Rev. Peter Mantell
PRAYER: God who came and walked among us, open our eyes that we may see your blessings all around us. Enable us to envision your hope and to strive to make your Kingdom a reality here among us. May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
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There is an element of our culture that prefers some people remain invisible to them. The homeless, certainly is an example of that. There are often policies put in place to ensure that polite society is kept separate from those who have either chosen or been forced to live on the streets. But more than that, there’s often this reality that people who have achieved what we might call success – whether through hard work or privilege – would prefer there be an element of invisibility to others who don’t fit within their narrative.
We’re seeing that right now as there are overt attacks on anyone who does not fit into the narrow scope of the ruling class. Where we had once made headway acknowledging the diversity of the other groups, where our culture was coming to terms with understanding a more checkered history than we were taught as children, we are now seeing some backpedaling from that progress. Schools are now being told to not teach about things like the Trail of Tears, the 1921 massacre in Tulsa, Stonewall, the history of lynching, and even the contributions of women.
For anyone in those marginalized groups, it’s about representation. Imagine being a child who knows that they are different… knows that they don’t fit in with the narrative that they’ve been told, and yet the never get to see any representation in culture, whether in books or theater, TV or movies, or even their own neighborhood. They develop a sense of being invisible, of not being seen.
It’s a form of gaslighting to teach children a narrative that does not include them and make them feel as though they don’t belong, they are unworthy of being seen simply because they are different from the story being taught.
God sees them.
God sees the people who are struggling to get by. God sees the people who are suffering because of their socio-economic station in life. God sees those who are suffering because of their skin color. God sees the people who’ve faced abuse at the hands of a spouse. God sees the people who have fallen victim to human trafficking. God sees the people stuck in the swamp of addiction. God sees the teenager who’s been thrown out of their home because they’ve come out of the closet. And I guess the question for us is: do we see those people that God sees? Does our heart break for the same people for whom God’s heart breaks?
In the verses just before today’s passage, Jesus had been up on a mountain praying all night. When the sun comes up, he calls together twelve of his followers and makes them apostles. Then he comes down to a level place and starts to teach. People are gathering from all over the place to come hear him. Many are walking several days just to be in his presence. This crowd of people is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles alike, all coming to listen to this itinerant rabbi.
Luke writes, “All in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.” Last week, we read about how Jesus tried to get some distance between himself and the crowds by getting into a boat. But this time, Jesus is right in the middle of the crowd sending out healing power to everyone within reach. We read a similar story in our Tuesday Bible study about the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak. And I think it’s important for us to take note of the fact that Jesus is not differentiating between who is Jewish and who is not. He heals anyone and everyone while standing amongst them all.
So here is Jesus, standing on level ground. Here is God incarnate, standing amongst a broken humanity demonstrating to each person that he sees them. He is standing amongst them declaring that these same broken people who are suffering at the hands of an oppressive regime, these same people who are struggling to feed their families, these same people whose struggles make them feel as though they are invisible… that he sees them.
He tells them, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” They were ALL poor! “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.” They were ALL hungry! “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. They were all right there with him. He saw his audience and he spoke to their invisibility. He saw them for who they were.
And then he says, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” That surely was good news to his audience! “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” I would bet that there was nobody in that crowd who, when Jesus addressed the rich, the full, the laughing, thought to themselves, “Oh he’s talking about me.”
From a standpoint of – well, pretty much everyone – it sounds like Jesus has everything backwards. In that world – as much as in our world – it is the wealthy and the well-fed who are blessed. Back in the 1980s, there was a show on TV called “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” There was never a show – ever – called “Lifestyles of the Poor and Destitute.” Jesus’ words blessing the poor and saying woe to the well-off seem to go against everything we see and hear all the time. We are supposed to believe that riches, food, and privilege and prestige are all good for us and not having these things is the source of woe.
But don’t worry. Jesus isn’t telling us that we should all aspire to poverty. Jesus isn’t telling us that if we have a nice bank account or drive a nice car, that we should throw it all away. What he’s actually doing here – he’s pointing to the common theme in these four statements of blessing and the common theme in these four statements of woe. He is saying that we are blessed when we are God-centered, regardless of our earthly circumstances, and we find woe whenever we are self-centered. Jesus is saying that God is present with us, even when it feels like the world has abandoned us; that God loves us, even when everyone else hates us. We find blessing in seeking God, being hungry for God. And we find blessings in loving the people God loves… in seeing the people that God sees.
When Jesus announces woe to those who are rich, who eat well, and enjoy fame and admiration from people, he isn’t saying that wealth, good food, and popularity are bad things; he is saying that when we are focused on satisfying our own appetites, we have turned our attention away from God, and our self-centeredness will be our spiritual doom.
When we seek God, the deeper we pursue discipleship, we more feel the pain and sorrow God feels for people who are hurting. Our heart breaks for that which breaks God’s heart. We are then inspired in our faith to stand up to injustice. We are compelled in our faith to affirm that every human being is worthy of love in God’s sight. When we are hungry for God, we want the things God wants.
Jesus is acknowledging how things are (people are hungry; people are poor; people are cast aside in our culture by closed mindedness and fear). And he is stating unequivocally how things should be in the Kingdom of God (that people are fed, people are filled, people will find joy). The things we value in this world have no value in God’s economy. In God’s economy, the only thing that has value is grace. God’s economy levels the playing field for everyone. And that’s how we should be operating in our world, on God’s economy of grace.
That is not comfortable for us because, whether or not we want to admit it, we often prefer the way the world elevates some and values others less. When we are on top looking down, the view is pretty sweet. It’s nice when nothing stands in the way of what we want to see. And we certainly don’t like being on the bottom looking up either.
That’s why, in our story today, Jesus meets us on a level plain. From a level plain, Jesus is able to make eye contact with all of the people who have come to him. He was standing amongst them and he could see each of them. From that vantage point – even with the rest of a broken humanity, Jesus stands there looking us in the eye. God sees them. And God sees you.
God sees you, whether you are poor or rich, and Christ names your poverty or your wealth for what it is. He isn’t encouraging you to get rich or become poor. Instead, he is inviting you to put everything at his disposal and follow him. He sees you. He knows you – the real you, not the good face you put on so others will think well of you.
God sees you and will stand with you on the level place. When it’s hard to see, when things are going in the wrong direction, when you’re suffering in silence and feeling as though you’re invisible, Jesus is standing there with you, accompanying you, offering comfort and healing.
As we strive to understand what it means to be disciples, let’s remember what it means to each of us to know that God sees our suffering, God sees our struggles, God sees us when we begin to lose hope. And as we come to terms with that understanding, how we respond says as much about our own discipleship when we see the hunger in others. When we hear the cry of the needy and when we stand up to injustice, when we see as God sees, and respond as God would have us respond, we are being disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
God sees you. And when you see the face of those who are struggling, who are suffering, you see God. Let’s make it our goal for 2025 to stand in solidarity and see those people who are made invisible by an uncaring unloving world. Let our love shine forth – shining so that no one is unseen.
To God be the glory.
