Christ Church Wayville

SERMONS

Deidre Palmer

CHRIST CHURCH SERMON February 11th, 2007 10a.m.

LUKE 6:17-26 The Sermon on the Plain
He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
For you will be filled.
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.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
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.

“Becoming Communities of Christ”
NCYC
In January this year there was a revolutionary gathering of 900 people here in Australia. The gathering didn’t hit the news headlines. They didn’t need police in riot gear to control the crowd. When the crowd became restless and began shouting slogans and calling for revolutionary change – significant shifts in foreign policy and, changes in the global economic system they didn’t need tear gas to disperse the protesters, perhaps its what we may describe as a quiet revolution….

I was present at the gatherings. I have photographs of some of the revolutionaries to show you this morning, I can’t show them to everybody, but the group understand that you are sympathisers, friendly to the revolution, so you can see their faces without the usual cover to protect their identity.

You may have already guessed where this revolutionary gathering was held – it was held in Perth. It was the Uniting Church’s biennial National Christian Youth Convention. NCYC. A convention that probably a number of you have attended over the years.
A group of about 100 South Australians joined 800 other people from all over Australia and overseas to take part in NCYC.

You may be wondering, what’s revolutionary about them? These look like your typical “nice” youth and young adults.

But what they desire is nothing short of a revolution in the way we live…
The theme of the Convention was “Agents of Change” I had the privilege of being there as one of the Bible Study speakers.
In the first study we reflected on the visions of hope that God calls us to live out.. Visions of hope that we see in the Gospel of Luke and other parts of the New Testament and Hebrew Scriptures.
In the third study the participants were encouraged to take the risk and live the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus that is expressed in the Sermon on the Plain that we are reflecting on this morning.

Focus on the Text
From the beginning of Luke’s Gospel there are suggestions of a call for revolutionary change – the kind of change that turns our world around, calls us to go back to our roots and reassess who we are and how we are living.
In the first chapter of Luke we hear on the lips of Mary, the announcement of revolutionary change, her song of praise, the Magnificat. In that song she declares: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed…. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly,, he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy….” (Luke 1:46-55)

Then, in chapter 4, In Jesus’ sermon at Nazareth, where he announces the program of his ministry – he declares, with the words of Isaiah,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus, anointed by the Spirit of God offers a word of hope and calls for a reversal of all those situations in which people are exploited, oppressed, sick and burdened.

Here again in the sermon in Luke 6, that we have heard this morning, Jesus’ instruction to his disciples suggests that God’s saving actions that are taking place in the disciples’ lifetime will include an
embracing of people on the margins and a challenging of the wealthy and those in power religiously and politically
Brendan Byrne in his commentary on this text notes that the revolutionary thread that is woven through Jesus’ message and ministry arises from his vision of God:
“All ultimately rests upon a particular vision of God – a God who has pledged to act on behalf of the poor and marginalized rather than the rich and well off. The Beatitudes (and the Woes) are provocative both for the poor and for the rich. But they do not suggest that the poor should be content with their lot and passively accept it. By calling the poor blessed, they maintain that God has adopted the side of the poor and will reverse the situation. The poor can only benefit from the action of God. The rich have much to lose. ….It is because God is as Jesus proclaims God to be, that the poor are blessed…..” (The Hospitality of God, Brendan Byrne, p. 66)

When Jesus delivered that Sermon on that day – it was part of his ongoing ministry – to form a community of disciples who would see the world differently, would begin to imagine the world differently because of Jesus’ person and message – that God is reversing the order of things – the poor and the hungry will be embraced and included at the centre, those in power will need to change.

Being a Community of Christ
We are such a community of disciples this morning. Christ has gathered us together and formed us in a different way of seeing and being in the world. We know this sermon – we can probably almost recite it by heart…

We are being and becoming a community of Christ when we create an environment where those who are poor are blessed, the hungry are fed, and those who are distressed or persecuted find comfort and the hospitality of God among us.

We are being and becoming a community of Christ when the values that shape us are ones of advocacy for justice for all, a distribution of resources that alleviates poverty and addresses its causes.

We are being and becoming a community of Christ, when what we own, the money we earn, our status in the wider community are not the measure of who we are or how we are regarded, but rather our identity is centred in the compassion and hospitality of the God we see in Jesus – one whose presence and ministry heralded a revolution in the way we live and relate to each other.

The Uniting Church has certainly sought to be such a community in our work through UnitingCare, through our work in Justice and solidarity areas, through our partnership with asylum seekers and refugees. Through the partnerships that local churches have forged with various local community members who are needing support and empowerment.

On the final day of NCYC the focus was on commissioning people to be agents of change in the world – back in the communities from which we had all come.
One of the questions I asked on that day was:
From what community do you currently find support and encouragement for you to use your gifts and be sustained in Christian ministry and mission?
I encouraged the participants to find communities and networks of people that would support and inspire them.
Some of their stories were hopeful – they are already part of healthy community networks – local churches, Synod and presbytery networks. Some of them had come because their local congregations had paid for them to be there and were very supportive of their ministry and gifts. There were some though who were returning to communities that would not understand or even listen to them.

God’s call to us is both personal and communal. It’s God’s intention that we live in community, supporting one another, loving one another, and inspiring each other to live faithfully.

One of the features of NCYC was a focus on the Micah Challenge which is a Christian initiative arising from the Make Poverty History campaign. They encouraged people to “raise their voice, break the silence and make poverty history” The campaign focuses on the eight millennium development goals.
There are various suggestions in this campaign as to what individuals, and communities can do to address issues of local and global poverty.

Some of you may own or have seen the Make poverty history wristbands.

When they first came out we bought several and my youngest daughter wears hers to school most days. When we first bought them I thought they were a little ridiculous – what good does wearing a plastic wristband do for the poor of the world, just makes us feel better…

And of course we need to do much more than buy and wear a wristband.

However, I have been staggered by the number of people who wear them and the variety of places where I’ve seen them. Many people at NCYC wore them, but I’ve also seen them at concerts, in stores, where I’ve been served by staff wearing them, I’ve seen them at sports events, shopping malls, on planes, in schools etc..

They remind us that there are many others who share the vision of Making poverty history – others that care about creating a more just global economic system.
This campaign highlights the formational and sustaining power of community – of knowing there are others who are seeking to live this countercultural life of which Jesus speaks in the Sermon on the Plain.

It’s not easy to live out the vision that Jesus paints and embodies in Luke’s Gospel. We have heard this Sermon over and over again, but it doesn’t mean living it gets any easier.
If we are numbered among the globally wealthy, its uncomfortable to hear the “Woes” that are directed at us --- this is a call to conversion… an ongoing one
As a church we respond to this call in a variety of ways. We give our own money to projects that support sustainable economic development locally and globally. We negotiate with governments so that our policy reflects justice and compassion for our most vulnerable members. We try individually not to get sucked into the conspicuous consumption of unnecessary goods that clutter our lives and fog our vision.
It is an ongoing struggle.

The text speaks about being blessed when people hate you, exclude you, revile you and defame you on the account of the Son of Man
When I asked the group at NCYC – what were some of the risks of following the way of Jesus – one of them named being ostracised, left out of the group, - none of us like to live this way – excluded, ostracised, but for youth in school settings, being ostracised can be particularly cruel.

But the risks of following the way of Jesus can place our lives in jeopardy.
It put the life of Eko Berotabui in jeopardy. Some of you may have heard through the Uniting Church e-mail network, that last weekend we had news that Eko Berotabui, son of the Moderator of our partner church in Papua had died.
He was in his 20s – the age of many of those young people at NCYC. A young person seeking to live out his faith – supported by the wider church community. Supported by the Uniting Church through our partnership with the GKI in Papua.
Lyn Leane and Jenni Price Hughes circulated the following:
“Eko had served about six months of the 3 year prison term handed down last year, following the lengthy court cases which issued from last year’s “Abepura incident” and died in hospital. Eko was buried on Saturday from the family home.
All sorts of messages and rumours are reaching the UCA from Papua and suspicious circumstances can neither be ruled out nor proven. This means that at this stage the UCA has no effective means of bringing this event to the attention of the Australian government. Please pray for Moderator Corinus Berotabui and all of Eko’s family, as well as the church in Papua and the Australians who work together in partnership with the Papuan church.”
The church in Papua is struggling for justice for its own people. and those associated with the struggle are at great risk.
If we are to be revolutionary agents of change we will need to form and sustain strong Christian community in the face of matters of life and death.
We will do this in part: By being who we are called to be.. A community which seeks justice, shares its resources, throws its substantial gifts and energy into living the way of Jesus.

The communities formed at NCYC’s are temporary. They are inspirational gatherings that fuel our passion to follow the way of Jesus. The NCYC in Perth was a revolutionary gathering a community that drew people into a vision of being agents of change – making a difference in the world, doing justice, being hopeful because of God’s reign and desire for us.

That same community will probably never be together again, but local church communities, including this one at Christ Church have the power to be part of the quiet revolution – a long term community that is committed to formation and faithfulness over years – a community that is living out the teachings of Jesus. A community that provides a safe haven for the passionate vision of those who give their heart and mind and lives to the vision of the Reign of God that is embodied in Jesus.

The Spirit empowered Jesus and sustained and empowered the early church. The Spirit is present among us today as the One who now commissions us to be Christ’s agents of change.
We are part of a National church and part of local churches which take seriously God’s call to embody the good news of Christ in ways that touch on every aspect of people’s lives. The Spirit inspires, encourages and challenges us to follow Jesus courageously and boldly, offering God’s grace and hope through our life and mission as the Church.
As a community of Christ in this place we are called to mutually encourage one another and remind ourselves of the power of God that is released in us when we act together as agents of God’s vision and mission.

God loves the world in which we live and God’s grace and activity is evident in many places. We are called to engage in the world in such a way, that we are not simply mirrors of the culture around us, but reflections of the grace and compassion of God in our world. The Holy Spirit empowers the community of Christ to be courageous enough to be countercultural in the face of all those things which threaten to dehumanise, or exploit or prevent people from flourishing as human beings., When we are countercultural in this way we become revolutionary agents of change. (May God make it so for us). Amen.

AGENTS OF CHANGE
Lyrics: Kym Pryor; Music: Andrew Winton

Our Lord, our God, we come with joy
Agents of change you call us to be
You lift us up your hope and love
Open our hearts and help us to see
Though there are times we feel alone
You gave your word you’re always near
We lift our voices raised in song
Unite us as we gather here

Our Lord, our God, we pray with joy
Agents of change you ask us to be
We all have parts we’re called to play
Within your diverse ministry
Our gifts we bring to you
Come guide your agents in this place
That we might show by how we live
Your message – love and peace and grace

Agents, Agents of change, your agents (x4)

Our Lord, our God we shout for joy
To change the world you are the key
You lift us up, let hope and love
Shine through us for the world to see
Our lord our God we come with joy
Agents of change you call us to be
You lift us up your hope and love
Open our hearts and help us to see
And as we go take different roads
We know that we’ve got nothing to fear
For you walk with us all the way
Inspire us as we go from here