Homily for 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2019
Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:12,16-20; Luke 6: 17,20-26
Introduction
What if I were to tell you that something you really thought was right was actually wrong, and something you thought was wrong was actually right!
As someone who has lived away from my home country I often encounter such a reversal of values. For example, I have learnt that in this country, when you are speaking to someone you should look them in the eye; it is a sign of honesty and respect. But growing up in Uganda I was taught that looking someone in the eye, especially an older or more important person means the exact opposite; it is a suggestion that you are equals and so is sign of disrespect.
Scripture and Theology
The disciples of Jesus were in for a far more profound reversal of values when Jesus taught them the sermon on the Beatitudes that we just heard. Jesus reversed the fortunes of those who experience these four forms of suffering:
Poverty: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours."
Hunger: "Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied."
Tears: "Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh."
Persecution: "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven."
And just in case, they did not understand his message, in this version of the Beatitudes from the gospel of Luke, he takes four things that we would normally consider blessings and calls them woes or curses.
Riches: "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."
Satisfaction: "Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry."
Laughter: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep."
Praise: "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."
And so, why is Jesus turning things upside down, by saying that poverty, hunger, tears and persecution bring about blessings, happiness and a reward in heaven? Why is Jesus reversing the fortunes of those who posses riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise and turning them into woes or curses?
In my case, I am able to resolve the clash of cultural customs, by simply following the expected behaviour of the place where I am. I look Americans in the eye when I am talking to them, but I don't look my mom in eye and I get to live another day. And I am able to do this, because really the difference between the two cultures is not in the fundamental value of respect, but merely in how each cultures expresses that value of respect.
But in the case of Jesus, he is not merely reversing the manner of expressing these values, but is actually reversing the values themselves. For Moses, also teaching from a mountain like Jesus was doing here, had given the people of Israel a different set of values. In Deuteronomy he had essentially told them that if they obeyed the Lord, they would these blessings from the him:
Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out (Deut. 28:3-6).
But now Jesus, the new Moses, if you like, the new Sheriff in town is saying that what brings you blessing are not these things like riches and material success.
We can turn to the reading from Jeremiah to understand why Jesus turns things around. Jeremiah says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” And then he adds: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.” It all boils down to the issue of trust, the issue of fundamental values. Where does one find one's inner strength, one's ultimate fulfilment? For both Jeremiah and Jesus, one's ultimate trust, strength and fulfilment cannot come from worldly things: riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise. It must come from God, even if trusting in God means suffering through poverty, hunger, tears and persecution.
Jeremiah goes on to explain the difference between these two approaches using two examples. Those who trust in human beings and human things are “like a barren bush in the desert” that does not get any nutrients. There is no nourishment from that arid ground. But those who trust in the Lord are “like a tree planted beside the waters” whose roots go into the water and receive nourishment, receive what gives them life, even during a drought.
And so, Jesus is not condemning riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise in themselves; nor is he extolling poverty, hunger, weeping and persecution in themselves. That would not make sense. What he is condemning is the complete reliance on passing things of the flesh, and the complete avoidance, at all costs, of those sufferings that come about because of being his disciples.
Christian Life
This reversal of values preached to the people of his time is also particularly relevant for us today. In the past two to three hundred years especially, man has achieved some great things: discovered penicillin and other medicines that have cured many diseases, flight technology that makes it possible to travel from New Orleans to Los Angeles without people trying to shoot at you, computers that have changed the way we communicate and the amount of knowledge at our disposal. But perhaps this material success has come at a cost; for like Jeremiah warned, we trust, find strength only in human efforts, not in God.
That is why even today we must try to seek our blessing from Jesus' four beatitudes of poverty, hunger, weeping and persecution rather than from the four corresponding curses of riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise.
For while possession of material riches can console us on this side of heaven, it is a willingness to do without that assures us that "the kingdom of God is yours." A businessperson or employee, for example, who because they treasure the values of God rather than the values of the world, will take a smaller profit or a smaller pay-check, when they could take a bigger one but an immoral one.
In the second beatitude and its corresponding curse, the Lord also invites us to substitute present satisfaction with present hunger, so that in the future, we can be satisfied. We must not settle for passing things, but must seek our fulfilment in the higher things of God. The Catholic practices of fasting and abstinence are examples of present hunger that will bring future satisfaction in the Kingdom.
The third beatitude about weeping and its corresponding curse about laughing remind us that our current state of sadness or joy is not permanent and in fact will be reversed. Many Christians undergoes suffering of all kinds, in the sure hope after the example of Jesus' own suffering and death, they will be blessed.
And the final beatitude and curse about personal reputation reminds us that it is better to have a bad name among people because of being and doing good, rather than a good name because of being and doing bad. I have found the recent popes, especially Benedict XVI and Francis, as perfect models of this beatitude; for rather than run in a popularity contest, they simply do God's work.
Conclusion
Finally, as with all things, Jesus did not teach, what he himself did not undergo. He was poor, having nowhere to lay his head. He was hungry, fasting for 40 days in the desert. He wept not only for Lazarus his friend, but especially during the Passion. And he was called names. And now he sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. May we follow his example so as to have his destiny.
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