\u00a0Year C
\u00a0Jeremiah 17:5-10
\u00a0Psalm 1
\u00a01 Corinthians 15:12-20
\u00a0Luke 6:17-26<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeremiah came from Anathoth\u2026 a village in the hill country of Benjamin… from a small tribe to the north of Judah… he was a descendent of Abiathar\u2026 one of the two chief priests of King David\u2026 people important enough from so long ago\u2026 that their legacy has made it down to us today\u2026 God knew Jeremiah in the womb\u2026 consecrated him\u2026 appointed and called him to be a prophet\u2026 not just to his village\u2026 not just to Judah\u2026 but to the nations\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Jeremiah was a reluctant prophet\u2026 he wrestled with the weight of the task that had been given him\u2026 he wrote “If I say, ‘I will not mention God, or speak anymore in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary with holding it in, because I cannot\u2026” it was painful for him to speak\u2026 so he kept silent until it hurt more not to speak\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And when we hear Jeremiah’s words of excuse\u2026 of doubt\u2026 of uncertainty\u2026 we’re tempted to think of his and other such vocations as being reserved for lofty figures in history… prophets\u2026 evangelists\u2026 missionaries\u2026 and some pastors\u2026 and some of us thank God that we are not called\u2026 we jokingly breathe a sigh of relief because we know what happens to prophets\u2026 but deep in our bones\u2026 we know what’s true\u2026 and what’s just\u2026 some of us are simply more willing to speak those words than others are… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
James Howell\u2026 Pastor of Meyers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina wrote\u2026 that Jeremiah seems intent on a subtle\u2026 but crucial nuance\u2026 in the way we think about life\u2026 is it about me\u2026 or is it about God\u2026 do I find meaning in myself\u2026 or outside of myself\u2026 and Jeremiah pronounces a curse on those who focus on only the human\u2026 who trust in what we are able to do\u2026 who take our cues from personal desire\u2026 who operate from what he calls\u2026 a deceitful heart\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And he offers up an image\u2026\u00a0 to biblical people desperate for water\u2026\u00a0 the tree symbolized a life so grounded\u2026\u00a0 that it could withstand drought\u2026\u00a0 and storms\u2026\u00a0 we see a tree’s trunk\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 branches\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 and leaves\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 but the secret to the life of a tree\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 is not what we see\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 but what we cannot see\u2026\u00a0 its roots\u2026\u00a0 thirsty tentacles reaching deep into earth which even a hard shovel cannot penetrate…\u00a0 and finding hidden moisture\u2026\u00a0 and so Jeremiah’s unspoken question to us\u2026\u00a0 is how rooted are we in God\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today’s passage from 1 Corinthians essentially asks us a similar question\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 do we believe in a literal resurrection\u2026\u00a0 or something more figurative\u2026\u00a0 because in many congregations there are people\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 who despite what the Creeds say\u2026\u00a0 don’t believe in the resurrection of the body at the end of time\u2026\u00a0 they’re more comfortable with the idea that one’s soul goes to heaven at the time of death\u2026\u00a0 but no one knows for certain just what resurrection entails\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 either right after death\u2026\u00a0 or not until the end of time\u2026\u00a0 so there’s nothing wrong in acknowledging that the very nature of resurrection defies reason\u2026\u00a0 but then\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 doesn’t the creation of a universe\u2026\u00a0 that’s now known to be about 93 billion light-years in diameter\u2026\u00a0 out of nothing\u2026\u00a0 also defy reason\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s Gospel\u2026 Jesus blesses those who are poor\u2026 hungry\u2026 weeping\u2026 hated\u2026 excluded\u2026 reviled\u2026 and defamed\u2026 and these are not only the homeless along Division Ave\u2026 some of them occupy the highest levels of elected office\u2026 and there may be one or two in the church\u2026 but this is the Sermon on the Plain\u2026 and it\u2019s not quite the same as Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount\u2026 and yes\u2026 maybe some of those at the bottom of the heap are there because of their own actions\u2026 their own choices\u2026 but if we can acknowledge that\u2026 then I think we must also ask what oppressive social systems influenced those choices\u2026 and kept some less attractive doors opened\u2026 and other more attractive doors closed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sermon on the Plain\u2026 on which Jesus created the hope of a level playing field for all people\u2026 appears in our Sunday readings\u2026 only when Easter falls after the first week of April\u2026 and only in those years when the lectionary turns to Luke\u2019s Gospel\u2026 the Sermon on the Mount includes nine blessings to Luke\u2019s four\u2026 but only in Luke\u2026 does Jesus pronounce woe to those who are rich\u2026 full\u2026 laughing\u2026 and spoken well of\u2026 and these are stark pronouncements\u2026 like in the parable of the four soils when we may wonder which kind of soil we are\u2026 but still\u2026 in our occasional dualistic mindset\u2026 we can think of woe as being the polar opposite of blessing\u2026 but woe isn’t the same as a curse\u2026 woe doesn’t convey\u2026 or even imply\u2026 hopelessness\u2026 it’s actually a call to an awareness which provides an opening for hope\u2026 it’s like saying WHOA\u2026 slow down here\u2026 stop the breakneck speed with which we’re living\u2026 take ourselves off of autopilot\u2026 be attentive and mindful\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it can also be difficult to hear about these reversals of fortune\u2026 because we wonder whether we’re blessed or not… it can be difficult to hear about these reversals of fortune\u2026 without assigning labels to them\u2026 it can be difficult to hear about these reversals of fortune\u2026 without promoting an us vs. them mindset\u2026 where some are good and others are bad\u2026 where some are right and others are wrong… where some are in and others are out\u2026 where some are loved by God and others are not\u2026 and the hope is that we can become aware of what we’re doing\u2026 and why we’re doing it\u2026 and its systemic consequences\u2026 and begin to ask the simpler questions about what outcomes we want\u2026 do we want the best education\u2026 and health care\u2026 and food\u2026 and housing for only our own children\u2026 or for all children\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we have to ask ourselves questions like whether we think heaven on Earth exists\u2026\u00a0 and if not\u2026 do we believe it’s possible\u2026\u00a0 maybe not right now\u2026\u00a0 not overnight\u2026\u00a0 maybe not even in a hundred years\u2026\u00a0 but do we believe it’s possible\u2026\u00a0 do we believe that Jesus knew what he was talking about\u2026\u00a0 and do we set our course to follow him\u2026\u00a0 because if we don’t\u2026\u00a0 then it’s every man\u2026\u00a0 woman\u2026\u00a0 and child for themselves\u2026\u00a0 but if we do believe it\u2026\u00a0 then can we publicly profess that this is the work that we are called to do\u2026\u00a0 and hold each other accountable when we fall short\u2026\u00a0 and know that it’s going to take all of us\u2026\u00a0 working together\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 letting go of labels like good and bad\u2026\u00a0 and right and wrong\u2026\u00a0 and even partisan political labels\u2026\u00a0 and talk about the kind of world we want leave for our descendants\u2026\u00a0 not only to the third and fourth generation\u2026\u00a0 but to the thousandth\u2026\u00a0 and like ancient growth\u2026\u00a0 a tree such as this is also the fulcrum of our salvation\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 of our rescue from the curse\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus bore the curse of crucifixion on a tree\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 so that we could be grafted onto the tree of God’s people\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 so we might eat from the tree in paradise forever\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 when there will be no more wars\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 when the secular will be a dim memory\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 and everything will always be about the glory of God\u2026 in a universe\u2026\u00a0 where justice is even bigger\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 than ninety-three billion light-years in diameter\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0Year C\u00a0Jeremiah 17:5-10\u00a0Psalm 1\u00a01 Corinthians 15:12-20\u00a0Luke 6:17-26 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 Jeremiah came from Anathoth\u2026 a village in the hill country of Benjamin… from a small tribe to the north of Judah… he was a descendent of Abiathar\u2026 one of the two chief priests of King David\u2026 people important enough from so long ago\u2026 that their legacy has made it down to us today\u2026 God knew Jeremiah in the womb\u2026 consecrated him\u2026 appointed and called him to be a prophet\u2026 not just to his village\u2026 not just to Judah\u2026 but to the nations\u2026 And Jeremiah was a reluctant prophet\u2026 he wrestled with the weight of the task that had been given him\u2026 he wrote “If I say, ‘I will not mention God, or speak anymore in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary with holding it in, because I cannot\u2026” it was painful for him to speak\u2026 so he kept silent until it hurt more not to speak\u2026 And when we hear Jeremiah’s words of excuse\u2026 of doubt\u2026 of uncertainty\u2026 we’re tempted to think of his and other such vocations as being reserved for lofty figures in history… prophets\u2026 evangelists\u2026 missionaries\u2026 and some pastors\u2026 and some of us thank God that we are not called\u2026 we jokingly breathe a sigh of relief because we know what happens to prophets\u2026 but deep in our bones\u2026 we know what’s true\u2026 and what’s just\u2026 some of us are simply more willing to speak those words than others are… James Howell\u2026 Pastor of Meyers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina wrote\u2026 that Jeremiah seems intent on a subtle\u2026 but crucial nuance\u2026 in the way we think about life\u2026 is it about me\u2026 or is it about God\u2026 do I find meaning in myself\u2026 or outside of myself\u2026 and Jeremiah pronounces a curse on those who focus on only the human\u2026 who trust in what we are able to do\u2026 who take our cues from personal desire\u2026 who operate from what he calls\u2026 a deceitful heart\u2026 And he offers up an image\u2026\u00a0 to biblical people desperate for water\u2026\u00a0 the tree symbolized a life so grounded\u2026\u00a0 that it could withstand drought\u2026\u00a0 and storms\u2026\u00a0 we see a tree’s trunk\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 branches\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 and leaves\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 but the secret to the life of a tree\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 is not what we see\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 but what we cannot see\u2026\u00a0 its roots\u2026\u00a0 thirsty tentacles reaching deep into earth which even a hard shovel cannot penetrate…\u00a0 and finding hidden moisture\u2026\u00a0 and so Jeremiah’s unspoken question to us\u2026\u00a0 is how rooted are we in God\u2026\u00a0 Today’s passage from 1 Corinthians essentially asks us a similar question\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 do we believe in a literal resurrection\u2026\u00a0 or something more figurative\u2026\u00a0 because in many congregations there are people\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 who despite what the Creeds say\u2026\u00a0 don’t believe in the resurrection of the body at the end of time\u2026\u00a0 they’re more comfortable with the idea that one’s soul goes to heaven at the time of death\u2026\u00a0 but no one knows for certain just what resurrection entails\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 either right after death\u2026\u00a0 or not until the end of time\u2026\u00a0 so there’s nothing wrong in acknowledging that the very nature of resurrection defies reason\u2026\u00a0 but then\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 doesn’t the creation of a universe\u2026\u00a0 that’s now known to be about 93 billion light-years in diameter\u2026\u00a0 out of nothing\u2026\u00a0 also defy reason\u2026\u00a0 In today\u2019s Gospel\u2026 Jesus blesses those who are poor\u2026 hungry\u2026 weeping\u2026 hated\u2026 excluded\u2026 reviled\u2026 and defamed\u2026 and these are not only the homeless along Division Ave\u2026 some of them occupy the highest levels of elected office\u2026 and there may be one or two in the church\u2026 but this is the Sermon on the Plain\u2026 and it\u2019s not quite the same as Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount\u2026 and yes\u2026 maybe some of those at the bottom of the heap are there because of their own actions\u2026 their own choices\u2026 but if we can acknowledge that\u2026 then I think we must also ask what oppressive social systems influenced those choices\u2026 and kept some less attractive doors opened\u2026 and other more attractive doors closed\u2026 The Sermon on the Plain\u2026 on which Jesus created the hope of a level playing field for all people\u2026 appears in our Sunday readings\u2026 only when Easter falls after the first week of April\u2026 and only in those years when the lectionary turns to Luke\u2019s Gospel\u2026 the Sermon on the Mount includes nine blessings to Luke\u2019s four\u2026 but only in Luke\u2026 does Jesus pronounce woe to those who are rich\u2026 full\u2026 laughing\u2026 and spoken well of\u2026 and these are stark pronouncements\u2026 like in the parable of the four soils when we may wonder which kind of soil we are\u2026 but still\u2026 in our occasional dualistic mindset\u2026 we can think of woe as being the polar opposite of blessing\u2026 but woe isn’t the same as a curse\u2026 woe doesn’t convey\u2026 or even imply\u2026 hopelessness\u2026 it’s actually a call to an awareness which provides an opening for hope\u2026 it’s like saying WHOA\u2026 slow down here\u2026 stop the breakneck speed with which we’re living\u2026 take ourselves off of autopilot\u2026 be attentive and mindful\u2026 And it can also be difficult to hear about these reversals of fortune\u2026 because we wonder whether we’re blessed or not… it can be difficult to hear about these reversals of fortune\u2026 without assigning labels to them\u2026 it can be difficult to hear about these reversals of fortune\u2026 without promoting an us vs. them mindset\u2026 where some are good and others are bad\u2026 where some are right and others are wrong… where some are in and others are out\u2026 where some are loved by God and others are not\u2026 and the hope is that we can become aware of what we’re doing\u2026 and why we’re doing it\u2026 and its systemic consequences\u2026 and begin to ask the simpler questions about what outcomes we want\u2026 do we want the best education\u2026 and health care\u2026 and food\u2026 and housing for only our own children\u2026 or for all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[75,73,74,72],"class_list":["post-1513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-blessings-and-woes","tag-lukes-gospel","tag-rooted-in-god","tag-sermon-on-the-plain"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions\/1514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}