“Some bracing words”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, February 13, 2022
Luke 6:17-26 (Forward, p. 15) CEV p. 1064
A noted American author, I think it was Mark Twain, was once asked about his understanding of the Bible. He said, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that bother me; it is the parts that I do understand.” And how do we often respond to those parts that we do understand but don’t like? Well-known Bible expositors, Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, suggest that we may do several things: we can spiritualize them, thus avoiding the plain, literal meaning of the passage; we can redefine the words so as to say something else than what it really does say; or we can simply avoid them. That latter option is what many First World Christians do with today’s passage, what is often called the Sermon on the Plain. Plainly (no pun intended), many western Christians, especially those who are well-off and who lead very secure, comfortable lives, are quite taken back, even offended, by what Jesus has to say here.
Jesus has some very uncomfortable things to say about those who are wealthy, well-fed, comfortable and popular. Many of Jesus’ audience were on the fringes of society, often barely making ends meet. The burden of taxation back then was onerous and crushing, and many people had lost their farms and businesses because of it and were now forced to live from hand to mouth. They were the ones that were particularly receptive to the good news that Jesus come to proclaim.
On the other hand, the ‘fat cats’, the ones who were largely shielded from this heavy burden, the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, usually did not see any need for Jesus and His message. They were well-off, secure and comfortable, thank you very much, and so, for the most part, did not accept Jesus or what He had to say. And sad, to say, this meant that they were able to ‘rest on the laurels’, or at least, in their wealth and position, and not rest in God. Furthermore, they were blinded to the injustice of poverty and hunger and to the economic and political disparities of their world.
So, what Jesus does here, in today’s passage, is tell His audience that this is not God’s way, and furthermore, this is not the way that things will ‘end up’. Ultimately, the tables will be turned, and justice will be done, and not only be done, but be seen to be done. Third World theologians have often taken great delight in this and similar passages as it seems to highlight what has been labelled as God’s preferential option for the poor.
So, how do we, especially in the West, deal with such passages? Socialist governments have tried, through taxation and ‘equalization payments’ of various sorts, to redistribute the wealth, but their efforts are often clumsy and ineffective, and subject to the human frailties of arrogance and over-control (‘we know better’). These efforts can often penalize initiative and entrepreneurship, on the one hand, and foster dependency and lack of effort, on the other.
What I would suggest, as a counter move, is that we, as Christians and as private citizens, work towards a more just and equitable society. This may mean paying better wages to employees, making sure that they have the needed medical benefits and proper working conditions, avoiding sweatshop labour, and thus, probably paying more for our goods and services. Sadly, we often know nothing about these things, and can’t even access the information, even if we wanted to. Sadly—I know that I am certainly susceptible to this—we often do not know anything about where a product comes from or how it is produced (and don’t even think about it) and end up almost automatically settling for the lower priced item. After all, is that the chief selling point for many large chains, such as Wal Mart? And so, we so easily fall into that trap. Nevertheless, we need to learn to see things the way that God does, that Jesus does, and try to bring about fairness and justice even in our present-day world. We know, of course, that this will never fully happen, even with our best and most enlightened efforts, but we can try to be like Jesus in this and do the best we can. Amen.
Forward notes: “Then [Jesus] 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’” (verses 20-21).
“Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew gets all the press, but in the Gospel of Luke, we hear the equally powerful Sermon on the Plain. In all the gospels, but especially in Luke, Jesus shows his commitment to people who have been pushed to the edges of society—the poor, the sick, the widowed, and anyone else who might wonder if there is a place for them in the kingdom of God.
“In this sermon, Jesus offers an amazing promise to all of us who have ever found ourselves poor, hungry, or weeping. Instead of worrying that our suffering is some kind of divine retribution for an unknown sin, we can trust that God has not sent our hardships to punish us—and that, instead, God will bless us in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. With this promise comes a responsibility: we must find ways to be a blessing to others in need, too.”
Moving Forward: “Make plans to volunteer at a local food pantry or clothing closet.”
