All Saints Day(observed) - Year C (Luke6: 20-31)_

Although it would generally never happen in a church that follows the lectionary, I have read about more than one Evangelical Christian who claimed to have never heard the Sermon on the Mount or its Lucan parallel preached on or even read in church for that matter. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise anyone that this would be the case and we who are forced to come to terms with these hard teachings by the lectionary might well be shy about looking down our noses as those who choose avoidance. If Christianity were to be judged solely on this text, it would have to be considered one of the biggest failures in history. Fortunately, it is grace, and not our inability to live up to this sermon’s demands, that has the last word.
In the end, Luke’s Sermon on the Plain must be seen in terms of the cross. Jesus lives his sermon in his death and resurrection. Each of the beatitudes is fully realized in the paschal mystery. The commands voiced in verses 27 -31 are kept to perfection in the crucifixion. We who have been signed with the cross at baptism are challenged not so much to obey the demands of this sermon but to live into them by grace. The cross shapes our lives in such a way that we join the ranks of the blessed, not by our own doing but through the power of him who is the Blessed One.