Gospel: Luke 6:20-36:

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
"Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
"Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

"But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
"Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
"Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.

"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

"But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Sermon:

In the name of Jesus, Son of God and Healer of our every ill. Amen.

I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ and on behalf of all the people of faith at Hephatha Lutheran here in Milwaukee, and I express gratitude for the opportunity to share in God’s Word with you this evening.

This evening’s topic is the healing of the body, and the healing of the body is a topic that is near and dear to my heart and to my faith. A few years ago, at the age of 33, I suffered a severe loss of my physical health. On Sunday mornings I had to pull a chair forward and sit to give a sermon. I could not stand up to preach. I needed to climb stairs on all fours, kind of like a dog. I was seriously ill. My personal testimony this evening is both of immense gratitude to God for the obvious return of a good portion of health and strength to my body, and my personal testimony this evening is of my immense gratitude to God for the presence of Christ Jesus with me when I sat in that chair to preach, when I bent over on all fours to ascend the stairs, when I wondered in my hospital room what was becoming of me. Yes, as we hear in Luke’s Gospel this evening – yes, people of God, we can be both afflicted and blessed at the same time. What a paradox, a mystery of faith!

So here I am. I still have disease in my body – I went to the doctor yesterday. Here I am and here we are with our various afflictions, right, Church? Here we are, very much like those people who gathered to be near Jesus in the lesson from Luke we heard this evening. Some 2,000 years ago a great crowd came to see Jesus. This is a great crowd to me! Some years ago – 2,000 years ago – a great crowd came to see Jesus. This crowd in Luke, it’s like our crowd here. The people are from all over; we’re from all over. They’re from Jerusalem, all Judea, Tyre, Sidon – all sorts of people are pressing in on Jesus in Luke; all sorts of people are pressing in on Jesus here tonight. And the great crowd in Luke is full of people who are suffering from all kinds of diseases, people troubled by spirits of the evil kind.

And as Jesus spoke of blessings and woes all those years ago to that crowd seeking healing, so also now people of God – so also now Jesus speaks to us, to this crowd, in our sickness and in our health as we seek healing. Jesus speaks to us tonight. Listen in as he says, “Blessed are the poor.” And then a whole string of blessings and woes and “love your enemy” and on and on, and then Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Jesus speaks a word of God’s favor upon the poor then and now. Jesus heals the sick in the crowd, and he cures those who suffer with evil spirits then and now. Jesus speaks a word of God’s favor then; Jesus speaks a word of God’s favor now, upon those who are poor, hungry, grieving, despised. And as Jesus speaks – then and now – Jesus calls us. Now! Even with our diseases and infirmities, our afflictions and our sin. Jesus calls us sitting, standing, whatever – sick, well, whatever! Jesus calls us to become his merciful Body upon this earth, to become his blessing upon the poor of this earth.

Be merciful, whatever your state of health. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. God is merciful. We are to be merciful. When your body fails you, and fail you it will at some point – when your body fails you, forget not that God’s mercy never fails you. When you are healed, when you can stand again after being laid up, when your loved one enjoys renewed health after a time of illness, forget not the God whose mercy is the source of all health and wellness. When you seek healing that does not come – when we seek healing for ourselves or for a loved one that does not come – let us not forget the God who always comes.

God is merciful, and so God comes to us, Church. God comes to our broken bodies, our broken minds, our broken spirits, our broken churches – God comes to us in the broken body of Jesus, who shares in the agony of the ill and the poor of this world through his suffering and death upon the cross. God comes to us in the broken body of Jesus, who redeems the ill and the hungry and the despised from their suffering through his suffering and resurrection. God comes to us. Christ Jesus comes to this crowd, just as surely as he came to that crowd in Luke’s Gospel, and, praise be the Lord, by his stripes, Church, we are forgiven! We are healed!

Whether you are here in sickness or in health, whether you feel mostly blessing or woe in life this night, whether it is cancer or remission, relapse or recovery, depression or stability on your mind, this evening, Church, we come together as the Body of Christ to receive the Body of Christ. Seeking healing from our Lord. Pressing in on him, as those people did in Luke all those years ago. We take his broken Body into our broken bodies, and, receiving the mercy of God’s forgiveness in Christ, we move forward from this assembly in mercy for the healing of God’s world. Amen.