On the Level

The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

February 16, 2025

Luke 6:17-26

 “On the Level”

I have with me here a tool that most of you probably have at home as well: a level. We use these things all the time to make sure that whatever project we’re working on will end up being true and straight vs. being off-kilter and lop-sided. We look for that little bubble to line up right in the center between those two little lines. When that happens, we can be sure that things are literally on the level. But there are lots of other things that we want to ensure are on the level as well. When it comes to communication, business dealings, finances, government, and a whole bunch of other things in life, we want things to be on the level. Like this little instrument, we want things to be true and straight vs. off-kilter and lop-sided. In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is literally on the level. That’s the opening verse that we heard: “And 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 and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all” (Luke 6:17-19). The physical location of Jesus on a level place leads into Jesus’ healing and curing of those who needed this. But even more, there on that level place, this led to Jesus’ teaching of the Beatitudes. Based on the Gospel lesson, the message for this day is entitled “On the Level.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

This passage of Scripture here in Luke’s Gospel contains familiar words that we call the Beatitudes. This word, “beatitudes,” comes from the Latin, beatus, meaning happy. The original Greek word here is μακάριοi (plural of μακάριος) which also means to be blessed, fortunate, or happy. We usually think of these Beatitudes from the more familiar Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 5-7), but this is Luke’s version of that. In Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as the new Moses. Just as Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law, so Jesus himself is now the very One who, on the Mount, has come to fulfill all that was written in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the writings (Luke 24:27). Luke’s version does not have Jesus upon the mountain, but as the opening verse in the Gospel lesson tells us: “And he came down with them and stood on a level place…” (Luke 6:17a). That gives us insight into the Jesus that Luke presents to us: this Jesus is not high and lofty, removed from us, but One who has come down to our level and makes his home among us. The Jesus of Luke’s Gospel is especially concerned with the poor and the lowly, with outcasts and sinners, with those who are disenfranchised, and that includes women.

Is there any difference between Matthew’s version (Matthew 5:1-12) and Luke’s version here of the Beatitudes? It’s helpful to compare them, putting them side by side. When you go home, pick up your Bible and check it out. When Jesus in Luke’s version says, “Blessed are you who are poor” (Luke 6:20) Jesus isn’t talking about not having money. What he means, as Matthew says, is “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3); that is, those who regard themselves as insignificant and unworthy of all that God has done for them; those who humble themselves before God. Because of this, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus in Luke’s version says, “Blessed are you who are hungry now” (Luke 6:21a), Jesus isn’t talking about a physical hunger. What he means, as Matthew says, is those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). To be hungry for God’s own righteousness, the forgiveness of sins that leads to righteous living – this is a holy hunger that, coupled together with faith and trust in the righteousness of Christ Jesus that covers all our sin, will be satisfied. Similarly, “Blessed are you who weep now” (Luke 6:21b), doesn’t mean simply those who shed tears, but those who mourn and cry out over their sinful imperfections and shortcomings. In Christ, their weeping shall turn into laughter. And then it really starts to get ugly: “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” (Luke 6:22). In God’s own mysterious way, to be hated, excluded, insulted and rejected for the sake of Jesus’ Name, this brings blessing and reward. For many fellow believers throughout the world, they know firsthand what this looks like: suffering, persecution, imprisonment, even death for bearing the Name of Jesus. In this country, we do not know what this looks like. The day may come when we will experience this. Suffering for Jesus serves to strengthen not only the faith of that one individual believer, but the faith of the whole church is strengthened through their witness. It is as A.W. Tozer (1897-1963), a pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, wrote: “If we can trust the sufferings of Christ for our sake, then we can trust Christ when we suffer for His sake” (https://www.azquotes.com/quote/712429). Because of this, we can and should rejoice and leap for joy.

Speaking on the level to his first disciples, as well as to us as modern-day disciples, Luke records four woes that contrast with the four blessings. They are sobering reminders that if we try to find our riches, our fulfillment, our pleasure, our friendship and favor with the world rather than God, then we will have gained the world and lost God. It doesn’t mean that everyone who is wealthy is automatically outside the kingdom of God. It doesn’t mean that everyone who has food and clothing, home and family, is excluded from the kingdom of God. It doesn’t mean that finding enjoyment and pleasure in life is inherently against the kingdom of God. What it does mean is that if your identity, purpose and meaning in life revolve around things rather than God, then be prepared. These things cannot save you. As Paul writes in today’s Epistle lesson: “If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

There is a better way. That better way is the full and abundant life that Jesus came to bring to us (John 10:10). To be rooted and grounded in Jesus who loves us and gave his life for us on the cross is to be like a tree planted by streams of water. We heard about this in both the Old Testament lesson (Jeremiah 17:5-8) as well as the psalm we read responsively (Psalm 1). Our roots of faith go deep into Christ and draw on that life-giving water of Word and Sacrament that flow to us and sustain us day by day. Speaking on the level, blessed are you, blessed am I, blessed are all who trust in him. Amen.