Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on February 11, 2007
(Year C, Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Luke 6:17-26

Monty Python’s Flying Circus was a group of English sketch comedians who had a popular television show in the late seventies, and went on to produce several very funny movies making fun of anything and everything

In Monty Python’s irreverent movie, The Life of Brian, which parodies the life of Jesus, the crowds have gathered around Jesus to listen to him preach. He is in the process of reciting what we know as the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount or Sermon on the Plain depending on which Gospel is being read. The crowd is very large, and the acoustics are very poor. From where Brian and his friends are standing, it is difficult to hear Jesus clearly, which is compounded by a married couple and another man who are bickering between themselves.

“What did he say?” “I think he said, ‘Blessed are the cheesemakers’.” “What’s so special about cheesemakers?” “Well, obviously, this is not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.” “Oh!” “Did you hear that? He said, “Blessed are the Greek.” “The Greek?” “Yes, apparently he’s going to inherit the earth.” “Did anyone catch his name?” “Oh wait, no, it's the meek! Blessed are the meek!” “Oh, that's nice, isn't it? I'm glad they're getting something, 'cause they’ve had a hell of a time.”

Now this is a humorous example of taking one of the most well known Biblical passages and changing it to the point where it makes no sense. And in the movie, Brian and his friends walked away somewhat in awe if not slightly confused. But actually this snippet is an example of art imitating life because what Jesus is actually proclaiming in the beatitudes appears to be as nonsensical to the people who were listening to him as Monty Python is to many of us today.

In the age of Jesus, it was common thought that those who were prosperous were blessed because they lived righteous lives in the eyes of God. On the flip side of that, if you were poor or had a disability or severe illness, this was due to the sinful life that you or your parents were living or had lived. It wasn’t quite a caste system but there wasn’t much one could do to change their lot in life. So with that as a backdrop of daily thought and accepted standards of living, Jesus’ words appear to be radically topsy-turvy.

If you’re rich, it doesn’t get any better than what you are experiencing right now but if you’re poor, you’ll inherit the kingdom of God.

If you’re full now, you’ll be hungry but if you’re hungry now, you’ll be filled.

If you’re laughing now, you will mourn and weep but if you are in mourning now, you’ll laugh.

If people speak well of you now; big deal. The false prophets from old received the same from your ancestors of old. But if these same people hate you, exclude you, revile and defame you, then jump for joy because your final reward will be the same as the true prophets of God who received the same treatment in days past.

This is beyond just radical; it’s borderline revolutionary! Here is how one commentator puts it: “What Jesus is saying is this, ‘If you set your heart and bend your whole energies to obtain the things which the world values, you will get them – but that is all you will ever get.’ But if…you set your heart and bend your whole energies to be utterly loyal to God and true to Christ, you will run into all kinds of trouble; you may by the world’s standards look unhappy, but much of your payment is still to come; and it will be joy eternal.”

Well, it’s no wonder that the Pharisees and Scribes were upset with Jesus because they tend to represent those of who would be on the receiving end of the woes. But the rest of the people: the poor, the sick, the destitute, the average, everyday people were somewhat bewildered because on the one hand it sounded like Jesus might be offering a little hope for the end times but on the other hand they had to endure more of the same. In fact, it sounds almost like he’s saying it’s okay to be poor or sick or destitute. That’s crazy talk! You can almost hear Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, as he talks to God, “I realize, of course, it’s no shame to be poor. But it’s no great honor either.”

But maybe Jesus isn’t saying anything as extreme as it sounds. Perhaps, just like in The Life of Brian, the people who have gathered to listen to Jesus preach aren’t hearing his words clearly.

If you accept what I just quoted; that if you focus on the values of the world then you will receive your worldly reward and that’s all she wrote but if you focus on the values of God then you will be rewarded with eternal joy; isn’t Jesus saying the same thing that he promised through the prophecies of Jeremiah? Jeremiah says to us today that if we put our trust in mere mortals and take our strength from mere flesh as opposed to the Lord then we will be like a shrub in the desert that has absorbed all of the available moisture in the area to the point that when the rain finally comes, we will gain no additional benefit. Or perhaps we will be like a shrub that grows in an area of the desert that is so parched that it never gets any rain at all. But Jeremiah goes on to say that if we put our trust in the Lord we will be like a tree that grows by the side of a stream. We need not fear the heat because we have sent our roots deep into the aquifer, always able to be watered, and even bearing fruit in times of drought.

Isn’t Jesus saying the same thing that the Psalmist says to us today? Happiness and joy will be given to those who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked or bought into the ways of the world but rather take delight in following the way of the Lord for they will be like trees planted by streams of water bearing fruit in due season.

Isn’t Jesus essentially saying the same thing that he said to the woman at the well when he tells her that “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

You see, the beatitudes are really not as confusing as they sound. Yes they will challenge us to question our social view of the world in which we live just as they did to those who first heard them spoken by Jesus but they indicate nothing more than this: If we follow the way of the world then we have forsaken the values of Jesus Christ. But if we follow the Way of Jesus Christ, which is the Way of the Cross then we will with God’s grace, be able to forsake the values of the world. If we die to the world, and are born again into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus through baptism, then just as Jesus is the first fruits of those who have died, we will be the first fruits of the Spirit. And it is by the fruit we bear that the world will know us. Gloria Patri