Video and Sermon text for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany 

Micah 6:1-8     1 Corinthians 1:18-31     Matthew 5:1-12

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer

Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  

When Mary was pregnant with Jesus she visited her relative Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. In response to the excitement of John leaping in Elizabeth’s womb, Mary offered a song of praise highlighting what God has done in the past.  She declares: He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy…” (Luke 1:51-54) 

We are left with the impression that her son Jesus, as the incarnate eternal Son, will continue the work that he has already accomplished through the cooperation of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, after Jesus is baptized and begins his ministry, he reverses the course of many people’s lives. In the verses leading up to the Sermon on the Mount, we are told how large crowds came to follow Jesus.  

He not only taught in synagogues and proclaimed the Good News of God’s kingdom, but he also rescued people from their many kinds of sicknesses. He, in the words of the Magnificat, exalted those of humble estate, he filled the hungry, he helped Israel. He remembered his mercy. As Matthew 4 explains, Jesus healed “every disease and every affliction among the people.” Once word got out that God was active in a new way in their midst, the masses came from all over the region. In Jesus, the people saw and recognized the power of God at work. Matthew says in verses 24-25, “they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him…”   In his healing ministry, Jesus fulfills Messianic prophecy. For example, Isaiah 61 announces that the Christ will “bring good news to the poor; …. bind up the broken hearted, … proclaim liberty to the captives, … open the prisons to those who are bound … to comfort all those who mourn.” The people witness God at work. They experience the joy of God’s intervention. The state of their lives is reversed. Those bound in the prisons of debilitating sickness and relentless pain are released from their prisons. The mentally ill and those afflicted by the demonic, now know calm and peace because of Christ. 

In other words, their lives are turned around. They are set free. They can live again. The hope for deliverance that they trusted in God to bring them upon their death, was brought to them now. What a reversal! Only God can do this.

So, when the crowds following Jesus, listen to His sermon on the mount, they hear him give voice to God’s work in and to them. Jesus begins his sermon by describing with words what they have already seen, heard, and experienced. Jesus announces that they are blessed. God’s mercy broke into their lives. They are changed. Their life is different now. They are in a better place because God’s mercy is placed upon them. 

In the Beatitudes, Jesus describes the grand scope of God’s mercy. Not only does God’s mercy fall unbidden upon the sick, but also upon the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peace makers. In other words, God sees the downtrodden, the forgotten, the invisible, the generous yet unrecognized. What no one else perceives, Jesus assures us that God sees. God sees you. Yours is the kingdom of God and all its blessings. God sees the grieving. He sees those that hunger and thirst for righteousness.  He sees those that make Scripture-inspired, principled, stands for righteousness’ sake, and are consequently reviled and persecuted for it.  Jesus declares: blessed are you. God sees you. You will be comforted. You are rewarded by God. The reward begins now. 

God’s great reversal continues throughout Jesus’ ministry. Jesus confronts and brings down the mighty and the overconfident for the sake of lifting them up again with His grace. He lifts those brought low. His ministry continues through the church’s proclamation of the cross. In his suffering and death on the cross, Jesus completes his humiliation for our sakes. He sacrificially suffers and dies for us. He bears the Father’s wrath for our sin upon His own body. From the cross, he lifts up the repentant thief. He promises Him paradise. Christ’s mercy to the thief is the same mercy that is extended to all of us who approach Him with repentant hearts. 

When we recognize and repent of our sin and seek God’s mercy, in faith we receive Christ’s forgiveness. The greatest of reversals is for all the faithful. We who are sinners are declared righteous by God. On account of Christ Jesus, we are forgiven. We are lifted up. Jesus says, “you will be with me in paradise.” 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.