A Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after The Epiphany (Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 6:17-26)

Here in this season after the Epiphany, we are still talking
about light. We COULD, if we wanted to, even sing “We
Three Kings” today! (We won’t…)
Epiphany is the season when we celebrate the light of
Christmas spreading to the entire world. Then, we hear
stories of Jesus being baptized and the beginning of his
ministry. He works great miracles. Last week, we
witnessed him calling disciples. In two weeks, on the
Sunday before Lent begins, Jesus will be on a mountain
top and anointed by God once again at his Transfiguration.
Epiphany is about light and revelation. Hidden things are
being revealed. God is revealing Jesus to the world, and
God is making new things known to us, God’s children.
And we celebrate that.
But these new things aren’t always what we expect. God’s
plans aren’t always our plans. God’s ways can surprise us.
We’d better get used to it.
In case you have never noticed from the scriptures, God
has a way of turning tables, and not just once, but over and
over. Think of the words of Mary of Nazareth in the
Magnificat. Upon hearing God’s plan that she is to bear the
Messiah, she’s puzzled but willing. She’s a nobody, but in
response to hearing God’s plans, Mary praises this God
who does unexpected things, this God who turns the
tables.
“My soul magnifies the Lord, for the Mighty One has done
great things for me, and holy is God’s name. God has
brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted
up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.”
Do you hear the tables being turned?
Mary sees what’s going on. God is not placing strength
with those who have strength, but with the weak. God is
not rewarding the wealthy with more but giving what they
have to the needy. This is always God’s message. This is
always who God is in the scriptures. This is what God does.
The Messiah would not come from royalty but from the
lowly. The rich and powerful should be worried.
This morning we hear the first sermon of Jesus, at least
one that his followers took the time to remember and write
down. It’s a parallel passage to what we often call “the
Sermon on the Mount” – Jesus’ first major sermon in
Matthew. Here in Luke, we hear that Jesus is standing on
a level place. This has led this passage to be called, “the
Sermon on the Plain”. There are many similarities between
the two, and a few differences, of course.
Jesus stands before the crowds who have gathered. His
reputation is growing. They have come to be healed, but
also to listen. Would this new rabbi with a radical note in
his teachings confound their expectations, just as God has
done so many times in scripture? Would there be a family
resemblance? He begins, “Blessed are you.”
Just as in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn’t bless
the wealthy. He doesn’t applaud the rulers, the winners,
the popular. He isn’t handing out awards for the richest or
most powerful oligarch. He doesn’t say, “Blessed are
they…” pointing to Jerusalem or Rome. Instead, Jesus
says, “Blessed are you!” Jesus is with his people – the
outcast, the needy, the rejected. Blessed are you! Turns out
Jesus bears a strong resemblance to his mother and his
heavenly Father. He too is a table-turner.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of
God.”
Blessed are YOU! He says! The kingdom of heaven, the
true wealth, the lasting treasure, the real riches, God’s
kingdom belongs to YOU!
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be
filled.”
This hunger, of course, goes beyond that which food could
satisfy. Last week we heard how Jesus caused Simon Peter
and the others with him to catch huge boatloads of fish.
That kind of hunger is clearly not a problem. In Matthew’s
Gospel Jesus miraculously feeds thousands, twice!
This hunger is for something more. The hunger for justice
and righteousness. The hunger for God’s will to be done on
earth. This is a hunger which the powerful can never
understand. When was the last time they were hungry for
anything, except for more power or riches?
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
Weeping is not something the powerful do. If you’re rich,
everything seems ok, at least in the public eye. Nothing’s
wrong with me. I’m a winner! Only losers mourn! Have
you noticed how even the powerful today regret nothing
they have done.
Jesus sees things differently. Those who weep now will
have the last laugh. Those who don’t weep have already
found their comfort. If you know what it is like to lose
someone you love, come and show God your pain. If you
know what true grief is, God can heal that. But if you won’t
admit it, if you pretend it isn’t real, God can’t comfort you.
God can’t fix a stubborn heart that rejects mercy.
By the way, in case you missed it, it came to light after
Bishop Marianne Budde’s sermon of January 21st that
apparently empathy is now a sin. Maybe some of the new
versions of the White Nationalist Bible will edit out some
of the more problematic teachings of Jesus, including this
morning’s Gospel.
“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.”
These blessed ones are not “winners” from the world’s
point of view. These are the outcast, the reviled, the
rejected. These are those who have lost any reason to hope.
These are the people Jesus is drawn to. And by following
him, by learning from Jesus, they will face even more
persecution.
Now Jesus turns his attention to the others, and you
guessed it – he flips the script, and the tables, as it were.
“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.”
Jesus is setting the tone of his future ministry – the losers
win. The powerful lose.
Now, hang on a minute Jesus! Were you asleep that day in
seminary when they taught about keeping your big donors
happy? Don’t make the powerful angry, Jesus! If they get
angry, they might not give any money. They might even
come after you!
“Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make
mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the
LORD.” These words don’t come from Jesus’ mouth but
from the prophet Jeremiah, generations before him. These
blessings and curses are nothing new to those who have
been paying attention to what God has been saying and
doing all along.
The cursed “shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not
see when relief comes.”
But “Blessed are those 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.”
And God is a great gardener. God knows fruit. “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.”
To these blessed ones, Jesus is telling them, God sees. God
hears your cries. God knows your hunger. And Jesus
would be the first among them to know hatred and
rejection. Those closest to him would witness it firsthand.
The anointed one of God would suffer. This Lamb of God
would be slaughtered.
I think Jesus is giving them a preview, even if they couldn’t
yet fully comprehend it. The times are going to get hard for
those who follow Jesus. It has happened before. The
prophets suffered for God’s kingdom in their day. They
were persecuted by their own neighbors. Rejoice! Jesus
tells them! Dance for joy!
I’m afraid there’s not much dancing going on these days, at
least among those who are afraid, those who feel
powerless. Many students at Rutgers are afraid. One
student confessed to me in private that his parents are
undocumented. Our ministry at The Canterbury House
also has many trans and non-binary individuals gathering
as a faith community. The fear and uncertainty is real. One
student changed their legal documentation to read “X”
instead of “male” or “female”. They were so proud. Now
they feel very conspicuous. They’re on a list. If they were to
leave the country, even as a natural-born citizen, they fear
they may not be let back in.
What can we do in the face of authority that sees empathy
as a sin? What can we say to the fearful and those without
reason to hope? With Jesus we can tell them they are
among God’s blessed children, but remember that Jesus
didn’t stop there. He heard their cries. He touched the
untouchable. He refused to abandon the most vulnerable.
Of course it wasn’t just Jesus who showed us the way. He
showed us first, but many have followed his example. The
stories of the martyrs and saints of our faith are many.
Their lives and deaths should inspire us to this day. In our
own time, so many gave up their privilege and even their
lives by standing up to the powerful in the face of
oppression. From Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Oscar Romero.
From Dorothy Day to Barbara Harris. From Dr. King to
Jonathan Daniels. With Jesus, they counted the cost of
their faith and dared to stand up for what was right no
matter what.
They were excluded. They were reviled. They were
defamed. Jesus tells them and us, rejoice and dance for
joy, even when you are hated. I need a new pair of dancing
shoes.
Soon enough, we will be in Holy Week and hear again the
most potent moment of Jesus acting like God. One day in
the Temple, the center of religious power and wealth,
Jesus would begin flipping tables. He wasn’t just making a
statement about corruption. He even says what he’s doing
– he’s making room for everyone. In this place of prayer,
he’s clearing space for the outcast, the rejected, the
overlooked. There is room for all, no matter how
determined the powerful are to keep “those people” out, to
deport their enemies. God’s eyes are not admiring the
wealthy but are fixed upon the lowly. Jesus, like God has
always done, turns the tables. Jesus, like God, knows who
is truly blessed. May God turn our eyes and our hearts
away from the powerful, proclaiming their greatness, and
back to the most vulnerable. Truly the kingdom of God is
with them. Amen