On the Level. There was something to his expression, the inflection he used that made me realize he thought my prayers were more needed than his.

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Marilyn Rodgers
5 years ago
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1 1 OT 6C-19 1 Corinthians 1: Luke 6: On the Level Rev. Rob Carter On the Level About a decade ago, Ben, an old friend, called me up with some tough news. His sister was sick. Her prognosis wasn t terminal, but she had a long, tough road ahead of her. Ben asked, Will you pray for her. Of course, I said. I ll pray for her and you and your whole family. Thanks, he said. I ll feel better knowing you re praying. There was something to his expression, the inflection he used that made me realize he thought my prayers were more needed than his. Ben, I ll absolutely pray for her, but God hears your prayers every bit as well as God hears mine. I doubt that, he said. Look at you. You re a pastor. You re way closer to God than I am. I need you praying for her. Now, Ben didn t want to hear it, and that was not the time to argue with him about it but as the one being put on a prayer pedestal, so to speak, I can tell you Pastors are no holier, no more blessed than parishioners. Personally, I know I mess up way too much to stand too long on any pedestal. But Ben s thoughts aren t unique. It s not uncommon for pastors to find themselves being viewed as if they re on some sort of pedestal. Some even seek them out. Egos and pastors can go hand in hand. I mean look where I m standing right now. On a pedestal. Granted others also stand on this pedestal I mean pulpit I mean pedestal every week. Joel and I aren t the only ones who use the pulpit. And there are legitimate reasons that the person speaking needs to be raised, so that everyone can see and hear. But part of the symbolism behind the pulpit, in and of itself, is to sort of lift the preacher up, along with the word being preached. It s why, in some traditions, only the preacher goes into the pulpit. The intent being to create a sort of vertical line to put the preacher on a pedestal to set apart. It goes to show, we look for places to put pedestals. For this world has taught us to order things and people along a vertical line. Like a totem pole or social hierarchy. And we ve gotten so darn good at it creating these it s become as natural for us as breathing. So wherever we are whatever we re doing, we tend to line people up along a metaphorical, vertical line top

2 2 to bottom the top being good the top being those who are blessed and the bottom, well no one wants to be there. Take the Corinthian church to which Paul writes in our first lesson this morning. The Corinthian church was a larger, community-wide congregation made up of a pretty diverse group of folks. But it seems, from the get-go, these new Christians couldn t get out of their own way. They kept fighting over who should live atop their communal hierarchy. They couldn t agree on the vertical order of holiness or blessedness, so to speak. Those who d been baptized by Apollos claimed they were the best. While those who had come to the community through a leader named Cephas claimed they should hold special place. And some will rem ember three weeks ago when we explored how this community kept arguing with each other over whose spiritual gifts were the best as if some were more precious to the community than others the teachers, the preachers, the healers? And Paul got word that this Corinthian congregation was fracturing from the get-go because they kept assuming that in order for some to be special in order for some to be blessed it meant others couldn t be as special others couldn t be blessed. So they kept trying to create fake hierarchies. They kept fighting over fake pedestals. But Paul had no patience for any of it. Cut it out, he scolded them. If you follow Jesus Christ, then you need to stop trying to put yourselves above each other, so you can start loving each other. Those who are strong should support the weak, he said. Just as the wealthy should support the poor, rather than judging them for being poor. And then then Paul reminded them of a theme that runs throughout 1 Corinthians. The grace of God the Good News of Jesus Christ may seem like foolishness to this world, but God s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, just as God s weakness is stronger than human strength. In other words, the Good News of Jesus Christ is incredibly counter-cultural. But that doesn t it mean it still isn t incredibly Good News! I mean, all our lives we re essentially taught to pursue the social hierarchy. All our lives, we ve heard messages calling us to strive the top, to the elite, to become the crème de la crème so that we can get as far away from the bottom as possible. Granted, many times the messages are subtle very subtle but they re still clear. Seek the top so you don t end up on the bottom. The Penthouse is the most expensive suite in the building. Why? Because it s at the top of the building it s usually the biggest space, filled with the most lavish interior, intended for the wealthiest or most important kind of people. And it s not a coincidence that it s at the Penthouse that, when you look out, you re literally looking down on all those around you. o Society as taught us to seek that for ourselves. An heir of superiority. We think having more makes us more. I mean, do we feel more special when we eat at, say the Capital Grill than Pizza Hut?

3 3 Who has the most followers on Instagram? On Twitter? Does it matter? Is your worth measured by your social media followers? How bout the kind of car do you drive? I currently have a 2005 Accord, but I d be lying if I didn t readily admit to wanting any number of fantasy cars. A BMW 5 Series, a Range Rover Sport, an Audi S5, a Porsche 911, the new Toyota Supra. If anyone s buying, I m not picky. I ll take any of them. And how bout the outfit you wear. Is there a designer s emblem on it? Does it matter? And if it doesn t, then why do so many, including myself from time to time, spend so much more for clothes just because they have a designer s emblem? We can t pretend we don t hear and sometimes buy into these messages of pedastals and social hierarchies. We do. All of us. But these are more of the subtle messages we see and hear. These are ones that go buy so readily we struggle to notice them. There are other messages within our world that are much more blatant, much more violent. Like the vandalism Maryland Presbyterian Church suffered earlier this week when they received a threatening phone call, and had their front lawns signs destroyed. Why? Because their signs made clear that they support the LGBTQ community, and that they love their immigrant and Muslim neighbors. It s an obvious example of how many folks in our world and in our own communities simply cannot tolerate the notion that someone who has a different orientation, or a different skin color, or a different national origin should be treated with the same amount of respect and love as they want for themselves. They ve been taught that they should get to determine another s worth and value and in order to lift themselves up, they seek to tear others down. We need to see it. This fake, pathetic, insidious idol of a social hierarchy is alive and well, friends. We know it is. And we know it s damaging. So we need to stop participating in it. We need stop giving it life and breath. We need to confront the notion that anyone is beneath us or that anyone is above us. Because they re not. No one is beneath you. No one. Just as no one is above you. To believe otherwise, is to miss the Good News Jesus came to reveal. Now, as we encounter Jesus in our Lukan lesson today, he had really just begun his ministry. After being baptized, he traveled throughout the region, preaching in the synagogues and healing the sick wherever he encountered them. So the Gospels tell us, his fame (quickly) spread throughout the region. And before he knew it, Jesus was surrounded by throngs and throngs of people. Many of the people who came to hear Jesus were seeking lessons of life and truth. But most had sought him out because they were sick, or someone they loved was broken. A father brought his son who was being shunned by the community due to his skin condition. A mother

4 4 brought her little girl who was sick, because society kept ignoring the needs of a widow and her little girl. The crowd this day also included complete outcasts. Even those with unclean spirits. The truly taboo the kind of person you didn t just ignore, but crossed the street lest you come too close. This is the crowd that began to gather around Jesus and incredibly mixed group of people who, according to society, should not have been standing shoulder to shoulder with each other. So Jesus comes down from the mountain on which he d been praying to what Luke calls, a level place. A level place. That s no small detail. Jesus was very intentional in seeking out that level place. He then called his disciples over to him and began preaching to them on that level place as the crowd listened in. And on that level place on that flat, horizontal plain, Jesus stood there with his disciples, shoulder to shoulder eye to eye hand to hand with all those in the crowd. And as they stood there, on that level place, on that plain, Jesus told them the Good News he d come to reveal. Blessed are the poor Blessed are the hungry Blessed are those who mourn Blessed are those who re rejected and oppressed. Again, it sounds completely counter-cultural Nobody wants to be poor nobody wants to be hungry. Nobody wants to mourn or be rejected. We all work like crazy trying to protect ourselves from these situations. But Jesus says these are the people who are blessed. Blessed not in the sense of having good fortune but blessed in knowing God s presence. And knowing God s love. And knowing the assurance of a brighter future than they know today. For as the Old and New Testaments reveal time and again, God is on the side of the poor, and the oppressed, and the broken every time. God favors the last, and lifts up the least. So when Jesus walks down a mountain and seeks out a level place a horizontal plain on which to preach to his disciples he s not just telling his disciples what the kingdom of God looks like he s showing them. He s saying, Look around. This is the kind of world God desires. A world without pedestals a social order without totem poles. No judgments, no dividing walls no heirs of superiority or hierarchies. No. The kingdom of God fundamentally opposes those things. So, if you want to be my disciple, he says, if you want to behold the kingdom of God here and now, then you need to stop thinking vertically, and start living horizontally. Stop thinking vertically, and start living on the level, he told them. It s why we call this passage Sermon on the Plain. A sermon on the level. So let s be clear. To make the decision to follow Jesus means making a decision to do away with the insidious notions of social status once and for all, so that we can start doing the kingdom work that only happens when we stand shoulder to shoulder with the poor and eye to eye with the hungry and hand in hand with the oppressed and rejected

5 5 Using ourselves our resources our bodies our voices to pursue their well-being as much as we pursue our own. So TPC, let s throw the pedestals away let s get rid of all the social hierarchies and any barrier society may try to build so that we can live into the Good News that proclaims no one is beneath us, as surely as no one is above us. For Jesus has called us to seek the level to stand hand in hand with each and all. Ultimately, it s what inclusion is all about, and where the Good News is most readily found. Amen.

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