Luke 6:17-26 (6th Sunday After Epiphany) – February 16, 2025

Introduction of the Narrative Context

Luke’s Gospel could be called the Gospel of the marginalized. From the very beginning, Luke presents a vision of God’s kingdom where the lowly are lifted up, the outsiders are brought in, and the last are made first. Unlike Matthew, who begins Jesus’ lineage with Abraham, Luke connects Jesus all the way to Adam, emphasizing his mission for all humanity. Unlike Mark, who rushes from one event to another, Luke lingers in storytelling, highlighting Jesus’ encounters with those who society most often overlooks or even rejects (shepherds, widows, the sick, tax collectors, and sinners). Luke is deeply concerned with the poor, the oppressed, and the forgotten, constantly returning to the theme of God’s radical inclusion.

This theme comes up in the Magnificat, in Jesus’ first public moment in the synagogue in Nazareth, and now in a powerful moment in Luke 6, where Jesus delivers a sermon that continues to upend the perceptions of the system around him.

Unlike Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus speaks from the “mount”, Luke’s version (often called the Sermon on the Plain) has Jesus standing on level ground with the people. This is no accident. Jesus’ posture signals that his message is not coming from above to below, but from within. Among the people who need to hear it most. It also brings everyone level with him (the rich and the poor, the laughing and the crying, the hungry and the fed).

So, what do we do with Luke’s leveling beatitudes?

Luke’s Beatitudes

Luke’s Gospel does not soften Jesus’ words. In Matthew’s version of the beatitudes, we hear “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” which can be interpreted as a more internal or spiritual reality. But Luke gives us no such buffer. Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor.” Not the spiritually humble, but simply the poor. Blessed are the hungry, the weeping, the hated. There is no distance between Jesus and those who are suffering. He speaks to them directly, not offering empty promises but the deep assurance that the kingdom of God belongs to them.

But Jesus does not stop at blessings. He follows with woes, a series of warnings directed at those who are comfortable: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.” These words sting because they reveal a truth we often avoid. That comfort can lead us into isolation. It can lull us into complacency, convincing us that because we are well-fed and secure, all is right with the world. But Jesus reminds us that wealth, status, and the world’s approval do not equate to God’s blessing. In fact, they can be barriers to seeing the kingdom at work.

These words would have been just as shocking then as they are today. Jesus is not condemning wealth or joy in themselves, but he is warning against complacency. Those who are comfortable must now recognize that God’s kingdom does not revolve around their comfort. No, God’s kingdom is about justice, mercy, and lifting up those in need. God’s kingdom seeks to ensure that all have enough. Not just to survive, but to thrive.

This passage forces us to ask hard questions: Where do we find ourselves in this text? Do we hear these blessings and assume they are for us, while the woes simply apply to others? Or do we allow Jesus’ words to challenge our assumptions, reorienting us toward God’s vision of justice and grace? Allowing God’s vision to show us that not all is right in the world.

Preaching Possibilities

This week there is an easy path forward into preaching about what is going on in our nation and our world. But as you set pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, please think about how your words can be heard. That is not me saying pull your punches or saying don’t address what is happening. That is me saying choose the words that “can” be heard by your people. Where can you make inroads, so people see the irony of hearing this Gospel text, while looking out at what is being supported by the highest officials in our nation? And if you need to turn them toward this commentary or have me take the heat, please feel free to do so. Sometimes it’s easier to hear from someone else rather than your own rostered leader/deacon/pastor.

Wealth Without Generosity

There is a deep and tragic irony in the way the world operates. Even as Jesus pronounces woe to the rich, warning them of the spiritual danger of wealth without generosity, we see this playing out in real time. The wealthiest man in the world, whose fortune could single-handedly eradicate hunger in entire nations, is instead gutting the very agencies that provide relief to those most in need.

This is not just a critique of one individual, it is a reflection of the broader system where wealth is amassed without accountability, where success is measured by profit margins rather than human flourishing, and where power is used to consolidate more power rather than to lift up others.

We may not want to confront the hard truths but Jesus’ dire warning in this Gospel is happening right before our eyes.

Jesus speaks of a kingdom where the hungry are fed, but the world rewards those who hoard resources and pull funding from aid ministries. Jesus calls us to generosity, yet our systems allow for the destruction of safety nets in the name of efficiency or self-interest. The kingdom of God is built on interdependence, but extreme wealth isolates, turning people inward instead of outward.

There is irony, but also deep tragedy, in watching vast resources being stockpiled while those in need suffer. It exposes how wealth, unchecked by justice and compassion, distorts our humanity. Jesus’ warning is not just about a future reckoning, it is about what is happening now. When riches replace relationships, when perceived self-sufficiency replaces communal care, and when the powerful become indifferent to the vulnerable. When we place ourselves first at the expense of everyone else.

Turning the Mirror on Ourselves

The woes are not just condemnation, they are an invitation. Jesus is not shutting the door on the rich or the comfortable but calling them into a different way of living. One that prioritizes generosity, justice, and relationship over security, self-interest, and status.

Now, while it’s easy to critique the ultra-rich and corrupt systems, Jesus’ words are also meant for us. How do we, in our own ways, fall into the trap of hoarding resources, prioritizing comfort, or ignoring suffering? How might we resist complacency and reimagine wealth as something to be shared rather than secured?

Jesus is intentionally trying to rile us up. Luke is intentionally trying to get us to look up quickly and to make us uncomfortable because only then might we think about how we too have been helped sometimes and maybe it our responsibility to do the same. Not because of salvation but because that is the response to God’s grace and generosity.

Two years ago on Christmas Eve, a perfect storm hit our home in Pikesville. A few weeks prior we had fairly substantial snow and ice (not unlike this last month for many of us). It melted and raised the groundwater underneath our home. Then on Christmas Eve it rained all day. The original French drain under the house that was built in 1940 with terracotta pipe couldn’t sustain that pressure. Our sewer line which was original to the home couldn’t sustain that pressure either. So, in one fell swoop both collapsed and water began to intrude through our foundation.

By the time Sarah got home from her last Christmas Eve service, she found me standing in four inches of water in our basement.

Although we are now behind that day, we would not be where we are without the generosity of family members and friends. Whether it was monetary gifts or offerings of time and expertise.

On Christmas morning just a few hours later, one of the members of Sarah’s congregation at the time, came to our house at 8am. Even though he had two kids and his spouse waiting at home for him to open presents, he knew that we needed help. He came over. He rigged the pump of a swimming pool with a variety of tubes to act as a submersible pump and over the next few hours, helped us to drain all 4 inches of water out of the basement.

Other friends donated fans and shop vacs. My sister and some of our friends brought food over to us so that we didn’t have to think about cooking. My parents helped us to replace our sewer line and waterproof the basement.

We were not the most in need. We had a roof over our heads. We had access to food and water.  But our community saw our need and came rushing to help us. It was the communal spirit that got us through that storm.

For the next two years, Sarah and I counted every dollar as we slowly worked our way back to refinishing our basement. Many days we felt like we needed to be overly frugal in order to continue adding to our savings so that we could work towards getting our basement back to the way it was when we bought the house.

But one of the things that I love so much about my spouse, and what our community has instilled in us is from this incredible display of generosity is that we now look at how we can pay it forward. We now always have our heads up looking around at others to see where they may have a need. It is not uncommon for Sarah to come home and ask if there is a way for us to take some of what we have saved to help out someone or an organization that is in more dire need at the moment.

Community helps community. Generosity begets generosity. But we have to have our heads up.

Jesus is pulling our heads up today. It’s drastic, it’s a little scary and intimidating. But Jesus is snapping our heads up as a Christian community. A community that says that we are caring and loving towards others.

If that is who we are, if that is what we say we are about, then our heads need to be up in order to help those around us who are in need. Not only those who are in our small circles. But recognizing that God is calling us to look out into the entire world. Into the community around us that we can help to thrive.

Although we, as individuals, may not be as secure as we’d like to be, today we are reminded that there are those who are in dire need. There are those who are struggling to survive right at this moment. And as a whole community, we can work to help those needs. Sharing out of our collective abundance to ensure the sustainability of others.