Sunday, November 4, 2007
By pastor John Jorgenson
Text: Luke 6:20-31
“Then He 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. 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; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.’
“ ‘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.’
“ ‘But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others, as you would have them do to you.’ ”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to God.
This is All Saints Sunday. We celebrate being Saints. This is Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, the congregation of Saints on Jolly Road. Well, now what is that?
In our text this morning, Luke writes that Jesus proposes a very interesting purpose for our lives, especially in the world we live in today. Luke writes that Jesus said that we are to love our enemies. We are to do good to those who hate us. We are to bless those who curse us. We are to pray for those who abuse us. We are to give to everyone who begs from us and as we wish others would do for us, we are to do that to and with them.
At first glace this seems ridiculous. I mean after all, how serious can you be about taking such a series of risks? Let’s be practical. We live in this world, not some nice perfect place out in the sky somewhere.
On the other hand, when we stop and think about it, how has our behavior, in the past when we did what we wanted done and did not do this that which Jesus has asked us to do, impacted on others or our own life? How did that behavior, that which we did because we wanted it done, or we thought it was the best thing to do, how has that really helped us? When we look at that concern, it raises three rather interesting issues for us to explore this morning.
The first issue is that our Christian Ethic is positive. Our being faithful to Jesus and what He taught does not consist in our NOT doing things. When we are being faithful, that means we are doing what God commands, what Jesus taught, and what the Holy Spirit motivates us to do. The Golden Rule that Jesus gave us is to DO for others what we would have them do for us. We are to act POSITIVELY.
Religious leaders misused the Golden rule in the past. For example, Hillel, one of the great Jewish rabbis stated, “What is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the basis for law and all else is explanation.”
Philo, a Jewish teacher in Alexandria, taught, “What you hate to suffer, do not do to anyone else.”
Isocrates, the Greek orator stated, “What things make you angry when you suffer them at the hands of others, do not you do to other people.”
The Stoics wrote, “What you do not wish to be done to yourself, do not you do to any other.”
Confucius insisted, “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
Every one of these expressions of law, of God’s law for our behavior, is negative. It is one thing not to do something that hurts someone else. It is a very different thing to do something positive for others that you would want done for yourself. This essence of our conduct as Christians is not in refraining from bad, it is in actively doing good things that help people. This is a very different issue that we do not hear much about.
A second issue is that as we go beyond what is expected of us as faithful followers, other people see in what we do that God is being very generous with us. We in turn are to share that generosity in our treatment of others. This then encourages others to learn from what we do and do the same. We are no better than other people. Instead it is that god is working through us to provide and to care for others. Others then learn thorough what we do that God loves them also and is wiling to share and to be generous with them as well. They in turn then do good for others.
The third issue that Luke tells us Jesus raised is the reason for our doing this. When we act as faithful Christian believers, others are able to see God in action in whatever we do.
This issue is quite basic in terms of our being aware of what Jesus taught in our faith development and growth. The common or usual idea is that if you believe in God, and go to church, then the important thing is that you don’t do this and you don’t do that. I mean, the Ten Commandments tell us what we are not to do. Do not lie, do not kill, do not steal, and do not envy your neighbors or their family or their possessions. Oh yes, in Commandments One and Two and Three and Four, we learn we are to love God and not take God’s name in vain which means that we are not to use God to manipulate others or to take away their money in God’s name. Then we are to have a Sabbath day of rest and to honor our parents. This is what God requires if we are to claim to be faithful.
Jesus simplified this thinking. Jesus taught us about the relationship God initiated with us when we were created. Jesus taught that we have two fundamentals for our thinking and for our acting out our faith. One, we are to love God above all things. In other words, God is Boss. We have been created to be God’s helpers and we really benefit from that relationship. God initiated the relationship and we respond.
Two, Jesus also taught us that our response to this relationship with God that God started is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Luke wrote, “Then He 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. 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; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.’ ”
Jesus also taught about being too self centered. After all, our success in based on the talents and gifts God gave us in the first place.
“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.”
Then Jesus taught, “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others, as you would have them do to you.”
And so in conclusion, I seems to me that it is pretty easy to be a Christian when I don’t have anything, when I am hungry, when I am poor, when I am depressed and sad or when I am hated and the object of ridicule. Boy, my friends really are important then and I really feel cared for and I sure appreciate their kindness and support.
Then when things are going my way again, I still like my friends and we talk about how we got together and made things happen. The relationship God has established with us can get put aside and we are feeling so independent. I may even wonder about this God business, maybe God is just for those who are not capable of living and doing things for themselves!
Instead, Jesus urges us not to forget, “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others, as you would have them do to you.”
Our prayer this morning is that we do just that and our being effective and not victims of a scam or con job is not easy. We sure need God’s support in that decision. We are to help those who come to us for aid. Do we give them just to keep them down? Or do we give them not only physical support but also the opportunity for spiritual growth and development? We sure need God’s insights as we do that.
Amen.