The Call to Think Differently – February 20, 2022

Proverbs 1:1-7, 20-23, Luke 6:17-31
February 20, 2022

So, where we are in the story, Jesus has “come on the scene” with John at the Jordan, he has taught in the synagogues, he has healed people – many people, he has begun to draw huge crowds, and he has begun to choose disciples.  He’s becoming quite the sensation, and the word about him is spreading.  People have begun to believe that something very important was happening, and whatever it was, they were part of something big.

Now, in our story for today, Jesus takes the big stage.  This is the story of the biggest speech of his ministry so far.  We don’t have the text of any other speeches he gave – at least not the way we do this one.  Several times we’re told that “He taught with authority,” and the people were amazed.  But here in Luke 6, we have a large part of this speech recorded for us.  And there’s an even longer version of this in Matthew.  It’s called, “The Sermon on the Mount.”

As I’ve mentioned before, some have referred to this in Luke’s version as “The Sermon on the Plain.”  Quoting Luke, that he “stood on a level place.”  But as I’ve said before, these words, “He came down and stood on a level place” do not mean that he came all the way down to the foot of the mountain.  I believe it simply means that he came down to a level place on the mountain where he could look out over the crowds and all could see him.  There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re talking about the same event here

As he begins this sermon, he starts with what have been called “The Beatitudes.”  And this is masterful.  He gives the people these short, impactful statements, and he captures their attention in a simple but effective way.  And he sets the tone for everything he was about to say.  They were going to hear some different things, some new things, that day.  And I believe they were captivated by what he said, right from the start!  They were transfixed!  (I love that word!)

He starts by saying, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”  Now you may have read versions of this where they use the word “Happy.”  “Happy are the poor.”  “Happy are the meek.”  But I think this is more than that.  To say someone is “blessed” is more than just saying they are happy.  When someone receives a blessing from God, they’re being given a spiritual affirmation.  They are being consecrated in a way.  For me, “Happy” just doesn’t convey the meaning of what Jesus was saying here.  And then, when you come to “Happy are those who mourn” or “Happy are those who weep,” well, that just doesn’t make sense!  “Blessed” is the word here.

Now, there have been plenty of sermons over the years, where the preacher has taken each of these points Jesus made and elaborated on them, one by one.  I’m sure I have a sermon or two like that.  But today I’d like us just to focus on the nature of these things Jesus said.  Because here, he’s introducing a new way of thinking.  Each of these “blessed” statements, and for that matter, each of the “woes” he contrasts them to, are different ways of thinking.  And so is the last statement I read about loving enemies, and so is the rest of this sermon.

We can only imagine what must have been going through the minds of the people hearing this for the first time!  This was new stuff!  “Blessed are the poor?”  “Woe to the rich?”  Many of them believed, and some still do, that you were rich because God was pleased with you, and he was blessing you with riches and prosperity.  And they also believed the opposite.  If you were poor, God was displeased in some way.  The first thing they said to Job, when all those terrible calamities had befallen him, was, “You must have done something wrong!”  When Maria stood in the garden acknowledging Captain von Trapp’s love for her, she sang, “Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”  (Because, you know, nothing comes from nothing!)

Jesus turned all of that on its ear that day on the mountain!  “Blessed are the poor!”  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth!”  In a time of empires and conquest, that made no sense!  Every one of Jesus’ statements here was a challenge to their way of thinking.  And they challenge us, too!  This was a call to think differently.  And I think it commanded their total attention that day.  I think they hung on his every word.  I think you could have heard a pin drop!  And in hearing this, I think we are called to think about our own lives, how and why we think what we think, and do what we do.

And that’s not easy!  We live in a world where people say, “I’m the kind of person who says whatever is on my mind.”  They wear that like it’s a badge of honor.  They say it as like it’s a good personality trait, like it makes them stronger person, somehow.  You may have heard me say before that I disagree with that!  I think it takes a much stronger person to show restraint, to exercise discernment, to choose carefully what to say, and to choose not to say things that one might regret later.  It takes conscious choices to do those things.  It’s much easier just to blurt out whatever we’re thinking, with no filter, with no “edit function,” as we say in our modern world.

That’s what I believe Jesus teaches us.  He tells us that our words do matter, and we must choose them carefully.  And even more than that, he said that our words show what is in our hearts.  He said, “For what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.”  (Matthew 15:18.)  Our words show what kind of person we are.  They show what we are thinking in our heart.  And this is a call to think differently.

The reason I say that, is that people in our world will also say, “I can’t help what I think.”  “I have no control over that!”  And I would say that’s not true, either!  And so would Jesus!  We can help what we think!  And as God’s people, we are called to “help what we think.”

The Apostle Paul understood that!  He told the Philippians that they were to “have this mind which was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5).  Do you get that?  We are to strive to have the mind of Jesus – to think like him!  He is our example!  And that doesn’t happen all by itself.  We have to work at it!  He told the Corinthians, “We take every thought captive in obedience to Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:5).  I love that idea!  We consciously stop certain thinking, and we decide to think of something else!

In one of my favorite passages, Paul implored the Philippians to make good decisions about what to think.  Do you remember?  He said, “Finally, my brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”  (Philippians 4:8)

Again, I’m not saying that’s easy!  It can be hard!  It’s hard taking a negative thought we may be having, some ill will we’re harboring about someone, and saying, “I’m not going to think that!”  And it’s hard, especially when we feel justified in our thinking!  The human tendency is to dwell on those negative thoughts, to let them grow, to let them become permanent ways of thinking about that person!  And we don’t like to be told what to think!  But Jesus calls us to think differently.  And that makes his statement here about loving enemies make more sense.  In order to do that, we have to be able to control our bad thoughts about them!

I once heard it said, and I agree, that there are three important rules in life.  They are, 1) Control your Emotions!  2) Choose your Attitudes!  And 3) Manage your Moods!  (You want to write those down?)  Control your Emotions, choose your Attitudes, and manage your Moods!

That’s what Jesus is telling us here in this sermon!  So much of what he was saying that day was about attitudes.  And it was about choosing our attitudes.  And if you think about it, if we don’t choose our attitudes, circumstances will choose them for us.  If we don’t manage our moods, circumstances will dictate them for us.  And if we don’t control the emotional part of us, it will reign supreme!

Jesus is calling us to think differently!  He’s asking us to think about our whole outlook on life!  He’s calling us to take careful stock of what’s really important.  He’s telling us that God thinks differently about who is “blessed” and why!  And he’s telling us that we need to recognize that, and we need to change our attitudes toward it!

And that’s not easy!  We’re set in our ways!  We’re firm in our thought patterns!  It’s not easy to change those things!  But with God’s help, with God’s strength, as Jesus said, nothing is impossible!  We need but to ask for his help.  We need to ask him to help us to see life as he sees it.

And I want to tell you.  This is an amazing thing!  And it’s very freeing!  Because sometimes our thought patterns can be very confining!  They can be burdensome, and they can hold us hostage.  I think that’s part of what Jesus was getting at when he said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free!”  Paul said it too.  He told the Galatians, “For freedom Christ has set us free!  Stand fast, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery!”  And if you think about it, many forms of slavery happen because we choose nothing else.  Some are even voluntary.  We choose them because they are comfortable to us!  And our ways of thinking and our attitudes can be like that!

In 1776 there were many in this country who did not want to rebel against Britain.  That was too dangerous.  It was too uncomfortable!  And our founders recognized that in the Declaration of Independence.  They wrote, “All experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”  That’s pretty amazing insight, huh?  I am more impressed by that document every time I read it!  We humans are more disposed to suffer and be burdened by things because they are comfortable to us.  We’re used to them!

Jesus said, that day on the mountain, that we should recognize where we might have “grown accustomed to” and maybe even “enslaved to” our ways of thinking.  He was challenging us to consider where we might need to change our ways of thinking into God’s ways of thinking!  That’s what this sermon is saying.  And I’m more impressed by it too, every time I read it!

So, take some time and read it again.  These are the very words of Jesus himself!  And if you feel ambitious, read it in Matthew, too.  It starts in chapter 5.  And more than just reading it, think about how it calls you to think differently.  And consider how your thinking is already different, because you have chosen to follow this Jesus.

Prayer

Eternal God, we thank you for the example we have in Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Help us to see this day and in the days to come, where he challenges our thinking.  And give us the strength we need to change and to be more like him.  For we pray in his name, Amen.