"Those Through Whom God's Light Shines"
Luke 6:20-31
In today’s
gospel reading we heard some of the Bible’s most challenging descriptions of
the Christian life. It’s what’s known
in the gospel of Luke as the “sermon on the plain.” The parallel “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew
is better known-- but I think Luke’s version is even more demanding.
Both start with what’s known as the
Beatitudes: Blessed are you who are poor. Blessed are you who are hungry…you who weep
and mourn…you who are persecuted. But
Luke’s version continues with the “Woes:”
Woe to you who are rich now. Woe to you
who are well fed now…you who laugh now…you who are applauded and
commended. You’ve already had your
rewards.”
Both
versions are followed with a series of instructions for how to live as a
Christian. “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the
other cheek also. If anyone takes away
your coat, don’t withhold even your shirt.
Give to everyone who begs from you.
If anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.”
Surely
Jesus isn’t calling us to be naïve--
and easily exploited doormats for everybody else to wipe their feet on? But surely Jesus doesn’t mean for us to ignore
these words because they are too hard. So… how are we supposed to understand this?
According to Jesus, it is better to
be poor in things and rich in spirit—than it is to be rich in things and poor
in spirit. There is joy and celebration
for those who enjoy the reign of God, but those who trust in the riches of the
present world have received all they will ever have. What Jesus teaches is radically counter-cultural.
The culture
says, “Show me the money,” while faith says, “Give me the kingdom.” The world says, “I want it my way—now,” while
faith says, “I’ll take it God’s way—in God’s time.” The society says, “What you see is what you
get,” while faith says, “What you see may well be an illusion.”
When I was
studying Hebrew and Greek in seminary, we had to read passages were translating
aloud in class. In English, you can’t
tell the difference between “you” singular and “you” in the plural, but you can
in the original Greek. So, we sounded a
bit “Southern” when we did our translations-- when we would read “you all” to
distinguish from you in the singular form.
When we
read “Blessed are you who are poor… blessed are you who are hungry now,” it’s
clear in the Greek that it’s plural. “Blessed are you all who are poor.” “Blessed are you all who are hungry.”
What difference
does it make? If I say to [one of you],
‘I need you to lift the piano off the floor,’ I don’t that s/he’s going to be
able to do it. It would be a real struggle. But if I say to the choir or to the people
sitting in the third pew, ‘You all need
to lift the piano off the floor’—I think you all could do it.
This morning we’re celebrating All
Saints’ Day. It’s about remembering the
Christians who have gone before us... those who have shown us what it means to walk
in the way of Jesus Christ. It reminds
us that we’re part of the “communion of the saints.”
So… on this All Saints Sunday-- greetings to all
you saints.
Does that
make you squirm a little? Most of us
don’t think of ourselves as being very saintly.
We might be able to relate to what Nelson Mandela said when somebody
called him a saint. Mandela said, “I’m
just a sinner who keeps on trying.”
I think that’s a good way to think
of it. We are all sinners, in need of
God’s redemption. In some Christian
denominations, saints are people who have lived exceptionally holy lives. But, in our baptism, we are called into a
holy priesthood. So, in the New
Testament understanding, any Christian is a saint.
In the Catholic tradition, on each
day of the year there are certain saints who are remembered. Two of the best-known examples are St.
Patrick’s Day and St. Valentine’s Day.
Over the centuries, there got to be
more saints than there were days in the year.
The church also realized that there were many people who lived saintly lives,
but who did so in such a quiet way that most people never knew about them. So, All Saints’ Day was created as a day to remember
all the saints.
In the Protestant tradition, we have
come to understand the word “saint” as not just referring to a special select
few Christians. Rather, we have come to
understand the word “saint” in a broader sense—in the biblical sense. All Saints’ Day is a day to remember all the
faithful people of God.
We remember that saints aren’t just
those who did miraculous and amazing things.
The saints are also all those people across the years who showed their
faith in Jesus by how they lived their lives.
Quite often, that faith was shown in very quiet and simple ways.
It’s been said that a saint is
someone who lets God’s light shine through them. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called
to be “the light of the world.” God’s
light shines into the darkness of this world, and we are called to let God’s
light shine through us.
It isn’t our light that is shining:
it is the light of God,
shining through our lives.
The apostle Paul began some of his
letters by writing, “To all the saints at Rome…or Ephesus…or Corinth”—even if
he was going to spend part of the letter telling them how they’ve been failing in the Christian life and need
to do better. Their failures don’t
keep Paul from calling them “saints.”
As Will Willimon says, “A saint is any Christian,
anyone whom God has called out to be blessed… baptized… different…
distinctive. Saints are those ordinary
people who have had their little lives caught, commandeered by Christ in rather
extraordinary ways. And for that, Jesus
calls them “blessed.”[1]
We are called together to be the
church. The church is in the business of
producing and equipping saints for their ministries.
Think about it. You are the only word from the Lord that some
people will ever hear. So, you—you all-- are blessed and sent out into the world to be
God’s word in a troubled, hurting, confused world. You and I are called to
embody God’s love and light to the people we meet who are sad… or lonely… or
hungry…or just need a friend.
The GOOD NEWS is that you are not alone.
On this All Saints Sunday, we remember the saints who have gone on
before us, trusting in the promises of Christ and the reign of God. We are in a long line, part of a procession of people of faith who are rooted in the
past and march on toward an eternal hope. While we who are a part of the
Communion of Saints here on earth labor on for the kingdom of God, the rest of
the Communion of saints, those who’ve gone on before, are cheering us on!
Saints, the light of God shines
through your lives. It is not our light that is shining: it is the light of God, shining through our lives.
So, let the light of God shine through you so that others may know God’s
hope and peace and joy!
To God who is
able to accomplish abundantly
far
more than all we can ask or imagine--
to
God be the glory in the church...
and
in Christ Jesus...
[1] William
Willimon, “Saints, All of You” at www.chapel.duke.edu/worship/sunday/
No comments:
Post a Comment