Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
Blessings and Woes
Today’s lesson comes from the Sermon on the Plain—similar to, yet different from, the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5–7. In Luke’s version there are those who are Blessed and those who are faced with Woe. The Blessings and Woes show an understanding of circumstances that appear at the time, and the reversal of those circumstances in a divinely determined future. Luke wanted to tell the whole story of Jesus. He believed that by hearing the complete message one could be saved.
How do we read this lesson in our time and place? The words of Christ serve us at all times and all places. I myself read the list with some trepidation. While I surely believe in the saving grace of Jesus, I feel that I need to put effort behind my belief. I work on my personal bad habits, procrastination being the biggest one. God’s grace is available to all; we have only to ask for it. The picture of Grace I have in mind is Michelangelo’s Creation on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome: God reaching down to Adam while Adam reaches up to God. Grace is mine, but it is an ongoing struggle to keep my focus on God, not on politics, sorrows, and so on. This passage is a good starting place for putting your focus in the right place: God, heaven, love, peace, and joy!
Martha Griffis, Central Moravian Church
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania