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A Completely Unexpected Message
Luke 6:12-26

Picture
     Jesus spent an entire night in solitary prayer, before choosing the remainder of the disciples who would be his inner circle.  We’ve just heard their names. That day, like many more to follow, would involve a large crowd coming in search of their Master.  Word had traveled far -- there were thousands of people arriving.  Many who came from the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee were Gentiles.  Among those arriving from the southern province of Judea came Orthodox Jews from Jerusalem.  The distance between these regions was about 165 miles.  This was just the first of many times Jesus would encounter diverse crowds; there were always seekers and skeptics - those who upheld the Law and others who broke it.  Different languages and dialects would be heard.  People from every level of society were represented. 
      The massive crowd settled themselves across a large open plain. Noisy excitement filled the air.  When Jesus finally appeared, those in need of healing rushed toward him, surrounding him.  He healed them all, one by one.  Some who managed to simply touch his garment were healed.   
       Each person made whole by Jesus would have seen His delight in restoring them.  Have you ever thought about Jesus’ joy?  He took away great pain.  That in turn set free those who had been weary caretakers.  Healing helped fractured families come back together.  It strengthened communities because more people could work.  People’s hope and their dignity returned, their shame and depression lifted.  
     Imagine if you had been a witness that day. People touched and healed by Jesus not only felt their broken bodies mend on the inside, but they also often saw transformation on the outside.  Those once crippled would have been experimentally moving their legs and arms.  Those no longer blind would have squinted at the bright blue sky and looked with wonder at the faces of their loved ones. Those once mute could now express themselves, their voices a surprise to all. The paralyzed would have been shocked to now stand tall among their peers and been thrilled they could now go wherever they wanted to on their own.
      Those healed would have returned to find their seat again, causing excitement as they passed by others.  What would it have been like to be with family and friends and be healthy?  Some were likely already dreaming new dreams for their lives! 
      Jesus healed the last person in the crowd, then he led his newly called disciples and had them sit in the front row and began to teach.  His attention was fully on them!  This first sermon gave them a glimpse into who God is and what God calls blessed.  They began to hear about what the kingdom of God is like.  This message has been called the Sermon on the Plain; it has four beatitudes and four woes.  If you look in Matthew 5 there’s a similar sermon - it’s called the Sermon on the Mount and it only lists beatitudes.  Jesus preached both sermons, but like most traveling preachers, he’d sometimes offer different insights on the same topic.  As someone who preaches twice each Sunday on the same Scripture, I sometimes do that too!   
        Let’s dig in now.  Jesus said, “What blessings there are for those who are poor…the Kingdom of God is yours! But what sorrow awaits the rich - their greatest happiness will happen here on earth.”   This is a blunt beginning for a sermon.  Is Jesus telling us that if we want to experience great joy and blessedness, we need to “get ourselves poor”?  Is he saying, “These are your marching orders”?   
         No, Jesus was not being prescriptive; he wasn’t giving out instructions on how we must live.  He was just being descriptive.  He was taking the standard beliefs of the day but changing the expected outcome.  To hear each of these would have been startling, like he was getting everything backwards.  
       To better understand what was so surprising, so unexpected, we need to know the common religious beliefs from that time period.  It was thought that when a person was sincere and obedient before God, they would be blessed.  It was a sort of spiritual “if I... then God” formula.  If I am a sincere and obedient follower of God, then I will be rewarded for my faithfulness.  I won’t be desperately poor or hungry.  Nor will my life be overwhelmed with tragedies and grief.  I will not be hated, mocked, or excluded.  If I am a sincere and obedient follower, then God will be with me, and for me, and the evidence of that blessing will be plainly seen.  
     Do you think this formula is true?  Does God guarantee certain worldly comforts or protections if we have sincere faith and seek to be obedient followers?   Some people in Jesus’ day embraced this point of view.  It’s actually still a popular point of view today - it’s known as the “prosperity gospel”.  It’s the belief that anyone who has great wealth, health, happiness, or social status got it because God was pleased with them.  Their faith and prayers caused God to pour down on them an abundance of earthly blessings.  But if this logic is followed to its natural conclusion, anyone who is poor, hungry, grieving, or hated must be someone God has intentionally withheld his blessings from here on earth.  Someone’s lack of faith blocks the good and instead brings down trouble on their lives.    
      Again, let me ask, do you believe these things to be true?  Does our God generously pour out abundance on those who earn or merit His rewards?  Will there be evidence of that? Will they all live in very fine homes, be well-fed and in vigorous health?  Will they be highly respected in the community and have certain powers and privileges?  
        The phrase that comes to mind for me about this is that, “Saying so don’t make it so!”  As Jesus launched his ministry, on day one, he began to set the record straight.  He used the well-known “if I... then God” assumption and turned it upside down.  Some call this the Great Reversal, but Jesus calls it Good News. 
         His message that day began to reveal how someone can discover and abide in the Kingdom of God.  He oriented people toward eternal blessings, not earthly riches.  Jesus also came to confront those who falsely enshrined some people as holy and beloved but condemned others as undeserving nobodies. 
      Now let’s go one layer closer to the truth Jesus was sharing with his brand-new disciples.  He’s offering them, and the huge crowd, wisdom that can bring them more than “a good life”: it can offer them new life.  Do you remember Jesus saying, “Blessed are the poor, the kingdom of God is theirs”?  Jesus used a specific word for the poor, and his hearers would have immediately understood its meaning. The nuanced word Jesus used for the poor meant wretched beggars, those barely surviving. They are blessed. This startled his audience - perhaps it even provoked some of the “holier than thou” types.  Beggars seem like they should be the last person in line for God’s blessing, let alone His kingdom. After all, what have they done to deserve that?       
       If this rather vivid illustration of the poor causes you to picture someone in a cramped, stale rental room, alone, with little canned food left to eat and no way to wash their clothes or body, if that gets fixed in our minds as someone who is IN God’s kingdom, praise God!  It means we’re beginning to understand the heart and mind of God.  Line by line in Jesus’ sermon, unexpected and exciting new things are revealed.  We call these epiphanies. 
      Come to church next week, and you’ll hear more from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  There will be great reversals and epiphanies.  Don’t miss out!

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