Epiphany 7C, 2025

Text: Luke 6:27-38

Title: Easy, Simple, Normal?

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From the start, know this:

What Jesus asks of you in today’s gospel is not easy.

What Jesus asks of you is not simple.

What Jesus asks of you is not normal.

Jesus calls you to go beyond what everyone else around you does, to overcome your basic instincts, and what your gut tells you not to do.

When you are cursed and abused, Jesus says to pray and to bless, not to fire right back.

When you are struck, Jesus says to continue to allow it, not to run away, not to hit back.

When you are robbed, Jesus says to give more, not to get back what’s yours.

That’s impossible, right?

Who could live in such a way?

You’d end up bankrupt, naked, injured, perhaps even dead.

And that’s the point.

Jesus doesn’t ask anything of you that He Himself has not already done.

Jesus was cursed and abused.  On the cross they teased and tormented Him mercilessly. “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God.”

Did Jesus insult them right back?  No, instead He prayed, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

Jesus was struck, beaten, flogged mercilessly. 

Did Jesus run away?  Did Jesus fight back?  No.  He even told Peter to put away his sword, saying that those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

And when He was crucified, the soldiers took His cloak, His tunic, every last stitch of clothing that He owned, and they divided them up and gambled for them.

In the end, Jesus gave all that He had, even His very life.

Who could ever pay Him back?  Who could ever repay that debt?

And still, Jesus gives and gives, overflowing, spilling over, love without measure.

Jesus did what was not easy, not simple, not normal.

The centurion at the foot of the cross noticed. And he said, “truly this was the Son of God.”

Jesus was the Son of God as He was merciful, showing mercy to all those who did not deserve it.

And that’s what you’re required to do, to be like Jesus.

“I can’t,” you say.  “I’m a sinful human being.  There’s no way that I can love the way that Jesus loves.”

That doesn’t matter.  This is still what Jesus requires of you.

You can’t dodge the law or try to find excuses. There are no loopholes.

These words of Jesus should bring you to confession. They should help you see the depth of your selfishness, compared with His selfless love.

The purpose of the law is to show you your sin and your need for a Savior.

In your sinfulness, you are Jesus’ enemy. You are the one to insult Him, to strike Him, to steal from Him.  You crucified Jesus.

[Pause]

But now remember how Jesus treats His enemies. He prays for you.  He blesses you.  He has mercy on you.

It’s not easy.  It’s not simple.  It’s not normal.

And because you’ve been loved in such a way, perhaps you’re motivated to give this radical love a try, not out of a sense of obligation, but out of thankfulness.

As an example, consider Joseph and our Old Testament lesson.

Joseph was an ordinary human being, just like you. And his family life was messy, as I’d imagine yours is.

Joseph’s dad, Jacob, had twelve sons with four different women.  Jacob and his brother, Benjamin, were the sons of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel.

Joseph was clearly dad’s favorite (witness his special coat), and that made the brothers jealous.  They thought about killing him, but, in the end, they settled on selling him into slavery.

And as if slavery was not bad enough, Joseph eventually found himself falsely accused and rotting away in prison.

But the Lord had mercy on Joseph and brought him up out of prison to become Pharoah’s righthand man.  Through Joseph’s wisdom, food was stored away in the times of plenty, so that they had more than enough food for times of famine.

That famine struck Joseph’s brothers.  And when they came looking for food in Egypt, they didn’t expect to find their brother in charge, and they didn’t recognize him.

When they finally realized that they were face to face with the one they had betrayed and sold into slavery, they expected Joseph to do what was normal, easy, and simple.

They expected him to do what they would have done, had he been in their place, and to take his revenge on them- slavery, prison, torture, even death.

That’s what they would have done.

When I’ve taught this story at Concordia, I’ve had the students imagine themselves in Joseph’s place, finally face-to-face with the ones who have caused them so much pain.

And I’ve had them stand in front of the class and pretend like the class is the brothers and that they are Joseph, and the assignment is to say, honestly, what they would say to their brothers, were they in Joseph’s place.

What would you say?  How would you react in Joseph’s place?

Would you forgive?  Or would you give in to your anger and desire for revenge?

Ultimately, Joseph’s forgiveness points forward to Christ, who forgave all of His disciples who betrayed and abandoned Him to death.

But it also serves as an example to you for how to react when you are mistreated.

And if you do so, if you react with blessing and mercy, if you love in a way that’s not easy or simple or normal, people will notice.

And they may ask you why you’re not normal, why you’re not like them.

And that’s an opportunity to point to Christ.

“If you think I’m strange, let me tell you about someone even stranger, someone who was willing to give everything out of love.”

As a follower of Christ, your life is not easy or simple or normal.

In fact, you might end up poor.

But remember what Jesus says,

“Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

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