Jeremiah 17:5-10 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Luke 6:17-26 Psalm 1

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.

They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.

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We really are turtles on a fencepost who think we got there all by ourselves. From Luke’s Gospel lesson for today, Jesus has some rather harsh words for us who want it all and want it now and are under the assumption that we can get it all by ourselves.

When we reflect on what kind of people we would be if we could have it all and have it now, our ears tune to Jesus’ words of woe to the wealth seekers gathered there on the plain.  When we reflect on the danger of misinterpreting our material prosperity as being attainable through our own efforts, the words begin to pound on our ears.

With these reflections, confronted with the question of why bad things happen to good people, we see the question in reverse:  What if bad things never happened?  What if bad things [loss of job, poor health, death of loved one] only happened to “bad” people?  Where do we draw the line between who’s good and who’s bad?  What if poverty was in direct relation to “badness,” and wealth in direct relation to our “goodness”?  Imagine the judgment we would inflict upon our neighbors every time they experienced hardship.

Well, we’re certainly not bad people, so we must have gotten on top of our fencepost by ourselves?  Jesus is warning us that when we become bathed in our self-satisfaction, God becomes an afterthought.  Woe to us.

Jesus confronts us with the fact that when our joy and peace are based on our materialistic prosperity, God becomes an afterthought; our faith falls hostage to shallow uncertain illusions; our discipleship is half-hearted at best. Woe to us.

In contrast, among the crowd seeking Jesus on the plain are those who have come for healing.  These among the crowd, desperate for healing, are clinging to every word from Jesus’ mouth. God is not an afterthought; there is no half-heartedness in their desire to follow; they have found the firm foundation for which they are searching.  They have found healing through their awareness of dependency on the divine grace offered to all through Jesus Christ.  They are blessed by their awareness of their dependency on God.

When we step out into a snowstorm without our coats, we may be able to keep moving and keep ourselves relatively warm and alive for a period of time, but eventually, we are going to freeze to death.  When we recognize our dependency on warm clothing before we step out into the freezing cold, then we can survive in the elements for the necessary period of time.  Similarly, perhaps we can make it on our own in our earthly endeavors for a while, with God as an afterthought, but the inadequacy of our self-sufficiency inevitably becomes an obvious conclusion.

The conclusion of our dependency on divine grace is our first step toward discipleship. Jesus is demonstrating divine grace in the healing of the people on the plain; Jesus is bringing the message of hope to the poor and the hungry who are completely disposed to their dependency on divine grace; but, Jesus’ primary purpose is to confront the great crowd of disciples in his audience with the consequences of their discipleship – to confront the disciples with their responsibility to the poor and hungry. Did you miss that element in the first line of our Gospel lesson for today?  Within Jesus’ audience was a “great crowd of disciples.”

Two thousand years later, Jesus continues to confront his disciples – the Church – and WE are the Church – with the consequences of our discipleship.

Our first step toward discipleship is to realize we don’t get on that fencepost by ourselves; we are dependent upon God; our foundation is divine grace.  If our material prosperity is our assumed reward on earth, Jesus warns that it is an empty reward; and, it is of no significance to our spiritual prosperity.

Our second step toward discipleship is recognizing the poor and hungry among us and acknowledging our responsibility to provide food and healing and hope.  It is our responsibility as the Church to turn the world upside down in its understanding that true wealth is in spiritual prosperity, and that materialistic hardship is not an indication of God’s displeasure.  In fact, it is through our hardship on earth that we are challenged again and again to return to God and discover the blessing of humility.  We might lose our jobs; we might lose our good health; we might lose loved ones dear to us; but we never lose God.  This is our radical message for the world.

We want it all and we want it now.  Jesus wants all of us to be his disciples, and he wants us now.  Through Jesus Christ we have it all and we have it now; we are rich in faith.  We shall be as a tree planted by water, sending out it roots by the stream, roots reaching immeasurable blessings upon the poor and hungry.  Blessed are we.