SERMON TITLE: Blessed Are You! Vision Keepers
Preached by the Rev. John Lee on February 11,
2007 at DPUC
Luke 6:17-26
6:17 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,
6:18 They had come to hear him and
to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean
spirits were cured.
6:19 And all in the crowd were
trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
6:17 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,
6:18 They had come to hear him and
to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean
spirits were cured.
6:19 And all in the crowd were
trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
6:20 Then he looked up at his
disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the
6:21 "Blessed are you who are
hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you
will laugh.
6:22 "Blessed are you when
people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on
account of the Son of Man.
6:23 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.
6:24 "But woe to you who are
rich, for you have received your consolation.
6:25 "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.
6:26 "Woe to you when all
speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false
prophets."
Reader:
The Gospel of the risen Christ, our Lord.
ALL: Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed Are You! Vision Keepers
In my school days, one of my friends, came to my house. He was so curious to see many bibles at my home. He wanted to borrow one of them. I said yes. After a week, he returned the book. I asked him if he finished reading it. He said, “Jesus as a young man, was quite ambitious. But I cannot buy his ideas.” “What’s the problem?” I asked. He said, “As you know, people are working hard to make more money.” And he asked me, “Isn’t it part of the reason that we study so hard to be successful with fame and richness.”
There are some passages in the Bible that are not agreeable to the people of common sense. There are events described in the Bible which are hard to believe and makes us doubtful. Jesus says, “Love your enemy.” Elsewhere he challenges somebody to sell all of his possessions. Today, Jesus makes no such demand. But today’s text is very difficult to comprehend. Jesus describes the world in ways quite different from the ways we are accustomed to seeing it.
“Blessed are the poor, woe to the rich. Blessed are the hungry, woe to those who eat until they are full. Blessed are those who weep, woe to those who laugh. Blessed are those who are hated, woe to those with a good reputation.” What a strange way to look at reality! The ones whom the world ignores are the ones who receive God’s blessing. The ones whom the world honors are the ones who are cursed. It is a complete reversal of the way we usually see things.
What a strange way to look at reality! The ones whom the world ignores are the ones who receive God’s blessing. The ones whom the world honors are the ones who are cursed. It is a complete reversal of the way we usually see things. Many believers and scholars struggled to find the meaning of this passage, “Blessed are the poor… ” Some found that, in the Gospel of Matthew, it can be understood as a spiritual virtue. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” says Matthew. This gives a different nuance.
However, in the Hebrew Scripture, there is never a single description as spiritual poverty. The word poor comes with poor and needy or poor and rich. So the Latin American theologian, Gutierrez claims that “poor in spirit” should be understood as the severe stage of poverty, not a spiritual virtue. It is obvious that we cannot spiritualize the circumstances or the condition. Jesus means what he says: poor is poor, hungry means hungry. And he announces both as “blessed.” Is there any way we can understand this clearly? Yes. There is.
To have a clearer understanding, we need to
know about the life situation of Jesus, in what circumstance he said this and
to whom. As we all know, after his baptism, Jesus went to the town of
As he moved into
This defines the nature of Jesus’ ministry and sets the direction of it. Jesus shares his life with these people. He heals the sick, shares food with the people who gathered to hear him. There were no rich people. Even the disciples, like Peter, James and John, left there work immediately when they were called by Jesus. This is the life situation of Jesus and the people who gathered.
Now it is clear what Jesus meant by saying,
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the
Jesus does not romanticize poverty or curse
the rich. Rich people who seem to have everything going for them can easily
glide into a sense of false security, which leads them to give scant attention
to the future. Jesus knew that the rich
people are greedy and never share their wealth with the poor. Or if they do, it
is not enough. This is what we see in our reality, too. Through this story, we
are called to be the vision keeper. It is Jesus’ invitation for us to join in
Jesus’ ministry that proclaims the
Jesus calls us to be vision keepers who
proclaim the good news of the
When we hear these words spoken to us, as
disciples, we begin to see the world differently. We need to remind ourselves that these
beatitudes and woes were never meant to be rules for the ordering of political
life. They have to do, rather, with the
There is no glorification of poverty,
hunger, grief, nor persecution in the Bible. We are not exhorted to seek these
negative positions in order to obtain a blessing. Rather, we are called, we are
called to be the vision keeper and to live out this vision of Jesus Christ. Sharing
with the poor is not giving away. We are all connected to each other. It is not
merely helping others, but helping ourselves. As we journey together, we will
experience and taste the joy of the
God so love the world, and sent Jesus Christ. We know that we are so loved. We are so blessed as vision keepers, the disciples of Jesus, and as children of God. And we all say, “Thanks be to God.” Amen.
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Updated February 11, 2007