The following sermon was preached at St John the Baptist, Boddington, on Sunday 13 February 2022.

The occasion was the Third Sunday before Lent.

Scriptures relating are: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 & Luke 6:17-26

You can listen to a recording of the sermon by clicking here.

On this Sunday, the gospel reading is an extract from St. Luke's account of the "sermon on the mount" which in his gospel should really be called the "sermon on the plain.

Jesus "fixes his eyes" on us so that we can get to know him well and recognise his presence among us. His loving look is also a call to conversion so that we may be more like him.

"How happy are you who are poor!"

This is not an abstract statement but a joyful exclamation at the greatness of the people he sees before him. It reminds us of another text which says that Jesus was "filled with joy by the Holy Spirit" as he contemplated the wisdom of the little ones to whom God had revealed things which he had hidden from the "learned and the clever".

Jesus is so different from us. We tend to relate to the poor in a condescending way. Even when we love them we do it pityingly, we call them "disadvantaged" or "less fortunate than ourselves," we want to "do things for them", even to "pray for them."

Right through his life Jesus did the opposite. In the presence of those his society considered poor - the "little ones," "sinners", "tax-collectors and prostitutes" - he felt inspired, was filled with awe, and he told them so. "Yours is the kingdom of God," means that they are the ones who have the wisdom and the courage to make the kingdom a reality in the world.

We now see why St Luke says that Jesus "stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering". He didn't want to talk down to people; he would "cure them of their diseases" by conversing with them at their level, entering into the greatness he saw in the midst of their poverty, hunger and tears.

He knew that like many poor people, they tended to look up to the ruling elites, the superstars of his time, with awe, perhaps with some envy, so he urged them not to be intimidated by their shallowness and false values. They must remain true to their own values and then their hunger would be satisfied and their weeping would become laughter and celebration.

There are "great crowds of people" in our country, who need to be cured of many diseases - lack of self-confidence, fear of failure, narrow-mindedness. Not many are willing to do like Jesus, leave their homes and air-conditioned offices and come down to the level ground to "fix their eyes on them", converse with them, enter into their greatness and their wisdom. Some pretend to do it, but not sincerely. They praise the poor but secretly look down on them, utter platitudes and do not "exclaim" from the heart as Jesus does in this passage. A real challenge for us who are parents, community workers, teachers, church ministers.

St Luke says that Jesus' disciples were "gathered with the crowd." That is our church, a community of ordinary people, needing healing like the rest of humanity.