Father Gary’s Sermon

Inspired from Luke 6:17-26

Proclaimed on February 15, 2004

A few weeks back was Super Bowl Sunday. Over 800 million people cheered for their favorite team. Careers were on the line. These pressures on careers in professional football are no secret. For example, a sales manager during a meeting used this information to encourage his sales team. As he stated, “I’ve had just about enough of the poor performances and excuses. If you can’t do the job, perhaps there are other sales people out there who would jump at a chance to sell the worthy products that each of you has the privilege to represent.” Then pointing to one of the new sales recruits who was a retired professional football player he continued, “If a football team isn’t winning, what happens? The players are replaced -- right?” A heavy silence followed before the former player answered: “Actually, Sir, if the whole team was having problems we usually got a new coach.”

Like this story, the issue of each of our lives is survival. We want to live, but not just live, but live as fully as possible. However, our survival and the quality of it often depend on how good our leaders are. The Gospel lesson this morning addresses this very issue in a famous sermon given by Jesus.

Leading up to the time of this sermon, the nations of Israel and Judea had a long covenant history of failed leadership. For almost 1000 years they had one judge or one king after another that had failed them. Now, prior to the coming of Jesus, they had 400 years of conquest without a king, except for a brief 100-year period where in a very shaky time of independence they had some of their worst leaders. Now they were a conquered people under Rome. Once again they had no king of their own. They were awaiting and hoping for a new Messiah. For many, Jesus seemed to fill this role. He was God’s new Hebrew messianic coach. Like their first messianic coach whose name was Moses, Jesus climbed a mountain to give the people the new game plays.

When Moses did this, the plays were called the Ten Commandments. When Jesus did it the plays were called the Beatitudes. The commandments of Moses mainly pointed out what not to do, which also happened to be what most people wanted to do. The commandments of Jesus, on the other hand, were more proactive. They outlined all sorts of possibilities, but possibilities that are costly, leading people to not want to do them. If folks thought that the Ten Commandments were tough, the Beatitudes of Jesus were even more tedious.

Often scholarly commentaries point out that Jesus was being too exacting, too uncompromising, and entirely too unrealistic. However, Coach Jesus was not attempting to make his team feel miserable and depressed. Quite the contrary. He was trying to outline a way to ultimate winning and happiness. Therefore, some have referred to the Beatitudes as the “Be attitudes.” Rather than identifying behaviors, they define mental or spiritual attitudes. They outline a quality of life. Proper attitudes promote Godly perseverance.

A little Tibetan story may well illustrate this. When the Chinese army overran Tibet, it perpetrated much cruelty on the Tibetan population. This was especially true of the Tibetan monks, most of who had fled to the mountains. That is, except for one. When a Chinese commander came upon this monk he stated, “Do you know who I am? I am he who can run you through with a sword without batting an eyelash.” The monk stood silent for a while, never losing eye contact. He then replied, “Do you know who I am? I am he who can let you run me through with a sword without batting an eyelash.”

This is the unstated attitude of the Beatitudes. Happiness is absorbing another’s evil without compromising essential goodness. It is seldom easy, but it is the way of love, it is the way of Christ. Coming from Coach Jesus, the Beatitudes represent the manner in which he lived his life. Unlike the former messianic coaches, he was completely successful. However, it cost him his life! But he was awarded not only with eternal life, but he is now the unquestioned eternal messianic coach. Furthermore, he has left we who are his present team with his winning Spirit--the Holy Spirit--which strengthens us, encourages us, comforts us, and allows us to persevere to the ultimate victory.

Sometimes we forget about this Spirit. Sometimes our course of action is inspired by other attitudes. Take for instance the life of Clarence Jordon. After graduating from college he went to seminary to become a minister. While there he earned a Ph.D. in New Testament Greek. Then, instead of going after a big church appointment, which he could easily have attained, to the horror of his friends and the KKK, he started a multi-racial Christian community in Southern Georgia in the early 1940’s called Koinonia. There, with his family of blacks and whites, he would farm and write. Perhaps the most well known of his works are the immensely popular “Cotton Patch Gospels.” But his greatest achievement lay in working with Millard Fuller to start Habitate for Humanity, an international program that builds inexpensive, interest-free homes for the poor.

Sometime in his life, however, the Rev. Clarence Jordan had an invitation from one of his seminary friends to speak at his church. Now this was not just any church. It was a massive, new church building that Jordan was going to help dedicate. Before the service his friend took him through the entire building, showing off his new success. In taking him into the nave of the church, the friend showed off the cushioned pews, the impressive stained-glass windows, and the mighty-sounding new organ. After showing Jordan the cavernous new family life center, the pastor took him outside and pointed with pride to the new cross that seemed almost to touch the clouds. He beamed at it and said, “Clarence, I want you to know that the cross you see there, with all its state-of-the-art lighting, cost us over $15,000--by itself!” A smile came over Jordan’s face. He looked at his pastor friend and said, “You know what? Ya’ll been cheated!” “What!” exclaimed his friend. Jordan, repeating himself, said, “I said, ya’ll have been cheated.” “How’s that?” the pastor asked. Jordan looked at him and said, “It used to be a Christian could get one of those for free!”

Now there is certainly nothing wrong with building huge, new churches. Indeed, we need more of them! But Jordan’s point was more a comment towards his friend’s attitude. The goal of Christian living is not huge monuments. The goal of a Christian life is mission. The building is no good within itself unless it is there for the mission. Clarence Jordan never built a huge, fancy church with a glorious $15,000 cross on top with state-of-the-art lighting. Instead, what he helped build was the largest construction company in the world which would allow everyday Christians like you and me, to take up our crosses by offering up our time and talents to build good, inexpensive interest-free housing for the poor in the name of the Savior.

In essence, Coach Jesus is offering us not only life, but to live life as fully as possible. Our success will come not so much by what wrongs we don’t do, but by the right things we strive to accomplish. It is a matter of attitude, of Coach Jesus’ Be-attitudes--that of sacrificial giving and sacrificial living. As revealed in the life of Coach Jesus as we prepare for the Super Bowl of life, what may appear to be a losing game plan here on earth brings us an ultimate life of victory over death. God has assured all of us that Jesus will always be the ultimate coach, and we will be forever his team of choice. Now that is security--eternal security! It is also happiness that flows from the Holy Spirit, whose indwelling presence gives us the BE-ATTITUDES.