Guiding Values Do Guide

Guiding Values Really Do Guide, Thank God!

Sermon based on the Beatitudes, Luke 6:20-31

Rev. Larry Fry, College Avenue UMC

All Saints Sunday and Harvest Sunday go together well.  Today we remember those who have gone before and then we claim our turn to live out our faith in Jesus Christ.   The definition of a saint is a follower of Jesus.  And what a gift to have the baptism of Gage!  In our baptism God commissions us to be saints…the ones through whom the light of God shines.  I am glad to be growing older because I get to know more saints.  Saints are those people who see the light of God in the world and invite us to look there too.

Matthew and Luke gather these sayings of Jesus about what it means to follow Jesus.  They are fascinating and difficult to understand.  Matthew places Jesus on a mountain offering these high and lofty guiding values so it is called the Sermon on the Mount.  It is to everyone.  Luke puts Jesus down on the plains, speaking to deeply committed disciples, putting those guiding values into daily action.  By this time disciples had enemies and people who misunderstood their commitment to Christ.   These guiding values were and are guides our living in the world.

Matthew’s version includes “Blessed are the peacemakers.”  That is easier to swallow than “Blessed are the poor.”  On the surface this sounds nuts.  Jesus is not saying that all people who are poor are blessed.  Poverty is a terrible condition.  Being poor is not a blessing.  The idea here is that someone who is following Jesus may be poor in things of the world, yet blessed with spiritual riches beyond measure.  Jesus, looking at his followers, said “Blessed are you who are poor.  Again, Jesus did not say, “Blessed all who are poor.”

I will try a paraphrase.  “Love God and your neighbor.  Don’t be discouraged if times get tough.  At least this way you know your need of God.  Not all of your friends are going to understand your Christian commitments.  Don’t give up because you are worrying about what others think.  God has not forgotten you.  God does not promise you a rose garden.  But even in the worst wilderness ever, God will help you grow a rose garden.  God will reward your faithfulness.”

Two women talked to me this week about a wilderness of a deep parental fear.

            One mother talked about the schools having safety week and how they

                        practice drills for tornadoes, fire, and active shooters.

                        When we think that our children are doing those we

                        are both grateful and we shiver a bit, praying that it will never

                        happen at our schools or any school, or airport.

I also ran into a woman who yelled out to me in the hospital.  I had officiated at her wedding and she wanted to tell me that they just had a boy.  She loved being a mom, but she was scared to death when she read about school shootings or when a child was harmed. 

God did not intend for people to be afraid when they walk into an airport.  God did not intend for any person to live in fear.  God did not intend for us to be stuck in twisted agendas and quarrelling or culture wars. God did not intend for people to be in such crushing poverty that it crushes the human spirit.  God did not intend for people whether rich or poor to be totally concerned about themselves with no compassion for others.  It is possible, says Jesus to be so into riches that it isolates you from the world.  If you are full of yourself and selfish desires…that as far as you go in life.  But all, rich and poor, can live sharing with the poor.

In Jesus’ time the Romans lived for wealth and pleasure, and kept working at it through violence, and oppression.  Jesus saw the poor crushed in poverty.  And he saw people who were rich and could help them, yet they did nothing.   He saw people putting selfish pleasure as their top guiding values and in that way their wealth became a barrier to know the Kingdom of God.

            Yet, Jesus gave to us a community of discipleship:

                        Where guiding values were very different

                        Where the joys of life were in love and sharing.

            He knew this community would not fit in and there would be struggles, but

                        new life would come in the middle of this caring life together.

One of the greatest parts of our church are committee meetings.  We have fun, we laugh, we listen to one another, we learn what God wants, we love one another, we lead the church to live out our guiding values in the world.    Instead of quarrelling, we listen and learn.

I was reading one commentary that reminded me of the Monty Python movie the Life of Brian.  Brian is delivering the Sermon on the Mount, preaching to a crowd gathered.  One woman yells from the back…”Speak up.  We can’t hear you.”  What did he say?  I think he said, “Blessed are the cheesemakers?”  What is so special about cheesemakers?  The man next to her said, “I don’t think we can take it literally…it refers to all manufacturers of dairy products.”  By this time I am silly with laughter.

In all of the silliness of that movie there is something that is very profound. The idea beyond the movie the Life of Brian is that Jesus offered truth.  It was the people who misunderstood and quarreled about the meaning.   In the Gospels, we see even the closest disciples missing the point.  The teaching is not off but the understanding and the application are off.  That is why church and small groups are so important…to maintain our life of learning and loving.  The saying of Jesus need the interpretation of the Holy Spirit in our midst.

Jesus challenged the early disciples and he challenges us to put God first and live these guiding values.  It is amazing to know that Jesus was talking about a community with the compassion that weeps when the world weeps.  Jesus presents a kingdom where all (each and every) are ultimately valuable to God.

The early Christians confounded many because they suffered and no matter how much they suffered, they somehow knew the joy of living for God now and knew have the rewards they would have in heaven.

I think of how my mom and dad, and my grandparents modeled the Christian faith for me and I am grateful.  Dad was the church treasurer and choir director for many years.  Every week he called choir member to remind them.  That was before email and you only had to dial four numbers on the rotary dial.  I remember their commitment to the budget of the church to make sure there were programs for me.  Those programs guided me into a life of faith and full-time service.  This church has met its budget and mission share for almost 30 years. 

Think of a world where lives and communities are guided by compassion and respecting the dignity of every person.  Compassion is the deliberate decision that that the wellbeing of another human being is a high priority of our lives.  No matter what they have done we still make a positive, proactive decision to do good things for them.

Think of a world where hospitality and spiritual growth were the order of the day.  Being a disciple means willing to learn and follow Christ with ever greater faithfulness.  It means to say to God, “Let me follow and learn.” 

It is my experience that the joys of discipleship are always greater than the troubles of being a disciple.   With Gage and Addison and Gavin a part of our church we now have 70 active children.  I want them to know what it means to be a saint.

I want them to know that joy that comes from knowing that God chooses us, claims us, makes us saints, so the love of God can shine through.