YEAR C 2025 epiphany 6

Epiphany 6, 2025
Jeremiah 17:5-10
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Luke 6:17-26
Psalm 1

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

We sometimes call this reading “the beatitudes of Luke.”  They are slightly different from the Beatitudes of Matthew.  Matthew only gives us the blessings.  In Luke’s version, Jesus also adds the “woes.”  In Matthew, it’s the sermon on the mount.  But in Luke—as you might have noticed—it specifically says "Jesus came down . . . and stood on a level place.”  It’s usually called “the sermon on the plain.”  This is one of the themes of Luke’s gospel.  Lifting up the lowly and casting down the proud.  Leveling the playing field, as we might put it.  In Matthew it’s a mountain; in Luke it’s a level place.  In Matthew it’s about blessing the downtrodden; in Luke it’s also about announcing woe to those who are rich and happy and satisfied with things the way they are.  

Go back and look at the song of Mary, the Magnificat, in the very first chapter of Luke’s gospel.  God has filled the hungry with good things, and God has sent the rich away empty . . . which then makes them also among the hungry, meaning that God can fill them with good things too.  That’s Luke, in a nutshell.

But first, let’s look at the other readings we heard this morning.  In Jeremiah, we heard something very similar to those beatitudes from Luke.  The prophet writes, “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord.”  But then also, “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.”  In less poetic language, we could say trusting in God is a blessing in itself.  Trusting in ourselves is a curse.  And our reaction to that, here in the land of self-made, up-by-the-bootstraps entrepreneurs, is nuh-uh!  From the moment we are born we are told, trust in yourself, believe in yourself, watch out for yourself.  It seems Jeremiah begs to differ: And instead, blessed are those who trust in the Lord.

Then, let’s turn to today’s Psalm.  “Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked . . . Their delight is in the law of the Lord.  It is not so with the wicked; they are like chaff which the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes.”  Again, in less poetic language, the ones who are happy, who are blessed, are the ones who stay connected to God, the creator of all that is.  On the other hand, those who are not connected to God have no foundation.  They are like a beautiful, towering house of cards.  And though we might be tempted to envy them for their self reliance, and success, and confidence, they will not stand upright when judgement comes.  Scary stuff.

But take note:  The wicked do not perish because they are being punished.  They perish because they are not connected to God.  They do not have the one thing that matters in this life.  And here’s the problem:  We think of these ones as happy, or blessed, because we have a fundamental misunderstanding of what truly matters.  According to the Psalmist, the truly happy ones find their delight in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night.  The law of the Lord.  The wicked are a law unto themselves.  And not to put too fine a point on it, but the word autonomy literally means “self law.”  Auto-nomy: self law.  Yikes! 

These are harsh things to hear in a nation that so puts self-reliance on a pedestal.  But according to these first two readings, building myself up does not equal happiness; the goal of life is not self-sufficiency; and getting what I want does not equal prosperity.  Even though you have probably heard the opposite from the first day you waddled into your kindergarten class.  Relying on God is wisdom; relying on yourself is foolishness.  And when we doubt that is true, all we have to do is take a walk through any cemetery.  All the earthly success, all the fortunes passed down to their kids, all the streets named after the ones buried in those graves is not going to help them if they are not connected to God.  Mastering the power of positive thinking and reading “Your Best Life Now” will not raise us up from death.  Sorry.

So, that’s the first two readings.  Now let’s look at the words we heard from Jesus a few minutes ago.  Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now,  for you will be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”  It’s important for us to notice that Jesus does not say, Blessed are the poor because you are poor!  Being poor is not what makes them blessed.  You know why the poor and hungry and weeping are blessed?  Because Jesus is blessing them.  Jesus sees them with the mercy-filled eyes of God, which is a completely different view from what you and I have.

You and I—living here in the land of self-reliance—would tend to say, “You know who’s really blessed?  Those who are rich; those who are full now; blessed are those who are laughing now.”  You see the problem, right?  We equate blessing and happiness with everything that is the actual opposite of what Jesus is saying.  Every self-help book and better business practices manual tells us that Jesus is wrong.  That Jeremiah is wrong.  That the Psalmist is wrong.  Which is why when this collection of readings comes up every three years, we all lose our footing and start thinking, “Well, that’s not really true Jesus.  You’ve got it all backwards.  Blessed are the rich and woe to the poor, Jesus.”  We don’t want to think about these lessons because these lessons stand opposed to everything we’ve been taught from the moment we could be taught anything at all.

So what are we to make of all this?  How do we reconcile what we see in the world around us with what God is telling us in these three readings?  Well, maybe our main takeaway is just that:  Things are not as they appear. Because God’s perspective is different from ours.  What we call rich and famous, God calls selfish and despised.  What we call poor and downtrodden, God calls blessed and admirable.  And, not in some future pie in the sky kind of way, but right now.  Today.  God does not see the world as we see the world.  God does not judge people the way we judge people.  And that is good news, believe me!

Because this means that when people reject you, God calls you blessed.  When you find that people are leaving you out and putting you down, God is drawing you in and lifting you up.  In those times when everyone you know is turning away from you, God is turning toward you, because God sees what mere mortals cannot:  That you are precious, honored, and loved.  Blessed.

And here is the most interesting thing of all.  If we could see with the mercy-filled eyes of  God, if you and I could see things as God sees them, we might also say, what the world calls powerful, we call weak.  What the world calls successful, we call failure.  What the world calls wasteful, we call valuable.  And, more importantly, what the world rejects, we seek out and embrace.  

Being connected to the Creator of everything that is, seen and unseen, this is what truly matters.  Whether you are rich or poor.  

Trusting in God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, that is what truly counts.  Whether you are hungry or full. 

Living our lives in the hope of the resurrection is what makes life worth living . . . Because what the world calls dead, God calls alive.

Listen again to today’s Collect:  O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed.

May God give us the grace to put our trust in God, who is our only strength and our redeemer.  You are treasured, and honored, and redeemed—no matter what the world around us may say—because you are connected to the one true and living God.  Blessed are you, people of St. Timothy’s.  Blessed are you because Jesus is blessing you.

Amen.

YEAR C 2025 the presentation

The Presentation, 2025
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 24:7-10
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

So in this reading we just heard, Mary and Joseph take their little boy, Jesus to the Temple, in order to fulfill the Law of Moses.  And then they offer the appointed sacrifice of two turtledoves or young pigeons as the law requires.  Great.  But, why?  Why do Mary and Joseph have to go and do this thing that is required by the Jewish Law of their day, when Jesus is already the Son of God?  Why does Jesus, who is God, need to be presented to God in this way?  And, for another thing, why are we celebrating the Presentation of Our Lord on February 2nd?

Well, let’s start with the easy one: we’re only noticing The Presentation of Our Lord because it happens to fall on a Sunday this year.  But the Presentation is always 40 days out from Christmas.  It’s always on February 2nd, but we don’t usually hear about it.  Which makes me a little sad inside.  But this day is also called Candlemas, and is traditionally the day that churches bless their candles for the coming season.  And, in some traditions, THIS is the day when you take down your Christmas decorations.  (Which has been my ongoing excuse for why there is a still a giant pine tree standing in the corner of our living room.)

But enough of that.  Let’s go back to the beginning.  Like back to the time of Moses.  As you’ll recall from “The Prince of Egypt” movie, the Israelites—God’s chosen people—are being held in slavery by Pharaoh in Egypt.  God gets Moses to lead them out of bondage and through the Red Sea, and then they wander in the desert for 40 years.  (There’s that number 40 again.)  And while they’re out there, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments.  And then later on, God gives them a whole bunch of other laws they need to follow.  Like a lot of laws!

What is the purpose of those laws?  The things we call the Law of Moses?  You know, all that stuff about shellfish and the Sabbath and pots and pans and sacrifices of turtledoves.  What’s the point of those?  This is a very important question, which I will answer for you.  The Law of Moses was intended to make the chosen people distinct and separate from their pagan neighbors.  To differentiate them.  Everyone around them was doing particular things like eating pork, and mixing fabrics, and working on the Sabbath.  And also doing horrific things like sacrificing their first-born sons to their pagan gods.  God’s wants us to see a different way of living.  And so rather than sacrificing their first-born sons, God’s people sacrifice pigeons on behalf of their first born.

God wants the chosen people to be different from their neighbors, you see?  And that is important for this reason:  Following these laws does not change God.  Following these laws changes God’s people.  In obeying the commandments of God, the Israelites become different from their neighbors.  Not for God’s sake, but for their own sake.  God’s people are to be holy, which literally means to be set apart.  That is the purpose of the Law of Moses.  To set them apart.

But also, the purpose of the laws is not so that God can sort them out from their neighbors. The purpose is so that they can sort themselves out from their neighbors.  So that they will know they are God’s people.  God does not need to recognize who they are, but they need to recognize who they are.  You remember when Moses is up with God on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments?  And the people come to his brother Aaron with all their jewelry and ask him to make a bull out of it, and they bow down and worship it.  And then God gets angry and sends Moses back down to yell at them.

Why is God angry with them?  Because they broke the rules?  No.  Because they have forgotten who they are.  They have become like their neighbors, worshipping a golden calf.  That’s not what God’s people do.  That’s not how God’s people act.  That’s how their neighbors behave.  But God’s people are different.  God’s people are not like their child-sacrificing pagan neighbors.  And when they act like their neighbors, it means they have forgotten their identity.  They have forgotten who they are, and whose they are.  And Moses smashes the Ten Commandments into pieces, and has to go back up the mountain and start over.

To be clear: God does not need the Law of Moses to recognize the chosen people.  God already knows God’s chosen people. The point is to get them to know themselves as the chosen people.  And clearly, it’s harder than it looks, right?  Moses goes up the mountain, and before he can say “Ten Commandments,” they’re down there worshipping a golden calf they just made up.  As we say in my favorite Eucharistic Prayer, “Again and again you called us into covenant with you.”  God is always calling us back.  Always looking for ways to help us recognize who we really are: God’s holy, chosen people.

So, again, why do Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple forty days after his birth?  To fulfill what is written in the Law.  Not because God needs it.  Not because Jesus needs it.  But because Mary and Joseph need it.  They need to be reminded of who they are.  It doesn’t change God that they sacrifice two turtledoves.  But it changes Mary and Joseph.  Because it reminds them that they are among God’s chosen people.  They are set apart from those who do not bring their first-born sons to the Temple.  They are reminded of who they are, and whose they are.

And then there’s Simeon, whom also heard about.  He is led by the Spirit to come to the Temple.  The same Spirit who told him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah.  This is a man who lives by hope!  With hope.  In hope.  He does not know when he will die, but he knows that the Messiah will come in his lifetime.  And he will see the Messiah.  It’s hard to even imagine the thrill he must feel at seeing Jesus.  People have been waiting for generations to see the Messiah, and Simeon lives his days knowing that the Messiah will come during his lifetime.  And he does!

And what does he do when he meets Jesus?  He steps aside.  It’s like the ultimate mic drop, you know?  Like, my work here is done.  Lord, let your servant depart in peace, according to your word.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people.  A light to the Gentiles (that’s us), and the glory of your people Israel.  The Messiah has come, for everyone, and Simeon can now go in peace.

Simeon was set apart by God to be one who would see Jesus.  That is his identity, his chosen purpose.  And Mary and Joseph are astonished by this.  And then Simeon blesses them, which is just beautiful.  But then there’s also Anna.  She is referred to as a prophet, and is 84 years old.  Which would be ancient in those days.  She also recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, and begins “to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”  Another first-century evangelism chair, heads out to do God’s work in the world.

All these people in today’s Gospel, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, they all know their identity.  They know who they are, and whose they are.  And when they encounter Jesus, knowing who they are, everything changes.  Just like for you and me.  Knowing who Jesus is tells us who we are, and whose we are, and that changes everything.

You and I go through life with a lot of uncertainty . . . to say the least.  Situations change, we lose those we love, relationships fall apart, disease and illness are never far from us, it seems.  As the Collect says, we are constantly tossed about by the chances and changes of this life.  But when we remember who we are, when we remember whose we are, when we remember our identity as God’s people, then everything is different.  Not easier . . . but different.  Because we have hope.  Because we remember that we are not alone.  Because our eyes have seen God’s salvation.  And we too can go in peace, according to God’s word.

May God give us the grace to remember our identity:  redeemed children of the one God, who makes all things new, who lifts up the lowly, who dismisses the servants in peace, according to God’s word.  The one who sends us out, like Anna, to praise God, and to speak about the child, to all who are looking for redemption . . . which is, quite honestly, everyone we meet.

Amen.