February 11, 2007 - Hard News Gospel

In a few weeks you will be able to travel to the Grand Canyon and walk out on a 70 foot glass skywalk that puts you over the Grand Canyon. An engineering feat which perches you 4,000 feet above the Colorado River, it is a project that the Hualapai Indian Tribe hopes will bring thousands of tourists to the area each year. For 25 dollars you can literally walk out over the canyon and have the thrill of standing in mid-air and having a breath-taking view. Some people can't wait to step out on this miraculous skywalk. For others, this is an "upscale carnival ride" that desecrates a national park (L.A. Times A26, Feb. 11, 2007) For the Hualapai Tribe, this is hope. The project is on their land and financed primarily by them to help them address the "social ills" of their small reservation of 2,000 people who struggle with 50% unemployment and widespread alcoholism and poverty. (Ibid) A national park designed for quiet contemplation?... or a national park with a visitor center, skywalk and other ventures? It all comes down to one's values, one's social location and our ability to consider conflicting needs.

The same can be said for the public education in the Southern California region. We read of statistics that say that more and more first generation families are enrolling in schools, not just in L.A. city but also in the outlying counties and regions. Schools that were meeting state standards are now struggling with children who are English as second language learners. Schools' testing numbers are dropping, teachers are being stretched, and students aren't able to learn. We have passed laws against bilingual education and now teachers are in a bind -- do I leave the non-English speaking child or children behind or do I slow down the rest of the class? Parents of English speaking children are asking where the support services are for these new children? And, why is my child being neglected? Depending on where you stand, it will shape your response. Again it asks, what do we value, what is our social location, and how do we address conflicting needs.

It reminds me that the context of what we bring to the situation is always so important when we approach an issue. I think a book about the death of a character will read very differently if you have recently experienced a close death in your own life. It is the same way when we turn to scripture. We bring our experience with us and we look for meaning based on our own life experience. Luke's Gospel is a Gospel that gives great attention to those who are poor and who are the outcasts in society. Luke's infancy narrative gives us a savior who is born of lowly birth. His Mother's song -- Mary's Magnificat -- in the first chapter gives us an early preview of the theme of the lowly being lifted up and the wealthy being humbled. Shepherds are present at the birth instead of well travelled wise men. Luke's version of the Messianic banquet -- a metaphor for God's feast -- includes everyone, not just the worthy. Luke alone has the dramatic story of the Rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man is tormented in hell for neglecting the poor homeless Lazarus who sat outside the gates of his home. Everywhere you turn in Luke's gospel you hear a preferential option for the poor. What a comforting gospel for those who are on the margins of and society. But what about the rest of us? What does it say to those of us who are the haves in our society? Those of us who represent the establishment, who have jobs and homes, status and pensions, nice cars and sumptuous food? What is God's saying to us through this Gospel?

It is not really an option for us as Christians to simply ignore passages of scripture that make us feel uncomfortable or judged. We are called to struggle with scripture to find out how it speaks to us and what message is conveyed to us through its words. I'll be the first to admit that some passages of the bible speak more loudly and powerfully to me than others. The apocalyptic imagery of Revelation doesn't mesmerize me. Likewise the warring and feuding in parts of the Old Testament doesn't move me to faithfulness. And Paul's repetitive working out of Jesus' sacrificial death does not compel me to be a better Christian. You may have your own list of passages and sections of the Bible that you are drawn to or away from. But Luke's Gospel is not irrelevant to our lives. It has some very powerful teachings for us to have to consider.

These Lukan Beatitudes are lesser known than Matthew's Beatitudes. They are shorter for one and they include woes as well as blessings. The context is similar to Matthew in that Jesus was out teaching one day with his disciples and a crowd had gathered. The people, we are told, came to be healed of diseases and troubled spirits. Everyone wanted to touch Jesus. Jesus wants to impart wisdom through teaching. And here is what he teaches: The poor and the hungry and the weeping, along with those who have been excluded are blessed by God, and one day, those tables will be turned. On the flip side, Jesus teaches: the rich, the full, the laughing, the socially accepted will also one day be transformed and they will be hungry, left out of God's realm, and weeping.

How are we to interpret this teaching? Jesus is giving us God's view of the world and God is passing judgment on all of us who are just living it up with little or no regard for others. Luke comforts and Luke announces judgment. If we are on the margins, these would be welcome words for us to hear, if not in this lifetime, then in the one to come. I remember reading books on slave religion in the old south and they had a very developed notion of a heavenly afterlife; their current situations were so horrific and so empty of hope that they clung to a notion of God's blessings in the life to come. Those African American Christians found that hope in the words of the Bible -- in texts like Luke's Beatitudes and many others. Likewise, for those of us living well in the 21st century, we are experiencing such unheralded wealth and luxury, we don't have to imagine heaven any more as that place of abundance. We have it already, here on earth. We have food, clothes, toys, cars, boats, second homes, jewelry, bikes, more than we could have imagined. What is left for our heaven? Peace? Simplicity?

Luke's judgment, I believe, is twofold. First, it is an indictment of our insulated status. There is something that we lose by surrounding ourselves with luxuries and only people who have achieved a certain level of living. If the higher things like faith and love, compassionate giving and relationships are what we are called to pursue, then things get clouded when we just spend our time shopping and spending our wealth. How can we care about the man on the street when we are stepping over him to get into the store for the sale? What time is left to ponder how to feed the millions that are starving in the world when we are busy planning our next vacation or party. The examples in scripture are to pursue justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. No where does God say that we can have it all!!! That money will ensure our faith or our happiness. So, first I believe Luke passes judgment on our insulated status of being surrounded by too many things.

Secondly, Luke wants to offer a word of hope to those whose lives are hurting. Luke wants us to notice that too. That there are people whose lives are so hopeless, so desperate, that they warrant our attention. It is not a pretty sight. It will change us to see despair so raw that it makes us feel sick. I know that everyone who has traveled to certain parts of the world, or skid row, or other places where poverty is displayed and violence is the norm, comes away changed. The responses may differ -- you may not want to go back and see it again. You may want to remove yourself from that reality. Or, you may want to be part of the solution to help turn someone's life around.

I know that people in this church are compassionate and that you care about others. I guess the question for me as I look at this text today is, how much are we called to do? Where do we draw the line between living for ourselves and enjoying the fruits of our labors and living for others? And how do we get help in determining where that line is to be drawn? If you do just a little more than others, are you safe? If you give a 10th of your abundance (time, money, resources) is that enough? If this vision in Luke of a grand reversal is truly God's plan for humanity, what responsibility do we have to make it happen? The Bible doesn't answer the question for us as much as it gives us guidelines: it talks about setting aside a portion for God and others; it talks about offering the first fruits of our harvest instead of the leftovers; it talks about loving God fiercely as much as we love ourselves; it talks about turning to God in prayer when we are making important decisions. Maybe, we also have to just be in community and let good old-fashioned peer pressure guide us. We feel the peer pressure when others buy better cars or houses or take better vacations. We want those too then! What if that peer pressure also came in the form of giving? What if we took note when others signed up to walk the CROP Walk or serve the meal at the Bad Weather Shelter? What if we noticed when others were spending their vacations doing outreach work and we let that influence and inform how we chose to give of our time?

This is a text that doesn't end with a tidy teaching like many others. The Bible has many clear teachings: do not steal, love God with your whole heart, watch! Listen! Kick the dust off your feet if people don't welcome you, welcome home the prodigal, and don't throw the first stone unless you are sinless. By contrast, Luke is announcing the Kingdom of God and what its arrival will look like. We must interpret what that means for us as faithful Christians. It may be an uncomfortable experience for some of us whose values are turned inside out.

May God bless our reading and reflection on texts like this in Luke which make us question. Amen.