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Green Blades Preaching Roundtable

6th Sunday after Epiphany

Year C
February 16, 2025
Rev. Gary Hedding

Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Luke 6:17-26

The season of Epiphany is all about a growing revelation of what God is like through an examination of the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Epiphanies are moments when Jesus becomes clearer, when we go “Oh, now I get it!”. Not necessarily the whole thing but a piece of the puzzle that is God in flesh and blood. One of the ways in which clarity and understanding can be presented is through comparison and contrast. It isn’t just “this is what I am about”, but it is also “and this is what I am not about”.

 

Today’s lessons bring clarity through a pattern of “definitely this; definitely not that”.

 

The gospel text from Luke is the Sermon on the Plain. The opening scene is one of Jesus bringing thriving life to the people who have gathered from “Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon”. They hear him, are healed, troubling unclean spirits are cast out, and touching Jesus was a connection to healing power. Then Jesus speaks and delivers Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. Jesus proclaims blessing on people who are just poor - not poor in spirit; simply hungry now - not for justice but for food; people who weep - not only because they are mourning but for all kinds of sadness; blessing on those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed because they sought a thriving life from the Son of Man.

 

Now comes the comparison and contrast, so there is no mistake. Woe to the rich; to those who can’t finish the whole meal; whose life is full of laughter now; who enjoy the accolades of others. Woe! ‘Woe’ in the Bible refers to grief, anguish, affliction, calamity, or judgment. It is the one word that we do not want to hear directed at us from the mouth of God. We who are rich and full and have great senses of humor, might want a little nuance on the “woe”, and, while we are at it, perhaps at least some nuance for the poor, hungry, and weeping who are blessed. Can’t there be some additional metrics that take into consideration the concept of merit?

 

The accompanying texts provide some nuance, or do they? The psalm contrasts those who delight in the law of the LORD, who are like trees planted by streams of water which are full of green leaves and fruit with the wicked who are like chaff that the wind blows away. They do not stand up to judgment nor do they stand in the congregation. A clear contrast. There is ample evidence that those who delight in the law are very good to widows, orphans, and the stranger, while the wicked are all caught up in their own advantage and privilege, so maybe less nuance than we would have hoped for.

 

Jeremiah tells us that trusting in mere mortals and mere flesh is not a source of strength after all. Theirs is a desert existence unrelieved by water, it is a parched place and an uninhabitable salt flat. Meanwhile, those who trust God live like a tree by water with no fear that the heat will wither them, no anxiety when drought hits them and they will always bear fruit. The contrast clarifies things. The principles that are presented by mere mortals are seriously flawed, and as such will fail, while the “Torah” of God will be a blessing for all and for all time.

 

The 1 Corinthian text compares the life of faith that takes Jesus’ resurrection seriously with those who just see it as wishful thinking or a metaphor for something nice. Rejection of resurrection, either ours or Jesus’, is a futile faith that has no power to bring a thriving life now. Our sins are unforgiven because Jesus hasn’t really won that battle either. The dead have really perished, God’s love of life is a joke, and we should be pitied. “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead; the first fruits of those who have died.” It is a faith that proclaims God’s love of life prevails, faith is not just whistling in the dark, and sins, which are associated with death, are truly forgiven and the new life in Christ is placed in us by God’s grace.

 

The connections with God’s rich planet are right in the texts. Trees, streams, and fruitfulness are God’s gifts of life - even desert plants can be seen to thrive if in more challenging conditions. When humans choose not to work alongside of an environment but wrench it into something it is not, then we are seeking riches and overly full plates, and fail to care for the way we impoverish the land, waters, air, and soil. That does not go unnoticed by God. God’s Holy Spirit calls us to be presences in the world that, like Jesus in the Luke text, encourage thriving life and healing - not just amongst humans but also among God’s beloved Creation. We are called to use our gifts to be a blessing to the poor ones, hungry ones, weeping ones, and hated ones, not just enjoy God’s gracious blessings. When our actions poison the ground, starve plants and animals, heat the planet so whole ecological niches are ruined, God says “Woe to you”, there will be consequences. By and large the consequences are built into Creation. God doesn’t have to work overtime to think up punishments. When we destroy or degrade our home, we destroy what God loves and what we, ultimately, rely on for our own thriving lives. God’s shout of “Woe” is a loving warning much more than a disgusted explicative (although probably some of that, too). God’s “Woe” is a sign of respect for us. We are God’s people. God has made us so that we are more than selfish avarice. We were entrusted with care for Creation because God has given us power, inspired by Jesus’ touch, to heal Creation. May the Holy Spirit fill us with Christ’s resurrection and lead us out of futility and pity to faithful, purposeful action.

Rev. Gary Hedding
Rev. Gary Hedding
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Gary Hedding is a retired pastor who graduated from Luther Seminary in 1978. He served his internship in Brooklyn, NY. His first call was Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Coloma, WI; then as associate pastor and later lead pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Marshfield, WI; followed by serving six years as assistant to the bishop in the Northwest Synod of WI; then as pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, IA. Gary has been retired since 2018.
Gary is married to Linda and they live in Chippewa Falls, WI with their dog, Strider
Their daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons live in the Fort Worth, TX and their son and daughter-in-law and one granddaughter live in Eau Claire, WI. Gary enjoys wilderness canoe tripping, sprint triathlons, fishing and hunting, reading science fiction and urban fantasy, and vegetable gardening.

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