Will We Let Jesus Transform Us?

Blessed are the rich, for they own the best stuff.

Blessed are the sexy and glamorous, for everyone desires them.

Blessed are the powerful, for they shall control the realms of the earth.

Blessed are those who get everything they ever wanted; they alone will be satisfied.

Blessed are those who are famous, when you are pursued and stalked by the paparazzi. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is eternal branding on Instagram. 

- Diane Butler Bass

Jesus’ message is counter-cultural and personal at the same time. I may think that I am too small to transform the world, but I can let Jesus transform me.  And so I pray scripture. 

This week's passage is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, found in Luke 6:20-49.  He opens the sermon with these words, a very different set of blessings than we see in our celebrity culture: 

You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all. God’s kingdom is there for the finding. You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry. Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal. You’re blessed when the tears flow freely. Joy comes with the morning.

Some days I feel like I have lost it all. Jesus tells me that I am blessed, and his kingdom is there for the finding. And so I keep praying the sermon, watching for phrases that stand out for me today. 

Later in his Sermon, in our passage for this week, he says, Love your enemies. 

I stop, wondering who my enemies might be… perhaps those who annoy or frustrate me..something comes to mind. 

I keep praying Jesus’ words, hungry for what he wants to say to me.

It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.

I stop again, wondering if I do the very things that annoy me in others.  Oh, I do, I now see. 

The kingdom is there for the finding. Thank you, Jesus. 

Will we let Jesus transform us?  If we let Jesus transform us, I wonder if we can transform the world?  Which world do we want to live in and pass on to the next generation? 

Here is Sunday's scripture passage:

Luke 6:35-38; 41-47  (MSG)

“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it.

Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst.

Our Father is kind; you be kind.

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way.

Generosity begets generosity.”

 “It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt?

It’s this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part.

Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

 “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

 “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you?

These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.