Sermon for November 2, 2025 All Saints Sunday

Gospel Luke 6:20-31

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

    for yours is the kingdom of God.

 “Blessed are you who are hungry now,

    for you will be filled.

“Blessed are you who weep now,

    for you will laugh.

 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you[d] on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich,

    for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now,

    for you will be hungry.

“Woe to you who are laughing now,

    for you will mourn and weep.

 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Sermon:

I'm going to start by telling you a story. Now, it's going to sound like the start of a joke, but I guarantee you it's not. For the past few years, many pastors have had conversations that go something like this:

It's after church and people are greeting the pastor. A parishioner says, “Pastor I don't know where you get all those liberal talking points, but you need to stick to preaching the Bible!”

The pastor answers, “I preached on the Beatitudes today. These are Jesus’ words right out of the Bible.”

The parishioner responds, “Well, Pastor. that may have worked back in Jesus’ day, but that just doesn't work today.”

No joke - people really have been saying that to their pastors!

If people are wigging out at Matthew's beatitudes, they will freak completely out at Luke’s. Luke doesn't sugarcoat anything. As many a commentator and preacher have said, “if you're not squirming your seat after hearing this passage, then you haven't been listening.”

Matthew’s beatitudes spiritualizes, takes the edge off. It’s a word we can get behind:

Blessed:

Poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

The merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, those who are persecuted because of righteousness

We can get behind those. Who hasn’t felt poor in spirit? Who hasn’t hungered and thirsted for righteousness.

New Testament and top Matthew scholar Mark Allen Powell says that there are 2 kinds of people in Matthew’s beatitudes: those God has a special concern for, and those who stand with them.

Still, we’re good, cause we’re either in the first group, or we’re the second group that stands up for them. Right?

Then we have Luke. Blunt, direct Luke, who leaves no room for spiritualizing, for rationalizing, for justifying:

Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who weep,

Those who are hated, excluded, insulted, rejected, called evil because they do what Jesus tell us to do.

There’s no “in spirit,” no “for righteousness.” Just the poor, the hungry, the grief-stricken, the reviled, hated, and marginalized.

There are 2 kinds of people in Luke too. But Luke doesn’t give a middle ground. Either you’re in the first group or you are in the group expecting woe.

Woe! To the rich, the well-fed, those who laugh, those who are spoken well of. Woe!

Excursus:

Woe! Or Whoa!

What if we heard each of the woes as a Whoa

You know, like you say when you’re reigning in a horse: Whoa, Nellie!

What if we stop, and think about what we do with our riches, how we share our food, how we comfort the mourning, and whether we do those things without regard for what other people say or think.

Whoa Nellie! You have money. Are you going to share it? Woe, how terrible for you if you don’t

Whoa Nellie! You have enough to eat. Will you share your bread? Woe, how terrible for you if you don’t

Whoa Nellie! You have a good life. Will you reach out to those whose lives are full of sorrow? Woe, how terrible for you if you don’t

Whoa Nellie! Which people are the ones who think highly of you? Are they ones who follow Me or are they the ones who scoff and say “that may have worked in Jesus’ day, but it won’t work today.

Back to the sermon:

It's ironic that we hear this text today. The day after millions of Americans EBT card balance remains at 0 rather than being replenished.

Jesus might lift his eyes up to us and say:

Blessed are those who must choose between rent and medical care

Blessed are those who grieve for loved ones missing, detained, or deported

Blessed are those who SNAP card runs dry

Blessed are those who are stopped because of their skin color,

who are reviled because of who they love or how they identify

Woe to those who hoard wealth, who laugh at the circumstances of the vulnerable, who deny food to the hungry, who demonize anyone who looks differently, loves differently, identifies differently, or comes from a different country or culture.

It’s interesting that our text begins “Jesus looked up to them.” Them are Jesus’ disciples. In both Matthew and Luke Jesus has just called the twelve.

Unlike Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Luke gives up a Sermon on the Plain. Jesus isn’t sitting on top of a hill, literally talking down at the disciples, his other followers, and the crowd. No, when Jesus looks up at them, he’s in the middle of the crowd. He’s sitting down or bent down, perhaps blessing a child, healing someone’s illness or infirmity, listening to the cares and fears of a villager.

He looks up at the disciples and gives them their marching orders.

Here are the people God calls you to serve, all around us. Will you get down on their level? Will you stoop to serve them? Will you care for them even if it doesn’t earn you any brownie points with those in power?

Will you love those who God loves? The poor, the oppressed, the marginalized and vulnerable?

The enemy? The ones who curse and mistreat you? They too carry the image of God and God loves them.

Will you resist the urge to pay back violence with violence?

Will you give freely? Will you hold your possessions with an open hand, ready to let go so someone who is in need will be blessed by them?

Will you treat others the way you want to be treated?

This is the call Jesus gave to his disciples, the call he gives to the church, always, and everywhere. It is our calling.

You knw, there really are 3 kinds of people:

Those God has special care for (Matthew and Luke)

Those who stand on their side (Matthew)

And those who don’t. (Luke)

We are called to be the ones who stand on the side of the poor, hungry, grief-stricken, reviled, exiled, hated, and marginalized.

Remember that parishioner I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon, the guy who doesn’t think the Beatitudes work for today? This is what I would tell them:

These are Jesus’s words to his disciples. Those words didn’t work all that well back in Jesus’ time either. Or in any of the times since. That doesn’t mean we are excused from this call.

Jesus looks up at us and says…