For the next few weeks, we’ll be bouncing around the gospel according to Luke, watching as Jesus confronts the harshest realities of the world he lived in. This week, we find Jesus toward the beginning of his ministry. He’s just appointed the twelve disciples who would be closest to him, and he takes them down the mountain they were on to stand on a level place. There, a crowd gathers – people from all over the countryside, coming to hear him speak and to be healed. The crowd begins to press in on him, reaching out to try touch him.
When he is faced with an anxious crowd, full of people with great needs, this is what happens.
Scripture: Luke 6:20-32
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. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated 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.
26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. 29 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. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Alright, we’re going to talk about it.
What do we do when the headlines and the gospel collide?
We’re now in week five of a government shutdown, with no end in sight. The fight in Congress over whether people deserve food or healthcare continues, day by day. Our screens are filled to overflowing with the message that winning is the most important thing – forget compassion, forget helping your teammates, forget collaboration or sharing the credit, definitely forget giving something away for nothing. What matters is that you get what you want, and the heck with everybody else.
And here we are, hearing Jesus say things like “blessed are the poor and the hungry.” “Do good to those who hate you.” “Give to everyone who asks of you.”
One of these things is not like the other.
But here’s the thing: Jesus’ words sounded just as insane to the twelve disciples he just called as they do to us today.
If you remember, Judea and Galilee were under the control of the Roman empire at this point. They paid sometimes exorbitant taxes that did not fund projects in their own communities or feed their neighbors, but instead went directly to Rome, into the pocket of the emperor. Their towns and streets were occupied by Roman soldiers, just in case they got too rowdy or rebellious. Even the religious establishment was tied up in the power games of the local governors.
People were angry. They were looking for something new, someone to help them throw off the chains of Rome and bring back the glory days of the kingdom of Judah.
With a restless and desperate crowd, Jesus could’ve said or done all sorts of things.
But instead, he looks his disciples in their faces and says:
“You are blessed if you’re poor, because the kingdom of God will be yours. You’re blessed if you’re hungry, because you will eat your fill. You’re blessed if you’re sad and angry and crying, because you will laugh. You’re blessed when everybody hates you because you follow me—don’t worry, the prophets of old got the same treatment.”
And lest they think he’s talking about their post-victory feast, when they’ve soundly defeated their enemies and everyone is on their side, he continues by telling them to love their enemies, pray for the people who curse them, do not be fazed by their violence but instead be generous with the very people who are out to do them harm.
Jesus is not talking about winning. He’s talking about how to live a life of love and compassion when the rest of the world is anything but.
Have you ever noticed that in order to get “biblical instructions” for what to do with power over others, folks usually have to go to the Old Testament?
Jesus doesn’t tell us what to do when we hold all the power. At no point does he say to his disciples “hey, when you’ve grown this movement and taken over some entire countries, here’s what you’re going to do.”
Even Paul and some of the other New Testament writers gave instructions for how to govern a church community, but never a whole country. By the time the gospels were being put on paper for the first time, Jews and Christians alike were being persecuted across the known world. It was so far out of the realm of possibility for these followers of Jesus that they didn’t even think to have the conversation.
So we’ve just been fighting about it – with one another and with people outside of Christianity – for two thousand years.
But this means it is precisely when we feel most powerless to change our circumstances, so frustrated with our inability to get others to see things our way, that that these words of Jesus are meant for us.
Jesus is giving us ways to be faithful even when we feel like we cannot win.
Today is All Saints Sunday, and what is a saint but someone who did what they could with what they had?
In the Presbyterian tradition, we do not canonize anyone as capital-S saints. We believe that all of God’s people are fundamentally equal in God’s sight and in God’s kingdom. We’re all saints.
However, I will admit to a bit of what Barbara Brown Taylor calls Holy Envy for my Catholic and Orthodox siblings in Christ, because they have found a way to celebrate and lift up the people who do extraordinary things, and do ordinary things with great love in the name of Jesus.
I recently learned about a new Orthodox saint– her name is Olga Michael, and she was canonized by the Orthodox Church in America in June of this year. She was a native Alaskan, part of the Yup’ik people, and lived her entire life in Kwethluk – a village of approximately 700 in southwestern Alaska.
What makes St. Olga remarkable is not any extraordinary feat. She opened and worked at a general store for many years. She married a man who later became an Orthodox priest, and so she became a de facto leader of women in the church. She was a traditional healer and a midwife, helping deliver newborns, and she taught English as a second language to adults in the community. Women, in particular, sought her advice and wisdom when they needed some help.
There’s no dramatic story of blizzards and miracle babies that made her a saint – she just showed up and cared for people, day in and day out.
Even after her death in 1979, several people reported seeing her in their dreams as a healer.
Jesus does not demand that we win the culture wars or the political question of the day.
What Jesus demands from us is actually much more difficult: to keep showing up, to keep blessing and praying and giving, to keep loving and hoping and doing good, even when we feel like the only ones. Even when it seems like the cultural needle isn’t moving a millimeter.
Scream into the void all you need to, but keep showing up – because every day, every person, every moment matters.
And that, saints, is precisely why we gather at this table.
This meal is meant to nourish us for the work ahead – both spiritual and physical – and to remind us that God has been faithful, and God will be faithful. This world and its chaos will not last forever.
This is a small taste of the banquet that awaits us when we gather, with all the beloved saints from every time and place, in the kingdom of God.