Yin and yang

A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 13, 2022

Jer 17:5-8, 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20, Lk 6:17, 20-26

When we think back to a banquet or an awards dinner or a wedding, what do we remember right off the bat?

Probably the dessert.

And there’s a scientific reason why we remember the wedding cake. Psychologists call it the serial position effect.

In short, the serial position effect guides how we remember several items from a long list or a big group when we probably can’t remember them all. Lists engineered through the serial position effect will put the most important items at the beginning, the middle and the end. 

And of the beginning, middle and end, what’s at the end usually winds up being the most memorable.

The same holds true for stories and speeches and passages from Scripture. Especially when the writer or speaker is looking for a spectacular finish.

We all remember “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” and “I have a dream.”

We all remember “Blessed are…”

But when we break open the Beatitudes according to Luke today, well, the ending is a bit of a head-scratcher.

Unlike the nine “blessed are” verses in the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, and unlike the gentle admonitions from Jesus in the verses that follow, the four “blessed are” verses in Luke are immediately followed by four “woe to you” verses. 

And they are intense. Mic drop.

They seem so Old Testament, so Angry God in the Desert. Luke’s retelling of Jesus’ sermon is black and white, yes or no, either-or. No both-and, no shades of gray.

And where are they in this passage? At the end. They’re in the dessert slot. They’re in the most memorable position.

Is Jesus going old-school, according to Luke?

Yes and no.

Jesus’s audience in First Century Palestine was familiar with a grumpy God. In fact, their relationship with the Almighty was kind of transactional. Let’s make a deal.

“You will be my people and I will be your God, as long as you obey my commandments and have no other gods before me. In return, I will give you a land flowing with milk and honey.”

On one hand, it was a terrific deal. A comfortable living in a secure homeland.

On the other, it showed an immature relationship with the Creator. Be good or be gone. Why? Because I said so.

So while Matthew’s telling of the Beatitudes emphasized the upside of living according to the Law of Love that Jesus preached, Luke’s version probably was more familiar for his original audience.

Crime and punishment.

Woe to you.

Stick to the script or else.

Therefore, in 2022, when there’s no doubt we prefer Matthew’s Beatitudes to Luke’s, can we find mature value in the four blessed-ares and the four woe-to-yous, or do we simply write them off as stale and past their expiration date? Especially since Luke cast the woe-to-you part as Jesus’ memorable big finish?

Luke is still fresh.

These days, the 24/7 media bombard us with news about our fellow sisters and brothers who are demanding their rights, their right to do this or not do that, to be allowed to possess this or not be forced to have that. And in our promised land, we do believe our rights are God-given. Our entire civic and political system has individual rights as its foundation, as its core, as its bedrock. 

Men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend and preserve those rights. They considered it a moral duty; they considered it their responsibility.

Sounds like something Jesus did.

Hmmm.

Bedrock.

Moral.

Responsibility.

These days, while so many of us are asserting our rights, how many of us are living up to the responsibilities that those rights rely on? Because every right has at least one responsibility, and often more, far more.

In our mature relationship with God and our sisters and brothers today, it’s our primary, our basic overall responsibility to figure out the specific responsibility that’s attached to each right we exercise. Everything we do on this fragile planet has consequences for every other person we meet, and for generations yet to be born. 

When we live the lives we choose, we must make sure our neighbors get to do so, too. Love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus says. 

Or put another way, rights and responsibilities go hand in hand.

And that’s why Luke’s version of the Beatitudes lays that heavy reminder on us as his big finish.