A hug from Jurgen

You’ll probably all have realised how infectious a smile can be but it appears that the same is true of a hug genuinely given. Last week on the radio I heard Ian Rush, the former Liverpool and Wales footballer talking about Liverpool’s current manager, Jurgen Klopp. He said that whenever he sees him, Klopp gives him a huge hug, which makes him want to go and hug someone else…

And it led me to think a bit about how, we as a church, should be hugging people (maybe not always literally !) to show them they’re loved…, and of how wonderful it would be if our hugs with others led them to go out and hug more people.

Today in our gospel reading (Luke 6:17-26) we heard an account of the beatitudes. The beatitudes are also told in a bit more length in the gospel according to Matthew, but today we hear from Luke. We don’t know whether it is an account of the same speech that Jesus gave or whether it’s similar but told somewhere else which seems more likely, but that really doesn’t matter. What is important are the sentiments that Jesus expresses.

And to be honest they can be pretty tough for many of us living in Western society if we take it seriously…. The average salary in the United Kingdom in 2018 was £27,271 and, according to the Global Rich List, if we’re earning that much money then we are in the top 1% of earners worldwide.

Now, I recognise that everything is relative and costs of living vary and many people won’t even earn that much money anyway, but it does remind us I think of the stark contrast in the world between those who have and those who haven’t.

And I think Jesus thinks about this in the gospel we’ve heard. People had gathered after hearing of some of the incredible work Jesus was doing – many had come, I’m sure, to see if they could get a bit of good luck from Jesus, watch a bit of magic happening or just to see something spectacular.

Well Jesus of course specialises in the spectacular but not in the way some of those people imagined. Jesus has extraordinary power to heal but his power is also revealed in his love for others and we see it especially here in his care for those on the edge of society.

Far from being a God who rewards people with riches for doing good, Jesus confounds many of his listeners by saying that it is the poor who are blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of God; or the hungry for they will be filled; those who weep because they will laugh; those who are hated or excluded, reviled or defamed on account of their faith in Jesus – their reward is great in heaven…

And he doesn’t leave it there – just to hammer home his point he contrasts those who are struggling with those who are rich and full today, saying that they’ve had their share of good things…

You get the impression here that Jesus is pretty frustrated with some of these people and why shouldn’t he be. As we’ve already thought about, these people came for all kinds of reasons, but few came, it seems, to really get closer to Jesus, few came expecting their lives to be transformed…

And maybe that was because they didn’t want their lives to be transformed – they were comfortable, they were perhaps in the world’s top earners, they had food on the table and plenty of money to get by and they weren’t going to really take risks for Jesus… And they weren’t going to expect their lives to be transformed by him.

But Jesus’ message is always about transformation, it’s always about us trying to be more like him… So often, it’s very easy for us to rely on the comforts we have, or for us to not really worry too much about loving each other as Jesus tells us to, or for us to perhaps, even sub-consciously, believe that we are somehow blessed by God to be living so well…

Jesus confounds all this thinking completely – those who were and who are rich are not blessed in the way they think but rather burdened with a responsibility to care for those who don’t have much. Those who have plenty of food are burdened with a responsibility to help feed those who have none. Those who are laughing are burdened to care for those who are mourning or weeping…

It was a picture that many of those listening wouldn’t have understood and to be honest, it’s a picture which isn’t understood today very well either… Success is often measured in having a nice house, nice holidays, a good car, but Jesus reminds us that these things really don’t matter. These things are not the things that last…

And so where is the good news in this gospel reading for us today ? I’ve already said it can be pretty tough reading for us in much of the western world, but the good news is that Jesus is looking to bless and not condemn and is calling us to recognise where we are and what we have, and the fact is that whenwe recognise what riches mean we will also recognise that whatever our earthly wealth, we will recognise that on some days we’re struggling and some days we are really blessed.

Richness is seen in relationships, in the things that really last. Richness is seen in how we share God’s love with one another – it’s by putting away the fears that sometimes separate  us from others, it’s by putting away the old grudges that we hold so tightly, it’s by recognising that when Jesus speaks, he speaks of what is good and right for all of us. He speaks of being committed not to a comfortable lifestyle, but to a life filled with the sort of riches that money can never buy…

The Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote his History of the Jewish people during the time that Rome ruled Israel - in the middle of the First Century - talked about the cross and what it was like in those days to walk the main road that led into Jerusalem. He recorded how, along that road there would be - at times - as many as 2000 or 3000 crosses lining the way - each with either a fresh victim nailed or tied to a cross - or the decaying body of an earlier victim baking in the heat.

Jesus spoke to his followers about carrying their cross and this was relevant language of the time – not just a ‘saying’…. The disciples were all too well aware that the cross was a very real option for those caught offending the Romans or even the Jewish authorities…

I’m very pleased that we don’t live in a society that behaves like that, but we do have a faith that calls us to be committed, committed to loving one another and serving one another; committed to looking out for those who are struggling; committed to letting Jesus live in us in a way that when people look at us, they can see him and they can see his love for everyone…

I’ll return to Jurgen Klopp and his hugs – some of you watch football and when you do, watch him at the end of a game as he goes around looking for players to hug – sometimes it will be a hug that says ‘that wasn’t the best game but we move on’, sometimes it will be a hug of thanks or congratulations…

Many people in the world today need hugs (like I said earlier, literal or otherwise), people who are struggling, people who just need to know someone cares about them, people who are worried that they’re failing at life in some way, people who have nothing in material terms, people who on the outside look like everything is going well, but inside are crumbling, all kinds of people, and just imagine the possibilities if we hug enough people and those people go on to hug others, what a difference can be made in the world…

The good news of our gospel this morning is that we have the privilege and the pleasure of knowing God’s love for us and working with Jesus to build a better world - a world where more and more people will know his peace and his love. AMEN