A sermon on turning around on the journey for February 17th 2019

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

 

Have you ever, been on a car journey, when suddenly, the driver had to slam the brakes on hard and start reversing? Of course, because I’m such a good driver, I always see hazards a long way ahead and stop gently with plenty of time to spare… I’m sure Louise will vouch for me…? Okay, let’s just say, I have occasionally practiced an emergency stop.

 

On one occasion, last year, we were on a day trip while on holiday. We were on a big old coach, heading into the mountains, and after a while, the road got narrower and narrower, so we often had to stop in passing places, looking down thousands of feet of sheer hillside while waiting for cars to pass.

Then, the coach started winding its way up a series of hairpin bends on a mountain pass.

 

What made this especially interesting, was that the coach was too long to make each corner, so the driver would haul away at the wheel until the windscreen was inches from a cliff face, then, we’d reverse back towards the drop behind us, the driver hauling at the wheel again, until we could get around the corner.

 

All the while, still meeting cars coming the other way, as we hugged the cliff or the road edge to let cars pass.

 

There were at least six tight bends and each time, the driver would be hauling away, with the coach lurching as he braked, heaving up the handbrake and pulling away, often in a hill-start.

When we got to the top of the pass, everyone burst into applause and cheers, grateful to arrive safely in our driver’s care, when in fact, he probably makes the journey every day.

 

It struck me that being a Christian can be like this sometimes, we carry on through life, bimbling on, not always paying attention, until something happens to make us slam the brakes on and start backing up. Whether it’s a big life event, births, deaths and marriage among them, or we suddenly have to re-evaluate our beliefs.

 

We’ve all had times when we have had to try and make a tight corner with no clear view of the way ahead, with sheer drops and cliffs around us, feeling extremely perilous, while we try work out what to do, what is faith, or where is God in all this.

 

So, we shuffle back and forth, hauling away in prayer, searching the Bible or talking to people we trust, about everything and our beliefs, until the mist clears, and we realise God was next to us all the time, holding our hands.

 

Jesus, in Luke’s Gospel today, is in a bit of a mood, he’s leading the crowd onto a twisting road where everything they understand as being right, is effectively, the opposite. That they need to turn around.

 

That it’s the poor who are blessed, not the rich.

That it’s the persecuted who are blessed, not the righteous.

That it’s those who weep who are blessed, not those who laugh.

 

And this is all expressed is a series of blessings and woes, and it’s all challenging stuff, it’s certainly more challenging than the Beatitudes in chapter five of Matthew’s Gospel, which are similar.

These blessings make a mockery of what the world values, they exalt poverty and weakness, and reject what the world admires; wealth and status. As Jesus addresses the disciples, he is trying to turn us all around, to make us back up and rethink what it means to follow him.

 

We do need to be cautious when reading Jesus’ nuanced words, so let’s clarify a few points;

When Jesus says, blessed are the poor, he’s not idealising poverty. Let’s remember, the disciples are already poor, they have left everything behind to follow him, they pool everything in common and they rely on Jesus, the messiah, as their leader, to provide for them, so they are already trusting God, which is a blessing we are called to copy.

 

Jesus isn’t seeking to make all Christian’s penniless, in Old Testament times, being poor, also meant to be pious, so there is the additional significance here of telling the disciples that being humble and holy is a blessing.

 

When Jesus says blessed are the hungry and those who weep, he’s not saying that starving is a good thing either, or that to wallow in the sorrow of those who mourn is good. But that these are spiritual blessings, so that when we weep for the ills of the world today, we are promised joy in the world to come.

 

And again, if we are persecuted for faith then this is a cause for spiritual joy, not in that moment for then, persecution is horrible, but certainly in the Kingdom to come.

 

So, blessings in heaven which follow suffering in this life are wonderful to anticipate, but the idea of suffering as a blessing today feels rather perverse to me and I have to say, if suffering is inflicted upon me (whether as persecution for faith, redundancy or illness), I won’t be jumping for joy.

 

With hindsight, it can be possible to see blessings out of misfortune, but at the time it can feel grim, however brave a face we put on it. I will always choose wholeness over brokenness!

 

I don’t believe it’s a blessing to be broken, I’ve been there and it’s awful, but even in those dark days, I held onto my faith - even if diminished slightly at the time, and am reassured by God’s presence and love, but also with the hope of immense joy to come, an eternal reward in heaven. I do take great comfort in the hope of great joy in Heaven, I really do…

 

One more point on this is that I don’t believe God causes suffering, we don’t get punished by God and God takes no pleasure in our pain. The birth of Jesus changed the way God works, so if we suffer, it’s because creation is broken, ever since we left the Garden of Eden. We need Christ to return, to restore balance.

 

When Jesus talks about woes, he’s not making a threat, the translated word from Greek is more, how terrible, it’s an expression of regret and compassion.

 

So when Jesus says woe to you who are rich, it’s not wealth itself which is a problem, but the love of wealth over anything else, this is the same as the love of material possessions, again, it’s nice to have nice things, but if our love for our ‘stuff’ is greater than our compassion for everyone around us, then, to Jesus, this is a source of sadness and being consoled by wealth and stuff is not the same as being truly blessed.

 

Jesus also feels regret for those who are full, this doesn’t mean those who are well fed, but those who feel fully satisfied with life, who think they have all they need, and are entirely self-sufficient.

They don’t need other people, they don’t need God or believe they will ever want for anything, but that is only today, and in the kingdom of God, they’ll realise they were the poorest of all.

I don’t believe that Jesus is against laughter or joy in the here and now either, after all, a few verses earlier, he says those who weep will laugh.

 

His challenge here is against the superficial smugness which comes with comes with being overly content with the success of the present. I think we can be confident that the disciples shared many a joke on the road and let’s not forget, the church is built on a pun, for fishermen became fishers of men…

 

So, Jesus is looking at the crowd of disciples and drawing their attention to ways in which he thinks they need to reverse, to back up, to haul away at the wheel, to do the hard work required to become followers ready for the kingdom of God.

 

To change their ways away from the love of wealth and self, to a love for others and for God. To change our ways too, and it’s never too late to begin backing up…

 

It strikes me that the Good News, the teachings of Jesus, can often be a serious business. Which it is, our souls are on the line here, but as I finish, let me say that there will always be joy, hope and laughter along the way as we follow in the way of Christ.

 

Let us pray,

Loving God,
We give thanks for the teaching of your son,
For his wisdom, compassion and humility.
For his joy, grace and laughter.
We pray that as we walk the path set before us,
We may come to cherish your love, more than wealth or possessions,
That we may see humility, poverty and grace as gifts and not burdens and
May turn around, reverse our lives
That through the way we live our lives, we may be lanterns of truth and hope to all who we meet.
In name of Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord.
Amen

Luke 6.17-26
17 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. 18They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
   for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
   for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
   for you will laugh.
22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24 ‘But woe to you who are rich,
   for you have received your consolation.
25 ‘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.