Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 6 November 2022.
• First Reading: Daniel 7: 1-3 (Daniel’s vision of four beasts, all different, coming from the sea)
• Psalm 149
• Epistle: Ephesians 1: 11-23 (When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal)
• Gospel: Luke 6: 20-31 (Love your enemies. Do to others as you would have them do to you)
I suppose that competition is as old as humanity itself, certainly after the fall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
We admire the great and the powerful and these are the one who determine the affairs of the world. It is the great leaders, the outstanding sports competitors, the builders of armies and buildings and businesses who get the attention and the status.
And it is also true that the little folk, the poor and marginalized, the poorly connected and those who scratch a living from their society and environment are less celebrated.
But the gospel upends these priorities. It honours the poor and the hungry, those who weep and especially those who believe in Jesus and are willing to say so.
This inversion of the world’s priorities is part of God’s track record. Abram was called from his settled life and retirement to go wandering into the land of Canaan, even if he was a successful herdsman.
Gideon was the least significant member of his family in the smallest tribe of Israel. Much the same could be said of King Saul while King David was the youngest of the family and the least thought of when the prophet Samuel came visiting.
God’s priority is to look for and call those who will look to Him above all others. Those who know their need for Him. Those who are self-sufficient are allowed to get on with it, so long as they do not break the moral and ceremonial laws.
It is those whose hearts who are already turned towards God who find Him, they know His Name and His character. The Lord is indeed their shepherd and they have found it in the experience of life. But these are not normally the great leaders of the people and they are not particularly admired.
The rest of society may be physically presentable, intellectually alert, well-connected, artistically sensitive, good in combat, and have all the social graces. But if they are not seeking God then they cannot be in the position of finding Him and they are certainly not going to depend on Him. They will not find in Him their rock and their defence.
So yes, the bible indeed shows that God looks for those who look to Him and place Him above all other considerations, and yes these are more likely to be found among the poor of the land rather than the rich and powerful, the successful and the ostentatious. Certainly the self-sufficient.
In following the Lord the people will find that He leads them personally, morally, spiritually, in their relationships and in their transactions. He will form their loyalties, their priorities and attitudes.
Yet part of the irony of today is that the poor of the land do not look to the Lord to be their shepherd. There are social and political movements to provide for them, and in our land the welfare state takes up about half of the total public purse, when you count in health, education social security and the welfare services.
They are told that God is either dead or is multicultural and that Jesus is there for those who like that sort of thing but not taken too seriously. He is certainly not to be granted any kind of recognition beyond that of a small and declining number of churches who nobody really listens to anyway – except in derision and contempt.
And that brings me back to the gospel for the most emphatic of Jesus’ blessings is for those who endure insult and exclusion from the scoffers and deniers of the land.
But Paul has more to say in support of those who determine to believe and trust in Jesus.
These are those who are chosen and blessed in the sight of God. They glorify in Jesus and in turn are glorified by Him. They are endowed with the Holy Spirit who gives wisdom and revelation so that they may know Jesus better and grow in Him as they grow in themselves.
These are the ones for whom God has destined an inheritance far greater and more wonderful than can be contrived by any amount of wealth received by trade or politics or inherited wealth.
These are the ones who Jesus loves with special devotion and for whom He has already poured Himself out on the cross. These are the ones to whom the message of salvation has been entrusted by God and are the only ones who are able to communicate it.
And think about it. What they did to Jesus they will also do to His disciples. These also will be derided and abused especially when they do not follow the world’s fashions and morals.
They are not easily defended in the fashions of the world, and they are easily set aside in the rough and tumble of political and cultural life.
But then that is the world’s evaluation. What Jesus says is that they are the light of the world, cities set on a hill and lights that give illumination to the whole household. If anyone thinks or imagines that God has abandoned His people: FORGET IT.
