Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on January 28, 2007
(Year C, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. MannTexts: Jeremiah 1:4-10
1 Corinthians 14:12b-20
Luke 4:21-32
Psalm 71:1-17Last week’s Gospel ended on a suspenseful cliffhanger with Jesus essentially declaring that he was the one of which Isaiah had prophesied. This week’s Gospel, which is the conclusion, ends on a cliff with Jesus passing through an angry mob unscathed to continue his ministry throughout Galilee. The question is what happened and why?
Last week Jesus has just finished reading a passage from Isaiah, and is now ready to expound upon the scripture. He has them in the palm of his hand, and they are waiting to hear what he has to say, and why not? Luke has already told us that a favorable report has spread through all the surrounding country in praise of his teaching abilities. And it isn’t like they didn’t know him. This is his hometown of Nazareth: he grew up here; played in the streets as a boy; learned an honorable trade from his father. Now that Jesus has made a name for himself why not tap into his fame and get Nazareth on the map. So we pick up today where we left off last week with Jesus saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
There’s a slight pause as this sinks in or maybe even goes over their heads but Luke tells us in the very next sentence that they are speaking well of him, and are wondering at his gracious words. On the one hand he does speak with authority, a certain amount of flair, doesn’t he? But on the other hand he is just the carpenter’s kid. How did he come by this talent? Let’s see what else he has to say, and maybe he will do something amazing like he has in Capernaum and elsewhere.
So Jesus continues, almost taunting the congregation, and then explains what the passage means. Using a couple of illustrations he lets them know that Isaiah is not just referring to the people of Israel as recipients of God’s grace but to the Gentiles as well.
Say what? You’re telling us that the promise God made to us, His chosen people, through our father Abraham is not just for us but for everybody in the whole world? See, I told you he was out of his league. He could barely hold a nail or cut a straight line when he was a kid and he sure as Sheol isn’t a teacher either. In fact, what he’s saying is very close to blasphemy! How can he say such a thing? And yet he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. He spoke with such power and conviction but it can’t be true. We are the chosen ones. We are God’s favorites, and we don’t have to share with anyone unless they want to become like one of us!
And Luke tells us that everyone in the synagogue was filled with wrath, and they led him out to the edge of town so that they might throw him over the edge of the cliff. But passing through the midst of them Jesus went away.
So that’s what happened. The people were more upset about having to share God’s plan for salvation with outsiders than they were about his claim to having fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. And it appeared that he wasn’t going to show them any miraculous signs so they were going to show him just what the law had in store for blasphemers. But why was Jesus able to pass through them?
The answer lies in the beginning of the last week’s Gospel. Remember what it said? “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.” He had just been baptized and the Holy Spirit had descended upon him. Full of the Holy Spirit, he was led by the same into the wilderness for forty days and nights, and now he has returned in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The word for spirit in Greek is pneuma. It is the same root from where we get our words pneumatic or pneumonia. Similar to the Hebrew word for spirit, pneuma can also mean breath or wind. The four basic elements of the universe were earth, wind, fire, and water. The spirit was somewhat of a cross between fire and wind, and was referred to as the quintessence, the fifth element. The ancients believed that all humans had a spirit because we were given it when we first breathed. We received life by inhaling the very breath of the Creator. Indeed we say every week in the Creed that we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life. But the spirit is not to be confused with the soul, which is combined with the body to be the individual. The spirit is just what enables us to live. When we die, we exhale, and give the breath of physical life back to its Source.
But the ancients also believed that there were times when certain people were given a large dose of this spirit. And the Hebrews believed that when this happened, these people were filled with the Holy Spirit; they were filled with inspiration to speak God’s Word to His people. Again, we refer to the Holy Spirit in the creed every week by saying He has spoken through the Prophets.
Now Jesus is extra special because not only does he have the breath of God in him just as all of us do at birth but he was also conceived of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Most High overshadowed Mary, and she conceived the Son of God. And when the Son of God was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon him. And by fasting and prayer in the wilderness, Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit. He is completely inspired by God because he is God! It is this inspiration of the Holy Spirit that gives him the power to heal. It is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that gives him the power to stand up and boldly state that he is the fulfillment of the Prophets. It’s the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that gives him the power to proclaim the true nature of his plan for salvation; that it is available to everyone. The covenant is not just for the Chosen People. They were chosen to proclaim the covenant to the world but the covenant is available to everyone if only they will choose to partake of it.
And it is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit which protects Jesus in the midst of this unruly, ugly mob of his own people because it is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry not the end. It is not his time to die just yet. That will come at the appropriate time.
So what are we to take out of this? We have the breath of God within us because we are among the living. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit within us by virtue of our baptisms. Hopefully, as we became older and more learned, we confirmed our baptismal vows by formally accepting the covenant that God has provided for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But how do we become inspired by the Holy Spirit to do the work that Jesus has given us to do? First of all, God will inspire you whenever or wherever you are when He has something special for you to do. We know that by examining the prophets. They were normal folk just like you and me that were tapped on the shoulder by God to do a specific task, and they were given the power of the Holy Spirit to perform that task. But the easiest way to become infused with the Holy Spirit is to regularly attend Church and receive Holy Communion. When we partake of the Sacraments, we receive the Holy Spirit through God’s grace. During the Canon of the Mass, we pray that the Holy Spirit sanctify us so that we may faithfully receive the Holy Sacraments in order that we may serve God and the world in unity, constancy, and peace. This is the fuel that ignites the Spirit within us, and sustains us, and nurtures us, and gives us the ability to carry out the mission of the Church. The mission of the Church is to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them all that Jesus has taught us, which essentially is to love God with all of our heart, soul and body, and to love our neighbor as our self. How do we manifest this? What do we do?
What did Jesus say last week? He came to give hope to the poor of mind, body, or spirit, and to show them that God has much more in store for them than what they are currently experiencing; He offers release to anyone held captive in whatever form of bondage that is keeping them separated from God; He illuminates the path of righteousness to anyone lost in the darkness of the world’s web of deceit thereby giving them opportunity to freely choose eternal life. This is what Jesus was inspired by the Holy Spirit to say that day in Nazareth and to the world today.
Likewise, as Christians, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that inspires each and every one of us to share in this same ministry by being living examples; by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting the imprisoned!
The new Church year began over nine weeks ago, and we are now into our fifth week of the new calendar year. It is my hope and prayer that in this new year we, the congregation of St. Alban’s, will become saturated with and inspired by the Holy Spirit in order to discover new ways to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in and around the Lakes area; in our homes, where ever they may be; and to where ever our travels take us. Listen carefully for God’s call, and then by His grace, be filled with His Holy Spirit and act upon it.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to yourself: We praise and bless you for those whom you have sent in the power of the Spirit to preach the Gospel to all nations. We thank you that in all parts of the earth a community of love has been gathered together by their prayers and labors, and that in every place your servants call upon your Name; for the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours for ever. Amen