our association with a community of faith that witnesses to God's saving deeds. How much easier it is to "trust and not be afraid" when a whole community is present to join together in the refrain!

 

The verse that ties these two songs together is addressed to the gathered community: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation". In its historical setting, the verse probably refers to a ritual activity, most notably during the Feast of Tabernacles. As it connects the two songs, however, the verse is a reminder that God's salvation is fundamental to life, as basic to survival as the water that falls from the sky and springs forth from the earth. God's offer of salvation is what the Lord "has done gloriously" to be made "known in all the earth"; it is this saving power that makes it possible for God's people to choose a stance of trust instead of fear when the day brings situations and events beyond their control. The "wells of salvation" suggest an abundant supply, spilling over to soothe tongues that are parched from fright, moistening lips so that they might sing melodies of praise to "proclaim that [the Lord's] name is exalted".

 

Next Sunday brings an end to the Christian calendar and moves us into the season of Advent. As dark nights grow longer and our fears of what’s happening in our lives grow stronger, we wait – like the people of Isaiah's time – for "that day" when God's salvation will come to us in all its fullness. "Do not be afraid," the angel will say, "I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord". We are drawn toward that future, ready to "shout aloud and sing for joy" together with the whole people of God who will proclaim, "Great in [our] midst is the Holy One of Israel".

 

Here are my questions for you this week: Is it easier to say to a person who is struggling with their faith, “you just have to believe” or is it easier to say, “let’s pray”? Is it more effective to say to someone, “trust in God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength” or is it more effective to say, “let’s sing Amazing Grace together”? We sing of the coming of the Emmanuel, of joy to the world, of the baby tucked away in the manger, of shepherds keeping watch by night, and angels from the realms of glory. It is in the singing that we can come to believe the words "I will trust, and will not be afraid".

 

Amen.

Resurrection Life: A Sermon for the 22nd Sunday After Pentecost

May only truth be spoken and may only truth be heard. Amen.

 

The tensions are rising in the relationship between Jesus and the religious authorities of the day. Jesus is confronted in the Temple by the Sadducees who ask him: If a woman was married seven times to seven husbands, who will she be married to in the resurrection? You see, the Sadducees don’t believe in life after death because, as far as they’re concerned, if something isn’t mentioned in the Torah (the five books of Moses), then it doesn’t exist. The Sadducees claim that resurrection is not found in the Torah, therefore they don’t believe in it. In this confrontation, they wish to mock Jesus and make the belief in resurrection appear ridiculous. But what does this have to do with marriage?

 

Nothing, but here’s why the Sadducees are using this example. In the time of this encounter, women had no rights, had no access to land, had no way of supporting themselves. They got married so that they could be taken care of someone other than their father. If they have a son, then that responsibility passes down to him. According to the law of the time, if a man dies, his brother is to marry the wife until there is a son old enough to take over. If that brother dies, the next brother takes over, and so on. Now, I guess this family was extremely unlucky because seven brothers died without bearing any children (or at least male children), leaving this woman with nothing and no one. She finally dies herself, putting us at the Sadducees question – which one of these brothers will be the woman’s husband after death?

 

As is Jesus’ way, he doesn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he teaches and turns the argument upside down. And it certainly has mothing to do with marriage, but everything about resurrection. What is resurrection life like? What is life after death like? What is "eternal life"? We have all had these questions. People 2000 years ago had them. And many people have them today. These questions are the mystery of our faith. We will never know what’s it’s like to die, or to be resurrected. It’s not like a person dies and then reports back! In our limited human capacity to think about heaven and the life to come, we tend to imagine it as simply a more glorified version of what we already know and have experienced here in this earthly life. But Jesus is trying to tell us that eternal life with God is beyond our imagining! Everything will be changed. Everything will be made new.

 

With this Gospel reading falling between All Saints’ Day and Remembrance Day, it is a perfect time for us to consider what we think resurrection might be like, what heaven might be like. Often people question whether or not they deserve to go to heaven, or are worried that their loved one won’t make it into heaven, or ponder who they might meet in heaven. These are questions we will never know the answer to. Even for our loved one on their deathbed, in that last moment before death, we don’t know what happens at that point. Does God meet them at that last breath to give them full and eternal forgiveness and mercy?

 

That is the mystery of our faith. That is the good news that we have received through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That Jesus died for the forgiveness of all our sins so that we may have eternal life with God in heaven. That is the Gospel that we are to be sharing through the actions in our lives.

 

The Sadducees’ biggest argument was that they didn’t believe in resurrection because it never happened in the Torah. But it did! Just not how they were imagining resurrection to be. When we keep the memories of our ancestors and live through their teachings, we are keeping them alive! Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses….These are all Jewish ancestors that have taught us through the millennia how to maintain right relationship with God. When we keep the memories and teachings of our own ancestors, we keep them alive in ourselves and through ourselves. This is resurrection!

 

It's not all about what’s going to happen to us after we die. Resurrection is about how we continue to keep our ancestors alive by telling their stories and living out their teachings here, today. The last line of the Gospel today is like this, “Now he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.” God is not just sitting around waiting for us to get to the other side so that the real work can begin. No! God wants us to live the resurrected life here and now, while we are still alive.

 

And we are invited to begin this resurrected life where we are – in the reality of our broken and beloved world. It is out of the blue and in surprising moments that God meets us, surprising us with what God has had in store for us all along…resurrection from deaths, both big and small, experienced at a variety of points in our lives. For example, we can think back on the woman in our story. A world of resurrection life does not contain the many deaths we inflict on one another by treating one another as objects. Instead, a world in which a person's belovedness is based on nothing else but that they have been hand-made by a loving God. In God's world of resurrection life, all are beloved and cherished because of who they are in themselves, and communities in which the resurrected Jesus brings that world into the present, are beloved and cherished because of who they are in themselves.

 

Ultimately, life after death will look nothing like life before death. In our resurrection, we will be redefined as a person, our relationships to one another will be changed, and our relationship with God will be strengthened. But Jesus is saying that we don’t have to wait until we physically die to experience resurrection life. Jesus’ announcement of the resurrected life changes the present world by bringing God's intended future to us right now! We can participate in resurrection life now! This is how Jesus changes the present world! That is the good news of Jesus' resurrection life for us now! Think of how freeing the future resurrection life will be for that woman the Sadducees speak of. A life in which she can simply enjoy being in the safe, unconditional love of God.

 

Homiletician Luke Powery says, “In order to experience life, resurrection, or hope, one must go through death.” Even as the liturgical season turns back towards Advent, the texts for this Sunday continue to teach the reality of the deaths in which we live. So what does that mean for our community of St Peter? How can we experience God’s resurrected life? Are there any small deaths that need to happen in order for St Peter to be redefined in resurrection?

 

These are the questions I ask you to consider as we proclaim with confidence our faith that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob raised Christ from death and promises to do the same also for us. Here at the little church on the hill where all are welcomed, where all are fed, where healing happens, where peace is made, and where justice is pursued. Here, in this place, is where God's resurrection reign comes into the present. So with Jesus and all those witnesses to resurrection life and resurrection living, let us say, "Amen."

Resources

workingpreacher.org

Out of the Blue Resources

Pastor Michael Kurtz

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 41

Chapter 41 – God or Mammon

 

When thinking about the debate between God and Mammon, and whether or not money and love should be mutually exclusive, I’m drawn to the parable of the dishonest manager. You know, the story about the manager who skims money from the land owner, who then finds out and has the manager fired, but before he leaves the manager makes shady deals with all the customers? Ebenezer Scrooge comes to mind, too.

 

According to Eberhard Arnold, “Mammon is the rule of money over people…. Dependence on material affluence and financial security – that is mammon.” (p. 259) The bottom line is that you cannot serve both God and wealth. If all we care about is getting wealthier, our relationships grow less important. We don’t care about the customer, just the customer’s money. That doesn’t mean there is anything inherently wrong with being wealthy. It’s all about what you do with that wealth. Do you hoard it or share it? Are you selfish with it or generous with it?

 

We can’t love God and money, but there needs to be balance. We need to pay the rent, buy shoes and school supplies for the kids, save up for college funds, and make sure we’ll someday be able to retire without burdening those kids. There is nothing inherently wrong with money, but money should never overshadow our values or faith. There is nothing inherently wrong with having wealth, but God calls us to steward our resources faithfully, letting go of the desire to hold on to wealth and, instead, centering our lives on generosity and compassion.

A Review of the Book "Persistence is Futile" by S. V. Moroz

Title: Persistence is Futile

Author: S. V. Moroz

Publisher: Self-published

Year; 2017

108 pages

From the Back: In this minimalist self-help guide, personal coach and counsellor Moroz warns about the dangers of persistence and the importance of taking pause, breaks, and quitting.

Personal Thoughts: Two things got me to read this book. The title reminded me of the Borg from Star Trek - "resistance is futile" - and the subtitle "how taking a break can move you forward" captured my attention. I have to admit, though, that I am not a fan of the content. The main principle is that sometimes it's ok to quit what you're doing rather than forcing yourself to persist. In principle, I can see where the author was trying to go. Staring at a blank screen waiting for inspiration gets you no where. Forcing yourself to work extended days to finish a project can lead to poor workmanship and exhaustion. But encouraging someone to quit their job because they don't like it doesn't sit well with me.

    I was intrigued by the Pomodoro Technique of taking regular breaks in order to increase productivity, as well as the author's insistence that we should be sure to know that we are persisting for the right reasons. Points such as these were useful.

    However, overall, I wouldn't recommend spending time reading this book. For me, it didn't feel worth my time.

Good Times. Bad Times. Blessings. Curses.: A Sermon for All Saints' Sunday

May only truth be spoken and may only truth be heard. Amen.

 

While originally of pagan origin, the Hallowtide Triduum has become a Chrisitan tradition of a three-day observance that includes All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. All Hallows' Eve is celebrated on October 31 and is the first day of the triduum. It is a time for preparation and reflection on death, often including services and visits to cemeteries to prepare graves for All Saints' and All Souls' days. All Saints' Day is celebrated on November 1 and is a day to celebrate and honor all saints, martyrs, and the faithful departed who have lived holy lives. It is a time to celebrate the "mystical body of Christ" and the "company of all faithful people". All Souls' Day on November 2 is the final day of the triduum. It is a solemn observance for remembering and praying for all the faithful departed, especially relatives and loved ones. Traditions include visiting graves, lighting candles, and giving "soul cakes" to the poor in exchange for prayers for the dead.

 

From an Anglican perspective, the Hallowtide Triduum is a significant part of the Anglican liturgical calendar, often observed with specific services and a focus on the communion of saints. As with other traditions, it is seen as a time to reflect on the victory of Christ over sin and death and to contemplate our own mortality and eternal life. The commemoration of all faithful departed on November 2 is a key element, reinforcing the Anglican belief in the communion of saints and the church, both living and dead.

 

If you’re asking yourself why we are celebrating All Saints’ Day today then, when it’s November 2, well, it’s a complicated liturgical scheduling question that I’d be happy to answer to anyone interested at another time. Over time, as people stopped going to church on a daily basis, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day have been merged into a single Sunday service that focuses on remembering those in the church who have died in the previous year while also celebrating the saints and martyrs of the church. It is an important occasion for remembering and celebrating the blessed of the church’s story, both ancient and contemporary, those known to us only by legend and history, as well as those known to us in this life.

 

The Gospel reading for today lays out the characteristics of the blessed alongside the characteristics of the lost. 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?

 

Luke’s version of the beatitudes is quite a bit more literal than Matthew, less spiritual. In Luke, Jesus declares that the poor, the hungry, the lamenting, the hated, the excluded, and the defamed are to rejoice, for their suffering will be reversed and turned into plenty and joy. By contrast, the rich, the privileged, the prominent, and the comfortable will find themselves outside of the realm of God. 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, you are blessed? Full, happy, loved – cursed? You can see why this might be seen as controversial.

 

When reading the Gospel, you must consider Jesus’ audience. To whom is he speaking? Sometimes we must guess or do some historic digging to figure it out. But if you back up a little to verse 17, Luke tells us straight-up who the audience is – his disciples and a great multitude of people. 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.

 

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? “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. 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.”

 

As I’ve previously said, there is nothing inherently wrong with living in abundance. It’s what we do with that abundance that shows how we are blessed, and how we are living out God’s kingdom today. Our reading today ends with a call to love our enemies, to “do to others as you would have them do to you.” By sharing in our blessedness, we are living out God’s command to love one another, including the radical call to love even our enemies. Today, on All Saints Sunday, we remember those saints across the centuries who have dared to love enemies, even at great personal cost.

 

Today as we remember the saints who have lived and heard the challenge to live like saints, the words of the Apostles’ Creed ring true: we believe “in the communion of the saints.” As the church of Christ, we have a purpose in this world to live for others with Christ-like love. Through God, we have inherited a promise to be reunited with our loved ones in death. As the body of Christ, we are called to seek Christ in everyone we meet. May God help us follow the example of Christ as we strive to live in unity and love through the power of the Spirit. Amen.

Resources

"Feasting on the Word" edited by David L Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor

workingpreacher.org

pulpitfiction.com

A Review of the Book "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson

Title: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Author: Barbara Robinson

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Year: 1972

108 pages

From the Back: The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant.

    None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale - the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating - has a lot of people up in arms. But it will make this year's pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.

Personal Thoughts: I'm not ashamed to say that sometimes I read children and teen books. There are times when nice, easy reads are required to allow the brain to rest a little. Even better are the books that end up with an amazing lesson within the pages. This little book is about more than just a Christmas pageant. It's about not judging other people, about caring for our neighbours, and about realizing that not everyone has heard the good news of Jesus Christ. In a multicultural and ecumenical world, we ca no longer assume that the majority of the people around us are Christian. Also, if you are going to talk about your faith, you can no longer assume the person in front of you has read a bible. This cute story is a lesson in humilty, and an understanding that if you're going to talk to someone about Jesus, you just might need to start from the beginning. And bring refreshments!

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 40

Chapter 40 – The Good Eye

 

As we get into the final few weeks of our exploration of the Sermon of the Mount, we begin to delve into some of the more difficult verses. Matthew 6:22-23 talks about eyes and lamps, darkness and light. Quite a curious pair of verses.

 

If your eyes are working properly, they will take in the light of the room and allow you to see. If they aren’t working, you will be in darkness. This same description is used in Luke 11. Timothy Keller links both metaphors to money, materialism, and greed. He declares that “Jesus says … this darkens your eye spiritually.” (p. 254)

 

According to Keller, the darkness comes from not wanting to talk about greed, not wanting to admit that we are quite likely greedy, we just don’t realize it. We compare ourselves to someone richer than us, and there’s probably always someone richer than us, and decide that because rich people exist, we aren’t greedy. But just because someone might be more extravagant than you, doesn’t mean your greed is non-existent. Did you choose your job because of enjoyment or money? Or are you turning a blind eye to the damage your employer is causing to the environment?

 

The darkness of materialism is everywhere in our society. Perhaps it’s time for us to reassess how we spend out money. Even just by focusing on buying Canadian and/or local, we are letting our eyes see the reality of where our money goes after it leaves our hands.