Sermon On The Plain

Reflection for the 6th Sunday after Epiphany. Thomas E Wilson Guest Pastor St. Luke/St. Anne, Roper and Grace, Plymouth February 16, 2025 Jeremiah 17:5-10 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Luke 6:17-26 Psalm 1 Sermon on the Plain In the Gospel of Matthew there is a section called the Beatitudes, where Jesus gathers a large group of followers on a Mountain and tells them what it means to follow him in Blessings and Woes. Matthew sees Jesus as the new lawgiver, remembering Moses, the revered law giver of the past, setting down the law on Mount Sinai. The writer of the Gospel of Luke has a similar story which remembers Jesus the day he comes down from a mountain and gathers his followers on a plain. This story sees Jesus not as a lawgiver but a giver of Grace; addressing a group of followers on a plain, blessing the space between them as they are all in this together. So which is the true story; the mount or the plain? And the answer of course is “Yes!”. Chances are that these collections of Blessings and Woes were part of a collection of Jesus sayings that were remembered by different communities of faith and were part of their worship for decades, before they were written down in the Gospel formats.They are reminders that there is joy in following Jesus and yet, there will be hard times as well when Grace will be hard to find. For decades the Christian communities held on to hope in the promise and for centuries we are part of those who hold on to hope in that promise. This belief in a power greater than oneself is also the theme of the first lesson for today from Jeremiah, who sees the exiles returning from Babylon to the ruins of Jerusalem . He urged them not to hope for a return to the past for Jerusalem; it is time to begin a whole new way of living, a hope in someone greater than themselves. He warns “ Cursed are they who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength. whose hearts turn away from the Lord.” This hope is echoed in Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians who urges them to find the hope that there is a power in the resurrection that gives them strength to make it through each day. He writes:”If for this life only that we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people to be pitied, But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.” I am reminded of the Wedding ceremony where a couple makes a series of promises about being together for better or worse. When I would do premarital counseling with couples, I would have them tell me about how they were able to resolve difficulties. Relationships are never free from strife. There is a need for rhem, and indeed us,to have a belief in a power greater than themselves that can help them find love, even in the rough times. There are times in each of our lives when we just want to give up. I know something about that. About 22 months ago in June of 2023, my wife of 34 years died. I was not sure I wanted to keep on living. Both of us had worked hard on keeping the marriage together; we had both known divorce and how to give up; but we did not want to let go of each other’s love and forgiveness. She is no longer here to remind me that I was loved, and she can no longer hear me say how much she is loved. I am lucky for my daughter, my step daughter and stepson, and our friends and many of my former parishioners and neighbors who keep reminding me of what a treasure she was. It is one of the reasons I don’t want to move, because I need people who knew and honored her, to feed and honor my memory of her. I have no idea of what the future holds for me, or for you; but we have to live each day, one day at a time. Let us all give thanks for the memories as we are walking into a future we cannot control..Yet, we have the promise that like the exiles returning to Jerusalem, like the apostle Paul holding on to hope, like the crowds on the plain listening to the words of strength from Jesus; all of them to face each blessed new day that we are given in this life. It is the time for us to ask; where are we called to be? We are called to be there for our neighbors. Frederick Buechner in his “Spiritual Gifts” wrote “ The place Calls you to be is the place where your deepest gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet!” Today, where are each of us called to be?