For a chunk of my life, I was a runner. I loved to run. I was a regular runner up through my late 30s and early 40s . . . then I lost the time, motivation, and discovered laziness. Now I rarely run unless nature calls. Back in the day I was a decent runner. I lettered through high school and college in track and cross country. After college I ran in lots of road races often finishing near the top, but never actually winning a race. I enjoyed the competition somewhat and always gave it my best, but I could never quite make it up to the top of the podium.
When it comes to races the typical way, it goes is that you line everyone up, shoot the gun, and wait to see who finishes first. One year someone came up with a different way to run races called a “graded race”. In this race every person submitted his or her time for the distance being contested. Instead of lining everyone up and letting them loose, in this race they started with the slowest to the fastest. The idea is that everyone would finish the race at the same time.
The format fascinated me. I actually dreamed that I could finish in first place . . . me and a hundred other runners. Needless to say, I never ran one of these races. It didn’t make sense if you were a competitor. But I understood the thinking behind the race . . . they were leveling the playing field and making it possible for anyone to win despite the variances in speed. I think that once the novelty of the idea wore off this form of racing died.
Leveling the field. Making it fair for everyone. That was the idea behind these “graded races”.
Unlike the version of this story in the Gospel of Matthew, Luke’s version of this story is different. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is referred to as the “Sermon on the Mount” . . . in Luke’s it is the “Sermon on the Plains”. Though the story is impactful in either version, I kind of lean towards Luke’s version for the very fact that it states: “He went down with them and stood on a level place.” Jesus stepped down to the level of the people and he addressed them. Positioning is important. The higher up a person is the more that he or she is perceived as important and powerful . . . that they are “above” others.
For example, have you ever noticed in churches that the pulpit is always elevated above the congregation? What is the subliminal message being shared? That the person behind the pulpit is more important than those in the congregation? More powerful? More knowledgeable? Well, if that is the case, I think I blew that out of the water a long time ago in this church.
But here is the point. Jesus did not speak down to the people gathered from upon high. No, he spoke to them on their level. And, then in the message he shares he proceeds to level the field. He tells those gathered that no matter who they are, the way to God and God’s kingdom is the same . . . everyone has the same chance . . . everyone can win!
Jesus speaks of “blessings and woes”. He tells those on the outside . . . those who are at a disadvantage . . . that they are among the “blessed”. But those that he names . . . well, nothing he shares sounds like a blessing. The poor, the hungry, the persecuted . . . these do not sound like blessings.
He tells of those who fall into the category of “woe” . . . the rich, the well fed, those in power and prestige. These do not sound like “woes” but more like “blessings”.
It is like Jesus got everything mixed up . . . that he was confused. But he did not. Jesus knew exactly what he was saying. He was leveling the field. He was letting everyone know that they all had the same chance when it came to God and God’s kingdom.
We live in a competitive world. We are judged by where we stand and finish. Everything is a competition . . . everything. Having now worked in the field of education for nearly 14 years I have come to understand one of the big ironies in education. The idea behind education is to develop competencies . . . competencies in math, science, reading, English, history, and other subjects. It is to get students to a level of being competent . . . a level of knowing and understanding. Of being prepared to make it in the world. Of saying, “You are ready.”
Yet, instead of striving for the goal of competency, our educational system has made it a competition. We use a graded system . . . a ranking system . . . that puts students onto a scale from best to worse. We do that from grade school through college and all the way through grad school. It is the way we have always done it and it is not the fault of the teachers . . . it is just the way that it is done. Grades are how we rank people and things . . . it is how we value people and things.
It is not a leveled field.
Think about it. People who are higher up the ladder are thought of differently than those down at the bottom of the ladder. Have you ever asked your doctor where he or she finished in their graduating class? Were they in the top half or the bottom half? And would it make any difference as long as you thought of them as competent in the medical practice?
Human ways are not God’s ways. God sees everyone the same . . . everyone is an opportunity to become who God created them to be. God loves everyone the same. Jesus shows us the way. Jesus levels the field.
As much as we affirm the idea of a level playing field . . . of equal opportunity and treatment . . . it is not the way that we live life. It is not a matter of everyone finishing the race . . . it is a matter of finishing better than everyone else . . . ahead of everyone else . . . of winning. Therein lies the problem. The field is not level, and we like it that way. That is how we see it.
God sees it differently and this is what Jesus expresses. As Jesus expresses it most people see “blessing” as something that is associated with wealth, power, and prestige. Yet he tells the people that these are the “woes”. These are the things that separate and keep people from fulfilling God’s will. What is God’s will? Jesus tells us that it is to be in relationship with God and one another in such a way that everyone grows . . . in that everyone finishes the race.
It all comes down to relationships. Our relationship with God. Our relationship with others. The goal is to establish God’s kingdom . . . not in the future, but now. And in order to achieve it we all must do it together no matter which group we think we belong to. It is an “all for one and one for all”.
Jesus is telling us that we all have the ability to do this no matter which side of the fence we are on. We all have the ability to create relationships that work towards building God’s kingdom not hindering it. We all have the ability to use whatever gifts, talents, and blessings we have received to help others. We have the opportunity to tear down the barriers, walls, and obstacles that separate and divide to build community . . . to re-establish family . . . to make sure everyone gets across the finish line together. To leveling the field.
Jesus levels the field. Blessing comes not from your place in society. It does not come from how rich or poor you are. It does not come from how educated or uneducated you are. It does not care whether you are the strongest or the weakest. It is not about your gender or your sex. It is about how you relate . . . how you relate to God . . . how you relate to others. The goal is to finish . . . not ahead of everyone else, but together. Together as God’s family.
All of humanity has been created in the image of God . . . that is scriptural. There is no denying that. All are the children of God . . . together the family of God. We are all . . . every creation . . . in this together. Together we will succeed. Together we can realize the Kingdom of God. In leveling the field, Jesus reminds us of this truth. Amen.
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