3rd Sunday after Epiphany
January 27, 2013
Luke 4:14-12; 1 Cor. 12:12-31a
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable to you O God, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
This past week, millions of Americans watched or
listened to the second inauguration of President Obama. As per usual, a key
part of this ceremony was the inaugural address. This is traditionally a time
when the newly elected or re-elected president lays out his (or someday, maybe
her!) priorities and intentions for the upcoming term. Thanks to social media,
I have a pretty good sense of what my many friends from around the country, who
fall on various points along the political spectrum, thought about the
president’s words, and about the event in general. One seminary friend, who is
interested in interfaith dialogue, commented with some disappointment that the
whole event was rather Christian for a country that is such a mixed bag of
religion. Another guy, to whom I became acquainted through the year I spent as
a missionary in Slovakia, sent an angry email lamenting that not once was the
name of Jesus evoked. The same material, falling on two sets of devout
Christian ears, elicited completely opposite reactions.
Why does that happen? Well, there are lots of factors.
Experience is a big one. What we have each experienced in our lives shapes how
we see the world. I lived for a year in Slovakia, so when I discovered that a
woman in my choir is Slovak, she suddenly became one of my favorite people. You
might have thought that she was interesting, but I felt a kinship to her.
Another factor is life and family history. When I read
in the Bible about being a slave to Christ, I translate that into something
metaphorical that makes sense in my life. But what if I was of African descent,
and my ancestors had been slaves? I would hear that very differently, wouldn’t
I? Yet another factor that affects how we hear things is our current life
situation. What if I were reading our text today from 1st
Corinthians about the Body of Christ, and I was a paraplegic? Someone with
every part of their body still intact is going to hear the metaphor differently
from someone missing their limbs.
Jesus’ words today are no exception to this rule. In
Luke’s Gospel, this is Jesus’ first public appearance as an adult. He goes to
his hometown, his home synagogue, and teaches, reading first from the prophet
Isaiah, and then interpreting it. This is, in some way, Jesus’ inaugural
address, isn’t it? He is laying out his own mission. We know this because of
those words, “Good news.” The Spirit of the Lord is upon him, anointing him to
bring good news to the poor. He then goes on, quoting Isaiah, to say all the
ways that this good news will become a reality.
But just like the president’s inaugural address, these
words are heard differently by different hearers. Those present in the
synagogue that day would have heard them differently than we do, certainly,
because their context was so completely different. But even among us gathered
here today, different parts stuck out differently to different people. Here,
I’ll show you. I’ll read Jesus’ speech again, and you get a pencil ready. As
you listen, jot down what part sticks out the most to you, whether it is for a
good reason or a bad reason. Whatever you notice, jot it down. Ready?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the
year of the Lord's favor… Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.” [wait]
Okay,
so what did you jot down? [wait for responses] So you didn’t all write down the
same thing, huh? If you know, would anyone be willing to share why they jotted
down the line that they did?
My
guess is that some of you wrote down something because it rubbed you the wrong
way. Maybe, for example, “release to the captives” may not sound so good to you
if you are concerned about keeping “the bad guys” in jail. But some of you
probably jotted down what you did because indeed it was good news to you! Maybe
your eyesight is getting worse as you age, and so “recovery of sight to the
blind” sounds like pretty good news! Blogger David Lose points out that while
Jesus calls what he is proclaiming “good news,” “this good news is only good if
you are willing to admit what is hard in your life, what is lacking, what has
been most difficult. It is not ‘good news’ in general, but rather good news for
the poor. It is not just release, but
release to those who are captive,
sight to those who are blind,
freedom to those who are oppressed.”
Makes
sense. But it is not always easy to admit those areas in our lives where we
need some good news. If we are looking for something positive, it is because we
are experiencing something negative, something that needs help, something we
are unable to accomplish on our own. It is admitting a weakness, admitting that
we are somehow vulnerable. This sort of admission can be scary and difficult,
and we humans have developed all kinds of ways to live in denial about our
weaknesses or shameful experiences, rather than admit them.
Most
people are familiar at least in passing with 12-step programs such as AA. These
programs are designed primarily to help people overcome addictions, things in
their life that they no longer have control over. Whether or not you are
familiar with the program as a whole, all 12 steps, most everyone knows at
least the first step, which is what? Admitting you have a problem. But it is
more than that, actually. The way the manual states it, the first step is, “We
admit that we are powerless against…” whatever it is that you’re there for.
Powerless
is a pretty strong word. And yet, admitting to it has been the first step for
so many seeking healing. Admitting to vulnerability. It can be devastating;
indeed it can be bad news. “I have
a problem.” And Jesus’ words to us
today can also be bad news. We hear about “the poor,” “the captives,” “the
blind,” “the oppressed.” Does that describe any of us? If not literally, then
figuratively? Are we poor in spirit? For those who are writing hunger
devotions, has anyone been willing to admit, “Sometimes, I am hungry: hungry for companionship, for knowledge, for
understanding”? Are we captive to
addictions? To sin? (Certainly!) To a need for attention? To a need for
seclusion? Are we blind to the
needs of the world, to the needs of our neighbor, to the needs of our family?
Are we oppressed by a bully, by a
job, by a relationship? Or, are we oppressing someone else?
Any
of these things would be terribly hard to admit. They are bad news. But we have
to hear them that way, as bad news, before Jesus’ words can be good news to us.
Because if we can admit to our weaknesses and short-comings, we can also be
open to hearing how Jesus will give us the strength to overcome them. Or, how
he will work in them, using them as tools that will allow us to proclaim that
same good news that we experienced to others. Going back to the AA example, the
12th step is a commitment to share the good news that came from
admitting vulnerability with others who are struggling through the same
problem. This is but one way that Jesus might bring about our own release,
giving us sight, freedom, healing, and more – by giving us an opportunity to
share it with others in the Body of Christ, or by inviting others to come here
to be fed, freed, and comforted. And suddenly, what was our bad news, maybe
even so bad that we couldn’t admit it to ourselves or anyone, becomes a way for
Jesus’ mission, stated in his inaugural address, to be carried out in the
world.
Let
us pray. Compassionate God, we are hungry: feed us. We are captive: release
us. We are blind: open our eyes. We are oppressed: set us free. Fulfill your
word and your mission in and through us, Lord, so that this earthly kingdom
might look more like your kingdom. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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