Life in Jesus’ time was …ok.  Depending on where you were on the social ladder. 

There was a huge gap, as there is now; between the rich and the poor.  However, if you produced clothing, fabrics, or food…Palestine and Judea were fertile and productive places to be.         Politically though things were less idyllic.  Rome was in charge.  They were fairly tolerant of Jewish custom and practice as long as the territories were loyal, stable and paid their taxes.  To this end ‘puppet kings’ were set up.  Jewish leaders such as Herod Antipas to ensure that everything stayed quiet and the status quo was maintained.

The be all and end all was ‘don’t kick up a fuss’ or it will be put down…brutally.  Crucifixion was the discipline of choice, in fact roads into Jerusalem could be lined with crucified upstarts, political criminals and anyone else.  It was clear that the land Jesus lived in was occupied territory.  A Roman kingdom, despite the Jewish trappings and it was in this context that we hear our gospel today.  A portrayal of a very different kind of kingdom, a Godly Kingdom.

Today we hear the sermon on the plain.  What makes the sermon on the plain so significant is it’s demonstration of what is often termed the ‘great reversal’.  Jesus’ turning upside down of what society thinks is good, blessed and frankly ideal.  Which includes turning upside down the status quo that Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate, and Caiaphas the high priest all fought so hard to maintain…so that the Roman armies would stay away, let the Jews practice Judaism and keep their land intact. 

Pay attention…it’s preaching like this that would get Jesus killed.

 

 

 

“Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

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."

 

Blessings and woe.

It is nearly intuitive to simply translate these two words in our head as good and bad, favoured and cursed; and although they are meant to set up a dialogue of opposition, it is of course, more complicated than simply good and bad.

In Jesus’ time it was commonly understood that when bad things happened to a person, it was due to their sinful nature, or the sins of their parents.  That your situation in life was directly affected by your piety.  Recall the man born blind in John 9

“as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

People with physical or mental illness among other ailments were understood to be out of favour with God. 

They not allowed to worship in the temple, they were viewed at ‘unclean’,  in the worst cases, they were shunned, ostracized or cast out of their families and even cities.

Not unlike the prosperity gospels of today, it was theologized that if you were pious enough then you would be blessed and if you were not…well it’s your fault. 

In the book of Job, the few friends that Job had remaining constantly pressured him to repent of the sins.  Similar to what I’ve hear called ‘pray it away’, whether it is poverty or COVID, if you turn to God it will all be roses.  But to this Jesus objects…firmly. 

It isn’t that if you are poor, or hungry or weeping or persecuted that you are cursed, quite the opposite.  God is with you in these tragedies and God will provide a place for you.  Jesus tells the crowds ‘Do not fear that you are cursed and cut off from God when life is a struggle.’   know that you are blessed with God’s presence and that there is provision made in the Kingdom of God, even if you are seen as cursed in the Kingdom of social stigma.

Now if this were the sermon on the mount in Matthew, this would be the end of it.  Good news and a happy ending, but this is the sermon on the plain and now…now you get the Woes.  Woe to you….

Many of us would rather have Matthew’s beatitudes rather than Luke’s, because if we imagine ourselves in that crowd surrounding Jesus we see that many of us fit the list of the woes more than we do the list of the blessed.

Many of us are lucky enough to be relatively rich (by which I mean housed, clothed, with a car and tv), most of us have access for food enough to eat our fill, and as I’m coming to learn many people in this congregation have been successful at business, politics, or career and are well known and well liked.

Woe to you!  woe to me.  Which frankly sounds a bit awkward. No one likes being told off, especially by Jesus.  But it isn’t all what it seems.

The problem is that we generally translate the word ‘woe’ as cursed …as an opposition to the word blessed.

Cursed are the rich, cursed are the well fed, cursed are the happy, cursed are the socially acclaimed.  This sounds a bit harsh and especially when it seems to pertain to us, not exactly fair.  We are good people, we are at church…even in the midst of pandemic. 

I’m not so bad!  Why should I be cursed just for doing well for myself?

What is important to note here is that woe …doesn’t mean cursed.  It is closer to…something like.  Beware, or pay attention… think woah! Rather than…WOE!

" pay attention you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

" pay attention you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

" pay attention when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."

 

 

Pay attention.  Be aware.  Make sure that you don’t sit back on your laurels and view yourself as blessed because of your social standings or your wealth.   Our society and Jesus’ often believed that those who have it all must be truly blessed by God. 

That the rich, the elite, the movie star and pro athlete are those whom we should look up to and emulate, at least that is what is implied socially.

It is very clear though that the external trappings of social blessing are not guarantees of a blessed life.  Emptiness, despair, sickness, and an unattainable perfection is foisted on these the ‘blessed’ of society.

But Woe to them who rely on society alone…for they…for we …will hunger, cry, and be witness to all kinds of falsehood.

Jesus however preached another way, another kingdom…the kingdom of God.  A turning upside down of what society preached and practiced.  Be aware that you do not rely on mortals alone, do not rely on wealth or position to guarantee your righteousness.

It is not what you own or who you know that makes you blessed.  Woe to you who try to earn your way to righteousness, or try to find fullness in that which cannot fill.  You will be hungry.

            Rather, be like those in Jeremiah,

Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.

They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.
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            And those in our psalm

1:1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;

1:2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.

1:3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.

 

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and bear good fruit in their season. 

Jesus teachings and not new…rather God has spoken of the Kingdom of God as long as humanity has tried to establish their own kingdom. 

The times Jesus lived in, or Jeremiah, or the psalmist for that matter are not so different then our own.  We, as a society, have a very skewed idea of what is to be honoured, and a very skewed view of what should have priority.  But Jesus, Jesus turns this upside down.

            Blessed are you when you act in opposition to the acceptable evils of society, blessed are you when you act as Jesus would have you act, regardless of consequence.

Woe to you who laugh and scoff and see yourself as immune to the ills of society, for you will weep.

            This is the sermon on the plain, on the level place.  I don’t think that is mere coincidence.  In the Kingdom of God we are all made equal, on a level plain with one another.  It doesn’ t matter what you have or how you are honoured…it doesn’t matter if society loves your or hates you.   What matters is your relationship with God and how you act on it, the fruit it bears.

            The kingdom of Rome, the kingdom of social pressure… they will not endure.  The kingdom of God however, is near at hand.  Woe to you who disregard it’s calling, and blessed are you who live in it’s light.