Favored or Fated? - Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Year C

Favored or Fated?

Epiphany 6C

February 13, 2022

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Luke 6.17-26

This past week I’ve thought deeply about who I am and where I stand in today’s Gospel reading from Luke. I have wondered, am I one of the blessed ones that Jesus mentions or am I one of those who are to expect woe? During this time of Epiphany, Jesus has been revealed to us in many ways. On the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday he was shown to be the Beloved Son of God in his baptism. The next week we discovered that he was a worker of signs at the wedding at Cana by turning water into wine. Then Jesus was one in whom Isaiah’s prophecy to bring good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, and the year of the Lord’s favor has been fulfilled and one who gets the hometown folk angry for enlarging the circle too far of who is in and who is out. Finally, last week, Jesus is the one who produces a miraculous abundance of fish and calls disciples to follow him without actually calling them.

Today Jesus is revealed as one who draws huge crowds, made up of an inner circle now called apostles, a larger circle of disciples, and even Gentiles who have traveled great distances to be healed and hear God’s word proclaimed. Jesus’ words, known in Luke as the “Sermon on the Plain,” are aimed mostly at the first two groups, but clearly the latter group of outsiders would overhear what he has to say about discipleship in God’s kingdom. It’s important to note the difference between Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” and this “Sermon on the Plain” in Luke. Here, Jesus is not on a mountain (a place of revelation in the Bible) but a level place and is standing as he teaches, not sitting (attitude of authority).

But the main difference is that Jesus is not spiritualizing the Beatitudes (or Blessings) as he does in Matthew’s Gospel. Rather, Jesus is expounding real-world conditions: here he talking about the actual poor vs. Matthew’s poor in spirit and actual hunger vs. hunger for righteousness’ sake. In fact, this week (and next) Jesus will be expanding on the mission statement from three weeks ago when he stated that Isaiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled. Similarly, Luke’s Jesus adds four “Woes” to counterbalance the four “Blesseds.” The effect on us is to shift the question from, “In what way am I blessed?” to “Am I one of the blessed ones or do I invite woe into my life because of my life situation?”

One way forward in contemplating these questions is to recognize that the words used for blessed and woe are imperfect and inadequate translations into the English. Some translators use “Happy” instead of “Blessed,” but I don’t think that helps. Instead, I prefer “Fortunate” or “Favored” and “Look out!” instead of “Woe.” You see, using the word blessed implies that being poor, hungry, etc. is a good thing. But when we use the words fortunate or favored it denotes that God sees these folk who are often overlooked and marginalized. Similarly, using the phrase, “Look out!” helps us understand that Jesus is warning us that the things we consider to be good (and they are) can give us a false sense of security. We need to beware relying on ourselves instead of relying on God.

So, how does that help us as we try to find ourselves in this text and what Jesus is saying to us? To use the mnemonic device in the sermon title, do you see yourselves as favored or fated? I always teach my Confirmation students a way to answer this kind of either/or question: Yes! Notice that Jesus doesn’t address the four blessings to some of the people and the four woes to others. This is not a sheep or goats kind of sorting that is done elsewhere; this is a description of the human condition. In other words, at many times in our lives, we are empty and needy and at other times we are cocky and full of ourselves.

Finally, note that Jesus’ words today are descriptive, not prescriptive. In other words, Jesus is not telling us what to do, he is telling us something important about ourselves and the values found in God’s kingdom. Next week, we’ll hear more from the Sermon on the Plain about the challenging way of Jesus we are to follow as his disciples. For now, know that wherever you happen to be, whenever you happen to be there, God sees you, is present to your lives and challenges you because God loves you and gives you life. Amen.

My written sermons often preach differently "live." To watch the video, click here.