The Gospel according to Luke 6:17-26

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."

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WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN A MIDDLE CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD IN NEW HAVEN, I CONFESS THAT I HAD REALLY NO IDEA OF WHAT IT MEANT TO BE POOR. ALL THE PEOPLE I KNEW WERE WELL FED, IF MODESTLY IN SOME HOMES, AND I WAS PRETTY WELL SHELTERED FROM THE AFTER EFFECTS OF THE DEPRESSION. I KNEW ABOUT THE RICH, THOSE THAT HAD BETTER CARS OR HOMES. BUT I ONLY READ ABOUT THE POOR, AND NOT MUCH AT THAT. WE SOMETIMES DROVE THROUGH THE "SLUMS." THAT’S WHERE THEY LIVED I WAS TOLD. BUT WHAT I SAW DIDN’T GIVE ME AN IMPRESSION OF POVERTY OR DESPAIR.

COLLEGE LIFE PROTECTED ME FROM THE REAL WORLD IN MANY WAYS. THE POST WAR EUPHORIA, AND WELL BEING SEEMED TO CLOUD ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND CONCERN FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE. AND THEN CAME THE SIXTIES, A TIME OF REVOLUTION IN SOME SENSE. LIFE WAS UNSETTLING, VIETNAM, THE DEATHS OF KENNEDY AND KING, AND WE JUMPED INTO ACTIVISM, TO PROTEST. WE TALKED ABOUT EQUAL RIGHTS AND PEACE FOR EVERYONE AND PLENTY FOR THE POOR. BUT, THAT DIED DOWN, AND MOST OF US SETTLED BACK INTO RESPECTABLE JOBS, AND THERE WAS NO MORE TALK OF REVOLUTION. AND I KNEW NO MORE ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE POOR.

THE FACT IS WE WEREN’T SEEKING WHAT I SEE NOW AS A REAL REVOLUTION, THE KIND OF THING WE READ ABOUT IN THIS LESSON FROM LUKE. WE’VE HEARD LUKE TALK ABOUT THIS BEFORE. MARY TELLS US GOD HAS "LIFTED UP THE LOWLY," HE HAS "FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS AND SENT THE RICH AWAY EMPTY." AND TODAY JESUS IS BLESSING THE POOR, THE HUNGRY, THOSE WHO WEEP, AND THOSE WHO ARE HATED FOR HIS NAME SAKE.

RECALLING MATTHEW’S BEATITUDES WE MIGHT TRY TO SPIRITUALIZE THESE BLESSINGS. DOES IT REALLY MEAN ECONOMICALLY "POOR" OR IS IT THE "POOR IN SPIRIT?" ARE THEY HUNGRY FOR GOD’S WORD, FOR "RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE" OR ARE THEY TRULY WITHOUT FOOD TO EAT? AND WHY DO THEY MOURN?

BUT LET’S THINK ABOUT THOSE WHO JESUS WAS ADDRESSING. THESE FIRST CENTURY PALESTINIANS WERE OPPRESSED FOLK, HELD IN THE GRIPS OF THE ROMAN ARMY. MANY WERE SUBJECT TO ABSENTEE LANDLORDS. ALL SUFFERED UNDER STIFLING TAXATION. SOME WERE GENTILES, MOST WERE JEWS. AT THAT TIME THE JEW WERE EXPERIENCING FRAGMENTATION, SECTS WERE BREAKING OFF, SOME COZYING UP TO THE ROMANS, OTHERS PLANNING A REVOLUTION. (WE KNOW WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE IN OUR CHURCH TODAY.) AND URBAN POVERY WAS AS BAD AS IT CAN BE TODAY.

AS I SAID BEFORE, I HADN’T REALLY BEEN CLOSE TO THIS UNTIL LATER IN LIFE, UNTIL THE YEARS WHEN I WORKED IN THE SOUTH BRONX, AND THEN FOR TEN YEARS AS A CHAPLAIN AT GRADY. AND I WONDER IF IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS WITH THE POOR THIS MIXTURE OF HOPE AND DEFEAT THAT I HAVE SEEN TODAY. JESUS’ MESSAGE OF REVOLUTION SEEMS REMOTE TODAY. A LIFE OF STRUGGLE IS WHERE IT’S AT.

AND HOW ABOUT THIS HARSH TRUTH THAT JESUS SPEAKS. IT WAS TOUGH THEN, AND TOUGHER NOW I THINK. THE CLAIM THAT THOSE OF US WHO ARE WELL FED NOW WILL BE HUNGRY IN THE FUTURE. WE WHO LAUGH NOW WILL MOURN AND WEEP, AND WOE TO US WHO ARE RICH OR WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK WELL OF US. HE DECLARES THAT WHEN GOD ESTABLISHES A JUST REIGN THERE WILL BE A COMPLETE REVERSAL. THIS IS A MESSAGE THAT HITS RIGHT AT THE VERY THINGS WE STRIVE FOR, OUR CONSUMERISM, OUR PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, OUR COMFORTS.

GUILTY. YES WE ARE GUILTY. WE ARE GUILTY AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A NATION. I AM APPALLED WHEN I THINK OF HOW MUCH OF OUR NATIONAL BUDGET GOES TO GUNS AND WARSHIPS AND MISSLES TAKING AWAY FROM THOSE WHO HUNGER AND AREN’T CLOTHED. AS A NATION WITH LESS THAN A QUARTER OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION WE CONSUME TWO THIRDS OF THAT WORLD’S RESOURCES. BUT WE KNOW ALL THIS. OUR INSATIABLE NEEDS ARE INCREDIBLE AND WE AREN’T ALONE, WHILE THE LARGER WORLD’S POPULATION SUFFERS. IS IT BECAUSE WE ARE SMARTER? IS IT BECAUSE GOD HAS BLESSED US OVER OTHERS? WHERE DOES GREEDINESS COME FROM?

I DOUBT THAT MOST OF US SPEND A LOT OF TIME FEELING GUILTY ABOUT THIS. BUT IN FACT I SUSPECT THAT THERE ARE FEW OF US WHO DO NOT WISH TO SEE THE HUNGRY FILLED, THE POOR UPLIFTED, THE MOURNFUL BECOME FILLED WITH JOY. WHEN WE SEE EVIDENCE ON THE TV OF IRAQUES KILLING INNOCENT BYSTANDERS, THEIR OWN PEOPLE, AND MOURNING FAMILY MEMBERS AT HAND; WHEN WE SEE CHILDREN IN AFRICA WHO ARE DYING OF DISEASES THAT CAN BE PREVENTED, BUT WHOSE PARENTS ARE TOO POOR TO SEEK MEDICAL HELP; AND THOSE STARVING IN BOXCARS, STRUGGLING TO TRAVEL TO A NEW LAND WHERE THEY MIGHT FIND WORK; WE EXPERIENCE GREAT PAIN. WE WANT TO HELP, TO DO SOMETHING SO THAT THESE SITUATIONS CAN BE ELIMINATED. BUT HOW?

IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT IF I GAVE UP MY CAR, MY COMFORTABLE CONDOMINIUM, AND MY WARDROBE, THAT THE POOR WOULD NOT BE SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER OFF THAN THEY ARE NOW. BUT I DON’T THINK THAT THAT GETS ME OR ANY OF US OFF THE HOOK. IF WE BELIEVE IN WHAT JESUS IS TELLING US, AND THAT’S WHAT WE ARE DOING HERE AT ST. JOHN’S TODAY, SEEKING TO HEAR JESUS, TO PROCLAIM CHRIST IN THE WORLD, WE NEED TO STOP, AND TAKE STOCK. THE QUESTION IS HOW CAN WE RECONCILE OUR WEALTH WITH THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST?

IN FACT WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RECONCILE IT ALL. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LIVE UNDER GOD’S JUDGEMENT, LIVING IN CONFIDENCE THAT WE WILL IN THE END SEE THE KINGDOM, BUT AWARE THAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO WHAT WE CAN HERE. I FEAR MY OWN COMPLACENCY. I FEAR THAT I SETTLE INTO MY NEST AND FORGET THE POOR. I FORGET TO REACH OUT AT TIMES. AND MY FERVENT PRAYER IS THAT GOD WILL OPEN MY EYES TO OPPORTUNITIES WHERE I CAN SERVE THE POOR, THE HUNGRY, THE MOURNFUL AND THOSE WHO ARE HATED FOR HIS SAKE.

I FEAR FOR OUR SAKE AS A PARISH AT TIMES. DO WE STEP UP TO THE PLATE WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY EXISTS?

WILL WE GET OURSELVES TOGETHER AND TAKE ON A REFUGEE FAMILY WHEN IN ATLANTA AT THIS TIME THERE IS A CRYING NEED FOR CHURCHES TO DO THIS,

KNOWING THAT WE CAN NEVER HELP ENOUGH?

WILL WE COME OUT IN FORCE TO SERVE HOLY COMFORTER THIS WEEK, PROVIDING FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY, KNOWING WE WILL NEVER SUPPLY ENOUGH?

WILL WE VOLUNTEER FOR SUCH TASKS AS THIS PARISH HAS UNDERTAKEN SUCH AS THE BARGAIN SHOP AND "BEGIN AGAIN" KNOWING THAT WE CAN NEVER DO ENOUGH?

WILL WE SEARCH FOR OTHER WAYS AND PLACES THAT WE CAN FEED THE HUNGRY, CONSOLE THE MOURNFUL, SUPPORT THE POOR, AND FIGHT THOSE WHO EXCLUDE AND DEFAME OTHERS, KNOWING THAT WE CAN NEVER DO ENOUGH?

AS WE COME TO THIS ALTAR TODAY TO BE FED, WE WILL ALL COME BEFORE GOD AS PEOPLE FORGIVEN. THE HUMBLE AND THE MIGHTY HAVE A PLACE HERE, ALL ARE WELCOMED, ALL ARE BLESSED. MAY THE CHRIST IN US LEAD US TO THE PLACE WHERE WE CAN MEET THE POOR, THE HUNGRY, THOSE WHO MOURN, AND THOSE WHO ARE REVILED FOR CHRIST SAKE. WHERE WE CAN MEET AND BE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM.

The Rev. Ruth Healy

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