Curses and Blessings in the Gospel

Luke 6:27-38

I am going to begin this morning by asking you to do something.

I would like you to move. Change seats. I want you please to get up right now, all of you, and go to a different place in the sanctuary, perhaps to a place you’ve never sat before, and sit in that new place. If you usually sit in the back, why not give sitting in the front a try? If you normally sit on this side, why not try that side? I’d like you to make a significant change in where you are sitting. I’ll wait while you do it.

            How do you feel now? Is it weird? You have a whole new view of things if you made a big change. I wonder if your new seat will change your perspective on anything?

For those of you new to sitting on this side, now you know this is really my better side. Those of you on this side, well, you may want to sit on that side next week.

            Was it difficult for you to change seats? Is it uncomfortable in some way to sit in a new place? Well Friends, if you’re feeling a little uncomfortable right now, my best advice to you is this: get used to it!

Because, the thing is, we are disciples of Jesus Christ, and Jesus is always asking us to do something new. Jesus is always inviting us to do something daring. Jesus is always drawing us into uncomfortable places, changing our point of view, and asking the seeming impossible- (like, really, change seats in church?) - because believe it or not, the new place Jesus leads us to is where we need to be, it’s where we’ll grow our best, and it is where Jesus needs us to be, for his sake and for the sake of the kingdom of God.

            I’m not going to stand here and lie to you. While “Jesus loves us, this we know, for the Bible tells us so”, that doesn’t mean Jesus is all about making us all comfy and cozy in our lives of faith and discipleship.

Remember the invitation Jesus made to those who want to follow him? “you must pick up your cross and follow me”. Nothing comforting in that!

            Today’s text reminds us that Jesus came to draw us all into a new life marked by love, forgiveness, generosity, justice, and mercy. That’s good news, right?

The struggle is, that as this Gospel text indicates, Jesus means for us to live out these qualities in our lives as ways of being that are always moving us outward – to new horizons – new ways of living in relationship with our neighbor and with God. That’s what discipleship means.

This grace, mercy, love and forgiveness all sound great when they are directed toward us and toward those we love and care about. We want and need all those things in our lives.

We know we are broken people and we yearn for the healing that Jesus brings. Yet Jesus came to deliver this mandate that to follow him, we need to direct those same things toward people that our culture and our egos tell us are the last people we should want to benefit from them: like, those who hurt us; those we those who hate us; those curse and abuse us. Yet, when we do this, the radical love of Jesus is evident in our lives; it changes our lives, our relationships, and our world.

            Today’s gospel lesson is a continuation of the one we heard last week, the so-called Sermon on the Plain.

In a reversal of all we have come to expect in life, Jesus gave the crowd some good news/bad news. To the poor, the hungry, and the mourning Jesus delivered the good news that they would be well off in the kingdom of God; and then to the rich, he gave the bad news that they wouldn’t fare so well if they continued to trust in worldly riches rather than in God, especially when they valued and accumulated those things at the expense of the poor.

            As Luke’ Gospel continues into today’s passage, Jesus invites his followers to demonstrate radical love, blessing, forgiveness, generosity, and trust. That shouldn’t be too difficult, should it? Except the thing is, Jesus tells his disciples that the recipients of all that benevolence can’t just be the people we love, or like, or even just tolerate, nor can our good intentions be a reciprocal act.

            Jesus says instead, that we need to shower these radical gifts of mercy and generosity even on our enemies. We’re supposed to love on those we don’t like, don’t know, and don’t really care to know.

            You think changing seats in church is challenging and uncomfortable?

Picture your worst enemy or a person who has created havoc and pain for you or others you care about. Picture a person who has slandered or cursed you or taken from you what is rightfully yours. Picture a person or group that have cost you something you treasure. Now, picture yourself loving that person, forgiving them, and bestowing kindness and mercy on them in their hour of need.

That is how Jesus is telling us we should live:

But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. That’s not all.

If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.

And finally, the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do to you.

How difficult do you find these words?

To be honest, I find them scorchingly difficult to hear. Because the core of this teaching centers on forgiveness and sometimes forgiveness can be so hard to give. This is not simply forgiving your child when they have lied to you or forgiving your partner when they didn’t take the trash out like they were supposed to. I think you know that. Jesus tells us we need to forgive our enemies for the bigger-badder things they have done that hurt us.

The thing is, sometimes it is so much more justifiable and righteous to hold on to grudges and withhold forgiveness from someone who has caused me or someone I love, pain.

There are people I’ve never even met that I have a hard time loving. I have always said that there is no one I hate – I taught my children not even to use that word in reference to another person – but I confess that in an era of toxic division and polarization in our world, I experience grave dislike toward some people. Seeing the pain and destruction of lives caused by the actions of other people, I get angry.  There are people whose words and actions I find so heinous or disagreeable, that I am brought to the point of feeling hatred.

Jesus seems to be asking something that is not only challenging, but in many ways impossible. It’s too radical. It’s too hard.

But then, I look at these words again and I realize that Jesus isn’t just demanding an unachievable standard, but Jesus is showing us the way. Jesus describes his own life, passion and death.

With the gift of knowing the full story of Jesus’ radical love as he lived it himself, we gain a new perspective of what radical love, mercy, forgiveness, generosity and grace look like. Jesus invites us not only to live out this radical love, but to trust and depend on him to lead the way. And Jesus delivers.

Throughout his life, but most especially in his passion and death, Jesus exemplified radical love and forgiveness, mercy and grace.

He spent time with and even ate with tax collectors and sinners; he received water from and gave forgiveness to the woman at the well; he healed and invited outsiders in to the party; through his parables he described the most extraordinary examples of unjustified mercy and generosity that is given to the most unlikely of characters.

He heals one of his arresting soldiers when his ear is cut off, and asks God to forgive his torturers, declaring that they do not know what they are doing.

During his passion and even at the cross, Jesus’ forgiveness and promise bring restoration to a common criminal.

Finally, Jesus forgives us and promises us life everlasting despite our sinfulness, despite our inablity to live out this command, and despite our many foibles and failures.

Instead of giving us what we deserve, Jesus gives us unmerited grace. In his unending generosity, Jesus invites each and every one of us to the table where we are fed and nourished and strengthened and given new perspective and grace.

With these words, Jesus challenges us to grow in living our lives in harmony with God’s desire of restored relationships based on mercy and harmony. What will our answer be?

Making the changes in our lives that Jesus invites today doesn’t happen overnight. We take one step, and then another. But, I wonder how many of you will go back to sitting in your usual seats next week?

I hope that little by little you will challenge yourselves to grow; to become the people God is calling you to be, willing to take on new behaviors and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The first of the steps we will need to take is to embrace love.

Amen.

No Haggle Pricing - How Much Does THIS Cost?

Luke 14:25-33; Psalm 1; Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, from Jesus Christ our Lord, and from our Advocate, the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I have to acknowledge that beginning with such a greeting after hearing this gospel feels just plain weird.

“Grace, mercy and peace to you, but oh, yeah, to follow Jesus, you need to hate those who we have previously been commanded to love.” Is anyone else struggling with this seeming dichotomy?  This contradiction? With these words Jesus turns upside down our expectations of what grace and peace and mercy mean for us. Why? Why did Jesus say them?

If we look very deeply into the life of Jesus, we find that faithful discipleship is definitely not for the faint of heart, for those w

ho like to straddle the thin, white line, or for those who might think that if I just have enough faith, then discipleship is easy and its challenges will slip away and life will be filled with light, happiness, fulfillment, contentment and prosperity.

Instead, Jesus points out to us that there is a cost to discipleship. And the cost is steep, not to be taken lightly. This is not the first or only time that Jesus has driven home the point that true discipleship is not only costly, but those who follow Jesus, commit to a new modus operandi shaped by the cross. In fact Jesus has to repeatedly drive this point home, because The Way is so contrary to our nature, we of fainting hearts and a deep desire for comfort – even in our witness to the gospel.

While we may chafe against the reality of the demands of discipleship, the other scriptures paired with our gospel today indicate that this teaching is not new, it is simply reshaped for those of us who know Jesus as Lord, who have been transformed through his life, death, and resurrection.

Way back in the wilderness of exile and in those wandering years, Moses speaks to the Israelites who prepare to enter the Promised Land and he tells them that while they are soon to enter that place promised to their ancestors, there are choices that they will make that will lead either to life and prosperity, or to adversity and death.

Following God’s commandments will allow for life in the midst of the sometimes harsh and difficult realities of this world. Turning away from God will bring a unique kind of darkness that can never be penetrated by blessing or the light of true life, both for individuals and for community. This call to trust in God and to obey God’s commandments is for the good of all God’s creation.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks frankly about the serious costs of following the Way of the Cross – the way of Jesus – the way of discipleship.

But if you are like me, there is one particular word that sticks out in today’s text and gives you trouble, and that’s the word “hate,” in verse 26. Deep down, I ‘hate’ that very word and have a hard time imagining it coming from Jesus’ mouth, except to describe how he feels about sin – injustice – racism – and other sins of -uh, hatred.

After all, I stand here all the time and remind you that God is a God of love. Jesus’ greatest commandment is to what? – “to love God and to love one another as we love ourselves.”

So what room in this love-feast is there, for hate? Particularly hate mandated by Christ as a requirement of discipleship? Hate directed at our parents, our siblings, our spouse and children? Didn’t Jesus read the Bible? Doesn’t he know how the hatred of kin wreaked havoc in the Old Testament?

And yet, what does Jesus say his followers must do? Whom should they “hate?” – Father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sister, even life itself.

Wow. Faithful discipleship is NOT for the faint of heart. The question most of us probably wrestle with is, do we really have to follow this instruction to follow Jesus? Does Jesus mean this literally – the way so many of us process words? Can’t I follow Jesus and still love my family? My friends and neighbors? My life?

At this point I think it is helpful to know that the Hebraic understanding of the word Jesus uses here is something that requires single-minded loyalty. Jesus wants us to follow him, possessing such single-minded loyalty.

As followers of Christ, we cannot stand with one foot in the world and one foot on The Way. We cannot equally love our lives as they are and commit to being the disciples Jesus is calling us to be. Discipleship requires radically reorienting our priorities and our actions to single-minded loyalty to the way of Jesus.

While Jesus loved his friends and his mother and sisters and brothers he did not let his love for them keep him looking inward. He did not let it hold him back. Instead, Jesus looked outward, inviting them along, but making his primary action all about obeying the will of God.

Jesus calls his followers to look to the outside, to care more for the good of our neighbor than to the comfort of ourselves. That’s hard. That’s costly – it means giving up things that are very dear to us. It means recognizing that this work, this discipleship isn't about us at all. It I about, and for the sake of Christ.

Jesus calls this church to commit to reaching out, inviting in and opening ourselves up bearing the cost of all that discipleship requires, so that we and those who are not yet among us might see and know and be transformed by the radical love of God, and become disciples too.

Jesus calls Grace to be the church Jesus calls us to be, not overcome with preserving the status quo, nor immersing ourselves in the maintenance of the building that houses us or even the relationships that reside within. Rather Jesus is calling us to be of single-minded purpose – carrying the cross, and following him.

Jesus modeled how transformative mission worked. God has sent people into our world to show us what that kind of discipleship looks like.  

One of those was canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic church today.

While we as Protestants, as Lutherans, do not pray to or venerate saints as our Catholic sisters and brothers do, we do look upon them as examples of faithful living, as individuals who have answered Christ’s call and dedicated their lives to a particular kind of discipleship, and single minded loyalty to Christ.

Mother Teresa of Kolkata was no different from any of us; saint and sinner, bound and free, recipient of God’s grace, mercy and love. She made a particular choice to follow Jesus’ example by ministering to the poorest of the poor. In photos taken of her in her work, you constantly see her touching people – poor people, starving people, homeless people, AIDS victims, dying people, orphaned and abandoned children. Jesus needs us to bear the cost of touching people.

St. Augustine said, “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” Our past includes the relationships that moor us to our beginnings. Our challenge and the joy that Jesus is calling us to is moving us into a future with single-minded loyalty to Jesus, always looking outward, always reaching out to others for the sake of the kingdom of God.

Sometimes that looks like a life singularly dedicated to relieving the suffering of others, like Mother Teresa’s was. Sometimes that looks like providing lunches, and meals, and clothing, and quilts, and canned food, and hospitality for the stranger, the homeless, and the needy. It looks like ministries we haven’t yet even begun to imagine or explore.

Jesus calls us not to comfortable membership in this church, but to fearless discipleship in his name. Jesus calls us not to maintain the status quo, but to engage in radical hospitality and ministry that will transform our lives and the lives of others, for the sake of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace and mercy, God promises in the midst of all this to be with us, blessing us, challenging us, sending us saints to join the priesthood of all believers of which we are a part, so that others can know the goodness of God. Let it be so.