Living into the Kingdom

2025-12

Sermon preached at Church of the Good Shepherd, Federal Way, WA ⁠

www.goodshepherdfw.org⁠ by the Deacon Anna Lynn

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, February 16, 2025

⁠Jeremiah 17:5-10⁠ ; ⁠1 Corinthians 15:12-20⁠ ; ⁠Luke 6:17-26⁠ ; ⁠Psalm 1

Good morning, I want to do a quick check in and ask how are you doing today? Anyone else feeling a bit overwhelmed? Or maybe a lot overwhelmed? Anyone else chose to turn the news off this week or step away from social media?  Well, I want you to know that you are not alone.

And What a blessing it is to be able to come together within this wonderful community in Christ today and take a deep breath…

let’s all take a deep breath --------In and Out.

And to be able to pray for those in need, those who are dealing with uncertainty, fear, loss of employment - Those being targeted with hate speech, lack of empathy and being treated unjustly.  Lord, we send up our fervent prayers. And for each one of you:

If you don’t believe you are created for such a time like this…..

Let me remind you that you have more courage, strength, and resilience than you may know. Once you take the first step, may the fullness of who you are and whose you are propel you forward….AMEN.

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke is similar to the Sermon on the Mount, or the Beatitudes, from the 5th chapter of Matthew. But there are some differences.

Lukes’s version is known as the Sermon on the Plain and unlike the Sermon on the Mount, this sermon on the Plain is shorter and more direct, highlighting the reversal of worldly values in God’s kingdom.

The Sermon on the Mount Jesus offers only Blessings and the Sermon on the Plain, He offers blessings and woes.

Just prior to the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus had gone up on the mountain to pray overnight, and in the morning, called his disciples to him, and from them, chose the twelve apostles.

Then Jesus went down the mountain with them –to the level place, were he could greet the crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon, which was further north than Galilee and Samaria and populated by Gentiles…..which informs us that the multitude of people- represented many differences beyond just the distance of  geography.

We might wonder how that looked. A massive crowd, varying by race, culture, dialects, geopolitical histories, and religious practices all reaching toward Jesus to experience the power of his healing presence.

And all in the crowd faced Jesus, all tried to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Despite their status in the community, or wealth (or lack there of), or gender, or nationality.

Now, let us consider how we might feel in that place. Standing side by side and seeking the same thing as all the people around us. People we have surmised to be “less than” or even “more than” ourselves, perhaps even in shame for our own lack of faith.

Yet Jesus is there. Savior of all. Jesus comes down to our level – into the deepest valleys of our lives – to comfort, to heal, to walk with us and to bless us. To encourage us to turn around from old ways that do not support the common good.

Incidentally, since I am not focusing on the blessings and woes particularly, I want you to know that Makarios, the Greek for blessed, means satisfied, unburdened, and at peace.

And “woe” does not mean condemned. The Greek, OY, is a call to repentance, to change one’s behavior, to lament. It’s a warning to turn around, towards God.

Luke’s Jesus is turning human expectations, traditions, and ideologies upside down, as he stands in radical solidarity with all people. In solidarity rather than judgement.

We are included in that solidarity! Jesus sees each of us as beloved, regardless of how others might see us. In Christ, we are free to be unapologetically who God created us to be! Each of us wonderfully made and gifted by the Holy Spirit, so we can let go of all the burdens of how others might view us.

ALSO, we are called to imitate Christ, to seek out those places where people are hurting, lonely, ostracized, marginalized or criticized for being “other.” And as we have learned, Jesus had no problem with “otherness.”

This reminds me of last March, when I was in Mexico - As my friends and I walked to a small street café for dinner, I noticed an older man standing in the shadows in the doorway of a building that was under construction.

As we walked by, I said Hola, (Which is hello in Spanish) and he did not look up or make eye contact with me, but said Hola back, as he starred at the ground. I also noticed as we passed by, that this man had a hand that looked like it had not fully developed at birth. 

After we sat down at our table, I could still see this gentleman in the shade, just watching what was happening at the restaurant. I asked the owner when he came to take our order, if I could ask him- who the man was and what was he doing in the building across the street.

He told me that he was the night security guard….making sure that the workers tools and equipment stayed secured through the night. And that because of his handicap…this was a good job for him, but because the building got so hot late in the afternoon, he often would see him standing outside in the shade of the building.

I asked the owner if the man ever at dinner at the café’? and he said no…. he has money to do so.

So, I said, will you go over and offer him dinner and if he cannot come over here to eat, can you allow him to eat across the street where he is comfortable or if he would like to eat at a different time, that would be fine too, but I want to pay for him to have a meal here.

So, the owner walked across the street and invited the man to eat dinner and after a moment he pointed at us and I put my hand up to say hello….and man removed his hat and put his hand back up at me and walked with the manager to the restaurant. He sat at a table on the furthest edge of the cafe’ and ordered dinner. I noticed that when they brought his meal, he had ordered a fish (like a whole fish) and rice. Which was one of the least expensive meals on the menu and I wondered if he had ordered what he liked or what he deemed appropriate to order when someone else was buying his meal. I had hoped he had gotten what he liked.

We finished our meal prior to the gentleman being finished and as we walked toward the exit, he got up from his table, hat in hand and bowed his head and said, “gracias” which is Thank you in Spanish. I told him de nada, which means you’re welcome in Spanish and I bowed my head in return…as I did this, we made some eye contact and both smiled. 

As we walked toward our condo, I wondered if this man had a family or a system of support in his life.

The next night, we again - saw the same gentleman standing in the door way of the building under construction, but this time he was not looking at the ground and he made eye contact with me. And right away I noticed a sparkle in his eyes that I did not notice the night before – and he seemed happy – and as we approach him, he smiled and greeted our group first and it felt like it was a greeting from an old friend.

Once we were seated at our table, I told my friends that I was going to ask our new friend to join us for dinner. So, I walked back over and asked if he would join us …..I feared he might not understand English and that was exactly what happened, so I pulled out my phone and I typed in my invitation for dinner on Google Translator and handed the phone to him and he got a big smile and he said Si’ - Which I am sure most of you are aware means…..Yes.

We began an evening of Google translator conversations…handing my phone back and forth. I learned was named Adan….or Adam in English and he and I learned about each other’s families and of his life in Mexico and mine in the United States. Adam ordered fish and rice again for dinner, but this time I found out it that fish was his favorite food….and it was truly a great night getting to know my new friend.

That night I told Adam on Google Translator that we would be celebrating my friend Teresa’s birthday two nights later and that there would be a surprise birthday cake for her and I hoped that he could come and have dinner and celebrate with us.

He smiled and seemed so excited that there was going to be a gathering with cake and that he was invited. I loved to see the joy in his face because he was included.

When we arrived on the evening of Teresa’s Birthday, Adam was already there and he was in casual clothing, instead of his work attire and I invited him sit with us at our table and I could just tell he was so overjoyed to be a part of the secret cake surprise for Teresa.

When the cake was brought out after dinner, everyone in the Café gathered around and began singing Happy Birthday in English to Teresa and when I looked at Adam, he had pulled out a harmonica and was joyfully playing along with the song. It was a perfect moment of community, Teresa had tears in her eyes and it was a grand way to end our time in Mexico with so many lovely folks celebrating, singing, and eating delicious birthday cake together.

Prior to leaving Mexico, Adam and I connected on WhatsApp and we now communicate at least once a month and always on holidays and I feel I have made a good friend –

And I could say that Adam was the one who benefited ……he came out of the literal shadows and felt included, cared for and a part of something larger than himself– but then so did I…….and after some thought I realized that I was the true beneficiary of this encounter, because it wasn’t me changing Adams life, it was God changing my life by allowing me live into the Kingdom of God now. Showing me that every day we have an opportunity to use our eyes to see and our ears to hear - to find more meaning in the life that Jesus has called all of us to live and when I am living into the Kingdom, I feel joyful, fulfilled and healed. The trappings of worldly values, power, and control - fall away, as I strive to follow Jesus’ teachings and examples of love, mercy, and humility.

When I look back the best part of that trip to Mexico….the experience that I talk most about - wasn’t the pool or food (although you can see we found a great restaurant to enjoy)…..no…. it was making a new friend and loving him as my neighbor, right where we were- on the level plain- and watching him grow more joyful each day.

In closing – I would like to share a quote from theologian and Franciscan priest Richard Rohr,

“We need to look at Jesus until we can see the world with his eyes. In Jesus Christ, God’s own broad, deep, and all-inclusive worldview is made available to us….and, the point of the Christian life is not to distinguish oneself from the ungodly, but to stand in radical solidarity with everyone and everything else.”

Amen.