The Gospel reading (Luke 6: 17-26) for this Sunday’s Eucharist is sometimes referred to as the Sermon on the Plain. It may be compared with the longer Sermon on the Mount described in Matthew’s Gospel. The similarities between the two include the delivery by Jesus (in Luke’s account) of four of the blessings, or Beatitudes, out of the eight that he recited in the Sermon on the Mount. One might guess that Luke and Matthew are giving different accounts of the same sermon, but this seems unlikely given that Luke tells us that the sermon he describes was delivered ‘on a level place’, whereas the Sermon on the Mount was apparently given on a hill.
The importance of place is at the heart of the whole biblical narrative. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were promised a land of milk and honey in the eastern Mediterranean. That land was more than a mere location: it carried with it the idea of belonging, of being a place of purpose rather than emptiness. Existence away from that place therefore meant unfulfilment and unresolved tension, as the exiles in Babylon and Egypt well knew. But with the New Covenant we were given a different promise and a different place, a place in God’s heart which transcends location, a gift of sharing in the inheritance of Christ and enjoying a permanent and unbreakable relationship with God.
This is the week in which we are invited to think about stewardship. In doing so, it may be helpful to examine our sense of place and thus our relationship with God, thereby inverting some of the usual preconceptions about stewardship. Paul tells us (1 Corinthians 3: 9) that we are God’s fellow workers, God’s field, God’s building. What a duty; what a joy! What an amazing opportunity! How should we make best use of it?
Duncan McCall
