Luke 4:22-30 All spoke
well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.
“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal
yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard
that you did in Capernaum.’”
All the people in the
synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got
up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which
the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
But he was so much more than they saw in him – as prophets usually are – and as Jesus pointed out, never recognised in their home church. The passage from Jeremiah sets this up in a fascinating way. The word of God came to Jeremiah, saying “I knew you before you were born.” Then we get these words – consecrated, appointed. Consecrated also means sanctified; appointed can also mean ordained. Jeremiah protests, saying he is only a boy. God’s response is that Jeremiah will go where he is sent, speak the words given to him – and then God says “Don’t be afraid of them, I will be with you to ensure you are looked after.”
So, Jeremiah is ordained,
consecrated, dedicated, sanctified – even before he was born – and as a youth
is called. He was given a gift. God called him out. Jeremiah tried to avoid the
call, but God’s answer was “I’ve put words in your mouth, go where I’ve sent
you and don’t worry how old you are, how others perceive you – take the words I
give you and speak.”
What does it mean to be ordained, consecrated,
dedicated, sanctified? It means to be associated with the sacred, to be called
into something, to use the gifts we know we have, but also to discover whatever
other gifts we might have too.
But here’s an interesting point too –
Isaiah was ordained, consecrated, sanctified, sent. Jeremiah was ordained,
consecrated, sanctified, sent. So were Ezekiel, Hosea, Micah and all the other
prophets. So was Jesus.
When Jesus read the passage from
Isaiah about bringing good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to
the blind, he meant it. When he announced that this scripture had been
fulfilled in their hearing, he meant it. When he proclaimed the
restoration of the just and equitable society that God had intended, he meant
it. Jesus wasn’t
speaking in vague terms about some nice idea put down in scripture years ago;
he was bringing the scripture home to them, up close and personal. Too close,
and too personal for comfort.
He heard them muttering amongst
themselves, and decided to bring up those awkward texts right from their own
scriptures, when God had blessed people other than those who called themselves “chosen”.
Jesus points up more than clearly that Elijah
was sent to a starving widow in Sidon rather than a starving widow in
Israel? Someone who was NOT Israelite, not one of theirs. Why was a leper
from Syria healed, rather than an Israelite leper? NOT one of them. Not
only not one of them, but a foreigner altogether. These were stories the people
in Nazareth probably avoided, because their comfortable ideas of their special
status with God would be challenged. They didn’t want to think about the just and
equitable society that God intended, if it had to include people like that
widow and that leper. They wanted to avoid dealing with it because
a truly just and equitable society as God intends requires every person to make
it a just and equitable society. Justice and equality don’t happen in a vacuum; everyone must
work together to put the needs of the other as equally important as their own
needs, if not more so. And those people didn’t deserve such treatment. They
had always believed God only comes to certain people. The others could take
care of themselves; the people of Nazareth, and of Israel, thought their own
should be looked after first. Why heal a
sick Syrian when we have so many poor and sick people right here? Never mind that
those people were shunned by those very same Israelites, for being unclean.
Never mind that they weren’t allowed to live in towns. We have to take care of
our own first. God chose us, right?
Except Jesus had other ideas. He
wasn’t
just Joseph’s
son; he was God’s
son. He wasn’t
concerned just with just one group of people, he was beginning to realise who God’s people were, and that the notion
of being ‘chosen’ above others was foolish. He was called, sanctified,
ordained into ministry to people – all people. The Spirit of God was
upon him, he was anointed to bring good news to the poor – all the poor,
not just a select group. Release to all those captives – by life,
circumstance, spiritual and personal issues, prisoners. Recovery of sight
to all those unable to see – physically, spiritually, emotionally. To proclaim
God’s Jubilee to everyone. Suddenly that comfortable and familiar passage from
Isaiah, read by someone they had known since he was two years old, now required
something uncomfortable and unfamiliar. In reality they had lost sight of
the promise in those words, that they too were released from their captivity
and oppression, and that the year of the Jubilee year was for them too.
They
had forgotten that each one of them was a child of God, - named, gifted, called
–consecrated and sanctified – that they also were gifted by God and were called
to live that piece of scripture. Instead they focused on the anger and betrayal
they felt when Jesus reminded them that God comes to anyone God chooses. God
doesn’t just come to one group of people, and things weren’t going to happen
the way they wanted it to. Jesus proclaimed new sight for the blind; they realised
they had chosen to blind themselves to the truth of God’s abundant love and grace through
whatever channel God chose – even people who didn’t believe the same way they
did within their own faith, or who weren’t the same religion or ethnicity at
all. Recognising the truth of his words, they chose rather to remain
blind, and direct their anger at the prophet who brought them the word – to shoot
the messenger. They are so angry at him for daring to upset their comfort, that
they try to throw him off a cliff, but in their blindness don’t see Jesus pass through their midst
and continue on his way.
Rev. Frank Schaefer writes “Scripture
is old, it is challenging, and it is dangerous. But it’s dangerous in the same way that
leaving your mother’s
womb and taking your first breath of air is dangerous. It’s scary, it’s overwhelming, and it’s filled with such promise that the
possibilities can’t
even begin to be comprehended.” It’s scary in the same way as recognising that
we are all children of God – called, sanctified, consecrated, ordained – even before
we were born. Hear God’s word to all of us. Let your eyes be opened to God’s truth, and imagine what the world
would look like if we all worked for the just and equitable society that God
intends. The words were true when Isaiah wrote them, they were true when
Jesus read them in his home synagogue, and they’re true now. So are the words of Jeremiah – that we all were
called into ministry.
The Spirit of God is upon us; we are
anointed to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim
the Jubilee, to let everyone know that God’s favour is given everywhere in the
world, regardless of faith, colour, gender. Today the scripture stands,
and all of God’s people regardless of faith or gender or orientation or colour, have been anointed to fulfill it again for the building up
of all. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Wednesday lectionary group –
Keswick-Ravenshoe Pastoral Charge
2. “Open Your Eyes and See What God
is Doing” by Rev. Frank Schaefer
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