Blessed, Woe, and the Golden Rule

In one paragraph

The sermon worked through the opening of the Sermon on the Mount in Luke, covering the four "blessed are" statements and their four matching "woe" statements, then moving into Jesus' commands to love enemies, do good, lend freely, and be merciful. It was preached with an undercurrent of personal grief, as the preacher had learned that week of the death of a 22-year-old, the son of a close cousin....

Read together

1. John 15:12 opening verse about loving each other as Christ loved us, used before congregational singing
2. Proverbs 11:25 encouraging word during the offering: the generous will prosper and those who refresh others will be refreshed
3. 1 Peter 5:6-7 cast your cares on God because He cares for you, quoted during opening prayer
4. Psalm 87 referenced as containing mention of Tyre, cited as messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus speaking to people beyond his own people
5. Isaiah 35 listed as written about a thousand years before Christ, cited as messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus healing the blind, deaf, lame and mute
6. Isaiah 61 quoted as Jesus' first recorded sermon, the Spirit of the Lord anointed him to proclaim good news to the poor and freedom for captives
7. Deuteronomy 18 Moses prophesying that God would raise up a prophet like him from among the Israelites
8. 1 Samuel 2:35 God declaring he will raise up a faithful priest who will minister before his anointed one
9. Jeremiah 31:31 the promise of a new covenant with Israel and Judah, referenced in connection with communion
10. Luke 6:17-36 primary sermon text covering the level place sermon, the beatitudes, the woes, love of enemies and be merciful as your Father is merciful
11. Proverbs 30:7-9 the wise man asking God for neither poverty nor riches, lest he forget God or be tempted to steal
12. Isaiah 3:10-11 say to the righteous it will go well, but woe to the wicked, used to illustrate the balance of blessing and woe
13. Amos 5:14 used as benediction: seek good and not evil that you may live and God almighty will be with you

Talk about it

1. The preacher described how crowds came to Jesus both to hear his message and to be healed, and said the miracles authenticated the message. What does it mean to you that Jesus tied his words so closely to tangible acts of compassion and healing?
2. Jesus looked up toward his disciples before delivering the Beatitudes, and the preacher emphasized that these words were directed at people who were actually following him. How does it change the way you hear 'blessed are you who are poor' or 'blessed are you who weep now' when you understand Jesus was speaking to people in the middle of real hardship, not just offering a general principle?
3. The preacher pointed out that the four blessings and four woes mirror each other exactly, and said he worries about churches that focus only on one side. Where do you find it hardest to hold both the blessing and the woe together in your own thinking about faith?
4. The command to love enemies, do good to those who hate you, and lend expecting nothing in return was described as hard, countercultural, and against everything we are programmed to think. The preacher shared a personal story about going back to someone he had held a grudge against for years. Is there a situation in your own life where you are still in the programming stage rather than the internalizing stage on one of these commands?
5. The verse that the preacher said caught him this week was that God himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people, and he connected that to God's common grace, rain falling on the just and the unjust alike. How does thinking about your own starting point as ungrateful and in need of mercy change the way you approach someone you find difficult to be generous toward?