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All Saints Sunday November 6-7, 2010 Luke 6:20-31 I think we can apply this three-part formula to the All Saints Sunday Gospel from Luke. Jesus in his ministry to us – Came, Saw and Conquered. Jesus in his ministry to us continues to Come… to See and to Conquer. Let’s try that as a way of understanding this Gospel. I CAME The Gospel begins with the affirmation that God came to us in Jesus Christ. The focus of the Gospel is the transforming work that God is doing in the world… in Christ. In fact, we claim that Jesus, our Living Lord, continues to come to us every day of our lives. In the first section of today’s gospel - Jesus calls blessed those people who seemingly are not blessed - the poor, the hungry and the grieving. The reason we call this gospel good news is that Christ comes to them and for them.
I find it incredibly reassuring that Jesus comes to the places where his people hurt the most. Jesus comes for the thousands of victims of his world where earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes destroy and where we seem to be in endless war at any given time on this small planet. Jesus says to all of these... I came for you. I find that to be the only satisfying word when I think of people who have died for a cause when something very evil seems to have taken control, whether they are the victims of something like the Holocaust or the deeply committed martyrs who have been so dedicated to Jesus Christ that it cost them their lives. Jesus says, “I CAME for you in your brokenness.” When I have waited with families as they have kept vigil at the beside of a loved one as their loved one was giving their last breath I have prayed and read scripture and embraced the grieving and then could say with confidence…. Jesus has come for your loved one, Jesus CAME for you, Jesus came for what you see and are a part of right now in this time and place. I know and trust that this is true. The second part of the text is - I SAW! Jesus now sees what we are doing; we don’t live our lives unnoticed by God. We also see the reason for God’s persistence in coming to us again and again. We can’t seem to successfully integrate the faith that he gives to us with deeds of everyday life. God sees this. To help us to comprehend how clearly our lives are seen, Jesus shares four woes:
Christ seems to be saying ... I SAW you ... you lived in my abundance and you didn't seem to have a clue what life is really about.
What I had in mind is that you would be a blessing to others…. What I had in mind is that you would see what I did and you would want to do that, too. Jesus proclaimed the Gospel…. he taught…. he healed …. he thought we would want to do that too. Just so we don’t get this wrong…. Jesus isn’t asking us to do something to earn his love or his favor. He has already Come to US… He CAME with his cross and resurrection and he has given us the Kingdom. We live as his people not to earn his favor… not to be saved… but because we are SAVED we are free to live as Christ’s people in this world that he so loves. A member of a church I served for a number of years was one of those deeply loved saints.
A few weeks after my conversation with her, a young man observed… if there is a God then where is God for the people who are in need. My answer was pretty quick because I had a good instructor… we are God’s hands and feet. God is here and God has sent you to be his gospel to the people he loves. Woe to us when we don’t understand that part of the faith. Woe to us because life is less than it could be for everyone. The Third part…I CONQUERED Look at this list…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 also. Boy, that is a tall order….. In fact for me it is impossible. It’s when I get to this part of the scripture that I understand why we need the church.
Christ intends to conqueror the world’s way of seeing things and so he created the church, the body of Christ ….and he calls us to live holy and faithful lives in that church. When JFK was shot, I was a student at Valpo…. we all went to the chapel and O.P. Kretzman, President of the University, said come back later… and we did. We packed the chapel on a rainy Friday evening. He read from Isaiah… ”my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts. As far as the east is from the west are my ways from your ways.” O.P. said that God continually puts our ways next to his ways until we are changed by the difference.
God puts his mercy next to our vengeance. God puts his love next to our hate until we are changed by the difference. I came…. I saw….. I conquered! That is what Jesus is doing here, through us. Amen Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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