January 29, 2023
" Know your audience"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
January 29, 2023 Based on Matthew 5:1-12
I saw a clip recently of a standup comedian in New York. He got on stage and started right into his routine, trying to build the energy of the room. He said “I was recently in Germany, and you know, the funny thing about Germans is…” and proceeded to tell a joke about Germans.
And immediately from the crowd came a voice with a very thick German accent. “Hey that’s not true, Germans don’t do that” “And the comedian said.. uh oh, you’re visiting from Germany I guess?” “Yes, we all are”
And he looked into the darkness and saw a table full of a German tour group. He laughed because the whole first section of his set was about his time in Germany.
Anyone who has ever done any public speaking of any kind knows: one of the first things and most important things you have to do as you prepare to speak in front of an audience is - get to know your audience.
You need to think about who it is you are talking to, what makes them tick, what matters to them, what are their struggles, what are their drives, what are their hopes and goals. You need to consider the people before you and keep them in mind if you are ever going to say anything worth them listening to.
It makes me wonder who was in the crowd that came to see and hear Jesus preach. As he looked over the folks who gathered. Did Jesus know his audience? Is that what leads him to say what he ends up saying?
I imagine the crowd gathering to hear him speak, there are the four new disciples he has just called by the lakeshore, and then whoever they could find to come and hear what Jesus has to say. Knowing Jesus, I imagine getting up to preach is not the first thing he does with this crowd, maybe he goes up to each of them to meet them, get to know them, chat a little bit, or more likely for Jesus, sit down to eat together, spend time in conversation to learn more about who these folks are, about their joys, about their struggles.
Then I imagine Jesus getting up, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts, looking out at the faces of the people he’s just met, wondering what it is these people need to hear and then, the spirit comes.
"You who are hopeless and meek
you who are grieving you who have been humbled you who are hungry and thirsting for justice
It doesn't matter what the world says about you…
God says you are blessed.”
There is something so direct about what Jesus is saying, this isn’t some universal statement, it’s like he is speaking directly to particular people. Like he’s looking someone in the eye and saying "You who just said you were hopeless at the state of the world, Blessed are you. You who just said you are wallowing in grief because your spouse died, and you don’t know how to live without them… blessed are you. You who have been oppressed and denied justice, you, you, you are blessed.
These aren’t commands, these aren’t imperative statements of what you should do, or how you need to be in order to be worthy of God, instead these are declarative statements. Statements of fact.
All you who have been overlooked and forgotten by the world, lost to the fringes and corners, you who have suffered, you who no one in their right mind would ever call blessed. Listen to how God sees you, listen to what God says about you… You are blessed.
It’s a powerful thing. Especially powerful because these are Jesus’ first public words spoken in Matthew’s Gospel. It’s almost like his mission statement, or his inaugural address. Jesus is stating here at the beginning who he is, and what his work will be about. He’s making it obvious who his intended audience is, who he has come for, who he plans to work with and heal, and care about… those who have been left out, those who are on the margins, those who have been de-centered. You are blessed.
We often make a case about the universality of God’s love. How God’s love is for everyone, for all beings, for all of creation. This is something we see again and again in scripture and that will always be a true statement. But for Jesus, this love of God is particular. Yes, it is for everyone but it is particularly strong for those who have experienced love the least.
It reminds me of an image the Lutheran pastor and author Nadia Bolz-Weber uses to describe a weekly email she sends out to anyone who wants to follow her. I know I’ve not been discreet about how much I love Nadia’s work She’s known as the sort of rebel pastor, Snarky and honest, purposefully edgy in the best sort of ways.
She writes a weekly email she calls “the corners.” It’s a title that has its origins in a really important image that Nadia found for her ministry. An image to describe who she feels called to preach and minister to.
She was flying in a plane over farmland, and found herself looking down at the fields, where she noticed something she’d probably seen a thousand times before… how sometimes the crops are planted in circular patterns. And how there’s a lot of empty unplanted spaces between those circles… She wondered… why do they plant crops in circles in lots and fields that are clearly squares?
When she landed and looked it up and learned all about center pivot irrigation which was a revolution in agricultural where farmers could water crops in a circular pattern super efficiently.
She also learned that it’s not that crops aren’t planted in the corners, it’s just that the water doesn’t reach them, so they don’t grow. It was a powerful image for Nadia and it clicked for her that so much of the teachings of the church are a center point irrigation… that they might be fine and nourish the people at the center, but so many of us are planted in the corners, and those teachings don’t reach our lives or reflect our experiences, they don’t use our language or our imagery, and so, so many people wind up going unwatered because they are planted in this life out of the center, in the corners.
[ based on an interview that can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXJXO3IL9nE&t=816s]
Jesus’ ministry is going to be one for the people who are planted in the corners. For people who have been unwatered for far too long and are desperate to experience the abundant life that so many get to experience in the center.
Blessed are they.
As a final word, I’d like to share a clip from Nadia Bolz Weber, where she has brilliantly reinterpreted Jesus’ words for those in the corners for our world today… May you listen to them as if she is looking at you directly, as if they were coming from up on the mount…
Amen.
We welcome all who worship here this morning!
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE
INTROIT “Come! Join Our Cheerful Song” Dale Wood
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
*CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Blessed:
All: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek.
One: We gather to recognize who Christ calls blessed;
All those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in
heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted.
One: Blessed are they... and Blessed are you
*HYMN No. 19 “God of Great and God of Small” GOD OF GREAT AND SMALL
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION written by Rev. Dr. Reggie Kidd Mike Ayers
Today’s confession is responsive. The liturgist will offer the prayer. When he prays one of the following we invite you to respond as printed.
One: Kyrie Eleison,
All: Lord, have Mercy
One: Christe Eleison,
All: Christ, have mercy
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE #447 “We Are Forgiven” WE ARE FORGIVEN
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ATHEM “Offertory” John Ness Beck (1930-1987)
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE Matthew 5:1–12 CEB
“Blessed are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
“Blessed are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.
“Blessed are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are people who are hungry and thirsty for justice, because they will be fed until they are full.
“Blessed are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God.
“Blessed are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.
“Blessed are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
“Blessed are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Annabelle Brown
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
*HYMN No. 852 “ When the Lord Redeems the Very Least” I’LL FLY AWAY
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH with Lord’s Prayer using debts & debtors
TIME OF OFFERING
*OFFERTORY RESPONSE #607 “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” OLD HUNDREDTH
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
One: We long for the time when the meek shall inherit the earth and all who hunger
and thirst after justice shall be satisfied, and we believe that, despite the
persistence of evil, now is always the time when more good can be done and we
can make a difference.
ALL: May it be so, through the offering of these gifts and the offering of our lives.
Amen.
*HYMN No. 742 “We Will Walk with God” (Sizohamba naye) SIZOHAMBA NAYE
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION RESPONSE “Lord, Dismiss Us” Dale Wood
POSTLUDE
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452