FIRST READING Daniel 7:1–3, 15–18
1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2 I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3 and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16 I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17 As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever — forever and ever.”
PSALM Psalm 149
1Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song, God’s praise in the assembly of the faithful. 2Let Israel rejoice in their maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their ruler. 3Let them praise their maker’s name with dancing; let them sing praise with tambourine and harp. 4For the LORD takes pleasure in the people and adorns the poor with victory. 5Let the faithful rejoice in triumph; let them sing for joy on their beds. 6Let the praises of God be in their throat and a two-edged sword in their hand, 7to wreak vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8to bind their kings in chains and their nobles with links of iron, 9to inflict on them the judgment decreed; this is glory for all God’s faithful ones. Hallelujah!
SECOND READING Ephesians 1:11–23
11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory. 15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
GOSPEL Luke 6:20–31
20 Then [Jesus] 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 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. 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 what their ancestors did to the false prophets. 27 But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse 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 begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
THE FAITH OF A SAINT
There’s a time-honored story about a man who walked into a bookstore to return a purchase. “It’s a Bible,” he said, handing it to the clerk at the cash register. “Was it a gift?” asked the clerk. “No, I bought it for myself,” he said, “and I made a mistake. “Didn’t you like the translation?” asked the clerk. “Or the format?” “Oh no,” the man said, “the format was clear and the translation was fine. I made a mistake.” The clerk said, “Well, I need to write down a reason for the return.” “In that case,” said the man, “write down that there’s a lot in that book that’s tough to swallow.”
I don’t believe you’ll think of me as irreverent if I agree with the man and say that there’s a lot in the Bible that’s tough to swallow. From Genesis to Revelation we read story after story that causes us to pause and struggle over what we read and today’s lesson from the Gospel of Luke may be one of the toughest of all. I’m of course referring to Luke’s version of the Beatitudes.
It was the twentieth century theologian Paul Tillich who once noted that readers and students of the New Testament often find that it’s not the refined argument of Paul or the mystical wisdom of John that they find difficult. It’s the simple sayings of Jesus, as recorded by the first three evangelists, which are the most difficult to interpret. Professor Tillich was referring primarily to the Beatitudes when he made this statement.
Some of you may remember years ago when the irreverent British satirist, known as Monty Python, produced a movie called Life of Brian. One thesis of the movie was “what would happen if some of Jesus’ teachings had been mis-heard?” In the movie, there’s a scene which begins with Jesus on a high rock surrounded by a heavenly glow. We hear His words loud and clear: Jesus says: “How blest are the sorrowful, for they shall find consolation. How blest are those of gentle spirit. They shall have the earth for their possession. How blest are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail. They shall be satisfied . . .” The camera then pulls back, to the back of the multitude, which is a long way off. There we hear an old woman shout: “Speak up!” Her son then tries to shush her. But she protests. “Well, I can’t hear a thing! Blessed are the what?”
Another man tries to help: “I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers.” And the old woman asks, “What’s so special about the cheesemakers?” Yet another man interjects, “Well, obviously it’s not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturer of dairy products.” The Life of Brian portrays Jesus as a sincere teacher and leader, but it’s the listeners who get it all wrong and they quarrel and squabble all through His sermon. It’s a scene that sounds familiar doesn’t it? When we stop and really consider the message, the problem isn’t in the teaching. The problem lies in our own hearts as we try to understand and apply Christ’s instructions.
Today has been set aside as All Saints’ Day. It’s a day when we honor those saints who have gone before us and whose memory is precious to us. It’s no accident that these challenging words from Luke were chosen for this special day, for it’s in wrestling with these words that we come to understand the faith of a saint. A saint is one who has struggled with the teachings and examples of Jesus and has accepted them and lived by them. A saint is one who has incorporated these teaching into their lives and has become an example for us as well. A saint is one who looks beyond the surface of what’s written and looks at what Christ is really teaching in an effort to become more Christ-like.
At first glance our gospel lesson from Luke simply appears to be a scaled down version of the Sermon on the Mount, which appears in a fuller view in Matthew 5-7. But when we look closer, there are some significant differences. If we turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, we read in verses 1 and 2, “And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and when he was seated his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying . . .” If you were to then jump over to Luke chapter 6 verse 17 we’d read, “He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea . . .”
Matthew’s version has Jesus going up to the mountain; in Luke’s account, Jesus goes down to the plain. The difference between these two stories has to do with the location of Jesus’ teachings and that difference is also reflected in the content. Matthew seems to spiritualize Jesus’ message: “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . .” In Luke we read simply, “Blessed are you who are poor . . . Blessed are you who hunger . . .” The teachings on the mountain are more abstract. Matthew leaves us pondering, what does it really mean, “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .”? However, down in the valley, on the plain where real people live, we understand the meaning of simply being poor and being hungry.
Again considering the story in Luke, it seems that Jesus’ teachings here are directed more at those called to be His disciples. Luke first begins by telling us that this scene was preceded by a night of prayer. Then, after this all-night prayer vigil, Jesus calls a larger group of “disciples” to Him, from which He chooses twelve, designating them as His apostles. Perhaps the larger group, from which the twelve were selected, was the group of seventy that was sent out two by two in chapter 10. That aside, when we carefully consider what’s happening in this story, it’s difficult to separate the selection of the twelve, from Jesus’ teaching on the plain.
For example, when Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor . . .,” notice that He didn’t say, “Blessed are all who are poor . . .” Poverty is a miserable condition for most of the world’s people. We dare not justify the conditions under which many of the poor live by saying that Jesus said such people are somehow blessed. But a person who walks with Christ can be blessed while having none of the world’s wealth. On this occasion, it’s not to the bulk of humankind to whom Jesus is speaking, but to those to whom He has called, those who would be saint-like when He spoke these words on the plain.
Notice how Luke prefaces His beatitudes, “Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”
In other words, Christ is saying to those who most sincerely seek to follow Him, “Don’t despair if things haven’t worked out for you like you had hoped financially, don’t give up if you are hurting emotionally, don’t let go of my promises if you’re anxious about someone you love . . . I haven’t forgotten you and this isn’t the last word on your situation. You are mine and your hunger will one day be satisfied and your weeping will one day turn to laughter. If you are rejected by your friends because of your devotion to me, take satisfaction in this . . . that’s the way the world has always treated those who would go the second mile in my service.”
These are Christ’s promises to those who wish to be His disciples. These are the promises He makes to His saints. He isn’t promising us a rose garden, He never said life would be without weeds and thorns, but if we find ourselves in a wilderness, He will help us grow roses there. The point is that there never comes a time when all is lost, not for those committed to serving Christ. It’s the one thing in life we can count on. He will not forget us or forsake us. But this isn’t the end of Christ’s message to us for All Saints’ Day. If it were, we might not have any difficulty with the teachings. But Jesus goes further.
Christ continues: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Up to this point, we’ve had little trouble absorbing Christ’s message, but then the message takes a turn and this, of course, is the part of Christ’s teachings that’s tough for most people to swallow.
Jesus commands us to, “Love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who mistreat us. If someone slaps us on one cheek, were commanded to turn to them the other also . . .” These teachings are indeed hard and go against every natural human inclination. The most natural response to hate and abuse is to hate and abuse in return.
The most natural response to someone who curses us is to curse them in return. The most basic of responses to being slugged on one side of the face, and this by the way is what the original language implies . . . it’s more than a gentle slap, is to cold-cock the person in return. And none of us even thinks to condemn the person who responds to the bully with equal aggressiveness, who responds to the acid tongue with a well worded put-down, who responds to the cruel antagonist with a firm determination not to be defeated.
However, and this is what grates against our basic human nature, Jesus is telling us, this isn’t what I’m saying to you; He’s saying there’s a more excellent way. If we truly love Jesus, if we truly want to be His disciple, if we truly want to strive for righteousness and be saint-like, we must stop and ask ourselves how Jesus would responded. We do however, need to make a distinction here; He’s not saying we’re to be a door-mat.
Jesus most certainly was not a door-mat when He drove the money changers out of the temple. He was far from being wishy-washy when He confronted the Pharisees. He didn’t attempt to soft-pedal His convictions in response to the people’s disfavor. But, in all these encounters He was always motivated by love. He never gave into His base lower nature. Even when they drove nails into His flesh, He prayed for His adversaries and forgave them. There was a bumper sticker that appeared sometime in the 1960s: “Commit an unnatural act, love somebody.” It’s unnatural to truly love as Jesus loved.
There’s a true story from a couple of decades ago about a man named Steven McDonald, a New York City detective who was shot by a teenager named Shavad Jones in July of 1986 while he was trying to stop a robbery in Central Park. The first of the three bullets that hit Steven McDonald hit him in the head, above his eye. The second hit his throat which caused him to have a speaking disability and the third shattered his spine, paralyzing him from the neck down and leaving him a quadriplegic. To this day, he breathes through a breathing tube and spends much of his day in a wheelchair.
As a result McDonald was medically retired from the police force and has now taken on a new vocation. He travels to grade schools and high schools speaking out about the need for forgiveness and nonviolence. He tells his listeners that he has forgiven his young attacker and encourages them to sign a pledge of non violence, a commitment on their part to not use aggression or violence, in their dealings with each other. It’s an emotional and difficult message to many of these inner city kids, but his message has definitely had one convert.
Shavad Jones, his attacker, was released from prison and, within just a few days of his release was killed. When news got out about Jones’ death, Steven McDonald’s third grade son, Connor, went to his teacher and asked if they could pray for the man who shot and crippled his dad. That’s not the world’s way of dealing with people who have done us wrong, but it is Christ’s way. Luke doesn’t pretend that all people are capable of such love. He tells us, “Looking at his disciples, Jesus said . . . Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you . . . Do to others as you would have them do to you.” It’s a tough message but one that Christ is giving to those who faithfully follow Him.
The question for us today is, are we obedient enough to be one of His disciples? Do we pray each day that God would give us the strength to love others with the same love Jesus showed? Are we seeking to be more than a conventional Christian? Do we desire to be saint-like, to be one of those who seek to make the kingdoms of this world the Kingdom of our Christ? Is He looking at us today? And if so, what is He saying?
Amen