Dear HBIC Family,

As we continue to navigate through the Gospel of Luke together, the writer’s investigative lens has helped us to focus on Jesus as the good news for all the lost. Luke has painstakingly presented Jesus as the Messiah, not only for Israel but for the world. We have heard God’s voice from heaven calling Jesus the Son, who was promised and in whom God is pleased. We have also met a Jesus who is consistently empowered by the Holy Spirit, emboldened in preaching the message to the masses, and enveloped consistently by people who come with needs and leave with blessings. 

Our passage this week begins with what has been commonly referred to as Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. Perhaps lesser known than the more popular list of teachings in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, this sermon has much the same material, but Luke invites us in with a different lens. The words of the preacher are interpreted by the Holy Spirit and through our own lenses; therefore, quite often, the same sermon can teach us differently, and sometimes different things too. So, our question this week, foundationally, is: what is the lens through which Luke hears these teachings of Jesus, and what does that mean for us?

Luke begins the Sermon on the Plain with blessings and woes that look very much like Matthew’s Beatitudes. Like Matthew, Luke paints a picture of life in the kingdom of God, one snapshot at a time. Like Matthew, Luke shares these teachings to remind followers of Jesus of the promises made to them by God. And like Matthew, Luke wants us to hear Jesus’ consistent message that his people must both live right (in motives and actions) and think right (perspectives and Christ-centered morals). 

As you prepare for this week’s service, I would like to invite you to read and meditate on Luke 6:12-26. As you reflect, I would like to ask you to focus on the following questions:

• Why do you think prayer is so essential for Jesus?
• How does prayer stay essential in your walk with God?
• Who are the people that have discipled you? 
• What needs do you bring before Jesus today?
• How have you experienced God’s blessing this week?
• What message do you hear in the woes Jesus pronounces at the end of this passage?

I love thinking about how following Jesus means we need to rest in God’s love, mercy, grace, and blessings. It is the love of God that sent Jesus for us. It is the mercy of God that the Spirit convicts us of our sin and calls us back to God. And it is the grace of God that welcomes us all back home. As followers of Jesus, we are blessed in so many ways. Luke’s challenge for us this week is to see our blessings as entry points to right living and right thinking that honors God in all that we say, think, and do. 

Sisters and brothers, I pray that we are all living as the blessed people of God today. May we receive the richness of God’s kingdom for us, a hunger that is satisfied by God alone, all comfort for our cries and pain, and praise for the rewards promised in this life and the life to come. As people of the kingdom, we are the blessed children of God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God!

God bless you all!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Hank (Luke 6:20-21)