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Good morning, Christchurch. My name is Suzy Shin,
and I'm part of the Wednesday Women's Group in Oakland,
and the monthly Friday Families Group, also in Oakland.
Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6, verses 17 to 36, as printed in your liturgy.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke.
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,
from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,
who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.
Those troubled by impure spirits were cured,
and the people all tried to touch him because power was coming from him and healing them all.
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.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
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.
If you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who are good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do that.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies,
do good to them,
and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.
Then your reward will be great,
and you will be children of the Most High,
because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord.
Thank you, Susie, for that scripture reading.
Good morning, everyone.
My name's Andrew.
I'm one of the pastors here.
And I'm glad to open up God's Word with you.
Looking forward to diving into this text.
Let's go to the Lord in prayer
before we dive into His Word.
Father, we pray that as we give our attention to Your Word,
Your Spirit, which inspired this Word,
would convict our hearts.
That these familiar teachings of Jesus
that we will hear and discuss today
would strike us fresh and new,
and that You would get rid of that familiarity, Lord,
and bring conviction and concrete action
in Your church.
That we'd be a people of love.
That we'd be a people who are a countercultural force
in this broken world,
so dissatisfied with the status quo
and so longing to bear witness
to Your Son's better kingdom.
Make us that kind of a church, God.
In Jesus' name, amen.
This morning, we are opening up
chapter 6 of Luke's Gospel.
It's a pretty lengthy portion,
and some people like to call this,
you know, you've heard of the Sermon on the Mount
in Matthew chapter 5.
Some people like to call this
the Sermon on the Plain, all right?
Because if you paid attention,
in verse 17, it says,
He went down with them and stood on a level place.
So they call this the Sermon on the Plain.
They're not sure if this is, you know,
combined instances or things like that.
But, you know, we're pretty sure Jesus probably preached
a lot of the same things,
just like Jonathan and me do all the time
in different places.
So that's why you have a lot of overlap here.
But we're gonna call this the Sermon on the Plain.
And how He opens the Sermon on the Plain
is with these two pretty famous
and radical teachings.
These might be some of the most famous
and radical teachings
that Jesus has given to us.
And it's definitely caught people's attention
over the past 2,000 plus years
because of how uniquely transformative
and world-altering they've been.
And if I could just summarize
these two teachings for us today,
it's Jesus' teachings
on whom He called blessed
and whom we're supposed to love.
Just two things,
whom He called blessed
and whom we're supposed to love.
And we're gonna look at these teachings today.
But before we dive in,
I wanted to share a story with you.
I was listening to the podcast,
The Voice of the Martyrs,
not that long ago.
And it was this YWAM missionary
who went out to Nigeria,
southern Nigeria,
to serve a bunch of
now single and widowed women.
About 100-something of these women
who had to leave
where they were from,
northern Nigeria,
because the Boko Haram
and other Islamic terrorists
had burned down their houses
and murdered their families
and they'd had to escape
and run down to southern Nigeria.
And so this YWAM missionary
is just kind of recounting
her experience there.
And she tells the story of
one evening,
it's about 2,
she says it's like 2.09 a.m.
and she hears this interesting sound,
this beautiful sound,
outside of where she's staying
and she gets a light
and she walks out
to see what's going on.
It sounds like people are praying,
crying out to God.
It sounds like people are worshiping.
And what she finds is that
there are 100 women
in the tent right next to her
and they are worshiping
and they are crying out to God.
and what they're doing
is they are crying out to God
for the people
who murdered their families.
They're asking God
to forgive them,
to send His grace,
to transform them.
And the reason why they're praying
and crying out to God
at 2.08 a.m. at night
is because that's the time
when many of their families
are often attacked.
So they're also praying
against the darkness.
They're praying against
the evil forces
that would go and still attack
many of the other families
and villages there.
And, you know,
this YY missionary,
she couldn't understand
the language that they were speaking.
She couldn't understand
exactly what they were saying.
But she said that this was
the holiest moment
that she'd ever witnessed.
The most beautiful,
the most powerful,
the most sacred,
the holiest moment
that she'd ever witnessed
at these 100
widowed Nigerian women
that we will never know
or hear about otherwise, right?
And the question I want to ask is,
what can possess a person,
what can compel
hundreds of women
to do such a thing?
What would get us
to love our enemy
in such a way?
And what could create
that kind of community
where we could look at them
and say,
wow,
I'm sad for them,
but man,
these women
are special women.
Blessed are the poor.
What kind of truth,
what kind of reality
do we need to confess?
Do we need to believe in
that can do this
in this world?
That's the question
I want to ask this morning
as we open up
this radical,
truly radical teaching
of Jesus here
in Luke chapter 6.
So I want us to be asking,
you know,
when Jesus is saying,
you know,
blessed are you who are poor,
and woe to you
who are rich.
I want us to be asking,
is this really right?
Is this really true?
Do I want this to be right?
Do I want this to be true?
And can I believe this?
Can I actually believe this
and live like this?
I want us to be asking
those questions.
So let's now dive
into our text.
I want to start us
in verse 20, actually.
We're going to talk about
whom Jesus calls blessed,
all right?
Luke 20,
Luke 6,
verse 20,
it says,
Looking at his disciples,
Jesus 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.
Now, I don't know about you,
but, you know,
I grew up in the church.
I've, you know,
read the Bible a handful,
many times,
and I've come across this verse
tons of times in my life
and, you know,
for many years,
I had a lot of trouble
with this text
because it seems super important.
It's like the beginning
of the Sermon on the Mount,
the beginning of the Sermon on the Plain,
everyone's memorizing it,
quoting it,
but I also had trouble
understanding
what this really means,
these blessed are statements.
Like,
what is Jesus trying to communicate?
Is he saying that,
you know,
we should try to be poor
and hungry
to be blessed?
Is that the requirement?
Only the poor
and the hungry
can be blessed?
Or is he saying
there's a special blessing
for those who are hated
and for those who weep?
Or is he just kind of
broad brush stroking this,
you know,
just speaking in generalities,
you know,
you're more susceptible
to be blessed
if you're poor
because you're more
desperate for God,
more open to Him,
more needy before Him?
What is going on here
in this text?
Why does Jesus lead
His most famous sermons
with these lines,
blessed are?
Oh,
in my,
you know,
in my studying,
I found that what helps
is if we actually notice
who Jesus is speaking to,
okay?
So look at verse 17
and I want you to try
to imagine this crowd
that Jesus is addressing.
It says,
a large crowd of His disciples
was there
and a great number of people,
listen,
from all over Judea,
from Jerusalem
and from the coastal region
around Tyre and Sidon.
We're talking
hundreds of miles apart.
Many of these people
probably traveled by foot,
right?
These people are desperate
for what it says
for healing.
It says,
who had come to hear Him
and to be healed
of their diseases,
right?
So this is a large crowd,
people who are tired,
they've traveled a long way
and it's a bunch
of diseased people,
right?
And it says,
those troubled
by impure spirits
who were cured,
right?
So it's also
a bunch of people
who were maybe possessed
and attacked
and plagued
by evil spirits,
probably seen as crazy
and probably very isolated
in their communities.
Maybe there are even people
who feel very guilty
and ashamed
about how they let
the evil forces
into their lives,
maybe through wicked acts
or just poor decisions.
And then look at verse 19.
And the people all tried
to touch Him.
Okay?
So just think about this.
This is a group
of desperate people.
They've traveled
hundreds of miles
hoping against all hope
that by somehow touching
this rabbi from Nazareth,
they will somehow
have their lives changed.
This is kind of
a last ditch effort,
right?
Who would do that?
Who of us would do that?
Only the most desperate of us.
And so this was the audience
that Jesus had.
This is who He's speaking to.
He's not speaking to elites.
This isn't a rich,
well-fed,
laughter-filled crowd
full of beloved
and, you know,
admired influencers.
Jesus is addressing the poor,
the desperate,
the diseased,
the powerless,
the tormented,
the troubled,
the isolated,
and the weary.
People who couldn't
save themselves
and who knew that very well
and whose last hope
in the world
was some random rabbi
from Nazareth.
So this is a scene
that we need to have
in our minds.
And I want to make it clear
now what Jesus is not doing
when He's giving us
these blessed are you statements.
Okay?
When Jesus says blessed are you,
this actually isn't a blessing
that He's pronouncing.
Like, He's not calling
some divine favor
and divine blessing
upon people.
There's a different
and more specific Greek word
that would have been used
if He was doing that.
No.
Actually,
the Greek word here
for blessed
just means happy,
lucky,
fortunate.
You could even translate this
as you who are poor,
congratulations.
All right?
That's what this word
is kind of indicating.
So Jesus isn't performing
a speech act
of blessing upon these people.
No, Jesus isn't blessing anyone,
but rather,
He's making a statement.
He's making a comment
and a surprising one
at that about who
can be considered
as blessed
in His kingdom.
And apparently,
it's not the rich,
the well-fed,
those who laugh,
it's not those who are spoken well of,
but it's the poor,
the hungry,
the weeping,
and the hated.
So really,
this is more of an announcement
than a pronouncement.
All right?
It's not a promise,
it's not a proverb
or a formula.
He's not setting forth
a list of virtues
and ideals
for people to pursue
so that they can be blessed by God.
Jesus isn't saying,
thou shalt be poor
and persecuted,
hungry and weeping
in order to be blessed by God.
He's not telling people
to pursue poverty
and persecution.
Jesus never teaches us
to pursue suffering
just for the sake of suffering.
I think Stanley Hauerwas
says it really well
when he writes,
too often these descriptive statements
are turned into ideals
we must strive to attain.
As ideals,
they can become formulas
for power
rather than descriptions
of the kind of people
characteristic
of the new age
brought by Christ.
Thus,
Jesus does not tell us
that we should try
to become poor.
He simply says
that many who are called
into the kingdom
will find that,
hey,
a lot of us are poor.
So again,
Jesus' words here
aren't virtues,
proverbs,
or commands
or formulas
or pronouncements.
Jesus isn't telling people
to pursue poverty,
to mourn all the time
and to go and get persecuted.
No,
what he's really saying
is you can be
all these things,
poor,
hungry,
weepy,
hated,
excluded,
and at the same time
you can still be blessed
in his kingdom.
That's the kind of kingdom
he's here to bring.
He's here to open their eyes
and our eyes
to the kingdom's
radical reversal
of the world's values.
He's saying
everything you thought
about your worth
and your status
and your value,
everything you've been told
by all the empires
of this world
that the first
shall be first
and the last
shall be last,
my kingdom doesn't play
by those rules.
Their standards
are not my standards.
Their values
are not my values.
Thus saith the Lord
Jesus Christ.
You have heard
that it was said,
blessed are the rich,
but I say to you,
woe to you who are rich
and blessed are you
who are poor
for yours
is the kingdom of God.
Sure, to be poor
is fundamentally
to lack
what your community values,
but in my kingdom
you can be poor
and yet you can have everything.
You can have the kingdom.
It can be yours.
In my kingdom,
Jesus says,
those who hunger
will be satisfied
at the end of the day.
Those who weep
will be laughing
at the end of the story.
And those who are hated
and excluded
and insulted
and rejected
on account of me,
they will one day
be vindicated
because of their association
with me.
Jesus is saying,
just because you're
on top of the world,
just because you're
an elite and a winner
and an achiever
and just because your life
is going well,
this may not mean
that you are actually
blessed.
You might be on the top
amongst the empires
of the world,
you can be
all the way at the top
and yet not at all
be a part of my
better kingdom,
Jesus says.
And then he points us
to the example
of the prophets
who many of them
were persecuted
and slaughtered
and insulted
and disregarded
in verse 24.
Even though they were
disregarded by many kings
and even if we may
be classified as lowly,
worthless,
and insignificant
by the kings
of this world today,
Jesus says we can rejoice.
We can leap for joy
because like the prophets,
our reward is safe
in heaven, he says.
And this is an established
pattern that he wants
us to see in our world
that's actually gone
upside down.
You know,
the only reason
the first shall be first
and the last shall be last
seems to make sense to us
is because we live
in a fallen world.
That's the only reason
that that makes sense to us.
When God blessed
our ancestors
and called them
to be fruitful
and to multiply
and to fill the earth,
he didn't intend
for there to be winners
and losers
in a zero-sum game.
Sure, he might have
endowed Adam
with certain unique gifts
and then Eve
with others,
but they were not
to compete with each other
for a limited amount
of resources
in order to live
and in order to thrive.
Their survival
and their success
weren't to be
at each other's expenses.
Their differences
weren't meant
for division
and mutual antagonism,
but for delight
and mutual advancement.
And any competition
that existed
was intended
to serve the whole community
and to help each other
break barriers
and further flourish.
There was no first
and there was no last,
but they were to acknowledge
and honor the image of God
in every single human being.
They were to live
by the self-giving spirit
of God.
This is what it was like
when the world
was truly right side up.
But see,
when sin entered the world,
when humanity
went our own way
rather than God's way,
and Adam set himself
in opposition to Eve,
and Cain set himself
against Abel,
and Cain and his descendants
built cities
and empires
not for human flourishing,
not for mutual generosity,
but for mere survival
and protection
from one another,
for building violent
and competitive advantages
against other tribes,
humanity has lived
in this fallen world
for so long,
and this is why
the first shall be first
and the last shall be last
seems right side up.
Because of sin
in this world,
and because of the pattern
of selfishness
and survival
by violent competition,
the spirit of self-protection
at all costs,
it's just permeated
all of our history,
all of our existence,
even if it means
obliterating others, right?
So they have no chance
of threatening us
or our survival anymore.
The spirit of self-protection
has ruled our world
ever since the fall,
and it's whispered
into our ears,
hate your neighbor.
Hate your neighbor
and seek their destruction,
and then and only then
will you survive and thrive.
And this has seemed right
to us in our sin
and in our blindness
and in our brokenness,
that this is just
how things are.
Dog eats dog.
Survival of the fittest.
Might makes right.
But Jesus,
Jesus came to reverse
the spirit
and to restore
his better,
purer,
righteous spirit.
So not only does he teach
that the poor
can be considered
as blessed citizens
in the kingdom of God,
but that citizens
in his kingdom
must also love
their enemies.
They must also
love their enemies.
Jesus comes in the power
and the authority
of a better spirit,
not the spirit
of self-protection,
but Jesus is restoring
the spirit
of a self-giving love.
Though now,
it's got an even
greater obstacle, right?
See, before the fall,
self-giving love,
that was natural,
and there were no enemies
to even hate.
But since the fall,
self-giving love
has only become
more difficult
because we are now
not just asked
to give ourselves
and our lives
in love to our neighbors,
but also to our enemies,
those who hate us,
those who threaten us.
Verse 27 says,
but to you who are listening,
I say,
love your enemies.
That is,
love those who are
the objects of your hate.
That's what that word
enemy means.
Those who are the objects
of your enmity
and your hostility.
And this is a radical
and seemingly unnatural
and impossible command.
But wait,
there's more.
Do good to those
who hate you.
Meaning,
actively work for the wellness
and the wholeness
and health.
Not just passively,
don't attack your enemies
anymore,
but spend your energy
to move toward them
and to lift them up.
Verse 28,
bless those who curse you.
Now this word for bless,
this is the Greek word
of speaking God's
divine favor
and abundance
and generous blessing
and shalom
upon someone.
Jesus saying,
do that
for the person
who hates you.
Do that for the person
who's done the exact opposite
to you
by cursing you.
And pray for those
who mistreat you,
Jesus says.
This word mistreat
can be translated
even threaten
or abuse.
Pray for them,
he says.
Jesus is commanding
something these people
would never have heard of.
Sure,
in the Torah,
you have commandments
like love your neighbor
as yourself,
but now Jesus
is radically expanding
the definition
of who our neighbors are.
Even the most hostile,
even the most dangerous
personal,
political,
and religious enemies,
he calls us to love.
And yet Jesus
has even more to say
to elaborate
on what this kind of love
for enemies looks like.
Look at verse 29.
If someone slaps you
on one cheek,
it's one of the most
shameful,
disrespectful things
you could do
to a Jewish man.
Jesus says,
turn the other
also.
And this doesn't just mean
let him hit you twice
before you retaliate.
In that culture,
if you offered
your cheek to someone,
you were being vulnerable
to them.
And you were posturing
yourself toward them
to receive a kiss.
You were posturing
yourself toward them
as a friend,
desiring a certain level
of intimacy
with that person.
Jesus is saying,
treat your enemies
as friends
and give them
another chance
for friendship.
Pursue friendship
with them,
invulnerability,
even when you have
no expectation
that they will
receive you
as a friend,
even after they've
massively disrespected
you and hurt you.
He continues,
if someone takes
your coat,
do not withhold
your shirt from them.
So he's saying,
also be generous
with your belongings
toward those
who dispossess you.
And listen,
he was talking to people
right at the poor
who might have only
had one coat.
When he's saying,
do not withhold
your shirt from others,
he's saying,
we love
by becoming vulnerable
and opening ourselves
up to embarrassment
and shame
even to the point
of being shirtless
or perhaps even naked.
Give to everyone
who asks you,
he says in verse 30,
and if anyone takes
what belongs to you,
do not demand it back.
Do to others
as you would have them
do to you.
You know,
I think for many of us,
whether Christians
or not,
the shock of this teaching,
it may have worn off on us.
Like, of course.
Yeah, okay, Jesus.
I'll try to love more
this Sunday.
Of course Andrew
is going to say that.
I'll try to be more selfless.
I'll try to be more sacrificial.
I know.
I love Gandhi.
I admire Dr. King.
You know.
But I want to challenge us
to marinate in these words,
to linger on these words
and what they really mean
concretely
an hour later today.
Tomorrow.
In your workplaces.
In your schools.
What does this mean?
In your family rooms.
In the places
where you encounter
people that you hate.
Or people that hate you.
Imagine how this crowd
would have received
the words of Jesus
as they're being challenged
to love their enemies.
These are the poor
and the lowly.
Maybe they've been thrown out
by their families,
deemed as too sickly,
too challenging to care for.
These are the people
who maybe have been
looked down upon
their whole lives
by the Pharisees
and self-righteousness.
Been told that they're
inferior in the eyes of God.
Maybe they're thinking
about the Romans
who occupied their streets
and dominated them
with an iron will.
Or maybe the tax collectors
who cheated them
and put more and more money
into the Romans' pockets.
These are the people
that came to mind.
Who is it that comes
to mind for you?
Who is it in your life
that God is bringing
to your mind right now
as He's challenging
all of us
to love our enemies?
Who do you hate?
Let's be honest.
Who do you hate?
Or maybe who are you
simply so indifferent toward
that you never even
considered them
as someone that God
wanted you to love?
You never considered them
as someone that God
wanted you to pray for
and actively work
for their well-being
because you didn't even
have time of day
to hate them.
They might as well
be non-existent to you.
Who is that person
to you?
In what ways is God
wanting to enlarge
our hearts?
To mold them
to be more like
the heart of Jesus?
Because Jesus says
if we only love our family
and our friends,
we aren't living
in the supernatural,
world-transforming love
of Christ's kingdom,
but only in the natural love
that simply preserves
our world's
broken status quo.
Verse 32,
if you love those
who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love
those who love them.
And if you do good
to those who are good
to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do that.
And if you lend to those
from whom you expect
repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend
to sinners,
expecting to be repaid
in full.
But love your enemies,
do good to them,
and lend to them
without expecting
to get anything back.
Then your reward
will be great.
And,
listen to this,
and you will be
children of the Most High
because He is kind
to the ungrateful
and the wicked.
You see,
when we love,
especially when we love
our enemies
and those who don't
or can't repay
or even acknowledge
our love toward them,
that is when
we are most human.
And that is when
we are most like God.
That is when
we are most like
our Father,
closely identifying
with Him
as His image bearers,
as His children.
It's when we
are being merciful
just as our Father
is merciful.
That is His heart.
And that is His heart
for who He wants us
to be.
In this world
that says that mercy
is unnatural
and even contrary
to justice,
when we live in mercy,
when we live in Jesus'
upside-down kingdom
as if it were
the right-side-up
way to live,
we are illustrating
and sharing God's
supernatural love
and exercising
our highest calling
as His children.
We are being
our truest
and most righteous
selves in the presence
of God
as He intended.
And listen,
this is not saying
just be a doormat,
let people just
walk all over you.
This will look differently
in people's personal lives
and there are lots
of different applications
of this in corporate context,
communal context,
at the state level,
at national levels,
and unfortunately,
you know,
we don't have time
to talk about
political theology
or, you know,
a theology of passivism
or just war theory
or anything like that
today,
but,
listen,
we can get into
these complex particulars.
We can talk about those,
we can distract ourselves
with those,
we can talk about
just war theory
and passivism
and self-defense,
and we can let ourselves
get distracted
by all these complex
applications of this passage,
or,
or we can admit
that whatever loving
our enemies might look like,
none of us has arrived
in doing that.
None of us.
Like,
whatever you think
about what this looks like
and how to concretely,
practically apply
Jesus' words
in the most complex situations,
what is absolutely clear
is that we're to love
our enemies
with a clear conscience
before God
and with sacrificial
selflessness.
the question
that will most honor God
in response to this teaching
this morning
is not,
when is self-defense okay?
And when,
you know,
how does this work
for whole nations?
How far can they go
preemptively in self-defense?
No,
the question that will most
honor God
in response to Jesus' teaching here
is,
in the eyes of the Lord,
am I loving my enemies
with my heart
and with my hands?
Am I acting
for the good
and the best interests
of the people
that I cannot stand?
Am I pursuing
their shalom?
Or am I acting
as if
they are beyond redemption?
There are only two ways.
You either believe
that they
are beyond redemption
or you are acting
in love
for your enemies.
And this is a word for us.
When we are so tempted
to believe
that so many people
and institutions
and things
in this world
are beyond redemption
and when we are
so tempted
to categorize others
as deplorable
and forever enemies
and always wrong
and without a trace
of the image of God
in them.
But what if we had
the eyes of Jesus?
What if we had eyes
to see as Jesus saw?
Eyes for the poor,
eyes for the hungry,
eyes for the weeping,
eyes for the hated,
and eyes for our most
vile enemies?
Or if we can't even
think of these enemies,
what if we had eyes
for the people
who are practically
and virtually invisible
to us?
You know,
something that's
super interesting to me
is that these two
famous radical teachings
from Jesus
in the abstract
as ideas,
as ideals,
man,
people love Jesus'
teaching about this,
right?
People love these
teachings from Jesus.
Most people love
this idea of the underdog.
They love this idea
of blessed are the poor
and the hungry
and the excluded.
I love that they can be
part of the kingdom.
Most people,
even atheists,
love the idea
of loving our enemies.
They would condemn
religious people like us
for doing the opposite.
They condemn us
by our own standards,
right?
Which they've just
kind of selectively
adopted for themselves.
But if you look at the way
most of us human beings
concretely and practically
live and arrange our lives
and express our values,
none of us,
even us Christians
who preach this,
none of us lives
as though Jesus' words
were good and true
and good news
for the world.
Very few of us
practically
and functionally
believe
Jesus
when he said,
blessed are you
who are poor
or that loving
our enemies
is a good way
to go about living
in this dangerous world.
Most of us,
most of,
most all of us,
we tend to see the world
how Cain saw it.
And we're all trying
to build our cities,
build up our numbers,
wield various techniques
and technologies
to prolong our survival
with no regard
for how it affects others
because that's our vision
of the world
right side up.
But what if Jesus'
seemingly upside down kingdom
is actually truer
and more righteous,
a better vision
of the world?
My question for you
is don't you want
that to be true?
Don't you believe
it's better?
Can you believe
it's better?
And might God's spirit
be challenging you
to live as a citizen
in his righteous
and true kingdom
even if it costs you
like it costed Jesus?
You know, I get it.
It makes sense
to have trouble
with these radical teachings.
Blessed is the poor
is only true
if we can count
on a new economy
eventually coming.
Blessed are the hungry
is only true
if a feast really is
on its way.
Weeping can only be blessed
if we know
that every tear
will one day
be wiped away.
And blessed are you
when people speak badly
of you only
if you can be sure
that there's gonna be
a final vindication
and justification.
These statements
by Jesus
if they are not true
if he is not Lord
they are wildly irresponsible
and he's a lunatic
or a liar
or you know
a con man
a wicked con man.
So the question is though
is he?
Who is Jesus
to you?
And can you see him
as the God
that he's revealed
himself to be
to us
in the scriptures?
As the man
he came to be
sent from heaven.
If we don't have eyes
to see that
blessed are the poor
and that we should
love our enemies
it's because we don't
have eyes
to see Jesus.
Jesus was poor
born in a manger
Jesus was hungry
in the wilderness
Jesus wept
for Lazarus
and Jerusalem
and Jesus was hated
and excluded
and mistreated
as the son of God
who stood for
a different set
of kingdom values.
but is he not
also
the most blessed
one we've ever
seen?
The one who for the
joy set before him
endured the cross
for us and out of
love for his father
to save the world
do we not believe
that he is risen
in power
and joy
and glory
and do we not
see the beauty
of how he is the
embodiment
of God's love
for enemies?
For while we were
still weak
Christ died
for the ungodly
for no one
scarcely
for one will scarcely
die for a righteous
person
though perhaps
for a good person
one would dare
to die
but God
demonstrates his love
for us in Jesus
in that while we
were yet sinners
Christ died
for us
he gave up his cloak
he gave up his tunic
even his seamless
undergarment
he was stripped
naked by his enemies
to save his enemies
father forgive them
he cried
Jesus sought the good
of those who sought
his destruction
and death
and he wants to
raise up citizens
who will do
the same
even if it costs us
in the courts
of the temporary
judges of this world
so might God
be calling us
to be citizens
of Christ's kingdom
and aliens
in the empires
of this world
do you have eyes
to see
as King Jesus
sees
whether you're
the poor
or the rich
whether you're
the hater
or the hated
or maybe you're
both
right
God wants you
to see what he sees
and he wants you
to hear what his son
has to say to you
so if you're here
today
for those of you
who are here
and feeling down
and out
poor
and hungry
and you're feeding
on your own tears
and you're either
detested by those
whose opinions
really seem to matter
or they have no idea
who you are
and they don't even
care to know
maybe this is a word
for you
I love how
Pastor Tyler Staten
says
Jesus has this habit
everywhere he goes
of picking out
the objectively
least likely person
and saying
my kingdom
belongs
to you
might this be
God's word
to you today
in your shame
and in your sense
of worthlessness
and unworthiness
and insignificance
might Jesus
be crying out
to you
my kingdom
belongs
to you
to people
just like you
Jesus' blessed
statements here
are a word
of welcome
and promise
you are welcome
into the kingdom
and I promise you
that you can belong here
apart from your achievements
apart from any of the
achievements
that you thought
you needed
to get
to the table
so if you're here today
and you feel
unaccomplished
and unimportant
virtually invisible
if you feel like
you have nothing
to offer
and far more
need
than contribution
Jesus' word
to people like you
is that the kingdom
can be yours
too
if you just come
close to him
you'll seek to touch him
like the people
at the sermon
on the plane
there's a seat
for you
at his table
the place
of highest
honor
even when all
the other seats
of power
and privilege
in this world
seem off limits
to you
there's a better
seat for you
at Jesus' table
but now
maybe some of you
are the very ones
sitting at these
privileged seats
in the world
you're at the top
of your industries
your workplace ladders
you're the highest performers
you've got the biggest
bank accounts
you've got the most
accomplishments
the most acclaim
and affirmation
from all your peers
well thank God
for your success
sure
for sure
but have you also
considered the value
and worth
of all your accomplishments
and attainments
in the light
of God's kingdom
in the light
of Jesus'
radically
alternative economy
in which the poor
are blessed
might Jesus
be calling you
to reassess
and recalibrate
your value system
to better match
his own
might you
live out
blessed are the poor
woe is the rich
in your workplace
in your spheres
of influence
do you live
to bless the poor
as Jesus did
are the poor
flocking to you
is your presence
in your community
a sign
of the healing
and compassionate
kingdom of God
I'm not just
speaking to you
I'm speaking
to myself
do we use
our resources
and our abundance
and whatever gifts
God has given us
to bear witness
to Jesus'
way better kingdom
and its alternative
set of values
Jesus' kingdom
is unlike
any other kingdom
and the lives
of its citizens
will seem radically
upside down
and backward
to the watching world
but this is precisely
this is precisely
how we will win
people over
not through power
but through love
you know
I can't verify this
with 100% certainty
but a handful
of historians
have quoted
Napoleon Bonaparte
by quoting
something that he said
to the effect of
Alexander
Caesar
Charlemagne
and I
have founded
great empires
but on what
did we rest
the creation
of our genius
upon force
Jesus Christ
alone
founded his empire
upon love
and at this hour
millions of men
would die for him
it's really
an undeniable fact
the love of God
displayed in Jesus Christ
crucified
and risen
to put sin
to death
and death
to death
though neither
that sin
nor that death
belonged to him
this is what
underlies all
of our longings
to believe
in the power
and the beauty
of sacrificial
unconditional love
even for our enemies
it's only the love
of Jesus
that can
transform this world
that has transformed
this world
that will
transform
this world
you know
in the 4th century
the anti-Christian
emperor of Rome
Julian
he tried to win
Rome back
to the pagan gods
but he angrily
marveled
at the Christians
and their
ethic of love
and he wrote this
for it is disgraceful
that when the
impious Galileans
the Christians
support not only
their own poor
but ours as well
all men see
that our people
lack aid from us
and the Christian
origin scholar
Gerald Sitzer writes
that Julian
complained about
exactly this kind
of Christian service
in spite of the
loftiness of Julian's
position and the
vast resources
of his empire
he could not
motivate his
priests to follow
the same way
of life
nor replicate
the church's
ministry to the
needy
but the difference
went deeper
than ethics
Christians worshipped
a God who loved
humanity in and
through his son
Jesus Christ
this Jesus
son of God
lord of lords
king of kings
had given his
life as a ransom
for many
and this is the
power that would
change the world
the love of Christ
in our lives
compelling us
to love like he
did as a light
in the darkness
let's pray
oh lord would you
make us that kind
of loving community
to the glory of
Christ and for the
good of this
broken world
we pray in Jesus
name
amen
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