Less Woeful, More Blessed
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
February 23, 2025
Year C: The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Luke 6:27-38
Let us pray.
Loving God, help us to follow the way of Jesus.
Help us to follow the way of love, generosity, and mercy.
Help us to make this world less woeful and more blessed.
Amen.
So, as you know, each week we hear various excerpts from Holy Scripture.
And, by the way, we follow a schedule of Bible readings. So, I don’t choose the scripture that we hear – and, sometimes, maybe like today, for example, I might have made a different choice!
One problem with this system is that it’s easy to get so focused on these individual passages that we miss the big picture, the context, we don’t pay any attention to what was happening in the background of the biblical world, we don’t know or forget what life was like for Jesus and for all of the other people we read about in the Bible.
It’s important for us to remember that life in biblical times was almost unimaginably difficult.
Of course, there were none of our modern conveniences – none of the gadgets that make our lives so comfortable – no electricity which Sue and I sorely missed last week when the high winds brought down trees and knocked out our power – the house got cold really fast.
I know lots of you were in the same boat.
Back in biblical times, people were completely dependent on the harvest and the catch – a drought or an empty net meant hunger or even worse.
And while there were folk remedies and maybe some of them even worked, there was, of course, no modern medicine – no vaccines or antibiotics or scans or surgery – none of the marvels that have restored so many of us to health, none of the discoveries and innovations that have kept so many of us alive.
Yes, life in biblical times was almost unimaginably difficult.
And, in the first century, during the days of Jesus’ earthly life, on top of the usual challenges, the people of Israel lived under Roman occupation.
Now, the Romans were great builders. In fact, some of their roads, and aqueducts, and buildings are still in use today – which, let’s give them credit, is amazing.
But those impressive achievements were built on the backs of poor people throughout the empire – the people who were forced to send so much of their wealth to Rome.
And, of course, if any of those subjugated people ever dared to resist Rome, the punishment was swift and brutal.
Crucifixion, which was really death by suffocation, was common. And, unlike in the case of Jesus, usually the bodies of the crucified were left on the cross to decay, a horrifying sight, a stark reminder of the price of challenging the powers that be.
So, it’s in a land of suffering, that Jesus offers what we heard last week, what’s often called the Sermon on the Plain.
It’s in a land of suffering that Jesus presents his downside-up vision, “Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the hated.”
And it’s in a land of suffering that Jesus warns the people who were living large, the people who were doing well while so many were suffering: “Woe to you who are rich and full and laughing and respected.”
If this all sounds bizarrely downside-up to us, which it does, imagine just how crazy Jesus’ words must have seemed to people living under Roman occupation!
And now, in today’s excerpt from the Gospel of Luke, we hear the continuation of the Sermon on the Plain, the continuation of Jesus’ downside-up vision of how we are to live together.
Jesus’ downside-up vision of how things were always meant to be.
We are meant to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek, to give away what we have, to do to others as we would have them do to us.
We are to be merciful, just as Joseph was merciful to his brothers who had sold him into slavery, just as God is merciful to all of us.
You won’t be surprised that Jesus’ most challenging vision got me thinking about baptism – got me thinking about the big promises we make in the Baptismal Covenant – to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as our self – to strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.
With God’s help. Always and only with God’s help.
Finally, at the very end of today’s passage, Jesus says, “the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
That sounds like a quid pro quo with God – that if we’re good then God will be good to us.
But we know that’s not how God does things.
Instead, I think Jesus is simply stating a fact: when we are loving and generous and merciful, then, with God’s help, we create a church, a community, a world, that is more loving, generous, and merciful.
The measure we give will be the measure we get back, and, knowing God, we will always receive way more than we give.
So, I’m not sure if I would have chosen this most challenging gospel lesson for the day of our Annual Parish Meeting, but the more I’ve thought about it, I think it is exactly right for us today.
Out there, the ways of the world continue to be… the ways of the world.
A first century Jew brought to our time would be dazzled, shocked, and confused by many things, but the cruelty and oppression and suffering of so many people in so many places would be all too familiar.
But, here at St. Thomas’, while we are certainly not perfect, there is a sincere and honest attempt to follow the downside-up way of Jesus, the way of love, generosity, and mercy.
I hope that you will take the time to read our Annual Report – a lot of people worked really hard on it, most especially Jane Farnan, our dedicated Parish Administrator.
There’s a lot of data in the Annual Report but at its heart is a story of one Christian community here in the Baltimore suburbs doing its best to make Jesus’ downside-up vision a reality.
It’s a story of this church, with God’s help, trying to make the world a little less woeful and a little more blessed.
While the world teaches us to be selfish, while the world insists there’s just not enough so we better hold on to what we’ve got, here we give so much away.
Think of the thousands of sandwiches made for the guests at Paul’s Place and the hundreds of bags of supplies and all those Thanksgiving bags shared with the people at the Community Crisis Center.
And I was so touched that so many of you bought tickets for the Sutton Scholars event at Top Golf on Thursday night – some of you buying tickets even though you couldn’t be there, even though you missed the chance to see me make a fool of myself trying to swing a golf club.
While the world teaches us to fear and even despise strangers, we continue to welcome and support and love our Afghan friends, giving countless hours to make sure they have every chance to thrive here in their new home.
On Thursday evening, at that Sutton Scholars event, Betty Symington of ERICA pulled me aside to thank me for your generosity, your persistence, your steadfastness. I’ve had very little to do with that but I was proud to accept her thanks on your behalf.
While the world pushes us apart, dividing us up, here at St. Thomas’ everyone is welcome – all kinds of people from lots of different places with all sorts of different ideas – everyone is welcome here.
And as I have preached many times and will continue to preach in the days ahead, this is one of the last places where lots of different people can come together, pray and serve together, love one another.
It’s a special vocation, and one that we must protect, cherish and nourish.
While the world insists that the church is in decline and the future looks bleak, God sent us two remarkably faithful women who have said “yes” to God’s call, and we have been so blessed by Amelia’s and Sue’s gifts – and I know that I can’t wait to see the next chapters of their ministries.
And God continues to send us so many wonderful new people who have gotten involved in our ministries and have even taken on leadership positions.
For example, our Stewardship chair Amy Sussman, Preschool Board chair Kathy Resnik, new Treasurer Brian Lyght, Vestry member Shyla Cadogan, and Green Team co-chair Leslie Steele – they are all newer to St. Thomas’ than me. Isn’t that amazing?
While the world often seems so ugly, and getting uglier by the minute, here at St. Thomas’ there is a commitment to beauty – caring for our buildings and grounds, polishing the silver and ironing the linens, arranging gorgeous flowers every week – and our choir sings with astonishing skill and faithfulness – what a place of beauty this is!
And speaking of beauty, yesterday’s Spirituals recital created by David Marshall (also newer than me!) was incredibly beautiful and moving, a real comfort during challenging days.
I could go on, but I won’t because I know you’ll read the Annual Report.
Seriously, please read the report because in words and numbers, it tells the story of St. Thomas’ Church as we follow the downside-up way of Jesus, the challenging way of love, generosity, and mercy.
As Deacon Amelia said in her wise and thoughtful sermon last week, we do this work together.
Here at St. Thomas’, with God’s help, together, we make the world a little less woeful and a little more blessed.
Thanks be to God.
And thanks be to you.
Amen.
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