[Jesus said:] 27“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat 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 asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Luke 6:27-38
32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
My sermon from the 7th Sunday after Epiphany (February 23, 2025) on Luke 6:27-38.
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Last fall, a bunch of videos appeared online showing what it takes to feed a family. Spread out on a kitchen island or a dining room table was a week’s worth of food purchased at the supermarket as well as the receipt showing how much it cost. The response to these videos varied greatly, with even a few making it onto cable news. And while those videos offered a glimpse of how expensive this ingredient necessary for life can be, most of them were focused on generating engagement, getting attention, and justifying a specific political choice. Food is a necessity and not many of us can easily absorb what happens when something like eggs jumps in price by 30% since January. It’s really hard being a parent, a child, a student, a teacher, a grandparent, or even just a friend when food insecurity is all we have. And while those videos could have been focused on that reality, they were really about “winning” some kind of verbal contest. But if we look past the rhetoric, the vibes, the need to go viral, and all the partisan talking points, it was actually pretty brave for people to show others why they buy the food that they do. All those cans and boxes and bags full of produce told a story about what feeds their bodies and souls. For some, their grocery bill was a bit less than we’d expect since they prioritized ingredients rather than food that was already prepared. These folks had the time, energy, and mental space to actually come up with an idea whenever their kids asked: “what’s for dinner?” It’s possible the act of cooking allowed them to unwind after a difficult day, serving as a way to love those around them. Other families, though, don’t always have the time, energy, or desire to create a dish out of the stuff in their fridge. Their life revolves around popping something into the air fryer or placing an order through their phone at the end of a very long day. The stresses and joys that come with all our callings sometimes means we need the starches, salts, and sugars corporations and restaurants make. And when that’s the case, inflation shows up in very annoying ways. We might assume there is one kind of household – either ingredients based or convenience based – that is better than the other. But I think it’s much more faithful to notice how what we eat – and what its cost – is merely one ingredient making up the life we get to live. The other ingredients that influence our food include our culture, background, financial security, hopes, dreams, relationships, and even our politics. And when we take time to notice all the ingredients that make us who we are, we get a better glimpse of who Jesus calls us to be.
Now this is our second week listening to Jesus’ “sermon on the plain.” He, after gathering together an initial group of disciples, was surrounded by a multitude of people from throughout ancient Israel and beyond. Luke explicitly shared that the community around Jesus came to not only learn from him but also wanted to be healed. They longed for a kind of wholeness they believed only Jesus could bring. This community, though, had a bit of trouble seeing Jesus since he chose to be in the middle of them. He stayed level and regularly bent down to connect with those brought to him by their friends. I can almost imagine those in the crowd bending, weaving, and stretching their necks while trying to get a glimpse of the One who might help them live in a different way. But every time they looked for Jesus, they saw a mass of humanity that Jesus’ presence connected them to instead. After making time to listen, care, and treat those around him as the beloved children of God they already were, Jesus then shifted what he was up to by launching into a sermon. He began by first saying that those we despise are often those who God sees as blessed and that our so-called “winning” often creates woes that devour us and our friends. Jesus wasn’t merely pointing to our next life might be. He, instead, reiterated how the ingredients we claim define our life are often flawed and wrong. Chasing after wealth and power and whatever “winning” looks like isn’t what God wanted for us in the first place. Life could be different if we paid better attention to the actual ingredients God gives us. So Jesus, after naming God’s blessing and reminding us of the woes we choose instead, invited those around him to see life differently. What would it be like if we loved our enemies as much as our friends? What would we need to define our lives by something other than retribution and vengeance? Would it be possible to have the courage to support those who couldn’t give us anything back in return? And what would this moment be like if we focused on what we could give rather than on what we feel entitled to get? At the heart of Jesus’ words is, I think, a trust that God’s presence reverses most of our expectations. Life isn’t meant to be a game we’re trying to win. Instead, life is what happens when we look for God at the center of it all. And when we do, what we see is that mass of humanity that God loves too.
But what that life looks like will, I think, vary from person to person. It isn’t always easy to be generous at every moment of our lives. The one ingredient in life that is pretty much always constant is change. And while there are moments when we can, and should, be generous – there are other times when we’re the ones who need help instead. Learning how to care and to let go of our pride, stubbornness, and the need to make enemies fundamental to who we choose to be, is how we let love grow. And this love, for Jesus, isn’t something we have; love is lived out through the relationships we have with God and with others. These relationships aren’t simply limited to something romantic or familial; they also include those strangers we’re meeting for the very first time. Realizing how difficult this kind of life can be might leave a bit of a knot in our stomach since Jesus’ words feel like the ingredients for a way of life we’ll always, somehow, fail at one time or another. But Jesus didn’t only share these words to only one person; he spoke them to a crowd who, while looking for him, saw all kinds of people too. We, with the spirit’s help, can let the ingredients named by Jesus for our life flow through us while participating in a community that can do those things when we can’t. When forgiveness, love, mercy, or generosity becomes too much, Jesus connects us to others who get to take on those until we’re ready to live that way again. That doesn’t mean we get to pretend we’re something other than we’re not to get out of what God calls us to do. Rather, it lets us be for and with each other through all that life brings while discovering God’s imagination for our lives and for our world. God doesn’t call us to win at life since life is a game we could never win on our own. What we need – and what we have – is a God who, through the Cross, won an eternal life for us and all who God claims as their own. Jesus has changed the ingredients for what life should be so that our life can take the ingredients of His love to show ourselves and others what it means to follow Him.
Amen.