Welcome to another installment of the Shimmering Points of Scripture. This past week in worship we took a look at Luke 4:14-21. This is when Jesus has returned from being tempted in the Wilderness, and has begun teaching and healing in the towns of Galilee. Now he has come to his hometown of Nazareth to teach and preach in his home synagogue. Lots of fun is to be had here.
As I read through this passage, the first point that shimmered for me was the word praise. As he taught in other peoples synagogues Jesus was praised by everyone. As I reflected on what it means to receive praise, and also to give praise there are many elements at work. One thing we do when we praise is we offer it as reward. This is especially effective with our children when we are encouraging them to grow and develop their skills as people, we offer them praise for cleaning up their mess after playing, or for putting their clothes away, or for figuring out a math problem on their own, and the list can go on.
However in our society today we don't do well with praise, both in giving it or receiving it as adults. I think the problem is because we are always wanting more, we don't remember to offer our sincere praise. When we do remember, the only praise we can offer is the type we received as children which can come off as condescending or platitudes. It was also pointed out that we don't necessarily know how to receive praise either, because we are not used to it. So we become embarrassed, and deflect the praise pointing out our own faults. It was also pointed out that the offer of praise must involve a level of speaking the truth.
Jesus however is focusing on none of these. As he comes to his hometown he is not seeking theirs or anyone's approval or praise, but instead offers his praise to God the father, which is what he is calling all the people to remember. In this praise he tells the truth, and it is not a truth that everyone want's to hear.
The second point that shimmered for me was the phrase that Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah. If we in the church today are the body of Chris present in the world, how is the Spirit of the Lord evident in us? Our world today focuses on the negative, in the midst of violence, hunger, and homelessness it is easy sometimes to say that we don't see it much. But our church and many churches, have done great things in these areas to respond to crises by doing exactly what the Spirit of the Lord calls us to do. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, give sight to the blind. Our response to the recent earthquakes in Haiti have shown that God's Spirit is alive and well and when the body of Christ is needed the most, we are there to help. We are opening our doors to house the homeless this Winter, we are preparing food for the hungry, we are using our God given gifts to bring healing those who are hurting. Those don't always make the headlines, but they are there as if we look for them. For these ought to give praise for those who respond, but to God for the call that we respond to.
The third point that shimmered for me was the phrase, that Jesus says that today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. These are powerful words that will get Jesus in trouble later on in this passage. Yet as the body of Christ, we too are called to fulfill scripture. How do we do that? Our first problem is when we look at the Bible itself we are somewhat intimidated to think that we can actually fulfill scripture. But if we agree that the scriptures are not something simply to be referenced but also give us guidance for living a life in Christ, then we must also think of ourselves as being called to fulfill scripture. there are many ways this can be done, through our prayer and care for others, as we mentioned above, through the simple act of listening, and by being a witness in the world that points out that there is a better way then the winner take all mentality that has so engulfed our American Culture. We think of God as the only one who can fulfill scripture, so then it becomes easy for people like Pat Robertson to say the earthquake in Haiti, is a result of a "pact they made with the devil" over a hundred years ago. Give me a break! The implications there is that God is punishing poor people, and church missionaries alike because of the perceived actions of people long ago, assuming that is true, which I don't believe it is. People were in Haiti fulfilling this very scripture we are talking about today and gave their very lives so that the good news can be brought to the poor, and that the oppressed could be free. Now in response to this natural disaster, God is calling the church to fulfill scripture by giving healing the sick and injured, feeding the hungry, and giving shelter to the homeless, while at the same time rebuilding what has been lost so that something new can be born. We are not there to clean up the mess of colateral damage after God dealt with the devil, but we are there because God has said my people are in need, and my Spirit is with you to go meet that need.
Well that is all for this installment of the Shimmering Points of Scripture. I welcome your comments and responses as well as we walk together in faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment