6th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C February 14, 2010
Jeremiah 17:5-8 1Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26
Without question, it’s that time of year when we begin to crave the better weather,
searching for signs of spring. The purpose being that we don’t go stir crazy from
being stuck indoors too much. (Remember, when God created the earth, He didn’t
make houses). Next week will be helpful when Red Sox pitchers and catchers
report for spring training. Anything with the word “spring” in it is welcome at this
time of year.
Yet “this time of year” sort of hit home this past week when a friend asked, “Have
you come across more depressed people recently?” My answer was “not
necessarily.” But I know where my friend was going with that question. It speaks to
the long winter we’ve experienced.
But thanks be to God we have one sign of hope coming up this week as we
approach the season of Lent, that being Ash Wednesday. You wouldn’t think that
getting ashes placed on one’s forehead with the words “from dust you came, to
dust you shall return” is considered a sign of hope. But it’s through the reminder of
those ashes that we gain entrance into God’s heavenly graces. Ash Wednesday is
also hopeful because this day symbolically begins the spiritual climb to springtime,
culminating in Easter Sunday, which is always a sign of
spring.
During the Christmas season, and for some time after the Christmas season, it
seems like we live in abundance; gifts, presents, food, gatherings, celebrations,
office parties, family get-togethers, company of friends, and so forth. There’s an
abundance to the Christmas season that should be experienced by all and missed
by none. But Lent seems to say, “Let’s pull back on the throttle of life. Let’s go
inside ourselves and find God in ways of simplicity and less abundance. Let’s
spend some time alone with God.”
Christmas and Lent seem like dichotomies. Spiritual dichotomies. And that’s today’
s Gospel called the Sermon On The Plain. This Gospel is a spiritual dichotomy
where we are asked once again by the Church this coming week to begin to leave
behind abundance where there is some, and take on a greater level of simplicity
where there isn’t much, or any. And for those who live in continual simplicity, to
continue to do so without envy, jealousy, or the expectation that life owes us
something. Because it doesn’t! We are not long for this world. As St. Paul writes to
the Corinthians in today’s 2nd reading, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.”
In other words, if our faith is such that we seek Christ to satisfy us now, and we
place our hope in our present satisfaction, then we are pitiable. The truth is we are
given much, but owed nothing in this life. As Christians, our vision is toward the
future where we are promised much, and given everything that is good, for those
with faith.
In the meantime we have Luke’s Gospel today. And the dichotomy in this Gospel is
to both “Hold On” and “Let Go.” The first half of Jesus’ Sermon On The Plain, the
part with all the blessings, is a message to “hold on.” The second half message of
Jesus’ Sermon, the part with all the woes, is a message to “let go.” This whole
message is specifically for us, because the Gospel says, “and raising his eyes
toward his disciples, he said…” We are his disciples. So when we read Jesus’
spoken words in the Gospel, he is looking right at us. Or should I say he’s looking
right into us. Through our eyes and into our souls. That’s the penetrating power of
Jesus’ words. They are meant to reach a place within us that only God can
go.
The first half of the Sermon On The Plain, which lets go of the abundance of
Christmas and invites us to take on the simplicity of Lent, says to “hold on.” Not to
material goods, or anything in this world that we think can satisfy us. Jesus’
blessings are teamed up with struggle and difficulty, with pain and suffering. The
pain of an empty stomach, and the suffering from hunger. Jesus says such people
are blessed. Which means Jesus is either sadistic, crazy, or he’s trying to tell us
something that reaches into the deepness of our humanity. Where he’s trying to
draw us into his very life. Especially the life of his
cross.
The first half of the Sermon On The Plain prepares us for the 40 day desert trip of
Lent. If we do Lent well, there will be times throughout the 40 days when we will
need to “hold on.”
But the “holding on” message is also for those who live a whole lifetime of deserts.
Jesus himself tells us that we will have the poor with us always. They will always be
on our doorstep. The message for the hungry and the weeping and those who are
hated and insulted on account of Christ, is to “hold on.” But the message for the
rest of us is to help them to “hold on.” We’ve seen this in the massive response to
the events in Haiti.
The second half of Jesus’ Sermon On The Plain is about “letting go.” Jesus uses
this horse language, if you will. The word “woe” is meant to stop a horse, along
with pulling back on the reins. The word “woe” in this Gospel is also meant to stop
us in our tracks. And why is Jesus trying to stop us? So that we can “let go” of
abundance. For those of us who live in abundance, the words “let go”
speak to us in two distinct ways. First, to get ready to scale back during Lent so
that Christ may find a lasting place in our hearts. And secondly, to take what we
scale back on and share some with those who are blessed. This is the paradox in
this Gospel. The woes share the goods of the earth with the blessed, and by doing
so, we in turn are blessed through our actions.
Early to mid February is always the time of year in New England where winter gets
long and we are searching for new life. For signs of life. With Jesus, such signs are
realized in the “holding on” and “letting go” of the Gospel. If we’re struggling
somewhere, then “hold on.” If there’s abundance, then “let go.” Or even both at the
same time.