Rejoice and leap

“…Rejoice on that day and leap for joy” (Luke 6:23)

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Psalm 1

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Luke 6:17-26

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Year C: Third Sunday before Lent, 13 February 2022

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Our religion urges us to rejoice and leap.

No kidding and no expressions of hyperbole.  ‘Rejoice on that day and leap for joy’.

What day?

The evangelist, Luke, is referring to that day when ‘people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.’

Here is the paradox or even contradiction of being a Christian disciple: by giving, by losing, by renouncing, by accepting the consequences of following Christ we will, we must and we have faced opposition, misunderstanding and even defamation and exclusion.  And the joy that springs from making this radical choice is not just for another day in eternity – it is for now and it is for real.

A question:

When as the last time you experienced an unmistakable joy deep down in your heart? I mean a joy that is deep, deep and that is tall, tall and wide, wide. I am prepared to bet that such an experience was the fruit of the Holy Spirit at large and at work in your life.

Now, Christianity is not a religion of mere sentiment or subjective experience. And, we may be seduced by a false consciousness and spirituality. However, our God – in Jesus Christ – is not so remote, not so other worldly and not so untouchable that we cannot meet him today in this place and at this time and when we go out from here, in other places and at other times.

The point of Christian discipleship is not to make joy the aim and goal of our seeking. Rather, we are urged – in the teaching and example of Jesus – to make God’s kingdom and its values the goal of our daily living. In his utter graciousness and kindness the good Lord may give us moments of particular lucidity, joy, insight, peace and rest. Or not, as the case may be.

If we encounter moments of dryness, barrenness and doubt we must carry on and act and pray ‘as if it were true’. Ultimately, our faith and God’s love will affirm that we are in the truth and of the truth. The truth is that Jesus Christ is risen today for you, for me, for everyone. This is our faith and our faith is not in vain as Saint Paul tells the church in Corinth.

What does it mean to live by the values of his kingdom?

Jesus spells it out in what we call the ‘Beatitudes’ or blessings.

In this precious life of ours we experience many blessings and many woes. Hopefully, the blessings far outweigh the woes! Many of us can count many blessings from the simple gift of life itself to health, to family and love to creative work and service in the community as well as the those gifts that we should never ever take for granted: shelter, heating, food and times of celebration. Yet, we should not cling to any of these goods. They are gifts and some day God will ask for them back in order to give us an even greater gift. In the words of Jeremiah, today, ‘Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord'.

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Notes on this gospel passage

v. 17-19   The people seek out Jesus

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Jesus came down from a mountain where he had spent the night in prayer immediately after which, according to Luke, he called his band of disciples one by one. A lot is happening there in the space of one night and one day – prayer, calling, healing and preaching. We may note that people came from far and wide – even from the coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon. These latter two towns were gentile. Even at this early stage of Jesus’ ministry those from outside the Jewish faith have come to seek him out for healing, for understanding and true freedom. Later on Jesus would single out Tyre and Sidon for mention as places of redemption when many Jewish towns rejected him (see Luke 10:13-14).

v.20-23   The four Lucan beatitudes

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

1. Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
2. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
3. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
4. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

Jesus does not say, as in Matthew 5:3, Blessed are the poor. Rather, he says ‘Blessed are you who are poor’. In Luke he is addressing the poor among the crowd of gentiles, Jews, disciples and yet-to-be disciples.  In Luke’s first beatitude, Jesus declares that ‘you who are poor’ are blessed. It strongly indicates a blessing in the here and now and not just in some ill-defined future. In these words, we hear an echo of that powerful song of Mary, the Magnificat.(Luke 1:46-55).

v.24-26   The four Lucan woes

Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

And that is what it says.