Today’s text from Luke 6:17-26 finds Jesus early in his ministry. Christ’s teaching and preaching had begun. The sick came to him, hoping for relief. High fevers were cooled, withered arms outstretched. The lame walked. The blind saw.

Jesus was, without a doubt, the talk of the towns he travelled to.

The twelve disciples had recently been invited to follow Jesus. Their acceptance of Christ’s call was a fork in the road. It required they leave everything they had and knew behind. They embarked on the journey without food, without money. Instead, they relied solely on God’s provision. It was a provision, they would soon learn, that manifested itself, again and again, through the kindness of strangers.

Jesus then came down the mountain, the disciples by his side. A great multitude gathered from all around.

The people came to listen.
The people came to be made well.

It was a gathering of those without.
It was a gathering of those in need.

All who tried to touch Jesus did.
Power came out of him.
All who gathered were made whole.

Their needs, in real time, were met.

Blessings
Healings now complete, Jesus turned to the assembly to speak:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom.
Blessed are you who are hungry, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate and exclude you,
for your reward is great in heaven.

This is the Jesus we know.
This is the Jesus we love.

It is the Jesus ever present with us.
It is the Jesus that always has our back.

It is human nature for us to want to find the blessings for ourselves within this text. And why not? Feeling blessed makes us feel loved, supported, part of something bigger than us.

I’d suggest each of us can find ourselves in these blessings somewhere along the way.

For me it was graduate school, in the Fall of 1998, at Cleveland State in Ohio. That year I was downright broke. My apartment was a 220 square feet efficiency housed in the downtown YMCA. My car was a sixteen-year-old clunker 1982 Subaru; Blue Book value: $400. My diet consisted of ramen noodles, which, when they went on sale were 10 for $1, and packages of 25 cent generic mac & cheese. If I had a little extra, I would splurge on a box of cereal.

I look back on that year now fondly. I was blessed with a roof over my head that didn’t leak. I was blessed with government student loans, making so much more, career wise, possible. I was blessed to be a Teaching Assistant, and had a local internship, both that paid me to learn. I was blessed with a girlfriend who, when money was really low, would mail me a care package from Flagstaff Arizona complete with a check to see me through. I’d later marry that girlfriend. Which was another blessing to be sure.

At the time Christianity wasn’t on my radar. I attended no church, had no ponderings about God. But Christ was there, whether I knew it or not, through the kindness of others, blessing me along the way.

I’d encourage you to ponder the many blessings you have received that got you to where you are right now. My guess is they are countless.

Woes
The feel-good portion of his sermon complete, Jesus continues.

Woe to you who are rich, for you have received yours.
Woe to you who are full, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing, for you will weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for you are considered false prophets.

Woe to you? It’s enough to make me squirm. Are you wealthy, full, laughing, well-liked? Is Jesus saying woe to you?

Financially I’m fine.
My belly is full.
I enjoy laughter.
I’m even well-liked. Sometimes.

Is Jesus saying woe to me?

Said differently, woe to you is to wish profound distress on a person.

If these woes apply to you, and they do for yours truly – I’ve got some questions.

Why would Jesus want us to feel distressed?
With these feelings of discomfort now upon us –
how might Jesus want us to respond?

Synthesis
In the late 19th century Chicago Evening Post journalist Finley Peter Dunne wrote that the job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Many clergy will tell you that, too, is the role of the preacher. But our source material for that notion comes much earlier.

Because this is precisely what Luke’s Beatitudes, with their four paired blessings and woes, do. The language here mirrors Mary’s Magnificat a few chapters earlier. When hearing she was to give birth to the savior of the world Mary couldn’t help but sing that the Lord has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. Simply put Mother Mary and her Son seek to turn the world as we know it upside down.

I’d suggest that our response to this distress, this affliction we may feel, when we follow Christ’s call, represents nothing less than the heart of the gospel.

Our faithful response echoes the fruits of the Spirit when we care for others with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Our faithful response embodies Luther’s explanation of the 8th commandment, that we are not to tell lies about our neighbors, or destroy their reputation. Instead we are to speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.

Our faithful response epitomizes what it is to follow Christ’s greatest command: to love our neighbors as ourselves.

It is our call then to bless those in need.

Blessed are you who are poor,
Blessed are you who are hungry,
Blessed are you who weep,
Blessed are you when people exclude you.

Yes.

And also –
Blessed are you who aid the poor,
Blessed are you who feed the hungry,
Blessed are you who comfort the sad,
Blessed are you who include who others exclude.

We do an awful lot of that here at St. John’s.
It is something we can be very proud of.
Many of us do an awful lot of that elsewhere too.

And when we don’t?

Woe to you.
Woe to me.
Woe to us.

These woes represent an important reminder that we need to get back on the wagon and care for all of God’s children. Especially those society often neglects.

Theologian and pastor Karl Barth once famously said this: Take your Bible and take your newspaper and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.

I try to keep this in mind every time I approach the pulpit.

Our American news cycle these past few weeks has been nothing less than an unmitigated hot mess. There’s no way around it. This entire sermon easily could have been filled with stories pulled from our headlines and lined up with the words of Jesus we hear today.

We could talk about the US Agency for International Development, or USAID.
We could talk about Lutheran Services in America, and Lutheran Services in Iowa.
We could talk about US plans to force Palestinians from Gaza and instead turn it into the Riviera of the Middle East.

Instead, I liked to focus on just one news story from earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Elon Musk posted a meme on his social media platform, X, showing a blue-eyed young blond woman sporting a bright smile with this caption, “Watching federal programs slashed because it doesn’t affect you because you’re not a member of the ‘Parasite Class.’”

Here we have the richest man in the world, given immense power by our presidential administration, who is publicly and unashamedly dehumanizing entire groups of people.

Let’s interpret this news with today’s gospel:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom.
Woe to you who are rich, for you have received yours.

The pairing speaks for itself.

Far too often we let our government inform our faith. The opposite should be true. Our faith should inform how we vote, how we govern, how we speak, who we serve, how we serve, how we lead.

As Christians we too are at a fork in the road. Will we follow Christ’s call?

People of God, know this: we are called to more. Amen.