A Sneaky God, Checking Up…
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
1:1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
1:11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
1:12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more;
1:13 bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation-- I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
1:14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.
1:15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
1:16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
1:17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
1:18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
1:20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Luke 12:32-40
12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
12:33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
12:35 "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;
12:36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.
12:37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.
12:38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
12:39 "But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
12:40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."
Others need saving more than you do. Does this statement surprise you? Chances are, if you are reading this sermon, you have already partaken of the free gift of God’s grace—the forgiveness of your sins (Ally-Ally IN free!) and will inherit eternal life in God’s heaven, whatever that looks like, courtesy of Jesus Christ. And no, I’m not suggesting that you go out now on a “scalp hunt,” seeing how many poor, retched souls you can get to “confess Jesus” as their Lord, thereby “saving” THEM from their sins. They are just as saved as you are, again, thanks to Jesus. As we said a week or so ago, there is no magic formula for appropriating the forgiving, redeeming love of Christ other than to open your arms and receive it. But there ARE people who need “saving,” and you may well be one of them!
Jesus spent most of his time trying to get us to live right. His teachings were clearly life-blueprints. In the Sermon on the mount, he gave us a clear plan for living as one of God’s redeemed, and the thrust of that life was to get over ourselves enough to help those who still struggle. Who are these people? Here are a few of the ones yet struggling that Jesus addressed, from what we call the “Beatitudes”:
The Beatitudes
5 When Jesus[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
God pronounces a blessing on those who are humble and not so inwardly focused, but since they are part of the human community, we who are of the “redeemed” should look out for them and make sure that their humility is not taken advantage of by the many unscrupulous ones around us whose egos and bank accounts like to prey on honest people. These “poor in spirit,” humble folk could be the elderly, the widows, the orphans, the immigrants, those living with disabilities, the mentally ill, or the just plain POOR. God obviously loves them, and sets them up as the neighbors WE should love. They need a type of “saving” we have the power to give them.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
God certainly is in the corner of those who mourn, and I’ll bet pretty strongly. As God demonstrated in Jesus Christ, God hates death, and anything that leads to it, ultimately, but death happens. I don’t know why it happens, other than to believe that God put us on this beautiful planet, and if it weren’t for people dying, there wouldn’t be room for the new people being born. (I know that some will say that it is “sin” that causes death, but that’s ridiculous, and is a bad, literal interpretation of what we find in scripture. The death that sin causes comes from good people doing nothing, or at least enough, to prevent suffering on the part of others.) Still, death is a painful thing, most especially for the loved ones left behind, and mourning, grief-stricken people are everywhere. Those of us counting ourselves among the redeemed should be looking out for them, praying for them, making sure they have what they need to get by during the stages of grief, and then helping them reincorporate themselves into life as it subsides. Taking a casserole to the grieving family next door may not be enough, but it’s a good start.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Meek doesn’t mean “weak.” Meek people are those comfortable in their own skin, and who have a sober view of themselves, characteristics that make them great neighbors and potentially good leaders. Here is one of the places WE are the ones who need “saving.” If we follow Jesus’ teachings, we will strive to be like them—just as comfortable in OUR skin, and with as sober a view of ourselves, our abilities, and our calling as they are. We should make good neighbors, too. When we are selfish, or pig-headed, or argue over why the next door neighbor decided to put up a fence or put in a pool, we are not “meek,” at all. And when we throw a hissy-fit about the group home or half-way house going in down the street from us, we’re not doing well, either. So much “meekness” is lost over property values, it is no wonder Jesus promises THE LAND to those who manifest this characteristic.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
I frankly can’t imagine being “hungry” for righteousness. I wish I could, which means I’m still one in need of being “saved.” I want to be a Christian, and engage in “right living,” and there are things I do to learn about righteousness, like attend weekly worship, read the Bible, and talk with God through prayer. But am I actually HUNGRY for it? Not yet. It’s no wonder, then, that I rarely feel “filled” with it, nor do I wear myself out by doing so much good that I’m working up an appetite. How about you? And remember when Jesus said that when we gave a cup of cold water to one of the “little ones,” we were doing it unto him? I rarely give away enough cups of cold water to develop a spiritual thirst, so I may still be a bit of a stranger to Jesus. How about you? Unless we work up an appetite and give away enough cold water to those who need it, I doubt we’ll ever “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Christians in this time in history are not seen as merciful people. Large groups of “Evangelical Christians” have ginned themselves up over what they call “rights of the unborn” that they have become merciless regarding the lives, needs, and rights of women, even to the degree of throwing them into jail when they decide to save their own lives over a fetus. Countless “Christians” are upholding Second Amendment rights over the safety of our children and the at-risk “unarmed,” which tells the world, “To hell with mercy, I want my guns!” Is a “good guy with a gun” who shoots someone to death actually being merciful? Frankly, I’d rather see less guns, so maybe a potential shooter might find it harder to arm himself, rather than just arm everybody and let the “good guys” with guns hope to be the ones left standing, but that’s just me. Still, I don’t think the gun people are being too merciful. And have you ever noticed how angry the gun people get over this subject? And I’m talking about the ones who profess to be Christian. The more people who have guns, the less mercy there will be. And locking up physicians who care for pregnant women who can’t continue their pregnancies, whether for medical, financial, or mental reasons, or even locking up the women themselves? Where is that ever merciful? Oh, and what about what the church is doing to LGBTQ people? I can guarantee that if Jesus were walking the earth today, he would have called someone from the LGBTQ community as a disciple—maybe more than one—and he would have allied himself with them. We may living in one of the least merciful times ever on the historical human timeline.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
There aren’t too many of these folk around, and that is why we probably have a distorted view of God in our time. Jesus promised us an “abundant life.” People like Joel Osteen say God wants us to have “our best life now,” meaning overflowing with prosperity. I don’t think they are the same thing at all. Not at all. Jesus modeled an “abundant life” by multiplying it—helping the poor, healing the sick, uplifting the children, and making world-changing disciples out of riff-raff. His life was so abundant, it spurred such jealousy on the part of the religious leaders and the Roman government that they tried to rub him out. I have to ask myself, when’s the last time my generosity or advocacy for the poor put me in danger of being censored by the religious community or the government? And if not, how “Jesus like” am I? How “pure in heart” am I? Is it any wonder that we often feel like our prayers are hitting the ceiling? I am more and more convinced our raunchy-in-heart behavior—and I’m talking Christians here—may be why we have such a warped view of God, or little of one at all.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Talking about peace should not be fighting words. But they often are. And in church. “Peacemaking” is often met with little respect in church circles, or at least with little interest. Why? Because peacemaking means, first and foremost, working for justice. Theologians and ethicists have said for centuries that “If you want peace, work for justice.” As long as there continues to be such monumental economic disparity, rampant racism, and political one-upmanship that divides society like a Ginsu knife, we will not have peace. And as long as national borders and ruling power are what drives international relations, we will see brilliant people make convincing arguments—and excuses—for war. Peacemaking is far, far more than the “absence of war,” though. Before the Ukraine/Russia war, we were largely a world without a major war, but we were very far from being a world at peace. This particular Beatitude is not promising some kind of an award called the “Child of God” medal, or whatever, but it IS telling us that until we fix this peacemaking thing, we have no right to proclaim ourselves “children of God.”
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
There are those today who claim they are being “persecuted,” but most don’t have a clue, frankly. Are you a persecuted Christian because your child may be asked to read a book at school which YOU think should be banned? Are you a persecuted Christian because a pastor in your denomination believes in supporting LGBTQ persons and maybe has even performed a “same sex” marriage ceremony? Are you a persecuted Christian because your child’s teacher doesn’t read from the Bible in the classroom and offer a Christian prayer for a class that may have Jewish, Muslim, or other children in that class? Are you a persecuted Christian because your State still has laws that render abortion legal? If so, you are among those who don’t have a clue. In Jesus’ day, persecution meant being locked up for what you believed or preached, if not murdered. It meant having laws passed that kept you from exercising your rights, just to protect the privilege of the ruling elite. At least in this country, more Christians and Christian sects are on the side of the ones DOING the persecuting, than those suffering persecution. Remember what we uncovered earlier about what Jesus called “righteousness,” now. Right-living meant feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the widows and the orphans, and welcoming the immigrants in the land. THIS is the righteousness for which someone will be persecuted. It is not “persecution” when your own religious views don’t dominate the world like you think they should. Please get over that, or you may miss out on “the kingdom of heaven.”
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[b] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In some ways, this is a continuation of the previous discussion, but the votes at this year’s Western PA Annual Conference demonstrated that it was precisely those who are WORKING for justice and peace who are being “reviled and persecuted” by the majority. Did we actually vote to protest having “non-binary” as a choice for “gender” on a church statistical report? Did we actually vote to ask our PA legislature to deny transgender persons opportunities to participate in school sports? There is a smugness about many folk who are among the self-proclaimed righteous that makes it hard to take them seriously. And much of their condemnation and judgment they spew, they claim they are doing on Jesus’ “account,” which he soundly condemns here. Jesus compares the truly “reviled and persecuted” to the “prophets who were before you,” and if you read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets, rarely would you find a message that would win a majority vote in our Annual Conference.
I have offered this little “excursion” through a most famous section of the Sermon on the Mount as a case history as to why our “sneaky God” is checking up on us, and giving a warning, about which we read in today’s two lectionary texts. Both the Isaiah text and the Lukan text give us a “crib sheet” on what God requires of us, and both include: “doing good, seeking justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphan, and pleading for the widow,” along with giving alms, which meant raiding our personal “Osteen” bank to help the poor. And what if we don’t? What if we rather adopt an agenda of what WE believe and what WE want to see in the church and the world, and then call it “God’s will?”
Well, the Master may come like a thief in the night and catch us living FAR from these ideals. If our “treasure” is only invested in our own selfish religious prejudices, in oppressing those who don’t believe as we do, and advancing laws that punish others for their “unbelief,” then that is where our heart is, not with the poor, the disenfranchised, the lonely, the needy, or the immigrant in our midst, let alone the widow or the orphan. Death often comes like a “thief in the night,” so should we not be on the right side of Jesus when it comes, because none of us knows, do we? Even Jesus himself will return at an “unexpected hour,” and these texts are offering us a ruler to measure ourselves as to our “readiness.” Remember, this is not about salvation, for that is a gift of Christ, but it IS about “saving,” meaning how we are working to save those who have needs, and saving ourselves from selfish ambition, a need to be “right,” not righteous, and from living a life that may be “our best life now,” but not the one to which Jesus is calling us. A popular song intones, “God is watching us, God is watching us,” not “from a distance,” though, but from within our very heart. Amen.
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