“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.”
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. Then he began to say to them,
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
The crowd goes wild. The people have been completely captured by the gracious words that have come from his mouth.
People envision their own lives filled with release from captivity, with clarity of sight, and freedom, and the restoration of all that once was.
In today’s time, Jesus’ words would create in people a longing for the prosperity and optimism of the 1950s and 1990s. Jobs would return, homes would be built in the suburbs, children would play in the cul-de-sacs, and the stocks would only rise. People's imaginations would wonder to being free from the pains and fears of today’s world.
With such feel-good vibes coursing through their veins, the people smile at Jesus and someone even remarks astonished, “Wow, I can’t believe that’s Joseph’s son!”
Feeling loved and saved by God, they would join together in song, gladly belting out words of love that sound like they come directly from the apostle Paul,
(Sung) “Love, God’s love never ends. Love bears all things, hopes all things. Love endures to the end…”
But, Jesus stops their singing of love cold and the record player scratches loudly making all wince as he proclaims that none of this good stuff is directed toward them.
In a jarring way Jesus reminds the people that God refused to help anyone but a widow and her child in the time of Elijah, and that it was an outsider…a foreigner from Syria…a foreign soldier at that…who was the only one to be healed of leprosy during the time of the prophet Elisha.
The people of Jesus’ hometown automatically, and selfishly, assumed that they would be the recipients of God’s love and favor, not the bearers of God’s love and favor.
This is like a hedge fund manager finding out straight from Jesus that God could not care less about the 3 million dollars he lost last week during the global economic correction. Rather, God cares about the poor families in Flint Michigan who have truly suffered from the toxic pollution of their waters. God cares about the future of the children who may suffer physically because of balanced budgets and tax breaks.
Or, the hedge fund manager might hear that God actually cares about the Syrian refugees who still sink their boats trying to find freedom. And, that through his hearing (and through his wealth) maybe he should at least think about being a part of the solution.
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing sir.”
Jesus’ sermon was not a “feel good” sermon after-all. It was not a promise of self-fulfillment; it was a call to join Jesus in self-sacrifice.
“Not for you…for them.”
For them. Them. The dying widow. The outsider.
No wonder the people tried to throw Jesus off of a cliff.
(Roughly...and I mean rough...to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me")
Jesus loves your neighbor, this I know,
for Isaiah tells me so.
Poor and foreign to him belong.
They are weak but he is strong.
Yes Jesus loves THEM.
Yes Jesus loves THEM.
Yes Jesus loves THEM.
Isaiah tells me so.
Who wants to go to a cross with Jesus?
Anyone? Anyone?
At least the edge of a cliff?
"Come on!" we say. "Faith is supposed to sooth our souls, not place them in danger!"
Because of that idea we can get so full of ourselves and our needs and our wants that we become completely blind to others.
Just because I am preaching these words does not mean I am immune to to that same lulling of blindness and selfishness. I too would prefer a good old “feel good” sermon with some great old hymns any day, compared to facing the fears of helping those who live in the darkest places in life. It is hard to even bring myself to look into those dark places, so I would rather just worry about myself thank you very much.
But, Jesus is not afraid. Jesus is not afraid to go into the dark places. In the old version of the creed we say that Jesus "descended into hell." There is nowhere that Jesus fears going, and no length that Jesus would not go in order to save those who dwell in the darkness.
That is love. That is a love that never ends. That is a love that bears all things and never loses hope.
(Sung) “Love, God’s love never ends. Love bears all things, hopes all things. Love endures to the end…”
I once heard an old Jewish parable about a rabbi who invited his friends and a homeless man over for a meal. Seated at the table, the Rabbi's servant brought out the first course of the meal, and set a plate only before the Rabbi and the homeless man. They ate. The others looked on, confused. The same happened with the next two courses of the meal, only the Rabbi and the homeless man, whom they did not know, ate. Finally, incensed that they were all being dishonored, one of the guests complained that they were not being fed.
The rabbi replied, "Why are you mad that someone else is getting something good? Why don't you simply rejoice with them and thank God that they are finally being provided for? Rejoice with them, that would be the loving thing to do.”
Somehow when we pour the foundation of our faith, we envision that we are pouring the base using God’s love. We deceive ourselves though, because we tend to use our own love to pour the foundation of our faith…thinking that it is as good as God’s love.
As you already know, a foundation poured with our own love looks nice, until you get up close and inspect it. Up close you see the cracks, and see the selfishness mixed in. When we construct our own faith, we tend to use poor materials.
Here’s the silly thing though. Jesus already poured a foundation for us. It is a foundation of love for all. It is a foundation of love that would go to any length, especially for the sinner and the unlovable. That foundation is already there beneath our feet in the shape of a cross. We did not need to pour our own foundation at all.
From time to time, Jesus jabs a pry bay into one of those cracks and chip away that top layer of self-serving that we poured on ourselves. There is no doubt that such chipping hurts and can drive people to want to throw Jesus off of a cliff. But, even if we try to get rid on Jesus, no harm done. Jesus will just walk through our attempts to destroy his love.
You cannot kill forever the love that provides the foundation for all creation.
Once our own self-serving love is chipped away, and Jesus' foundation can be seen, it reveals a mosaic of love for the neighbor…even if they don’t deserve it…even if they are an enemy…even if they live in the darkness…even if they are sinners in need of God’s salvation. When Jesus shows us the mosaic of love sunk into the foundation of our faith, we are drawn to see, and care, and love as Jesus loved.
Now, I am not going to pretend that Jesus frees us from our blindness once and then we are completely Jesus-like for the rest of our lives, thanks be to God.
No, the minute Jesus chips away our selfishness we tend to pour more back on. But, chipping away need not be so hard the second time around…or the third time…or the 10,573ed time…that is pretty much where I am at by the way.
Instead, we can use the wisdom of those who have gone before us, who taught us to put Jesus’ love into song. We can sing melodies that repeat in our heads, and remind us that our foundation is Jesus' everlasting love for all. They are words that glimmer of Paul's reflection on love:
(Sung) “Love, God’s love never ends. Love bears all things, hopes all things. Love endures to the end…”
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