CHOICES & CONSEQUENCES
Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 6:17-26
6th Sunday after Epiphany, February 16, 2025
Pastor Ritva H Williams
This morning we have heard two scripture readings that make us uncomfortable. Jeremiah proclaims a “curse” on those who trust in mere mortals (17:5), and Jesus pronounces “woes” against those who rich, full, laughing, and popular now (Luke 16:24-26). How do we make sense of such statements?
God loves you, each of you, just the way you are AND God loves your neighbor just the way they are. God’s anger is triggered when you cause your neighbor harm and suffering, because God loves your neighbor and wants your neighbor to flourish. God’s anger is triggered against your neighbor when they cause you harm and suffering, because God loves you and wants you to flourish.
It is quite likely that God will be angry with each one of us at some time. There may even be people God is angry with all the time, but God is never angry with all of us all of the time. The good news is that God’s anger is temporary, as Psalm 30:5 declares, “God’s anger is but for a moment; God’s favor is for a lifetime.” Even when God is angry with us, God still loves us, because God’s love is permanent and unbreakable. The curses and woes that we hear about his morning are not God’s actions, imposed on us by an angry God, but consequences of how we live with one another. How we live with one another is a result of to whom or what we give our hearts, minds and souls.
Jeremiah declares, “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.” The Hebrew word curse (‘arur) conveys the idea of having forfeited or turned away from God’s favor and protection. The one who is cursed is not the anonymous “those” of our English translation, but a gavar — a mighty person such as a clan patriarch, or a tribal, religious, or governmental leader. Such leaders are cursed when they choose to trust in — literally weld themselves to — their own looks, intelligence, personality, influence, wealth, position and power. Relying on human devised systems of control for comfort and security, such leaders turn their hearts away from God, pervert God’s message, and forfeit God’s blessing.
The “curse” then is not something that God wields like a bolt of lightning to punish a sinner. The curse is a consequence of a leader’s choices, and manifests itself in a legacy that looks like a lifeless shrub in a barren desert. The idea is captured beautifully in Percy Byssche Shelley’s poem, Ozymandias:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Alongside Jeremiah’s reality check for the mighty, we hear Jesus cry out, “Woe to you who are rich … woe to you who are full now … woe to you who laughing now … who to you when all speak well of you …” The original Greek word here is ouai — it means kind of like it sounds. It is a cry of sorrow, disappointment and grief, kind of like the old English word “alas.” If you change the inflection of your voice it becomes a cry of reproach, criticism or accusation, something like “shame on you!” Jesus gives voice to both reproach and sorrow. Christ does not rejoice in the consequences that the wealthy, full and popular will reap.
Shame on you when your pursuit of wealth, fullness, good times, and popularity hurts the people around you. Shame on you when you hoard your resources so that your neighbors go hungry. Shame on you, when you use your power and privilege to demean, denigrate and deny the image of God in others. Alas, no amount of riches, good times or popularity will protect you from disease, disaster, and death. Alas, the fate of Ozymandias awaits you.
Jesus’ words and actions show us how a leader grounded in God’s love, favor and protection speaks and acts. Jesus stands on a level place, not above the crowd, but in the midst of the crowd. Some are rural Galilean disciples, others have come from Judea and Jerusalem in the south. Still others are non-Israelites (so-called “Gentiles) from Tyre and Sidon. Jesus welcomes this socially, religiously, ethnically, and economically diverse gathering of people who want to hear his message, be healed and set free of whatever ails them. As Jesus stands with them and among them, divine power comes forth and all are healed. Jesus, then, speaks directly to the gathered people, proclaiming these blessings:
“Blessed are you who are poor … Blessed are you who are hungry … Blessed are you who weep … Blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, revile and defame you.”
“Blessed are you” on the lips of Jesus points to more than God’s favor and protection. In Hebrew, the world for blessed — baruch— has the same root as the word berech which means knee. As a devout Jew, Jesus would have begun his prayers with the phrase Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu — Blessed are you, O Lord our God. To bless the Lord is to assume a posture of humility, to go down on one’s knees in body or in spirit, to honor, affirm and show gratitude to God as the source of all good things.
When we hear Christ proclaiming “blessed are you” to a crowd of of poor, hungry, grieving, marginalized people, we wonder what could there be about such miserable people worthy of such honor? My hunch is that Jesus’ words recognize, affirm and celebrate the image of God that is the core of every human being. No misfortune or tragedy can take that image of God away. No matter what labels the privileged and powerful attach to you, they cannot take that image of God away. No matter how messed up you are Jesus still bends the knee to affirm that you are and always will be a beloved child of God. As long as that image of God endures there is hope for healing and wholeness, for second, third, tenth and hundredth chances for new life.
As Jeremiah says, those who trust in the Lord are like trees planted by springs of living water. Their leaves stay green when the heat comes. Even in a year of drought, they continue to bear fruit. Even in hard times we can find ways to make a positive difference in the world.
Blessed (adapted from Steve Garnaas-Holmes, unfoldinglight.org)
The blessing is not in being poor.
The blessing is that the realm of God is yours.
Your poverty, your hunger, your mourning are circumstances.
The presence, the fulfillment, joy of God are yours no matter what.
Your failures are mere passing breezes.
Your riches, your fullness, your merriment, they, too, are passing.
Let the winds blow.
But the grace given you is eternal as the stars.
But your belovedness is eternal.
You remain in the Beloved
