BLESSINGS & WOES(Pre-Lent Sermon Series - 1: ‘Being Changed into the Likeness of Christ’)
Come, Holy Spirit,
Fill our minds with your truth;
Fill our hearts with your love;
Fill our lives with your strength;
Holy and gracious Spirit of God.
AMEN.
Ven. David Painter, at the Funeral of Dean James Atwell, January 7th, 2021.
Ps 1
I Cor 15:12-20
Lk.6:17-26
When you think about the Beatitudes, what someone recently has called ‘The Beautiful Attitudes’ - when you think about the Beatitudes, I wonder whether your mind goes to Matthew’s version, from the Sermon on the Mount, or to Luke’s version, from the Sermon on the Plain. Probably the former, I suspect. But today, in our three-year cycle of readings, we’ve been given the Lukan version, with its blessings and woes.
Today in the Avon Valley Churches, we’re beginning a sermon series, which will last for the three Sundays before Lent, called ‘Being Changed into the Likeness of Christ’ – if you get Partners, you can read a bit about it on the front page. ‘Being Changed into the Likeness of Christ’. It’s a phrase from II Corinthians 3:8, when Paul is talking about hope and transformation and boldness. And I thought it would be useful, in these Sundays leading up to Lent, to think about our life together within our Churches, and the quality of that life.
Are we, as individual Churches and as individual people, ‘Being changed into the likeness of Christ’, and is that change being shown by the way we treat each other as Christians and by the way we relate to other Churches? So, I thought we might spend a little time reflecting on this passage from Luke 6, with that wider theme in mind.
Matthew 5, the more familiar version of the Beatitudes, begins, ‘When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’’ [Matt 5:1-3]. It’s a very beautiful introduction to the Beatitudes, and makes it clear that Jesus is talking to his disciples when he says these words.
In Luke 6, we are given a slightly different introduction. ‘(Jesus) came down with (the Twelve) 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’ [Lk 6:17]. Let’s just pause for a moment and reflect on those words and on their context.
The passage immediately before is the choosing of the Twelve Disciples – Jesus spent the night in prayer, on the mountain, and the next morning he called all of his disciples to him and chose twelve of them – and then we’re given the list of their names. Notice, firstly that Jesus spent the night in prayer. That’s a theme which is especially strong in Luke’s Gospel – Jesus in prayer. It’s there in the others as well, of course, but it’s especially drawn out in Luke. That in itself is a challenge to us and to our way of being Church. Is everything we do steeped in prayer? And is the prayer real, or is it a bit tokenistic? Someone once remarked about Church Meetings that they often open in prayer, and then continue as if God didn’t matter any more. As we’re ‘being changed into the likeness of Christ’ as a Church community, are we making sure that we are spending enough time listening to God and to what he might be saying about his mission for our Churches?
And from the choosing of the Twelve disciples, notice, secondly, that there were lots of disciples, from whom Jesus chose twelve – he spent the night in prayer, and the next morning he chose the Twelve. From the very beginning of the Church, people have been called out to serve in particular ways – as Disciples, or Deacons, or Presbyters, or Overseers; what today we might describe as Church Stewards, or Local Preachers, or PCC Members, Churchwardens, or Ministers, or Priests or Bishops. After prayer, the Church has always called people into particular roles. And what those roles are, and how the people fulfil those roles, make a difference to how a Church is led, and the culture of a particular Church. Are those being called into God’s Service mature enough and wise enough to remember that their calling is always in the Service of the wider Church, and a calling to be part of God’s Mission in the world, and not just a calling for their own aggrandisement, or so they can get their own way?
After the choosing and naming of the Twelve, ‘(Jesus) 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’ [Lk 6:17]. Now, as far as we can tell, Jesus was in Galilee at this time – and yet, these people had come from ‘all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon’ – in other words, they had come a long way to hear this preacher. Some of them will have travelled more than 50 miles, with walking being pretty much the only means of travel for ordinary people. The ‘coast of Tyre and Sidon’ was a good distance away from Galilee. People were hungry to hear the words of Jesus, for him to heal them and their loved ones, and to see for themselves who this person was whose fame was spreading so widely.
All these people had come ‘to hear him and to be healed of their diseases’ [Lk. 6:18]. ‘Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’’ [Lk. 6:20]. Surrounded by the crowds, Jesus looked at his newly chosen and named disciples, and began to teach them.
Having called them out, he began to teach them. And this makes me ponder about leadership in our Churches, and how we support our ordained and lay ministers, and those who are called to office in the Church. Are we praying for our Church Committees and Councils? Are we holding our lay and ordained ministers in prayer, and are we supporting, and, where necessary, challenging them? Jesus spent time with his Disciples, talking with them, even when there was a great crowd demanding his attention.
And so, Jesus taught his disciples, and what he taught them was that the usual order of things was going to be radically different in the Kingdom of God.
‘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… Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven’ [Lk 6:20b-23a].
The old, what might be called natural, order is to be reversed. The poor will inherit the Kingdom of God; the hungry will be filled; those who weep will laugh, and people will hate those who are serving in God’s Church. Beware, Church leaders, lay and ordained; the path ahead may not be smooth, and you will not always be praised, even, or especially, when making the right decisions.
Unlike Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes, Luke’s Beatitudes come with a large sting in the tail. The Blessings are followed by woes:
‘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’ [Lk. 6:24-26].
What a challenge that is to all of us – for, in world terms, all of us are rich – if we have a tap in our house, then we’re rich! Jesus words are often tough words, words we need to hear and be challenged by.
Jesus was calling and training his Disciples, just as the Church calls and trains people today.
How do we so shape our Churches and our individual relationships that we are shining examples of the love of God, and of the followers of Jesus, and of those who believe in the Holy Spirit, so that all might see in us, individually and as a Church, the possibility of a world transformed by love, a world in which the hungry will be fed, and those who mourn will laugh. That’s our challenge for the weeks and years ahead – a challenge which will take a lifetime to fulfil. AMEN.