Sunday 13 February 2022 is the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany.
The main scripture this week is Luke 6:17-26 – “the Sermon on the Plain” – a more “direct” version of The Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew’s Gospel.
In his sermon this week, Rev. Geoff McKee explains why Christians should take very seriously the call to live “simply”. You can tell a lot from how someone replies, for example, to a question such as “What would you say was the greatest moment in your life?”
Main Scripture for this week
Luke 6:17-26 (New International Version)
Blessings and Woes
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
Video Service
Perspective is very important in faithful Christian living. In our prosperity with our safeguards and comforts it is very easy to either shy away from a passage like the one in Luke’s Gospel or to try to push to a place it doesn’t want to go.
REV. GEOFF MCKEE
Musical Selection
The song “Beauty for brokenness” by Graham Kendrick is a wakeup call for those who are caught up in this self-centred world to show compassion for the poor and suffering people in this world.
This song was written in 1993 for the twenty-fifth anniversary of “Tear Fund” a charity passionate about ending poverty.
Graham Kendrick wrote the song after his visit to India in 1992 and witnessing the contrast between the Indian poverty and Western affluence.
The song is also known as “God of the Poor” by its first line of refrain and articulates God’s heart for the broken and poor in this world. The purpose of the song is to ignite compassion in our hearts and lend a helping hand in this broken world to make it a beautiful place.
A previous version of this sermon, with PDF download of the text, can be found on this website here.
