“Leveling the Field” (Luke 6:17-26)

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.

“Come to Jesus” (I Corinthians 15:1-11)

Come March 1^st the season of Epiphany will have run its course in the liturgical calendar of the church.  March 1^st will be the official kick-off of the season of Lent.  At that point we will move away from an emphasis of recognizing the Holy into a season of preparation and repentance for the celebration of Easter.  Though it is still only a couple of weeks away, there is still plenty of time for discovering the Holy in the world around us and in our lives.

 

Now remember, an epiphany is a moment of awareness . . . typically of the Holy kind.  Lots of people refer to epiphanies as an “aha” moment.  A moment in which a sudden awareness of a truth or presence comes upon us and opens a whole new way of understanding.  Thankfully these are not confined to the weeks of the church year we refer to as Epiphany.  They can happen at any time in our lives and on our journeys. 

 

I imagine we all have our own stories of epiphanies . . . of “aha” moments.  Some of those moments have been fairly mild in their impact upon our lives . . . some have come down upon us like a sledgehammer.  Some have made us make subtle changes in our lives . . . others have made stop, take notice, and completely change direction.  It is those sledgehammer moments that we remember best.  Those are what I call “come to Jesus”’ moments.

 

“Come to Jesus”” moments can simply mean that moment when one chooses to accept Jesus and follow him.  It can be a moment of epiphany, enlightenment, or intuition regarding the truth of a matter.  It can be a point in time when fundamental priorities and/or beliefs are challenged, reassessed, or reaffirmed.  Or it could be any moment or meeting in which a frank, often unpleasant, conversation is held to bring to light and/or resolve some issue at hand.  Whatever it is, it grabs our attention and demands an action or reaction.

 

I can remember one of those moments growing up.

 

here was a big kid . . . huge kid . . . on the school bus.  His name was Billy, and he was in my grade.  He was a bully, and everyone was scared of him.  While riding the bus one day Billy kept picking on one of the younger kids on the bus.  So, I told him to knock it off.  Of course, this drew his attention to me.  He gladly switched from the little kid to antagonizing me.  He would flick my ears with his fingers.  He would slap my head.  Pretty difficult stuff to ignore.

 

Then I snapped.  I had enough.  I told him it was me and him when we got off the bus.  Enough was enough.  Of course, I could not believe those words had slipped out of my mouth.  From that point on I sweated buckets . . . sweated buckets because Billy was twice as big as I was, and he was going to kill me.  My only hope was that I would get the first punch in.

 

Which I did . . . big mistake!

 

Billy had braces and when I punched him in the mouth he began to bleed.  It just made him angrier. He got me in a headlock and proceeded to punch the daylight out of me.  I saw stars.  And then, he stopped . . . dropped me . . . and, declared the fight a “draw”.  Now I don’t know what Billy thought a draw was, but to me it was saying there was no real winner . . . that it was a tie.  My aching face did not feel like we had come to a draw.  But . . . hey!  Who was I to argue?  I took my draw and thanked God I wasn’t dead.

 

This was a “come to Jesus” moment for me.  On one hand I figured that by the time Billy got done pounding me I would be meeting Jesus up on some cloud.  Of course, it didn’t happen.  Where the real “come to Jesus” moment came was as I was walking home, licking my wounds, and I realized that I had actually stood up to a bully.  The reward for that was that Billy never picked on me again . . . nor did other bullies pick on me.  I am not sure if it was because they thought I was brave or crazy.  Whatever . . . I learned the power of standing up for oneself and others no matter what the cost.

 

The Apostle Paul tells us in our reading this morning about the fact that he had a “come to Jesus” moment and it changed his life forever.  He mentions how he was one of the worse enemies of Jesus and his followers . . . how he persecuted them, and then he met Jesus.  It changed him . . . changed his focus . . . changed his life.

 

Paul also shares in our reading how the other apostles had encountered Jesus after the crucifixion.  He tells of others . . . large groups . . . had encountered him.  Each and every one had a “come to Jesus” moment.  A moment that changed their lives forever.  And these moments are what made them believe . . . that made them share . . . or as Paul says, “. . . this is what we preach, and this is what you believe.”

 

Even though the focus of this passage of scripture is on the truth of the resurrection as witnessed by so many, I think we need to understand from where the apostle is coming.  Paul is telling us that we all have those moments in our lives in which we encounter the Holy . . . those moments when we realize the truth . . . those moments when we come to meet Jesus.  It is these moments that touch us, change us, and point us in the direction to go.  These are the moments that open our eyes and our hearts to the living Jesus and his desire to establish the Kingdom of God.  And it is these moments that become the foundation of our stories . . . the stories we share.  That become the basis of our invitation to others to step into relationship with God.

 

Though the season of Epiphany focuses on these moments of discovering the Holy, we are coming to realize that they are not confined to a period of time.  They are all around us.  They are all around us because God surrounds us like the air that we breathe.  There is no escaping God.  Because of these there is always the potential to discover the Holy . . . always opportunities to seeing the Holy and what God desires.

 

The apostle understood this, and he rejoiced in that Holy presence.  It was what gave him his voice.

 

“Come to Jesus” moments are more than just meeting Jesus and accepting him as our personal savior.  “Come to Jesus” moments are also those moments when we suddenly come upon the Holy where we least expected it.  They are moments when we discover the “truth” . . . discover God’s will.  They are moments when we move beyond what we believe to believe something new and different than we did before.  They are moments when we pull back the curtains and discover what has been hiding back there holding us captive for so many years.  It is that conversation that challenges what we believe . . . what we say . . . and shows us that we are wrong.

 

Too often that phrase . . . “come to Jesus” . . . is seen as something

negative and to be avoided.  Yet, according to the apostle those “come to Jesus” moments are opportunities . . . opportunities to grow in one’s faith.  They are necessary because it is through those that we grow closer to who God created us to and closer to the God who created us.  In reading the gospels we witness many such moments in the life of Jesus . . . though he did not call them “come to me” moments.  We witnessed those moments when he discovered the Holy, revealed a truth, challenged a falsehood, took on corruption, injustice, and did put up with bullies.  We saw him live God’s will when it went against the politically correct of his time . . . when he stood with those that everyone else rejected. 

 

Those are the moments of faith.  Those are what helps us to grow closer to God.  Those are what change the course and helps us to establish the Kingdom of God.  And those are the moments that make us who God created us to be.  May you discover those “come to Jesus” moments in your life.  May you discover the blessing that they are.  They are all around us . . . open your eyes . . . open your hearts.  After all, God is with us.  Always with us.  Amen.