See as Christ sees as blessed, not the world, and you will be. Act as Christ acts as holy, as you are set apart, and you will live as a saint.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
All Saints Sunday, year C
Text: Luke 6:20-31
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Jesus just sees things differently. That’s his point.
Many of us would say that “saint” means a nearly perfect person, always kind, loving, good to all. “She’s a real saint,” we say, and know what we mean.
Most also hear “blessed” in a particular way. People are blessed if they’re doing well financially, their families are in health, they have good jobs. If things are going well for them.
But that’s not how Jesus sees it. So, being a blessed saint starts with being given new eyes to see as Christ sees. And corrected vision will lead to new ways of being and acting.
Jesus today is only talking to followers, disciples.
All the blessings and woes and challenging actions are directed at insiders, those women and men who have chosen to follow Jesus. They’re the ones he’s trying to help see.
That means Jesus isn’t making blanket statements. He’s looking at real poor people among his followers and saying, “you are blessed.” And he says “woe, alas, to you,” to his followers who are full, or wealthy.
And when Jesus describes the challenging way of walking God’s reign, he’s saying it to these couple dozen women and men following him at this point, and to you and me and all who are followers, saying that if we want to follow the path of Christ, this is how we will live and act and pray.
Jesus is trying to help us learn his way of seeing, his values.
The world says “blessed” people always have enough, and more, of what they want. Wealth, possessions, security. “Blessed” people are always liked by others, have a good reputation. But Jesus says, “that’s not how I see it.”
So he says to his poorer followers, “you lack wealth, but you have God’s reign in your life. You’re physically hungry, but I fill you up inside with strength and hope in all things. You’ve been hurt or abused, but you are always my beloved.” He’s not promoting poverty or hunger or abuse. But he also doesn’t see it as a sign you’re not loved or cared for by God. Instead, it helps you see what’s truly life-giving in life.
And he says to some of his other followers, “the risk with your wealth is that you’ll think it’s your savior. You’ll depend on it, seek it, worry about it, and you’ll ignore your neighbors in need. If you’re always full, always get what you want, it’s easy to forget how many are not full or cared for. If you’re full, what do you care if millions lose their SNAP assistance?
Wealth easily becomes an idol, Jesus warns. Fullness easily shapes priorities. Wanting others to like you easily drives bad decisions. This way of seeing misses what’s truly life-giving in life.
But to all his followers, rich or poor, Jesus says “if you’re willing to listen, I have a way of life that will bless you and the world.”
This is the way of life that can only be seen as life-giving with new eyes. Because it goes completely against the values of this world.
So, Jesus says, be the person who ends the existence of enemies by loving yours. Who ends the cycle of hatred by doing good to everyone who hates you. Be the person who blesses and prays for even those who curse and abuse you. Who ends the cycle of violence by not retaliating when others harm you. Be the person who ends the cycle of greed and wealth by giving to everyone who asks from you, everyone who needs. Who ends the cycle of “they did it to me first” by doing to everyone exactly as you would have them do to you.
All that destroys in our world can be traced back to these patterns. Take revenge and payback, and hatred returned for hatred, take the inability to share abundance, the blindness wealth and fullness and popular opinion can bring, and multiply it all by seven billion people and you get the world we live in.
But living Jesus’ challenging ways brings true blessing to the world, breaks the cycles of evil and pain that are destroying this world and the lives of all of God’s children.
That’s what you and I were baptized to be and do. To take these holy eyes the Spirit gives us, and learn to live in a whole, healing, blessed way for our lives and for the life of the world.
And all the blessed saints knew we can’t be perfect at this.
Once someone we love dies and is named among the saints, we tend to forget their flawed moments and only remember the good things. That’s a gift for our memory. But it’s not the truth. In fact, you know this already about every saint you remembered today who is in the life to come, even every official saint on our list.
You know these beloved ones failed sometimes, acted badly. They sometimes looked at the world with the world’s eyes, not Christ’s, and didn’t become a blessing. And like them, you’re not going to be perfect. Your Christly vision will have blind spots. Times you forget and look at the world in the old way. Times you don’t turn the other cheek, or don’t give to those who ask of you, times you cling to hatred or anger.
Don’t fret, these saints say to you. We all had days like that. Trust God’s love for you, and God’s forgiveness. Let God’s Spirit clear up your vision.
See as Christ sees. Live as Christ lives. And you, and eventually everyone, will know the blessedness of God’s reign.
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
