Sermon: Epiphany 6 - Year C

...Luke seems to glory in Jesus’ sayings about poor people being lifted up and rich folks getting run over by the divine steamroller. Theologians have picked up on this and even made up a term for it; they call it: God’s preferential option for the poor.

I don’t know about you, but that rubs me the wrong way. It tells me that I’m not at the top of God’s priority list; that God’s preference is for someone else. I may not be living high off the hog, but to many folks around the world and even to some here in Lethbridge, I’m living large.

It tells me that because I won the cosmic lottery and was born into a part of the world where I didn’t have to worry about where I was going to sleep or what I was going to eat, and that because I had access to a good education, and a good doctor was a quick phone call away, that somehow, I get penalized for it.

It tells me that I’m cursed for working in a decent paying job and for having a good looking resume. It tells me that all my hard work means nothing.

And when I look to the scriptures for an explanation, trying to figure out what God is up to, I’m left with these cold hard words: blessed you who are POOR, for YOURS is the kingdom of God.

But there’s no wiggling out of it. Try as I might, I need to take the bible seriously, and the bible tells me that Jesus spent most of his time with people who were dirt poor; folks who were pushed to the edges of their world. He had little time for people who wanted everyone to think they had it all together. In fact, Jesus said “beware when people speak well of you.”

He certainly doesn’t make it easy to be a Christian, does he? (read the whole thing here)