“Blessed Discipleship”
Original sermon given on Sunday, November 2, 2025 written and delivered by Pastor Jeff Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Watch the sermon live.
“Blessed Discipleship” Luke 6.20-31
In the name of the Living God and His risen Christ. Amen.
Our Lord’s words here are familiar to us. They sound very much like his “sermon on the mount” recorded by St. Matthew. But in Luke, it’s the “sermon on the plain” — a different setting but with familiar themes. (Like a good musician, comedian, poet, or preacher, Jesus is reworking some old material for good purposes.)
Jesus here is preparing his disciples for the difficulties and persecution which lies ahead. To warn and comfort them, he delivers a sermon of surprising contrasts: “blessed are the poor… blessed are those who hunger… blessed those who weep,” and woe to the rich, the satisfied, the laughing. Jesus preaches a “world turned upside down” for his followers.
These “blessings” and “woes” are like none you’ve ever heard before. When we look upon someone who’s poor, we might remark with distant pity, “Oh, that’s so sad.” Or when we know someone is grieving, we say to ourselves, “I can’t imagine how hard this is for them.”
And, on the other hand, we gaze with covetous eyes upon those whose lives seem totally awesome. To quote a well-known hymn, “Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you’re part of the team. Everything is awesome, when you’re living the dream.” (Okay, it’s not a Lutheran hymn. It is from the first Lego Movie — but perhaps someone can compose a concertato arrangement of this song one day?)
When we see someone, whose life seems “everything is awesome!” we say things like, “Can you imagine having that kind of money? Wouldn’t it be great to dine at that restaurant? What’s it like to live in that neighborhood? I wish I had their life, their friends, their popularity.”
But Jesus here looks right at his disciples, as he looks right at us, and turns the whole world upside down. “Blessed are you who are poor… who hunger now… who weep now… who are reviled, excluded, unpopular now.” And “Woe!” to the rich, the well-fed, those who laugh, those well-spoken of by this world.
A stranger reversal of blessings and woes could not be imagined, which is why these words of Jesus both comfort and convict us like nothing else can.
But first, what our Lord is not saying. He’s not saying that it’s inherently sinful or displeasing to God to have money, go out to eat, and have a joyful time — he’s not telling his disciples they must traverse this forsaken world like some kind of “evangelical Eeyore” or “divine Debbie-Downer.” No, in fact, followers of Jesus should live life with more joy, more fellowship, more fun precisely because we know the gospel and are free.
Nor is Jesus saying that being poor, hungry, or sad is inherently virtuous. As if the external conditions of your life determine your moral character. No, plenty of scripture contradicts this. It’s not what you’ve been given that ultimately matters. It’s what you do with what you’ve been given. St. Paul’s words in Philippians 4 come to mind, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who strengthens” (Phil 4.12-13). So Jesus is not saying it’s sinful to be rich or virtuous to be poor.
Rather, Jesus here in the “sermon on the plain” prepares his followers for the inevitable resistance and persecution that will come because they wear his name and bear his word. “Blessed are you when men hate you, exclude you, insult you, and reject you because of the son of man, because of me.”
And in contrast he speaks “woes” upon all those whose lives appear “full” now but really live in emptiness because of their resistance to and rejection of Jesus, messiah, son of God and son of man.
His words call us to see differently, live differently, and hope differently. Ultimate fulfillment, satisfaction, joy, and commendation can only come in relationship to Jesus — believing in his name; being baptized into his life, death, and resurrection; being fed by his very body and blood; being filled with his word. And life without him, apart from him, is “woe” both now and, ultimately, eternally. No greater woe than to be found on the wrong side of Jesus.
These upside-down “Blessings and Woes” are particularly meaningful for us on this “All Saints Sunday” — the day we remember the saints gone before us who rest in the loving arms of Jesus; and the saints “still at it” here on earth — especially those new to our congregation.
For those around the throne and the lamb in heaven: Jesus’ words comfort us for whatever they suffered here, however difficult their last hours. However “blessed” or “woeful” the world may have regarded them, we know a greater truth: their robes were washed in the blood of the lamb; their sins forgiven by the cross; their lives engrafted into the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. Whatever “woes” they had in life — and none of us get out of here “woe-free” — whatever they went through, we know there will be a final resurrection, a final reconciliation, and a final rejoicing that will never end. “Blessed are they” who are now with God.
And for all the saints still on our difficult and dangerous voyage on earth, especially new members to First Saint Paul’s. Each of your journeys to this point has been on the one hand individually very different. Some are life-long Lutherans — so Lutheran, you know all the secret code words like “LWML”; or you know what secret stuff the Lutheran ladies put into those Jello treats. Some of you are life-long Christians but have come to confess the faith anew, as God’s Spirit has drawn you here to our confession. For some, this whole Jesus thing is pretty new — and you’re just starting down the road of discipleship.
But for all these saints — and “for all the saints” — one thing remains the same, whatever your journey: whatever “woes” might come, however hard following him might be, no matter what the devil or the world throws at you — you are ever blessed by the one who gave everything for us.
No poverty like his — he ended his life hanging naked on a tree.
No emptiness like his — forsaken, abandoned, and alone.
No weariness like his — the sin and shame of all the world upon his shoulders.
No revilement like his — insulted and slandered though righteous and innocent.
And yet, no victory like his — risen from the dead, living and reigning over all things, working through his saints who are filled by his Spirit.
Whatever comes — blessings or woes, wealth or poverty, good fortune or bad, fullness or emptiness in this world — whatever comes, “All Saints” belong to him.
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen.