Title: One Size Fits All???

Scripture: Jeremiah 17:5-10, Luke 6:17-26

2/15/04 Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Rev. Joy R. Haertig

Have you ever gone clothes shopping and a pretty color catches your eye so you pull the shirt off the rack to look at the size and it says on the label, “One size fits all”?  “Oh”, you think - great!  And you hold it up and realize that one size fits all if we were all a size six?  One size does not fit all!

I mentioned a few weeks ago the Saturday class that was offered here at our church on the Historical Jesus.  At one point in the class we listed names or titles for Jesus.  The lists were amazing!  One of the participants noted how much the various names' and titles reflected the diversity and intensity of the needs we have. (Have you ever considered how your beliefs about Jesus reflect your personal needs?)

One size does not fit all when it comes to Jesus either!

The New Testament Gospels and their authors reflect this truth as well.  For instance, it is a curious exercise to compare what is called “The Beatitudes” that we heard from the Gospel of Luke this morning, to those in the Gospel of Matthew.  The differences in each gospel reflect the differing needs and social locations of the communities each author is addressing.

In the Gospel of Matthew the beatitudes are known as “The Sermon on the Mount” because the writer tells us that Jesus goes up a mountain to teach the people.  In the Gospel of Luke it is known as “The Sermon on the Plain” because we are told that Jesus “came down with them and stood on a level place.”

This is not a trivial distinction.  Matthew's image is more authoritarian and presents a more decisive Jesus.  It reflects the author's concern with order and direction in the early church.  Luke's image is more communal.  It reflects his concern for those who have been rejected by their religious community for various reasons, who know poverty and loss.  The mentally and physically handicapped, soldiers, tax collectors and prostitutes who are seeking the good news that they are not set apart from God's healing love, but are on “level” ground with everyone else.

The author of Luke writes, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”  The author of Matthew writes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

What is the difference between the “poor” and the “poor in spirit”?  

In Luke it reads “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled”.  In Matthew it reads, “Blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”  

The author of Luke is bringing the good news to those who are literally poor and hungry.  This community might look more like the community we see at the Church of Mary Magdalene in downtown Seattle that serves women, or the Union Gospel Mission that serves homeless men.  God does care that they are literally hungry or homeless, God cares that they have no health insurance or stable employment.  In God's eyes they are healthy and whole, valued and loved.  According to the Gospel of Luke, in God's realm the current status quo is turned upside down so now the poor get their turn at being comfortable.

The author of Matthew is writing for a different group of people.  He writes for the growing body of Jews and Gentiles that are forming the early church because their home is no longer in the synagogue.  He is not preaching to people that are literally poor or hungry, he is teaching people that look more like you or me.  The basics of life are in place but they hunger for a new spiritual home and community.

Different roles, different needs for unique communities of people, diverse understandings of God and of the role of the Christian community.  Does this diversity take away clarity from the Christian story or diminish Christ?  I like to think of it like looking through a kaleidoscope - we all look through the same scope but the slightest change in how it is held or what you are looking at or for, can change the picture time and again.

One of my colleagues, Don McKenzie from University Congregational Church, is quoted as saying: “We need a conscious awareness that Truth comes by different paths, devised by the divine, to be sources of encouragement for one another.”  The communities of Luke and Matthew are not in competition with one another for the Truth, they are sources of encouragement and guidance then and now as we continue a lifetime of discernment in what it means to be God's people.  

One of the scholars I read this week on the prophet Jeremiah stated that one of the prophets main concerns was Judah's “theology of certitude”.  Jeremiah was uncomfortable with a people that had taken the stance of “God told me and I'm telling you, and if you don't believe as I do, you're doomed.” According to Jeremiah, this kind of certitude about God reflected playing God rather than being rooted in God.

Just recently I received an email from a church that was offering an evening class to prove the falsehood of the popular mystery novel called The DaVinci Code and the truth of the New Testament Gospels.

Dan Brown, the author has done extensive research on Western History, Christianity and secret religious societies.  We are invited to consider everything from the nature of Mona Lisa's smile to the secret of the Holy Grail in a new and intriguing way.  

Is everything true in the book?  No.  It's a novel.

Are there “Truths” in the book?  Yes, I believe there are and it can be a rich tool for reflection and conversation about religion and what can happen when faith is institutionalized, and about the mysteries of symbol and our eternal search for the divine.  Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married?  We will never know, but it certainly does not hurt us to consider the possibility.  Were the gifts of women increasingly left out of the church as it was formed and institutionalized?  Yes, we know that this is true.

Is The DaVinci Code a threat to the veracity of the New Testament Gospels?  No.  Unless you believe that everything that was ever “Truth” is included in them and that God finished speaking once they were written.

Mel Gibson is receiving a great deal of publicity for his new film on Christ's passion.  I receive emails weekly inviting me to participate in this or that training so that I can use the film as an evangelical tool.  It is supposed to be very vivid and real in its portrayal of the crucifixion, but I hope we do not lose sight of the fact that it is Mel Gibson's theological interpretation of what occurred according to one of the Gospel interpretations.  I do not doubt that there will be some “Truth” in the film, but the film itself is not True.  It too can be a tool for reflection and conversation but not proof of what actually occurred or who is to blame.

One size does not fit all.

The word beatitude means “Blessing”.  Whether we read them in the Gospel of Luke or in the Gospel of Matthew, there is an overall sense of God's blessing and a deep concern for humanity and our varying needs.  We are not in competition for God's blessing or his good news for our needs.  The Bible itself reflects that “the Truth comes by different paths, devised by the divine, as sources of encouragement [and challenge] for one another.” (McKenzie)  One size does not fit all and not one of us has access to the final truth.

We do not need to be threatened by the incredible amount of perspectives that are at our fingertips for reflecting on the Bible or our spiritual journey's.  But I would offer this one thought as you explore - notice the “fruits” that come from a particular perspective.  Are the “fruits” fear or hope?  Division or exclusion?  What ifs or absolutes?  Does it fill you with shame or light as you read it?  Compare those fruits to the God you know in Christ - and keep searching!