Lead us, O God, to streams of living water. Speak to us in the calming of our minds and the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the meditations of our hearts. Bring us freshness, new growth and vitality, that we may be fruitful for thee, our rock and our redeemer.
Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev in the Ukraine, used to say that he had discovered the meaning of love from a drunken peasant.
The rabbi was visiting the owner of a tavern in the Polish countryside. As he walked in, he saw two peasants at a table. Both were gloriously in their cups. Arms around each other, they were protesting how much each loved the other.
Suddenly Ivan said to Peter; "Peter, tell me, what hurts me?'
Bleary-eyed, Peter looked at Ivan: "How do I know what hurts you?"
Ivan's answer was swift: "If you don't know what hurts me, how can you say you love me?"
In today's Gospel reading , we hear gives Luke's version of the beatitudes. It is a version that is strikingly different from that found in the Gospel according to Matthew.
Instead of Matthew's eight statements concerning those whom God will bless Luke gives four beatitudes - four statements concerning those who are blessed.
The four blessings at first glance seem familiar enough:
Blessed are you who are poor,
blessed are you who are hungry,
blessed are you who weep.
blessed are you when people hate you and revile and defame you on account of the Son of Man.
But then Luke goes on and instead of listing four more beatitudes - he lists four woes - four disturbing statements concerning those whom God will afflict.
Woe to you who are rich now.
Woe to you are full now.
Woe to you who are laughing now.
Woe to you when all speak well of you.
That my friend's is incredible stuff, upsetting stuff, stuff that the rich and the full and the happy and the well thought of do not want to believe - and can you blame them?
Think about what the average person in our society works for.
Think about what you work for....
And then consider the scripture you have just heard.
I think most of us in this world are prepared to accept that the God will bless the poor and the hungry. There is a part of us that is, in fact, relieved by this idea. It kind of takes some of the pressure off us doesn't it?
We like too the idea that God will comfort those who mourn - and the idea that those who do right and are hated for it will receive a reward from God is not unpleasant to our ears. We can imagine, after all, ourselves in the position of needing some of that comfort - and we know that doing right isn't always rewarded by those around us - so it is good to know that God will set the record straight.
But the idea that the riches we have - may lead to our being cursed by God, and that the food we have - may be taken from us, and the joy we have - may be replaced by sorrow, and the good name we enjoy - may be considered to be an evil, well that is a different kettle of fish isn't it?.
And so it is meant to be.
You know I can't count the number of times I have heard people, when discussing the beatitudes, say things like:
"well, you know, the poor - in some ways they are better off than the rich. They have to work together. They know just how good a meal tastes. They are more connected to God, because God is all they have."
You ever hear stuff like that?
There is, I suppose, a certain truth to it. But it all too quickly can sound like being poor is a good thing. And if that is so - why then don't those people who say those things sell what they have and give it to the poor, and follow Jesus - as Jesus told the rich young ruler to do?
No my friends - poverty - thirst - weeping - and persecution are not good things, and those who are poor and thirty and mourning and persecuted are not told by Jesus that they are blessed because poverty and thirst and sorrow and persecution are, in some fashion a blessing; rather Jesus tells them and us today that they are blessed because God loves them and because it is God's will that they have a full place in his Kingdom.
You must remember my friends that in the popular understanding of things those who have wealth and health have it for one of two reasons - they have it because they have worked hard for it - or they have it because they are "blessed by God". Often we think it is a combination of these two things. We are blessed by God because we do things that are pleasing to God.
Equally we normally think of misery as being self induced - or as being God's punishment on those who are not following in his way - the poor are poor because they are lazy or their parents were lazy - and the poor nations - well they are poor because they have the wrong kind of values, because they fight with each other, or squander their resources, or whatever.
Indeed - when you read Psalm One, or the Prophet Jeremiah as we did today, it is easy to get into that frame of mind. The bible often speaks of prosperity as coming on the heels of obedience to God - and of unhappiness and misery as coming about as the result of disobedience.
And common sense tells us that this is the case as well.
God, after all, is not mocked. And his word is not void.
Just as when you jump off a cliff you will crash down to the ground, so when you turn your back on the Spiritual principles of life you will end up in misery.
And just as when you sow a crop of corn and corn is produced rather than tomatoes, so when you live by the love of God the love of God will be seen in you and what you do.
So it becomes all too easy for us to look out on the world and blame the poor and the thirsty and the persecuted and the sorrowful for their own plight.
Either way - by the route of blaming the poor for their own situation - or by the route of saying that somehow the situation being poor is better than, or at least as good as the situation of being rich, we can easily let ourselves off the hook of really caring for those around us; of really regarding the less fortunate as people equal to ourselves in every way save that they need a portion of that which we already have.
I would like to share with you something called the Parable of the Pit. Some of you have heard it before - others have not. It goes on a bit - but that is part of it's effect. Perhaps you all can help me fill in the blanks.... It starts like this:
A man fell into a pit and could not get himself out.
A SUBJECTIVE person saw him and said, "I feel for you down there."
An OBJECTIVE person happened along and said, "It's logical that someone would fall, down there."
A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST came along and said, "You only think that you're in a pit."
A PHARISEE said............... "Only bad people fall into a pit".
A ROCK HOUND asked........ "Are there any rare specimens in the pit?"
A NEWS REPORTER asked...... "Can I have the exclusive story on your pit?"
A FUNDAMENTALIST said....... "You deserve your pit."
CONFUCIOUS said, "If you would have listened to me, you would not be in that pit."
BUDDHA said to him, "Your pit is only a state of mind."
A REALIST happened along and said, "Now THAT'S a pit!"
A SCIENTIST saw him and said..... "I'll calculate the pressure necessary (pounds/square inches) to get you out of the pit.
A GEOLOGIST said..... "Just appreciate the rock strata in your pit."
An EVOLUTIONIST happened along and said, "You're a rejected mutant destined to die in that pit, before you product any pit-falling offspring."
A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL asked........ "Are you paying taxes on your pit?"
The LAND USE INSPECTOR asked, "Did you have a permit to dig a pit?"
A PROFESSOR gave him a lecture on "The Elementary Principles of a Pit"."
An EVASIVE PERSON talked to him and avoided the subject of the pit altogether.
A SELF-PITYING PERSON said..... "You haven't seen anything until you've see MY pit!"
An ODDS-MAKER noted..... "Chances are that anyone could fall into a pit."
An OPTIMIST said, "Things could be worse."
A PESSIMIST said, "Things WILL get worse!"
But JESUS, seeing the man........" took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit."
My friends, when we are confronted by the beatitudes we are confronted with the love of God: a love that - as we sang before this sermon - takes us just as we are, and so also takes the poor, the thirsty, the sorrowful, those who are despised just as they are.
Some ago we read the passage that is often called Jesus' mission statement, that statement from the prophet Isaiah - that goes:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me top proclaim release to the captives and recovery of site to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.
God's love extends to everyone my friends - the beatitudes confront us with this fact.
They also confront us with the fact that the rich, the well feed, the joyful and the well thought of persons among us may have forgotten the fundamentals concerning God's love - they may have forgotten just what it is that hurts God - how God is pained by disease when there is so much medicine close to hand - how God suffers when millions starve while enough food to feed them rots in corporate warehouses - how God is horrified by indifference and by a society that blames victims rather than helping them.
God is not against wealth or those who have full bellies. Nor does God condemn those who experience joyfulness or have good reputations.
But God does reminds us today - through the words of Jesus - and Jeremiah and David that there are two paths in this life, a choice of two roads that we can walk.
One path leads to life - the other leads to death.
The path to death is to rejoice in the blessings rather than in the one who blesses us, it is to seek the goodies that God gives rather than the to seek to do the good that God does.
The path of life - is the path of Jesus - who not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped, emptied himself and taking on human form, humbled himself, and became obedient to point of death even death on a cross.
You who are in need today - rejoice - for God will bless you, God loves you - and counts you as part of his chosen people, your time of suffering will come to an end.
You have abundance today - consider your brothers and sisters and how it is that Jesus gave himself for them - as he gave himself for you, and love them - love them deeply - love them with all you have, for in that love all the law and the prophets is fulfilled.
May His Name be praised day by day. Amen!
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