Sermon on the Plain: Loving Each Other on Level Ground (Luke 6:17-26)

Sermon on the Plain: Loving Each Other on Level Ground

2/16/25

Luke 6: 17-26

Jesus Teaches and Heals

Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Blessings and Woes

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,

for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

‘But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.

‘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.

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

Luke’s writing is often characterized by literary excellence, historical detail and a warm, sensitive understanding of Jesus. And we can see why in the few verses that I just read. The back-and-forth wordplay between the poor and the rich, the hungry and the full, the sorrowful and the laughing man, the oppressed and the elite set up so elegantly is incredibly simple to unpack in our modern meditation today.

Is Luke saying anything new though? Haven’t we already heard it before in the Sermon on the Mount? Why does Luke repeat what Matthew already wrote about? One possibility is that Luke’s theme differs slightly from Mathew’s not only in the fact that it is shorter, 3 beatitudes as compared to 8 in Matthew’s account, but Luke points out that Jesus is paying particular attention to location. Level ground. There has to be a good deal of metaphor here, that everyone, even Jesus, is on level ground.

But why would Jesus give a sermon on flat land? Why didn’t Luke describe Jesus standing on something, a boulder, a chair, or perhaps another disciple’s shoulders? Why didn’t Luke mention that the throng gathered and sat at his feet? Or that Jesus sat down to preach as he did in the Sermon on the Mount.

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus came down with them and stood on level land with a crowd of his disciples gathered among a cross section of citizens from Judea, Jerusalem, and foreign-born travelers from Tyre and Sidon to prove a very specific point. By most definitions, to be on a level ground usually means to be starting at or on the same level for the sake of being fair regardless of position, power, status or authority.

Consider how Luke, with artful minimalism, conveys the historic image and real presence of so many different people gathered together to collectively be healed by Christ. We read that both peoples from Judea and Jerusalem gathered with the Gentiles from Tyre and Sidon.

History tells us that believers and non-believers, monotheists, and pagans gathered. Rich and poor alike, all of these people shared equal status in the eyes of the Christ. Equal not only in their grief and illness, but also equal in their degenerate spirit.

These tightly packed verses serve as a living testament to us today about Christ’s ministry to every person present in the ancient past when Luke writes: “for power came out from him and healed all of them.” What an incredible idea to contemplate that Jesus came to level the playing field and used the physical feature of the plains to give a sermon. In fact, that is what this sermon is called--The Sermon on the Plains.

In modern context, this scripture adds rich layers to the meaning of Christ’s abundant love, mercy, and forgiveness. There is a place at the table for everyone in God’s Kingdom. How powerful is it that Christ healed the baptized right beside the unbaptized, right alongside the foreigner and the citizen. Newsworthy? You bet! Revolutionary? There is no doubt.

But let’s dig further. What more is there to meditate upon in the scripture? I suggest that the deeper consideration for us to ponder is the “gaze of God” in the flesh through the Christ which was leveled upon his disciples. Do you recall the words of the verse which read: “Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said: Blessed are you who are poor, you who are hungry, you who weep, Blessed are you when people hate you. Rejoice, for surely your reward is great in heaven.”

Jesus wasn’t addressing the masses. Unlike the Sermon on the Mount, Luke’s deliberate description states that Jesus was talking directly to his disciples. And what are we as baptized members of the body of Christ, if not his disciples, teachers, apostles, and prophets--each to our own and our gifts different one from another. These blessings are followed by a stiff warning of woe my friends. Woe to you disciples who are rich, full, laughing, and elitist like the false prophets. Woe…

Woe to those among us, leaders and lay leaders alike, gifted by position of birth, wealth, intellect, and power who do not follow the Christ’s ministry to disciple everyone. You see, Jesus and Luke both held special interests in the poor and in issues of social justice equally with their concerns for those who oppress others.

These people, these oppressors, are usually labeled in any number of the gospels as sinners. Sinners in that they are using their power and position to separate humankind from God’s all-encompassing love. And the sinners reward? Woe. Sadness. Desolation in the here and now.

Jesus was aware of the oppressive culture that amassed people of all races, creeds, and social status of the day to gather to listen to him. Representative stories from all walks of faith, Hebrew, Greek, pagan and believer are all on display illustrating for us that the oppressed have been waiting for a savior to liberate them from the burden of the Roman Empire for 400 years.

Much like then, there are still many even now waiting to be free of the various forms of oppression that plague our community today. Like the ancients of the past, our current time is still bursting at the seams with people whose struggles are manifest in the more modern form of “diseases” with names like cancer, heart disease, Parkinsons. Even “unclean spirits” exist in our present time. They bear names like racism, authoritarianism, and homophobia or transphobia.

But who wants to go hungry, right? Who wants to cry, and experience being poor. For that matter, how is that even helpful in our current circumstance?

In my own walk with Christ, I have been all three. In 2021, I was 180 pounds. The extra weight combined with extensive walking associated with my job duties cause me to experience plantar fasciitis. I either had to live with debilitating pain in both my feet, loose the weight intentionally, or start working with doctors and potentially get a surgery.

Weight loss was my first and incredibly harder choice because of my relationship with food. I abhorred not being able to eat whatever I wanted for a couple of reasons—one because as a child and even a young adult, I had days when there really wasn’t much to eat or drink. And 2, being born to an LDS mother, as a kid, I was made to fast alongside the rest of the congregation on Fast and Testimony Sunday once a month. I held deep resentment for that religious practice, and honestly didn’t want to face it as a mature Christian.

You can imagine now how hard it was for me to engage in fasting as a necessary practice, let alone a spiritual one. But, because of the plantar fasciitis, I had to rise to the challenge and think about how hunger and fasting in my body was a means to improved health and also a way to heal old religious wounds and connect with my maker. Being me—I was all in.

In my mind—working through the psychological reparations of understanding hunger from a mature spiritual perspective and reconciling the childhood trauma of being forced into a faith practice was hard to be certain. But on the other side, as an adult with much clearer personal understanding of the practice—I am now more spiritually fulfilled and better for it. I now know that God designed my body as another conduit of connection to Them—One that must be engaged with tenderness through maturity and free will and not forced traditions.

Though I am not here to encourage anyone to follow the path I took, I am here to say that you have to discern for your own present journey how your relationship with hunger can bring you closer to Creator Spirit. Eating differently and being present in the nurture and feeding of your body can bring you fulfillment. Maybe your body craves more strength. Go for a walk, and invite God to be present. Maybe your body craves abstaining from excessive amounts of work—give yourself permission to take a nap and rest in the Spirit of the Lord. What I needed may not be what you need—and that is why God gives you the Spirit—so you can discern what and how you should proceed this Sabbath.

Turning now to weeping, I wept as recently as this morning. I will tell you that leaning in and letting God take the wheel in spite of my own anxieties about standing here and speaking has resulted in my own personal growth. For one brief moment, I touched heaven here on earth.

One of my realizations this morning came to me about when and why I weep. I weep most often about how I have judged entire cultures, communities, and individuals poorly. I weep for my bigotry as a younger woman, and for my hardness towards my husband. I weep for the distance between my mother and I. I weep for parental failures—ignoring both of my teen agers when they came out to me. And If I cry now, please forgive me.

In my discernment, I have learned that weeping is just my own outward expression of what needs corrected in my life. Recognizing this signal, sometimes I choose to lean in, wear a seatbelt, and let Jesus take the wheel. My most recent example is an experience with Grandpa last October which resulted in an incredible gift--the gift of forgiveness.

Over 5 years ago, I cut ties with him out of anger, resentment, and if I am being honest, pure jealousy. But God thought that was long enough, so my Heavenly Healer humbled me in spirit and helped me reconnect to Grandpa. I traveled 2 days to see him. And I apologized deeply for my wrongs as his granddaughter. I acknowledged him not as my grandfather, but as a man—human, incredibly strong minded, loyal, and fiercely independent. For that sacrifice of my pride, I was rewarded his last birthday, Christmas and New Years before he passed away a month ago. And there was so much joy my friends—so much joy in the full circle of that reunification that we have laughter now in stories that no one else can share but he and I.

Enough said—or I will cry the rest of today for his recent loss. Let’s circle back a bit here. In my belief, God gives us grief, anxiety, tears, and distress as signals and indicators that we are off the path. If we wander too far for too long, perhaps it is time to be open to the need to correct past mistakes. Maybe these are issues in the workplace, or with our partners, spouses, and adult children. Whatever the conflict, between friends or even with our childhood trauma, these tears will become laughter if we do the hard, hard work of spending time with God and letting the spirit heal what needs mended.

The last bit—the bit about being poor. Oh friends—perhaps this is the hardest bit to chew on. Blessed are the poor—for yours is the Kingdom.

I am by no means rich. Look around the room here. None of us are rich. I have lived at 2 levels of financial wellbeing in my life. Poverty and lower middle class. I came from poverty. I mentioned going hungry as a kid. I wasn’t kidding. As an adult, I was also a single mom on food stamps. I have never been homeless, but should have been. School loans kept a roof over my head for a long time. Marriage was actually one of the ways I elevated my income, if I am being honest. But even then, my offering to the Church really wasn’t whole lot. Debt mounted frequently as I squirmed between title loans, small bank loans, rental centers, and even credit card debt.

Can I share a little wisdom? Credit card debt is, in my mind, the single worst cycle I ever engaged in. Looking back, if I were to give some advice—I would say stop comfort spending on coffee, candy, and new things. Learn to live within your means.

As a younger parent—comfort spending was second hand shopping for junk that I didn’t always need. As a lower middle-class earner today however, comfort spending happens to mean bailing out my kids instead of giving to the church. On my list of “I would rathers” if I am being incredibly candid here, I would rather give $500 to my son who has gone without a bed for the better part of 3 months than actually get one step closer to making a tithe offering into church budget. And so I did.

Justified or not, I have to really take a square look in the mirror and confront places where I need to grow in my faith. And money is certainly one of those places. I am by no means the picture-perfect preacher. Will never be, but I am working on myself, and that is all I can hope for.

In an article published 2 days ago called “A refreshed Wesleyan vision is emerging,” Reverend Dr. Paul W. Chilcote has revitalized what Jesus embodies for our faith—the need to engage in meaningful ministry. “The primary practices associated with this exciting aspect of our discipleship are acts of compassion and justice. We have no mission but to serve in these ways. A refreshed church seeks to care for all and spread the word of liberation to those oppressed and abused.

The rise of xenophobia, nationalism and nativism in our nation and world will call upon our steadfast proclamation of God’s love for all people in Christ. We will need to be those in the world who transform hostility into hospitality. We will bear witness to the extravagant, unconditional and unbounded love of God.”

In Psalm 1 it says, “Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, they meditate day and night.”

If my message today has spoken to you in any way, my prayer is that you understand that you are a disciple. There is a long list of beatitudes given in Matthew. But Luke’s version, the shorter version has 3 that should be your starting point. Choose to start now if you haven’t and gaze back at Jesus, eyes wide to the wonder and joy of a more ascetic life. Be blessed, find moderation in your life and oppose your own self manifested woes.

Know that here and now Jesus is aware of the current oppressive realities our times. Oppressing our bodies. Oppressing our mental health. Oppressing of our loved ones and close friends. Even oppressing how and what we are supposed to believe about the communities we live in and the homes we are stewards over. Everywhere the polarization of community is on display.

The guard might have changed, but there are still guards none the less. And the results? The same. I would wager if Jesus showed up today and called people to him on the Snake River Plain, people of all kinds from both sides of the fence would jump over to touch his garment. And he would heal them—without judgement. Of that, I am sure.

So how should I wrap this up? What is it that I can say to you that will bring home the message? Perhaps this: meditate day and night. Ponder. Consider. And above all—pray. Pray to try not to see yourselves through your own eyes. Pray to see yourself through the eyes of your liberator. Pray that when you see someone who has absolutely nothing in common with your practices, beliefs, or culture, that you will be like trees with deep roots that are planted by streams of living water.

In your season, a season that you alone have been prepared for, having prayed and fully joined in both body and spirit to Your Maker, you will be called to yield the goodness of Gods bounty to someone who has been oppressed—whom you can call out of bondage and into abundance. Meanwhile, it is in God’s name that I pray you will prosper greatly, and in so doing lift others up along the road that God has set you on.