Lifted Up and Brought Down--The Way of the Lord; Year C, All Saints, Nov. 3, 2019

Year C, All Saints, Nov. 3, 2019

Luke 6:20-31

               ²⁰Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 

²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 

²²“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 

²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 

²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 

²⁵“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.

“Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 

²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

               ²⁷“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

          I want to start this morning with two words guaranteed to get the attention of a few of us.

          Joanie’s father…  [Wait for raised heads]

          Joanie’s father and I are both members of a Facebook group called “Things they didn’t teach us in seminary.”  It’s a place for pastors to share all sorts of stuff, usually along the lines of “You won’t believe what happened to me!”

          So Joanie’s dad, Russ, posted a question that got people talking the other day.  “What is the dumbest…object you’ve ever had to dedicate?”

          It is the practice in a lot of churches to ask church members to help buy stuff, and then to gather ‘round and bless the stuff and stick a plaque on it.  I’ve seen such plaques on a lot of items.  Actually, if you look around, we’ve got a bunch of them.  All of the windows in the sanctuary have their own plaques, which means somebody gave money, and The Venerable Dr. Bard said a blessing.

          What’s this room called? [Marshall Hall]  We dedicated it to George Marshall, a saint in our midst.

          Some of the items lifted up by people in response to Russ’s question [slides]:

·       A typewriter

·       A copier

·       The back fence of the parsonage

·       A pickup truck full of toilet paper

·       An outhouse

·       Fifty dachshunds

·       A landfill

          In the church we bless stuff.  It’s a thing we do, and it’s not a bad thing, though—as Russ’s question and the responses imply—it can get out of hand.

          But the impulse is a good one.  We want to lift up generosity.  We want to observe important events in people’s lives.  We want to invite God to bless people at important times in their lives.

          Blessing calls down God’s favor and lifts up the person being blessed.  Even when we bless objects, the idea is to recognize the gift, or the one who will use the object—say with a backpack, or a typewriter.

          Blessing lifts up.  How many of you have been blessed publicly?  Some possibilities:  baptism, confirmation, taking a leadership position…or because we all, including you, think you’re moving…

          If you’ve been baptized, you’ve been blessed.  The church called down the power of God to lift you up and claim you as God’s own, and as a member of the Body of Christ.  And you are literally lifted up over the font and water is poured over you…and the Holy Spirit comes down and blows on you.  Very lightly.  You barely feel it.

          You could say that the ability to participate in the Body of Christ is a blessing that lifts us up every week.  I would say that, at least.  I hope you would…

          The Body of Christ lifts us up.  Jesus lifts us up.  His ministry has always been about lifting up, which is why his seminal public proclamation starts with blessings.

          Matthew and Luke can’t agree where it took place—Matthew says The Mount [slide], Luke says the “level place” [slide]—but they both agree that The Sermon on the Mount, or the Plain, started with blessings. 

          Blessings for those who needed lifting up:  the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the ones who are suffering because they are following Jesus.  They are to receive what they seek, in God’s promised future.

          Luke adds something else to the formula, and we shouldn’t be surprised at all, if we’ve been paying attention.  Luke adds woes for those who are consuming so much that they need to be brought down, rather than lifted up.  The rich, the full, those who are laughing, those who are exalted.

          Lifting up and bringing down continues the theme set for us way back in Chapter One when Mary sang her song known as the…[Magnificat].

And Mary said,

‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷   and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ who has looked with favor on the lowliness of the servant.

And then Mary goes on to sing of God’s vision for a holy world:

⁵² God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
⁵³ God has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.

          This is what God is doing, Mary declares, in the birth of God’s begotten child.  In becoming incarnate among us.  God is making the world “a level place.”  A place in which there aren’t some who struggle to get by…and others who have much more than they can use. 

          From of old, God has intended for the world to be a level place.  Listen to the prophet Isaiah tell it:

³ A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
   make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
   and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
   and the rough places a plain.

          God has always intended for the world to be a level place.

          So how are we doing at that?  Not so good.  You probably know the statistics.  [slide] Here’s just one image—share of income of the top one percent (that’s the red line) and the lower fifty percent (yup, the blue line). 

          “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low.”

          We are struggling with this vision as a nation…

          …but we can create our own level places.

          We can create a level place here.  A place of hope.  A place of peace.  A place where we respect each other’s gender identity and do our very best to use the right pronouns…not because we’re trying to be “nice” to each other.  But because we believe in honoring the incarnation reflected in each of us, and that means seeing each other clearly and knowing each other deeply. 

          And respecting who each of us is and what each of us brings.  You all have done that so well.  I truly believe that this congregation is a level place, in which we see one another for who we are and love each other as we are. 

          Are we perfect?  Nah.  We’re not Jesus.  We are saints, though.  We are doing our best to be worthy of all that God has given us.  We’re sitting here in a gathering space named for George Marshall, who was so gifted at lifting up.  Raise your hand if you were lifted up by Mr. George.

          Some of you didn’t know George Marshall, a saint in our midst.  But I like to think that some of George lives on in this place, so you can see him reflected in others here.  Especially when we are showing gratitude, a particular gift which George shared so readily.

          This is the place in which we bless each other.  Where we are nourished for the journey of blessing the world.  I hope today you find sustenance for the next six days of being a blessing to others.  I hope in this space, this Marshall Hall, you find a spirit of gratitude that blesses all those around you even as it blesses you.

          Be blessed, saints of the church.  Be a blessing.   Amen