Jesus won't be your citizen

Luke 4:21-30

The people in Jesus' home town expected favors from their hometown son.  Yet Jesus had mixed news for them.  He had come to proclaim the good news to the poor, the release of captives, sight for the blind, the year of the Lords favor - and surely the people of a little village like Nazareth were poor and sometimes oppressed.  Yet something in their attitude stopped Jesus from offering the signs of the Kingdom's in-breaking. They expected him to be theirs.

And here is where it gets uncomfortable.  My town, Sebewaing, is a small village like Nazareth.  We also long for Jesus to do something for his church long struggling.  Don't we have a claim on him like the people of Nazareth?  Moreover don't we think that America has a claim on him? We tout our status as a Christian nation and make impassioned speeches about American Exceptionalism, but Jesus refuses to be called a good ol' boy, or the citizen of a place or kingdom.  He tells his neighbors that he is a prophet like Elijah and Elisha who went to the gentiles.  This angers them to the point of murder.  Would some in our churches be enraged if Jesus said that about the US?

Where do we find him then? He is serving the poor and disenfranchised and not the expectations of those who would lay claim to him.

Beatitudes in context of the other readings

Jeremiah gives the curses and blessedness of trust. If we trust in our hearts and mortal flesh we are miserable, but if we trust in God we are happy. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.

The psalmist echoes that strain while extolling the blessedness of delighting in the law.

Paul also tells us not to trust the flesh, but rather tells us that we are blessed because Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If we fail to see Christ as risen, or trust the flesh that perishes, we are of all men most miserable. But Christ has been raised and we are counted among the men most blessed.

Dallas Willard suggests that unlike the if then formulation of the blessings and curses that formed prophetic covenants, Jesus is simply stating that those in front of him are blessed because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He contends that the beatitudes are not prescriptions, but descriptions. See this excerpt.

An excerpt from "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Wilalrd

The Beatitudes as Kingdom Proclamation What then does Jesus say with his Beatitudes?How are we to live in response to them? That is the question we asked at the outset of this chapter, and it is now time to answer it.

We have already indicated the key to understanding the Beatitudes. They serve to clarify Jesus’ fundamental message: the free availability of God’s rule and righteousness to all of humanity through reliance upon Jesus himself, the person now loose in the world among us. They do this simply by taking those who, from the human point of view, are regarded as most helpless, most beyond all possibility of God’s blessing or even interest, and exhibiting them as enjoying God’s touch and abundant provision for their lives.

This fact of God’s care and provision proves to all that no human condition excludes blessedness, that God may come to any person with his care and deliverance. God does sometimes help those who cannot, or perhaps just do not, help themselves. (So much for another well known generalization!) The religious system of his day left the multitudes out, but Jesus welcomed them all into his kingdom. Anyone could come as well as any other….

And on Your list of the Blessed? You are really waling in the good news of the kingdom if you can go with confidence to any of the hopeless people around you and effortlessly convey assurance that they can now enter a blessed life with God.

Who would be on your list of “hopeless blessables” as found in today’s world? Certainly all of those on Jesus’ lists, for though they are merely illustrative, they are also timeless. But can we, following his lead as a teacher, concretize the gospel even more for those around us? Who would you regard as the most unfortunate people around you?

A Silly Side of Salvation? There is first of all, a silly side to this question-which turns suddenly somber. If you look at advertising and current events in print and other media-for example, as you encounter them in supermarket checkouts, newsstands, and bookstores or even on television and radio-you might think that the most unfortunate people in the world today are the fat, the misshapen, the bald, the ugly, the old, and those not relentlessly engaged in romance, sex and fashionably equipped physical activities….

Instead Jesus took time in his teaching to point out the natural beauty of every human being (Matt 6:30)…

This is the gospel for a silly world, all the more needed because the silly is made a matter of life and death for many. Sin, for that matter, is silly. If the kingdom did not reach us in our silliness who would be saved? Lostness does not have to wear a stuffed shirt to find redemption.

So we must see from our heart that:

• Blessed are the physically repulsive,


• Blessed are those who smell bad,


• The twisted, misshapen, deformed,


• The too big, too little, too loud,


• The bald, the fat, and the old -


• For they are all riotously celebrated in the party of Jesus.

And the more serious side Then there are the seriously crushed ones: The flunk-outs and drop-outs and burn-outs. The broke and the broken. The drug heads and the divorced. The HIV-positive and herpes-ridden. The brain-damaged, the incurably ill. The barren and pregnant too-many-times or at the wrong time. The overemployed, the underemployed, the unemployed. The unemployable. The swindled the shoved aside, the replaced. The parents with children living on the street, the children with parents not dying in the “rest” home. The lonely, the incompetent, the stupid. The emotionally starved or emotionally dead. And on and on and on. Is it true that “Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal?” It is true! That is precisely the gospel of heaven’s availability that comes to us through the Beatitudes. And you don’t have to wait until you’re dead. Jesus offers to all such people as these the present blessedness of the present kingdom - regardless of circumstances. The condition of life sought for human beings through the ages is attained in the quietly transforming friendship of Jesus.

And the Immoral Even the moral disasters will be received by God as they come to rely on Jesus, count on him, and make him their companion in his kingdom. Murders and child-molesters. The brutal and bigoted. Drug lords and pornographers. War criminals and sadists. Terrorists. The perverted and the filthy and the filthy rich. The David Berkowitzs (Son of Sam), Jeffery Dahmers, and Colonel Noriegas….

If, as a recovering sinner myself, accept Jesus’ good new, I can go to the mass murderer and say, “you can be blessed in the kingdoms of the heavens. There is forgiveness that knows no limits.” To the pederast and the perpetrator of incest. To the worshiper of Satan. To those who rob the aged and weak. To the cheat and the liar, the bloodsucker and the vengeful: Blessed! Blessed! Blessed! As they flee into the arms of the Kingdom Among Us.

Joy

The Journey with Jesus Foundation takes a great look at Nehemiah and subversive acts of joy.

" In his poem The Revival the Welsh poet and physician Henry Vaughan (1621–1695) challenges us to open our 'drowsy eyes' to experience 'the drops and dews of future bliss.' This is a choice we can make or refuse.

Unfold! Unfold! Take in His light,
Who makes thy cares more short than night.
The joys which with His day-star rise
He deals to all but drowsy eyes;
And, what the men of this world miss
Some drops and dews of future bliss.

Hark! How His winds have chang’d their note!
And with warm whispers call thee out;
The frosts are past, the storms are gone,
And backward life at last comes on.
The lofty groves in express joys
Reply unto the turtle’s voice;
And here in dust and dirt, O here
The lilies of His love appear!

'The greatest honor we can give Almighty God,' wrote the English mystic Juliana of Norwich, 'is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.' No matter how bleak the tragic course of history, how unnerving our personal circumstances, or how pessimistic the forecasts of cultural historians, with joy we can expect his love to blossom even in the dust and dirt of our lives."

The Importance of the Word

How do we respond to the word of God? Is it good news? Do we respond to it in that way?

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Nehemiah 8:9-10

The joy in the word is describe by the psalmist,

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Psalm 19:7-9

Jesus declares that he has come to fulfill the scripture, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

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...

And he said, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Have we heard him? Do we rejoice in the fulfiller of the scripture? Do we still hear, do we allow the Spirit to move among us in his way to speak to us?

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues...

I Cor 12:28

Lord, may we see your word as more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Open our ears to your fulfilled word.

Light and Delight

Jesus' sign gave light to the disciples. They saw a glimpse of his coming glory. In his actions, Jesus proclaimed his message, the kingdom has come, it is near, and it provides where the old system ran out. It provides a better and abundant mercy.

The psalmist declares, "They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light."

Isaiah says,

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.... you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married."

I am reminded of the Westminster Catechism: Man’s chief end is to glorify God,[1] and to enjoy him forever.[2] We shine his light as we delight in him as he delights in us, lavishing his gifts upon us like the over abundance of wine. We show his glory in using his gifts for the good of the body.

Common thread

Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee:

Today’s readings speak of the revelation of hidden glory breaking through and inviting celebration. Isaiah announces the coming glory of God’s vindicated people when they return to rebuild their shattered homeland. Paul describes the amazing results of spiritual gifts, given to all God’s people “for the common good.” Today’s gospel, the story of the wedding feast at Cana, relates the first “sign” of Jesus’ identity and ministry that “revealed his glory.”

Paul doesn't specifically speak of glory, but rather of the common Good. In function the Spirit brings glory to Christ.

The symbolic refreshment of the Christian wine is glorified in the Psalm. "...you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light."

Sign in Cana

“Plainly he records the miracle because he believes that it happened. But for him the Miracles are all ‘signs’: they point beyond themselves. This particular miracle signifies that there is a transforming power associated with Jesus. He changes the water of Judaism into the wine of Christianity, the water of Christlessness into the wine of the richness and the fullness of eternal life in Christ, the water of the law into the wine of the gospel.”

I’ve never thought before that this passage makes a partial parallel to the wine and wineskins of Luke. John’s use of signs, explaining the truth allegorically, like a live action parable is a little new to me. I guess I owe that to my fundamentalist background. Reading the church fathers, most recently Augustine, I begin to appreciate more the ancient exegesis of texts. I am less likely to see the significance of the miracle in that it happened, as a bit of historical information about the life of Christ. Rather I see the significance in the mystical and spiritual realities they present, these are completely independent of their historicity. Not that I believe them to not have happened (i.e. attempts to de-mystify Jesus) but rather I think it really doesn’t matter at all to the reading.

Happened-in-reality or not – not skin off our collective noses. It is real and true regardless. So I choose to believe it happened. Why not? What is far more important is: what is the reality and significance? What does it really tell us about Jesus?

Here we see the first glimpse of his glory in John. His time has not yet come to be glorified, but we see a sign (first of many) of what will culminate on the cross of glory.

Light in the context of the church.

Father John was saying this week that in order to understand the story of the wise men, it must be seen in the context of the Matthean community. The early church makes a big deal of the nations coming to the Light of Christ. Theirs is the pentecostal experience, theirs the mission to the gentiles. They would have seen great significance to the theme in Isaiah and the narrative of foreign kings coming to worship Jesus. While John's words were still working in my head, I read this from Augustine (this time in Chadwick's Translation).

It is as if God says 'Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven', and 'suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as if a vehement wind blew, and tongues were seen split, like fire which sat on each of them' (Acts 2:2-3). And lights, made in the firmament of heaven, have the word of life (Phil. 2:15-16). Run everywhere, holy fires, fires of beauty. Do not be under a bushel (Matt. 5:14-15). He to whom you have adhered is exalted, and he has exalted you. Run and make it known to all nations (Ps. 78:10).

Light

Augustine's treatment of the creation of light illuminates epiphany to me.

13.8.9
Angels fell away, man's soul fell away, and thereby pointed the
abyss in that dark depth, ready for the whole spiritual creation,
hadst not Thou said from the beginning, Let there be light, and there
had been light, and every obedient intelligence of Thy heavenly City
had cleaved to Thee, and rested in Thy Spirit, Which is borne unchangeably
over every thing changeable. Otherwise, had even the heaven of heavens
been in itself a darksome deep; but now it is light in the Lord. For
even in that miserable restlessness of the spirits, who fell away
and discovered their own darkness, when bared of the clothing of Thy
light, dost Thou sufficiently reveal how noble Thou madest the reasonable
creature; to which nothing will suffice to yield a happy rest, less
than Thee; and so not even herself. For Thou, O our God, shalt lighten
our darkness: from Thee riseth our garment of light; and then shall
our darkness be as the noon day. Give Thyself unto me, O my God, restore
Thyself unto me: behold I love, and if it be too little, I would love
more strongly. I cannot measure so as to know, how much love there
yet lacketh to me, ere my life may run into Thy embracements, nor
turn away, until it be hidden in the hidden place of Thy Presence.
This only I know, that woe is me except in Thee: not only without
but within myself also; and all abundance, which is not my God, is
emptiness to me....

13.12.13
Proceed in thy confession, say to the Lord thy God, O my faith,
Holy, Holy, Holy, O Lord my God, in Thy Name have we been baptised,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; in Thy Name do we baptise, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, because among us also, in His Christ did God make
heaven and earth, namely, the spiritual and carnal people of His Church.
Yea and our earth, before it received the form of doctrine, was invisible
and without form; and we were covered with the darkness of ignorance.
For Thou chastenedst man for iniquity, and Thy judgments were like
the great deep unto him. But because Thy Spirit was borne above the
waters, Thy mercy forsook not our misery, and Thou saidst, Let there
be light, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent
ye, let there be light. And because our soul was troubled within us,
we remembered Thee, O Lord, from the land of Jordan, and that mountain
equal unto Thyself, but little for our sakes: and our darkness displeased
us, we turned unto Thee and there was light. And, behold, we were
sometimes darkness, but now light in the Lord.