Our scriptures - together
Hi all, I'm keen for people to interact with the sermon text together with me throughout the week. Feel free to add your thoughts or reflections on the text because half the joy of preaching is having your heart melted through studying the text and why should I keep that joy all to myself? These scriptures aren't my scriptures, they're our scriptures; our community's scriptures together and I'd love to engage with them together (as well as anyone else from outside of our community). This Sunday's text is Lk 6:17-26, the sermon on the mount, or in Luke's Gospel it's the sermon on the plain (see Lk 6:17). In Luke's version we find that where Matthew spiritualises issues of the poor and the hungry (Matt 5:1-12), Luke refuses to soften the hard edges of Jesus' words. Concern for the poor, the oppressed and the outcast are at the forefront of Luke's gospel for Jesus and his disciples not because they want to be nice people, but because concern for the poor, the opressed and the outcast are at the heart of the very nature of God. To be a disciple of Jesus is to enter into the life of God, one of love and care (even to death) for the poor, the oppressed and the outcast.
I read this in a commentary this morning: "The first beatitude desribes a way of life, and we, who are not poor - not really - run to Matthew in reflief. But our preference for Matthew says much more about us than about the words of Jesus. The poor are those whose desparate need and inability to help themselves have driven them to turn to God for their hope, but we are now being called to recognize that Jesus really meant the poor and not just the humble. Gustavo Gutierrez, the liberation theologian, has commented that 'God has a preferential love for the poor not because they are necessarily better than others, morally or religiously, but simply because they are poor and living in an inhuman situation that is contrary to God's will. The ulitmate basis for the privileged position of the poor is not in the poor themselves but in God, in the graciousness and universality of God's agapeic love.' Because we are not poor, the beatitude either mystifies us or leaves us feeling guilt rather then joy. Like the rich young ruler, we hear the Lord's word and go away sorrowful because our possessions are many. Our pride and our ability to provide for ourselves have blocked the channels of blessing. Our first response, therefore, needs to be repentance and a reordering of the priorities we have set for our lives. But what a hard thing that is!"
9:23 AM
I agree with what what you're saying Ian. I think there's a very fine line to walk here. On the one hand I can unfairly project my 'middle classness' onto everyone else in the church which is unfair to those amongst our church who live in poverty. Also, as Ian says, there becomes an inevitable spiral towards a dead end guilt for not being poor. I read this today " It does no good and can do harm for North American (or Kiwi) ministers to tell their congregations, "Just by virtue of being here today, you are among the very richest people in the world." Why don't I like this?
It's not news. Those of us that this comment accurately describes know this about ourselves. Your saying it just inspires a weird kind of dead-end guilt. Can we help it that we are in North America (or NZ)? Are you asking us to go live somewhere else? Or are we just supposed to feel guilty so you can feel important and needed by announcing forgiveness to us? Or do you want us to do something about being "among the richest people in the world" and if so, what?" It made me think that sometimes we read the passage as Jesus loves to hate the rich. On the other hand, we need to be careful of our tendency to run off to Matthew and spiritualise issues of poverty and hunger. Hmmm, it's a tight rope between a healthy concern for the poor and social justice (as I do agree with Gutierrez about God's preferential option for the poor) and an unhealthy sense of despair and dead end guilt for not being poor. Any further thoughts would be appreciated...