(Adapted from a sermon preached on 2/17/19)

I heard a story not too long ago about a church that ran a soup kitchen in its basement. This attracted a lot of homeless people, and before long some of them started wandering in during the worship service.

One parishioner was a little bothered by this. After church one day, he asked the pastor, “Could we have a separate worship service for people like that?”

“We don’t need a separate service,” the pastor said. “It’s good to have them here, though. I think everyone should have the opportunity to meet Jesus.”

“Yes,” the man said. “The homeless people need Jesus just as much as we do.”

“I’m not talking about them, I’m talking about YOU,” the pastor responded. “You need to meet Jesus in the faces of these homeless people!”

I share this story because it illustrates what I feel is one of the main points of today’s gospel reading: The way of God’s kingdom contradicts the ruling values of this world, or the way that most people think.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” Jesus tells His disciples in verse 20 of today’s text (Luke 6:20).

This was as shocking of a thing to say then as it is now. The poor are blessed? In what sense? Isn’t it the rich and powerful that God smiles upon? Isn’t wealth a sign of God’s blessing? And what’s so great about being poor, about having to struggle to make ends meet, about not knowing where your next meal is coming from? And yet Jesus says the poor are blessed, and it is they that inherit the kingdom of God.

I think an important distinction needs to be made here. It isn’t poverty itself that is blessed. There’s nothing particularly blessed about being in need. But poor people are blessed, because their poverty forces them to rely on God (rather than wealth or status) to meet their needs.

In verse 23, Jesus says something even harder for us to understand: “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 in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets” (Luke 6:23).

This is hard to understand because virtually everyone, whether rich or poor, wants to be well-liked. What blessing is there in being hated, excluded, and gossiped about?

Once again, it’s not the persecution itself that’s blessed; but it may be a sign that we’re really following Jesus – because He took his stand against the ruling powers of this world. It ended up costing Him his life, but a great reward (salvation for all) came out of it. Similarly, our suffering at the hands of those in power might bring great rewards to ourselves and others.

“Your reward is great in heaven,” Jesus says to all who suffer for the sake of the poor and oppressed. And that doesn’t just mean heaven after we die! Even now, we can experience the joy of fellowship with God, and with all the saints and angels. This is a love so powerful that we can endure almost anything when we feel it.

The flip side of this isn’t so pretty. For while the gospel is good news to the poor and oppressed, it sounds like bad news to the rich and powerful.

“Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation,” Jesus says in verse 24 (Luke 6:24).

It’s not surprising that this verse isn’t quoted very often. But what does Jesus mean exactly? What does it mean to say that the rich have received their consolation?

My understanding is that the consolation referred to here is the wealth the rich have already amassed. Further wealth won’t make them any happier than they are right now.

History has shown that this is true, time and time again. Without a sense of meaning and purpose in life, and without love, all the money in the world won’t make us happy.

As long as our focus is on getting and maintaining wealth, we miss out on the joy of fellowship with God and the saints.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry,” Jesus continues. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will weep and mourn” (Luke 6:25).

Rich oppressors may have plenty to eat, but they don’t realize that they’re starving spiritually. One day they will be hungry for the spiritual food that only God can provide; and by then, it may be too late. They will mourn and weep when the empire falls – and all their wealth and prestige along with it.

Jesus concludes this passage with a warning we would all do well to heed: “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).

If we never suffer any persecution, that’s probably a sign that we’re a little too comfortable with the status quo – with a system that rewards certain colors and classes of people, and oppresses others.

I include myself in this critique. All in all, I’ve lived a pretty comfortable life. And if the gospel is correct, that’s probably not a good thing.

Is there any hope for the rich and powerful? Yes, there is – but only if they’re willing to give in ways that help the poor and marginalized.

Later in this gospel, Jesus meets a rich man named Zacchaeus, who gives half of his possessions to the poor. “Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus says of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8-10).

Are all of us called to give away half of our possessions? Not necessarily. But all of us will be called on (if we haven’t been already) to sacrifice something for the sake of those in need.

The Baptist preacher Tony Campolo tells the story of a time he went to do missionary work in Haiti, and took his son Bart (who was a teenager at the time) with him. As they were walking along one day, they saw several people begging for change by the side of the road.

“We should give them some change,” Bart said to his dad.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Tony said. “If we give them anything, they will keep hounding us for more – and they won’t let up until they’ve taken every last dime we have.”

At this point, Bart just looked at his dad and said, “So what?”

This, I think, needs to be our attitude when it comes to sacrificial giving; for we never know what God may require of us.

God may ask us to give away a lot of money, but so what?

God may ask us to give up a large portion of our time, but so what?

God may ask us to give up some of our safety and security, but so what?

God may ask us to step way out of our comfort zone, but so what?

Only when we can look at all the wealth, power, prestige and comfort that the world has to offer and say “so what,” will we know we’re ready for a life in God’s kingdom.

When we’re willing to go wherever God calls us, regardless of what the cost may be, then we will receive our reward – the joy of fellowship with God and the saints.

So let us listen for the voice of Jesus, and be ready to follow wherever He leads us – even if it’s uncomfortable, even if it’s in direct contradiction to the way most people live. For it’s only when we heed this call that we discover the true riches of living in God’s abundant love.