Living in Anticipation That God’s Will Be Done On Earth As In Heaven

This sermon can be listened to here

Gate Pa – Year C  8^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2019

Readings:

Psalm                         Psalm: 92:1-4, 12-15                                                  

First Reading:              Isaiah 55:10-13                      

Second Reading:          1 Cor 15:51-58                       

Gospel:                       Luke 6:39-49                          

What I want to say:

Remind people that we read Luke through Luke 4 and the Magnificat. This is the third set of wisdom sayings on how to live no in anticipation of that day when God’s will is done on earth as in heaven – what we pray for every time we pray the Lords prayer.

What I want to happen:

Lead a Lectio Divina – finishing with "What is Christ the Word inviting me to this Lent?"

The Sermon

        1.     Introduction:

Part 3 of Jesus sermon on Plain

-         not something we have heard for a while

-         nor hear again as lectionary reading for some time

-         not until we have another really late Easter in Year C.

-         not a lot of resources around for readings this week.

      2.     Some Introductory Comments

-         like all Luke read this through lens of Luke 4- reading Isaiah and sermon in Nazareth

-         "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

o   in itself restating of Magnificat – Mary’s song of protest

-         this is Luke’s equivalent of Mathew’s Sermon on the Mount

not accident on plian or level place

Matthew and Moses and Mount(ain)

Luke in comparison deliberately on a plain

level place - often refers to places of corpses, disgrace, idolatry, suffering, misery, hunger, annihilation, and mourning

on this level or broken place Jesus surrounded by sick people,

-         possessed people

-         poor people

-         broken people – spiritually, economically, psychologically

-         surrounding Jesus

-         grabbing hold of Jesus in broken place

-         This is what it looks like when Jesus “brings good news to the poor, proclaims release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, lets the oppressed go free, and proclaims the year of the Lord's favor."

while surrounded he looks up and restates Magnificat in his Beatitudes

"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.
  ²³   Rejoice 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.  

-         quiet different from Mathew

follows that up

like Matthew

wisdom saying on how to live now in anticipation of when God’s will is done on earth as in heaven

when the reign of God is complete

      3.     Continuity

doing this in way helps community writing for hear that Jesus not only speaking to dsiciples

but speaking to them

wisdom saying applied as much to them as it did to those who first heard them

writing in way that invites us to realise that Jesus is also speaking to us.

rather than have me speak about this

want to do Lectio Divina

way reading scripture goes back to Benedict of Nursia – early 500’s

father of western monasticism

read gospel 3 times

-         each time give you different question to reflect on in silence for minute or 2

-

A. Listening for Christ the Word

What word or phrase that is especially meaningful for you.

He also told them a parable: "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.

   ⁴³ "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; ⁴⁴ for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵ The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

   ⁴⁶ "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷ I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. ⁴⁸ That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house."  

In Silence for invite you to hear and silently repeats the word or a phrase that has attracted you.

B. How Christ the Word speaks to me

after read reflect in silence for two minutes on “How does the content of this reading touch my life today?”

Luke 6:39-49 (The Message)

   ³⁹ He quoted a proverb: " 'Can a blind man guide a blind man?' Wouldn't they both end up in the ditch? ⁴⁰ An apprentice doesn't lecture the master. The point is to be careful who you follow as your teacher.

   ⁴¹ "It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. ⁴² Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

   ⁴³ "You don't get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. ⁴⁴ The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. ⁴⁵ It's who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

   ⁴⁶ "Why are you so polite with me, always saying 'Yes, sir,' and 'That's right, sir,' but never doing a thing I tell you? ⁴⁷ These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.

   ⁴⁸ "If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. ⁴⁹ But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss."  

Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

“How does the content of this reading touch my life today?”

C. What Christ the Word is inviting us to do

In  Silence reflect for two minutes on “I believe that God is inviting us to be or do this Lent?”

Luke 6:39-49 (NRSV)

He also told them a parable: "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.

   ⁴³ "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; ⁴⁴ for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵ The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

   ⁴⁶ "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷ I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. ⁴⁸ That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house."  

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

After silence invite them if wish talk to neighbours