The Feast of All Saints | 2 Nov 25 (Observed) | A Sermon on Luke 6:20-31 | by The Rev. Dr. David H. Brooks |

²⁰ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹ “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²² “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! ²³ Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

²⁵ “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶ “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you,

for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹ To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic^[a] either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹ And as you wish that others would do to you,

do so to them.

English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles

BLESSINGS AND CURSES

Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The fall movie tradition is upon us, and this month is about the classics: Young Frankenstein, Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Frankenstein: The Musical… but if you are typical, you probably watch a few horror films at this time of year. Today I want to discuss a horror film from a few years ago—well, I want to talk about an essay that discusses said movie.  I won’t go into details; I only want to point out that the essayist really enjoyed this film, which tells the story of a young woman who finds herself cursed. She seeks someone else to whom she can pass the curse. She walks, runs, drives crazy across the city trying to find a way to avoid the curse upon her.  The essayist finished the article by saying that the film is a long study in this character’s growing dread as she seeks to evade and escape what she’s got coming, only to find that—like all of us—she cannot avoid her fate.

As I finished the essay, I found myself nodding my head. We live life to avoid the curse! We live life to not lose, to not be diminished, to not expose ourselves, not to suffer. We work hard to insulate ourselves, inoculate ourselves, inure ourselves from what is out there. The essay writer described in detail how other characters around this woman reacted as the story progressed: some were disbelieving; some expressed sympathy; some gave advice; some began shunning; some blamed her for her predicament. Is this not us? We want to avoid the curses that seem to hang around in life—we don’t want poverty or grief, affliction, hunger or thirst, whether physical or for justice; we don’t want to be at everyone’s mercy; we don’t want to stand out unless it’s on our terms; we don’t want to blamed. We don’t want to be around those who clearly are cursed. We want to avoid our fate.

But on this All Saints Sunday we hear our Lord’s words: blessed are they… in all the circumstances that we try to avoid. Blessed. It’s a funny word; we don’t really have a good English word for it, but at its heart is a word the Psalmist knew well:  awshar. It is a Hebrew word that means “to go straight, to walk correctly.” Change it slightly and it is esher—blessed. Psalm 1:1 begins with “Esher is the one who does not limp in meandering ways, nor stands in the expressway of sin, nor sits with bigmouths that cough up destruction.” In these pronouncements of blessing, Jesus points us to that same word: esher! He instructs us, calls us, invites us to begin walking toward blessing! Rather than frantically traversing the paths of our lives to avoid the curse, Jesus tells us walk the path that pursues blessing! And the straight path that leads to blessing is for you and me to go where Jesus is and participate in what he is doing! Do you know where he is? Do you know how to find him, where to seek him? Are you ready to walk that path that takes us right to him—Jesus himself? It will mean that at times we will walk toward that—toward those—which the world sees as a curse. Paul wrote to the Galatians that on the cross Jesus became the curse. Christ redeemed us from our self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time undid the curse; he made it possible to experience blessedness in every circumstance of life. We need not be afraid, because Jesus Christ has us! We are not victims of impersonal fate; we are the beloved of the One who is free!

The saints are not spiritual superheroes; we remember them because of who has them: Jesus Christ, the mighty Lord, the victorious one. We remember them because they walked with the Lord—no more, no less. Let us today tell our hearts, tell our families, tell one another—today, we are going to stop walking, running, driving crazy across this town trying to avoid curses. We are going to chase blessings.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

—

©David H. Brooks

   Pr.Dave.Brooks@zoho.com

   Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

   Durham, NC USA