The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
February 11, 2007
Vol. 10 no. 06

Everything But...
           The trouble with sermons, according to the person on the street, is that they are not about the street at all. Sermons are thought to be only about heaven or some dreamed up place that is not yet - perhaps the streets of heaven paved with gold - but not about the reality of the streets. Sermons are full of high sounding words that have long been emptied of down to earth truth. Many who complain of this have not listened to a sermon as an adult. Sermons, I am afraid to admit, are not for children.
           The Gospel writers Matthew and Luke appear to share a lot in common. Not personally, for we know virtually nothing about either one - including whether or not those are their names. What they share are lots of stories and citations and accounts of Jesus. In fact, the assumption is that Matthew and Luke both made use of a common written source called “Q” for a significant number of passages. There are narratives in both Matthew and Luke that obviously come from the same source - Jesus’ own words! - yet the difference in how the evangelists report them is striking and downright different.
           The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is justifiably famous and jarring for those who have ears to hear. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers. Luke seems to have heard roughly the same sermon, but places a very different spin on it. His is the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6), intentionally “down to earth.” Jesus here does not talk about the poor in spirit, but “the poor now,” those who have no money, no possessions, no power. No one hungers for righteousness, now they hunger for food. These beatitudes are so down to earth that most people on the street close their ears in horror. In this heaven-bent spot, let us listen.