The Gospel Manifesto

What is the gospel except a manifesto of sorts? The word manifesto is overused. But it gives us an image of something that intends to subvert. In this case, to subvert what is the apparent natural order of things and to bring about something new. This point is illustrated over and over in the gospels. John intends to use the stories of Jesus to say something revolutionary about God. Matthew uses the stories of Jesus to reinterpret the torah of Moses. Mark gives us an image of the Kingdom of God infiltrating the world as it is. But Luke does this the best of all by overturning the idea of who we are to who we may become.

The Manifesto On The Level

The instructions John the Baptist gives his inquirers are important to the whole gospel story.  John demands, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.” His listeners ask how they can do that. Three groups get answers. Tax collectors should stop overcharging. Soldiers (aka police) should stop extortions, false accusations, and threatening people. And everyone who has too much of anything should give the extra to those who have nothing. We know these measures are common sense. Stop doing harm. Do good instead of harm. These actions make children for Abraham.

The “sermon on the plain” is key to understanding Luke. Jesus pronounces beatitudes just like in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. The poor, the hungry, the mourners, and the hated receive happiness. Sorrow is pronounced on people who are rich, full, laughing, and flattered. The reason it is important is because of the temptation to over-spiritualize the beatitudes. The beatitudes are indeed spiritual values. But they concern physical well-being.

Discussing the Gospel

I ran into this desire by some to over-spiritualize when I was new to the ministry. I encountered an ingrained viewpoint. My class members held that Matthew gave a better explanation.

“What does Jesus mean when he says, ‘Blessed are the poor’?”

The reply was, “He means the poor in spirit.”

“Really? Then is he pronouncing woe to people who are rich in spirit?”

There was no answer. Why are woes pronounced on those who were full of righteousness or cheerful? Spiritualized answers to these questions are available. “We should not be arrogant as if we were wealthy. We should not be self-righteous. And we should not scorn the misfortunes of others.” I agree completely with these sentiments. But what do these answers imply? Are the rich more likely to be arrogant? Could we justify keeping too much? Finally, why are we laughing? The beatitudes in this sermon are threatening to our comforts.

Seeing the Manifesto

I started thinking about these issues in the text more. It was apparent to me then that churches that could hire a full-time staff were composed of financially comfortable people. Maybe they were not wealthy. But they were not poor. Such congregations often expressed concern over whether the church gave too much to the poor. Sometimes, concerns would be expressed over whether the poor were deserving. Are they using drugs? Are we supporting bad behavior? Then we often held monthly fellowship meals, held celebrations for our members, and had many outings for youth and children. We never invited the poor, the hungry, or the mourning to these events. The people of the church would not have expelled a stranger from them, I don’t suppose. But the stranger had to make the effort in such cases.

Jesus describes the need we have for consciousness about the other person.  He asks us to make our spirituality more about connectedness with the other person. In describing the Lord’s Prayer, Luke phrases the forgiveness line in this way. “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.” (Luke 11:4) Our effort to forgive people who owe us money reflects our desire to be forgiven. An earlier parable put it this way. “A certain creditor had two debtors, one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay he canceled the debts of both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” The parable is a response to Simon the Pharisee who condemned the woman with the alabaster jar. He never said it out loud. (7:39-50)

Receiving the Gospel

Roman forces conquered territories that had long established rulers and customs. Before the conquest was settled an official proclaimed the evangel to the populace. This “good news” was that Rome was bringing peace, security, and light to this land. The people and their former leaders needed to accept these “gifts.” The same proclamation was made before Rome was a great power by Alexander the Great. It was implied by every empire builder before him. It was practiced later by Europeans settling the New World. These are gospels that order the world into the ways we know are upside down to what is right. But the Gospel of Jesus is a manifesto that has the power to overcome this way.