What’s the phrase: “we have two ears and one mouth, so let’s use them in that order?”. Wow, that’s hard. Listen to what?
Where are we?
We are still in the remnants of the Sermon on the Mount Plain. Jesus has spoken of blessings and woes, a retelling of honour and shame. We have heard a lot in the UK about honour and shame over the past few months. It seems that the definitions of these attributes seem to be blurring. Jesus seems to be saying that they are vital if we are to flourish. Were they listening? It’s so different so listen to what?
We might question whether all of what is written in this Chapter was said in one go: whether we have a collation of Jesus’ sayings altogether. It is only Matthew who also reports such a sermon – albeit up a mountain – and that Gospel was written a few years earlier than Luke’s Gospel.
What’s our focus?
If that is so, what might we focus upon, something we can carry us forward?
The passage starts with a But. Jesus has given us woes of being rich, being comfortable, who are well fed, who speaks well of you – recall he was speaking to the newly appointed disciples and Galilean farmers. They who weren’t rich, comfortable, well feed and no one spoke well of them. The next 2 verses seem to be hugely critical.
They speak of listening. When our politicians yearn for sound bites, when our prayers starting with us speaking and conclude when we say Amen, when our voice is the one we want to hear, these verses speak to us.
Luke 6: 27-28
When we are confronted: in public or on social media, we may feel that we want to resort to the same treatment we are receiving. Listen to the bullies, the powerful – you are having a laugh…
I wonder this is how those surrounding Jesus on that (windy) plain must have thought. Yes, let’s retaliate against the overlords, the powerful, the R.o.m.a.n.s. Yes, that’s going to go badly. Best advice is keeping your head down, keep away from trouble. But Jesus offers a third way.
Don’t ignore folk, but engage.
Roman reaction
To the Roman instigator of trouble with the locals, this was something not in their rule book. No one explained how to respond to love, to consideration: only anger and aggression. Jesus was purporting to be non-violent in a violent arena. I’m sure the Roman military would be surprised when the locals started to show compassion.
And here is the rub: if we are to hear Jesus’ message, that we are to live in the kin_dom of God (and not in the Roman kingdom), then our actions are based upon God’s justice, not the rules which abound in the life around us.
I even think it goes beyond ‘loving your enemies’, it’s ‘love one another’ – all of them.
That last verse can be tricky. Luke 6:38 reads that ‘give and it will be given over to you’. That’s not ‘give money’ and you’ll get back more… What is the context of this passage?: justice, being fair to one another, showing compassion. Nothing was said about financial or material gain. That’s the difference between the world and God’s kin_dom.
Conclusion
For those struggling to feed themselves, this is a hard passage to stomach. It means action, contrary to the stereotypical ‘norm’. So, listen to what? We are not alone: listening to God was one of the first things we were told. Perhaps here is the central message?
It was very interesting