How’s Your Appetite? / Luke 6:17–26 / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Sunday February 16th 2025 / Sixth Sunday of Epiphany / Mount Olive Lutheran Church

Mount Olive Lutheran Church / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Sunday February 16th 2025: Season of Epiphany / Luke 6:17–26 “How’s Your Appetite?”

And [Jesus] came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed them all.

And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you,

for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends, “a hungry man is not a free man,”[1] the question is what are you hungry for? When the Virgin Mary responded to the news that she would bear the Christ Child she praised God saying, “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.”[2]

In our Gospel reading today we hear that Christ Child now grown and teaching saying the same in the beatitudes recorded by Saint Luke, but what is a beatitude anyway? A beatitude is a declaration of blessedness. The state of blessedness [you] enjoy [which] results from the fact that God is in communion with [you, with us as Christians] through His Son Jesus Christ.”[3] “The most important feature of the beatitudes is that they are Christological [That is, they are focused on who Jesus is, who He is for you, who He is for all people]. [This is why we can say] all God’s blessings are found in Christ, and Christ is the source of every blessing.”[4] When you are declared to be blessed you are therefore blessed not by your own actions or merit rather you are declared blessed in Jesus. This is why the Virgin Mary said what she said as she praised God, because, by the grace of God she was given to know, that the birth of Christ was to be a blessing to us, a blessing to those who were hungry for His arrival and the salvation that He brought with Him for us all. Yes Jesus was to be a blessing for all people.    

Keeping this in mind let’s think of the picture of a table where people gather together to eat: Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied,” and then later in the same teaching Jesus says, “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” This isn’t some kind of communist threat to the rich; it’s a warning to those who desire to go it alone apart from Jesus; who have no desire, no appetite or appreciation for the blessings of God bestowed on them in Christ Jesus; it’s a warning to those who live for today with false security for tomorrow, the kind of people who mistake and confuse a full belly and material blessings today with spiritual fullness and eternal blessings in Christ Jesus. A warning for those whose appetite is for the wrong things and who cannot see that they are spiritually starving and famished. A warning for those who look down with worldly pity on the financially poor who trust in Christ not realising that in Christ these are Christian folks satisfied for today whose hunger is not for the transitory things of this world but for what is promised in the world which is to come in the new heavens and the new earth.    

Jesus highlights this attitude in a parable—a teaching—a little later in the Gospel of Saint Luke, saying “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And [the rich man] said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to [the rich man], ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So [Jesus concludes] the one who lays up treasure for himself, is not rich toward God.”[5] “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” 

Is there no hope for the person who has turned their back on the riches of God in Christ Jesus to satisfy their appetite for the transitory, momentary, fleeting riches of this world? Yes, there is hope. Also from the Gospel of Saint Luke we hear how Jesus one day “entered Jericho and [as He] was passing through [with His disciples] behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And [this Zacchaeus] was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see [Jesus], for [Jesus] was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So [Zacchaeus] hurried and came down and received [Jesus] joyfully. And when [the people from Jericho who paid their taxes to Zacchaeus and counted Zacchaeus as a lowly wretched traitor and Roman collaborator] saw [Jesus go with Zacchaeus to Zacchaeus’ house], they all grumbled, “[This Jesus] has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus [while they ate together] stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to [Zacchaeus], “Today salvation has come to this house, since [this Zacchaeus] also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” Jesus said.[6] When Zacchaeus was declared to be blessed by Jesus he was blessed not because of his own actions or merit rather Zacchaeus was declared blessed in Jesus, by Jesus, and on account of Jesus: “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.” The opinions of others are invalid to Jesus when He has forgiven you and declared you to be blessed in Him.

Unlike the rich man with his barns in the parable that Jesus told, rich Zacchaeus still took the time to see Jesus, to seek after God. Zacchaeus was hungry to see Jesus and didn’t respond to news of Jesus’ arrival in Jericho by saying, “Jesus! I can’t be bothered with that poor hobo, time is money and I have no time for the likes of him. I couldn’t be bothered to break bread with a traveling beggar and his circus side show of ‘miracles.’ Just bring me something to eat; I’ll work through my lunch alone, thank you very much!” No, Zacchaeus sought Jesus and in Jesus the fleeting consolation of earthly wealth was exchanged for a great and eternal reward in heaven. Zacchaeus who was hungry for Jesus was satisfied. But Zacchaeus didn’t expect that Jesus would receive him: Zacchaeus knew his sins of coveting, and theft, and disregard for his neighbour’s wellbeing and didn’t believe he was worthy of Jesus’ attention: In the face of Jesus Zacchaeus had actually displayed great humility. Climbing up a tree like a little child required Zacchaeus to set aside his dignity; you wouldn’t expect an old fashioned Wall Street stock broker in a pinstripe three piece suite and wingtip shoes to shimmy up a tree just to get a better look at something. How does Jesus put it? “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like [a] child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”[7]

Again Jesus tells yet another parable, “when He noticed how [the guests at a Sabbath party that He was attending, that was thrown by a rich and devout man,] chose the places of honour, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by [the host of the wedding feast], and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”[8] “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied,” and, “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” As Zacchaeus suffered the worldly indignity of having to climb up and sit in the sycamore tree just to see Jesus, few if any would have imagined that Jesus would single him out to eat with at table that day. When Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today,” Jesus blessed Zacchaeus in the eyes of all who hated Zacchaeus basically saying to him ‘Friend, move up higher,’ and strangely there was no rejoicing among the people of Jericho, instead they grumbled and why? Because they didn’t believe Zacchaeus earned or deserved a place at table with this Jesus. And just to show how sour with sin their hearts had become they also grumbled against Jesus for eating with Zacchaeus. The whole thing in their eyes reflected poorly on both Zacchaeus and Jesus too.

The World today is like this and this again is what Jesus is getting at with the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Saint Luke. You repent of your sin and receive the forgiveness Jesus won for you at the cross of Good Friday, He says to you ‘‘Friend, move up higher,’ come eat at My table with Me, be satisfied You are now blessed’ and the World grumbles and says, ‘no, no, no, you are a sinner,’ the World wants to never forget your sin because it has no appetite for Jesus and what He offers and the Word doesn’t count His forgiveness as real. The World says, ‘I don’t really care what Jesus says, you’re no good; he says you’re forgiven, so what, it doesn’t change what you did.’ The World resents forgiveness and will tread on you, and try to keep you down, cancel you from social settings online, and in real life, especially if you are one who believes in Jesus and trusts in Jesus’ forgiveness and the blessings you receive from God in Christ Jesus. As Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” 

Nevertheless be careful. Demanding a place at The Table, when you have no repentance in your heart and wanting your sin, whatever it is, to be accommodated, accepted and praised is a dangerous thing. The Lord of The Table may ask, ‘how did you get in here without a robe of Christ’s righteousness?’ Such a one might get away with it today but on The Last Day when the doors swing open to the feast which is to come, the long expected heavenly banquet, on That Day such a usurper, pretender and unrepentant sinner will be bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness. Into that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’[9] Even today the stewards of the table have the task and responsibility of properly administering the Sacraments in Jesus’ church.     

Dear ones, with that in mind—indeed mindful of all of it—today as ones truly forgiven, you may genuinely be put upon, and put down by the World, you may in fact be ostracized and shunned by the World for your faith in Jesus, do not despair their attacks, take heart if this is you, Jesus invites you to His table, He says to you ‘Friend, move up higher.’ In His Cross and Passion Jesus took the lowest seat in His crucifixion. Yes, if all the living from Adam and Eve to the last child born on The Last Day each had a seat at an earthly table Jesus the very Son of God, the most honoured guest, took the very lowest seat at that table so you could have a heavenly seat of honour in Him, so you would be blessed in Him, so your hunger would be satisfied in Him, so that your tears will be wiped away on The Last Day[10] so you will have laughter in Him, so you will receive the kingdom of God in Him. Today you have a foretaste of that feast to come, a foretaste of the heavenly table. That table is for the repentant soul, for ones who’ve make a public confession of faith in Christ even if such a confession puts them at odds with the World.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.” 

‘But I am not always hungry,’ you say, ‘I often have no appetite for God’s Word, For Jesus,’ you say, ‘I sometimes don’t even feel like coming to the table when I am called. I’m more like the rich man with his barns than I am like Zacchaeus. I couldn’t be bothered to “shimmy up a tree” to see Jesus, or even to see Jesus in Holy Communion being distributed. I can’t always muster up sufficient feelings of sorrow in my heart over my sin! My heart is just not in it some days. I’m not necessarily defiant in my sin; I just don’t feel like my repentance is complete.’ Dear ones, what did Jesus say to Saint Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”[11] Saint John likewise says to you, “for whenever our heart condemns us, [remember] God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything.”[12]

Listen again: A beatitude is not a laundry list of attitude adjustments that you must perfectly master in order to receive God’s favour, a beatitude is a declaration of blessedness from the very mouth of Jesus to your ears, to your heart. It is the state of blessedness [you] enjoy [which] results from the fact that God is in communion with [you] through His son Jesus Christ.” Again, “The most important feature of the beatitudes is that they are Christological, [that is, that they are focused on who Jesus is, who He is for you and for all people]. [This is why we can say] all God’s blessings are found in Christ, and Christ is the source of every blessing.”

Jesus Christ, who in His resurrection from the dead and His ascension to the Right Hand of God His Heavenly Father, is your Host at The Table of Salvation, this Jesus who the World hates and has no appetite for but who we, His people, love and are hungry for, This Jesus who fills all things say to you, ‘‘Friend, move up higher.’ Come sit at My table for I have come to eat with you–I am both Host and Meal–Be no longer hungry, be satisfied, for yours is the kingdom of God, and it now belongs to you in Me.’ Dear ones “a hungry man is not a free man,” so I ask, ‘what is it that captivates your appetites in life? What are you hungry for?’ Amen.    

Let us pray:

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

[1] Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (b. 1900 – d. 1965 A.D) from a speech in Kasson, Minnesota (6 September 1952)
[2] Luke 1:53
[3] Luke 1:1-9:50 Concordia Commentary, Arthur A. Just Jr., Concordia Publishing House 1996, Pg 267
[4] Ibid, Pg 269
[5] Luke 12:16–21
[6] Luke 19:1–10
[7] Matthew 18:1–6, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to Him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
[8] Luke 14:7–11
[9] Matthew 22:1–14, “And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
[10] Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
[11] 2 Corinthians 12:9
[12] 1 John 3:20

Photo Credit: Main photo composit photo of wooden table from pixabay with table setting from canva.