As we continue with the Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus gets to the heart of the matter of discipleship. At first glance it looks like Jesus is basically addressing the demands of good humanity. Indeed much of what Jesus says here was said in other places by others long before he said them himself. It would seem that Jesus needs to teach those around him about good manners, simple civility, generosity and kindness.
None of this is meant to diminish the significance of this teaching. It is eminently clear that the world use a good course in civility and humanity. So much of the public discourse – be it in the halls of congress, news and talk shows or social media – needs a clear uplifting and a reset. We have lost a deep sense of humanity in our interactions with others, and there seems to be a sense of pride in tripping up someone, or in finding that “gotcha” moment.
All of us need to seriously and honestly look at ourselves and allow ourselves to be challenged by this sermon of Jesus who implores us to be at the service of others. None of us should only be about the self, yet self-satisfaction, and self-importance and self-aggrandizement is a hallmark of the modern celebrity culture. The value of instant fame and fortune, often at the expense of the human dignity of another, seems preeminent.
Jesus, as with the prophets of the Old Testament, and many other men and women of mercy and compassion, calls us to a worldview which leads us instead to self-sacrifice. Jesus challenges us with these words: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.” These words should obviously make us look at our lives more seriously.
There are two pitfalls in the modern application of this sermon.
The first problem is treating this as a quaint sermon that has no real application in the real world. Like so many of the teachings of Jesus, this sermon can be easily dismissed. His teaching is overly idealistic and certainly not at all realizable. This is a teaching that the secularist likes to mock when they think of Jesus and it has often been used to mistreat or take advantage of Christians along the way.
The second problem is making this the sum and substance of Jesus teaching. Here Jesus becomes a social advocate and the founder of a socio-political philosophy. While it would be wonderful if these principles were now normative in the world after 2,000 years, the fact is that they will not be nor will they ever be. We live in a world in which Original Sin is still manifest, and the tendency to actual sin persists.
Jesus was not a socio-political theorist or activist. This sermon, while a significant statement of Jesus teaching, is not the totality of his ministry, and certainly not the core of his mission. It is easy to reduce Jesus to a great moral teacher, much like others of the ancient world. And when we lose sight of the Paschal Mystery at the heart of the Gospel, then we have lost the consequence of this teaching.
We should all be challenged by this teaching. We should certainly consider carefully our language of discourse, our quickness to judgment, our treatment of the poor, immigrant, disenfranchised and marginalized. Yet we cannot stop reading Luke’s Gospel in chapter six. We must continue to the end, so as to understand the consequence of discipleship that Jesus prepares us for in this Sermon on the Plain.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.