Epiphany6C + Content in Love + 2.17.19
The Rev’s Alene and Melissa Campbell-Langdell
Faith Lutheran / All
Santos Oxnard
(Jeremiah 17:5-10; Ps. 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 6:17-26)
In the musical Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda highlights a theme
throughout his description of the life of Alexander Hamilton. The theme was
that Hamilton would never be satisfied or happy in his life. His sister-in-law
even sings about this topic on his wedding day. Although they are perfect one
to the other, they cannot marry, but he instead marries her sister Eliza.
Angelica sings "He will never
be satisfied, I will never be satisfied."[1] His
wife Eliza also sings with yearning that she will be satisfied if he could be happy
with his life and if he could return home.
Which brings me to the gospel for today, and the concept of being
satisfied. The words of Jesus here are a little surprising. "Blessed are
you who weep now" (Luke 6:21). How can I be satisfied if we are sad? Is
being satisfied not to be happy? But the Greek word here, makarios, can
be translated as satisfied, happy or at peace. [2] It means that the circumstances of your life
are good. But Jesus uses this word for those who are poor, who are hungry and
those who weep, for those who are defamed and reviled, excluded and hated. What
is Jesus saying here?
I think he speaks of a different way of being satisfied. It is not the
sense that we have when we have eaten a good meal. It has more to do with the
sense that we had the first time we failed a test at school, or our friends called
us bad names, and our mother or father was there to tell us that we were loved,
no matter what grades we got or how our friends treated us . That sense that although it seems that we
have lost everything, God is there. That we are loved. I think that Jesus says
here that the way to be satisfied and have peace is not in things even in
people who surround us. People and things pass away. Indeed, Jesus says that
those things can be traps that blind us to the love of God. Beware when they
are rich and have full stomachs and people praise you all over the world. We've
all seen people who think they don't need God because they feel that they can
do everything without God’s help or that of others. In fact it is in our times
of darkness when we are introduced to the deep love underlying everything, the
reality of God. Have you ever been in a moment in which you thought that you
had lost everything? Sometimes it is in these moments when we feel that God's
hands are under us, that God will not allow us to fall completely.
Our loving God knows us better that any other person has known us: "even
the hairs of your head are all counted (Luke 12:7).” That loves sees us as human and loves us - whatever form and
each size we take, whatever color, orientation, indeed whatever person we are.
We may feel that God loves us despite our human frailty, but I believe that God
loves us for our humanity.
Saint Paul emphasizes that in his letter to the Corinthians. Our faith in
the resurrection is not a belief that our spirits continue after death without
connection to our body and our humanity. We do not become angels after our
death. God loves us as humans, with our bodies. And this is what we believe. We
believe in the resurrection of the body. Jesus became a man and thus glorified our
flesh. Our bodies will be resurrected at the last day.
In the last part of the musical, Hamilton finds a little peace. There is a
scene in which he is walking down the street with his wife. Now, he has lost the
fame and wealth that he has sought all his life. In the brokenness of losing
his son and his own infidelity to his spouse, has found forgiveness. Although
they are still feeling the pain, they sing: "There are moments that the
words don't reach, There is grace too powerful to name ... They are standing in the garden
Alexander by Eliza’s side - She takes his hand" [3] And there he feels the forgiveness of his
beloved spouse. And I imagine that in this forgiveness he feels a little of the
grace of God and God’s love. His identity is not based on what he has done or
what others think of him. He is beloved, and is happy in his own right. But he gets
to this point only by a long road. And that love allows him to do something
amazing at the end of the play. He can forgive the person who wants to kill
him. He allows his enemy to kill him rather than shoot him. He sacrifices
himself. And Jesus showed us that this the greatest love that we can show for
our friends.
So, if you are sad today, don't be discouraged. God’s got you! God will
hold you. If you are happy, we are very happy for you! But never forget that we
depend on God for every single breath we take. And that we are beloved in our
whole being by God. And if we can truly grasp that, perhaps we can find our way
to be content, in the love of God. Amen.
[2] Working
Preacher Podcast, "Sermon Brainwave #648 - Sixth Sunday after
Epiphany" (St. Paul, MN: Luther Seminary), Feb. 8, 2019. Available online
at workingpreacher.org
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