“Leveling the Field”
Main point: The Sermon on the Plain is a story in its own right.
nThis is the meaning of life: our salvation.
INTRODUCTION:
Start with a movie story where the setting is very important.
TELL THE SORRY
The Setting
Jesus came down…to a level place.
A scary movie needs to take place in a haunted house.
A John Wayne Western need deserts and canyons from the Great Southwest.
A Hallmark movie needs to take place in a small town at Christmas.
Our scene delivered by Luke is a level place where Jesus meets the people face to face and eye to eye on level ground.
The Crowds
The crowds are full of all kinds of people from everywhere who have needs
They came from far away places to be healed.
Common folks from all walks is like are included in Luke's gospel.
Women are featured in more stories in Luke than the others gospels.
The poor are specifically addressed and lifted up in Luke more than others.
Gentiles are present in Luke more than the others
WHAT IS JESUS DOING IN THIS SERMON?
And then Jesus lifts his eyes and begins to speak. A look to heaven. An instructive glance. A simple, Embodied demonstration to illustrate entire ethos of the sermon he's about to give.
Many have speculated at the meaning of these familiar words. So what is Jesus doing here?
I can say…
Jesus is not setting up morally superior categories. Rich and poor. A person is not defacto good or evil because they lack comforts or have comforts.
Jesus is not making pronouncements of a quality or experience in the here and now. He isn't saying, you life is great while you're suffering. That simply isn't true and Jesus knows it - as we'll discover in a moment.
This is a description of the journey through life with God - the lifting up of our heads to acknowledge our need for God - all with an end goal in mind.
Here's what I mean: On this journey through life Jesus presents two paths available to us. At the end of these two paths there is a destination.
One path is a path of struggle - a path of great need - which set the conditions to render blessedness in the hereafter. Because what do we do when we struggle now? When we struggle, when we are in need, we turn to God. Turning to God day by day and moment by moment works in us the transformation into godliness that we are designed for now and blessedness in the life to come.
The other is a path of comfort and ease which set the conditions for destruction in the hereafter. Because when we need nothing, it's hard to acknowledge your need for God. When we spend a life not looking to God, we miss the work of God in us- the godliness we are designed for. When that work is skipped over during this life, there isn't much left of us at the end for the life to come.
