The New Year is well underway. We have had three weeks to
break all our resolutions, plenty of time to see how the new year is different
from the old. As the pandemic continues its course, I saw a comment from one
person that said, “I didn’t realize that 2020 was the first part of a trilogy.”
We’ve had time now to ask ourselves again what life is all about. As
Christians, then, we look back to the heart of our faith, to the place that it
all begins.
That, in a way, is what the gospel reading is about. Jesus’
appearance in Nazareth was not the chronological beginning of his ministry, but
Luke uses it to show the seed from which the whole of Jesus’ ministry grew. We
begin by looking at Psalms 19, and then we consider the passage in Luke 4. In
both cases, my controlling question is, “Where does our faith begin? What’s it
all about?”
Psalms 19
The psalm divides naturally into three sections.
Verses 1 to 6 describe the way that the creation praises
God. Creation has no audible “voice”, yet creation speaks without ceasing,
praising God from sunrise to sunset and throughout the hours of darkness in
between.
Any Christian who has spent time in nature knows what the
psalmist is describing. There is something awe-inspiring about sundogs on a
bitterly cold morning. There is something that moves us deeply in the sight of
mountains towering above and valleys dropping away below us. From the detail of
a snowflake or a rose to the majesty of the stars on a cold bright night, the
world around us sings praise to the Creator.
Verses 7 to 10 move from the evidence of the world around us
to the evidence of God’s law within us. The psalmist would have thought of the
Torah, of course, but we can refer more broadly to the ethics that we find in
every religion of the world. There is a broad consensus from all cultures and
times. Tell the truth and don’t lie. Treat others well. Don’t hurt or kill. And
so on.
Philosophers and theologians call this consensus “natural
law”. God has placed within human beings and cultures a basic understanding of
how to live. When we orient our lives to God’s presence in the world around us
and within us, life is sweet. “Sweeter than honey.”
Verses 11 to 14 sound a slightly different note. The first
two sections do not hint at any problems. This third section makes it clear
that the psalmist knows he is not in sync with the goodness of God all around
us. He asks God to re-tune his heart and mind. There is evil in the world, and
it is found primarily in human hearts and minds, in the choices we make. The
cure for this evil is to be in tune with God, evident to us in the whole of
creation as well as in our own direct relationship with the Creator.
Luke 4
So we turn to the Gospel reading from Luke 4. The first two
verses make it clear that Jesus’ ministry began before the appearance at
Nazareth. All four Gospel accounts tell how Jesus was baptized in the Jordan in
the south of the country, nearer Jerusalem. All four describe him as going from
his baptism back to the north of the country, to Galilee.
He began teaching in the towns and area around his own
hometown of Nazareth, so that when he came to Nazareth he had already built up
a reputation. You can almost imagine the headlines in The Nazareth News:
“Hometown boy makes good!” “Jesus bar-Joseph makes his mark!” “Carpenter’s son
makes and fills the pews!” When Jesus appeared in Nazareth, then, people were
ready to check what the reports were about.
Verse 16 is interesting. Jesus went to the synagogue on the
Sabbath, “as was his custom.” Clearly, Jesus did not begin his ministry to do
away with Judaism. The law, which Psalms 19 extolls, was important to him. He
knew Torah, and he listened to Torah each Sabbath, and he lived by Torah in his
daily life.
The synagogue officials noticed him in their midst, and they
offered him the privilege of reading from the Prophets. If their practice
followed what is now done, they would have read from the Torah scroll itself –
a passage from what we call the Pentateuch. Then they would have read from what
today they call the haftorah – the Prophets and the Writings. As in our
lectionary, the reading from Torah would be paired with a reading from the
Prophets and the Writings – the rest of our Old Testament.
Our text does not make it clear whether Jesus chose the
passage that he read. At the least, he had to read from Isaiah, because that
was the scroll handed to him. My own guess is that he read the passage assigned
for that Sabbath Day. In God’s design, the passage was from Isaiah 61: “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.”
Jesus read this
passage standing in front of the scroll, then he sat down. As everyone watched,
wondering what this new teacher would say, he claimed simply, “My presence
fulfills this scripture.” Wow! We could explore the people’s reaction, but we
leave that aside. Consider what his claim means: These verses are the centre of
Jesus’ own teaching. This centre consists of a series of simple statements:
1) Jesus brings good news to the poor.
2) Jesus proclaims release to captives.
3) Jesus gives recovery of sight to the blind.
4) Jesus sets the oppressed free.
5) Jesus proclaims God’s salvation.
All of this is based on the fullness of God’s Spirit poured
out within him.
A Diversion into Mission Theology
One of the courses I teach is the theology of Christian
mission, especially what we call “biblical theology”.
Some missionaries turn to Matthew 28, what we call the Great
Commission, for a summary of Christian witness to the world. They emphasize
“making disciples” – the spiritual work of seeking conversions and teaching new
converts how to live. The early Mennonites especially quoted Mark 16, “Go and
preach the gospel.” They liked the emphasis on preaching and quoted Mark to
show that preaching was the most important thing Christians could do.
Other missionaries turn to Luke 4, this morning’s passage.
They see in it a description of physical ministries that meet immediate needs
and base their work on this description. Mennonites today like Luke 4 better
than Mark 16! The work of MCC, for example – “A cup of water in Christ’s name”
– flows naturally from the ministry of Jesus seen as meeting physical needs.
So, which is the real centre of Jesus’ ministry? Is it
meeting physical needs or is it making new converts? The answer, of course, is
yes. Look again at Psalms 19. The world as God made it is good. Physical and
spiritual work together in harmony to sing God’s praises. The human creature in
this world is not good: “Keep your servant from the insolent” is sometimes
translated as “Keep your servant from presumptuous sins.” Protect us from
ourselves! The cure for our badness, for the physical and spiritual diseases of
our world, is to be re-oriented to God’s moral and physical law. In other
words, conversion to God’s Law (and therefore to God) heals the world.
Luke 4 suggests the same. Jesus says that his coming has
certain consequences:
1) The poor receive good news: Their poverty
is healed.
2) Captives are released: Those who suffer
violence and warfare find peace.
3) The blind are given sight: Jesus healed
many such physical ailments in his ministry.
4) The oppressed are set free: Those who are
trapped by the way our society is structured find life.
5) God’s salvation is come: Physical and
spiritual – life is made whole for everyone.
The separation that we sometimes make between physical and
spiritual is a false one. Fixing people’s political problems requires a
spiritual conversion. Calling people to faith in Christ includes meeting their
physical and social needs. God wants to make the world right again, the whole
world. Jesus wants to heal Covid and depression and lying and stealing and
political corruption and everything else that is wrong.
So What?
What do we make of the truth that we are broken people in a
broken world and that God comes in the person of Jesus to bring healing and
wholeness? The Psalm tells us that we can lean on God’s Law to find healing.
Jesus tells us that we can find healing in him. He came into our world to make
things right. We debate whether God’s salvation is physical or spiritual. It is
both. God wants to restore everything – physical and spiritual, mental and
emotional – and make us whole.
To put it another way, God has big plans for us. We can get
the idea by thinking again of Psalms 19. The Psalm sings God’s praises by
looking at creation. Consider God’s creation. God made all around us to sing
God’s praise. More, God made the human creature to be God’s image in the world.
We are God’s representatives. We are “the images of God”.
Living Images
I teach a course on the history of Christian missions. When
we talk about the first 300 years of the church, I note that the first
Christians were often drawn from the lower levels of society. They were people
who did not impress anyone with their learning or wealth. Instead, they were
servants and slaves and workers, ordinary people who represented God. Here is
how one historian describes them: “In those days to be a Christian meant something.
Doubtless among the pagans there were many who lived upright and even noble
lives. Yet all our evidence goes to show that in that decaying world sexual
laxity had gone almost to the limits of the possible, and that slavery had
brought with it … cruelty and the cheapening of the value of human life.
Christians were taught to regard their bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.
The Church did not attempt to forbid or abolish slavery; it drew the sting of
it by reminding masters and slaves alike that they had a common Master … and
that they were brothers in the faith.” (Stephen Neill)
I could quote from Alan Kreider, who calls this “noble
living” a habit of goodness that the first Christians wore like their clothing.
[See The Patient Ferment of the Early Church.] I could quote Julian
the Apostate, an enemy of the church, who complained, “[They] support not only
their poor, but ours as well, and all men see that our people lack aid from
us.” There isn’t enough time for all the quotes! The point is that the first
Christians were broken people in a broken world, just like us, but they
embodied Psalms 19 and they embodied the way that Jesus began his ministry. In
Paul’s words, they were “Christ’s ambassadors” – that is, they were God’s
images/representatives in the world.
Moving Towards a Conclusion
We often think that we are too ordinary to represent God in
the world. But you have to realize that this is something God does in us, not
something we do for ourselves. My thoughts turn towards a story from East
Africa that I’ve told you before. I’m going to tell it again!
An old man was walking through the bush. At evening, he
stopped at a village and asked for lodging. The owner of the village welcomed
him, and they sat talking, as supper was prepared. Then, the old man saw a
strange sight – an eagle eating corn on the ground with the chickens. He asked
about the eagle, and his host said that he had found it fallen out of its nest.
It had grown up with the chickens and now it thought it was a chicken. The old
man was distressed. This noble bird should not peck corn with the chickens. He
got permission to convince the eagle that it was an eagle, not a chicken. He
threw the eagle in the air. It landed on the ground with a thud. He climbed a
tree and threw it from higher up – and then on top of one of the huts from even
higher. Each time, he said, “You are an eagle, not a chicken!” Each time, it
hit the ground with a thud.
Discouraged, the old man went to bed. Unable to sleep, he
got up and found the eagle resting in a tree with the chickens. He walked out
the village with the eagle under his arm. He came to a mountain and started to
climb. Higher and higher they climbed, until they came to a cliff overlooking
the plain. One last time he told the eagle, “You are not a chicken. You are an
eagle!” Then he threw him off the cliff. The eagle hurtled down, convinced it
would die a messy death. But the wind plucked out one wing, then the other.
Soon the eagle was floating in a big circle. It tried out its wings, and then
began to rise with slow steady beats. As it flew towards the rising sun, it
heard the old man call, “Remember! You are not a chicken! You are an eagle!”
May we live as God’s people, flying with the eagles lifted
up by God’s Spirit.
Texts
Psalm 19
God’s
Glory in Creation and the Law
To
the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 The
heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his
handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to
night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are
there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their
voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the
world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which
comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs
its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the
heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.
7 The
law of the Lord is
perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; 8 the
precepts of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9 the
fear of the Lord is
pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More
to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover
by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 But
who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13 Keep
back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over
me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14 Let
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Luke 4: 14-21
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14 Then Jesus,
filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about
him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He
began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
16 When he
came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the
sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and
the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and
found the place where it was written:
18 “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, 19 to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he
rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of
all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he
began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.”
Focus Statement:
Christians have often fallen off the horse on one side or the other –
either we think Christian faith is a spiritual high or we emphasize the
practical side of daily living. In fact, the Christian life includes it all.
Looking Ahead Question:
What’s the point of our faith in Christ? A spiritual high, or a better
life physically? What's the point of being a Christian?
Going Deeper Questions:
1)
Can you summarize Psalms 19 in one sentence?
2)
Can you summarize Jesus’ message from Isaiah in
one sentence?
3)
How does the Mennonite Church live out the
gospel as expressed in Psalms 19 and Luke 4?
4) How can we (as individuals and as a congregation) live out the gospel as
expressed in Psalms 19 and Luke 4?
Steinbach Mennonite Church
23 January 2022
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