January 24, 2010 Sermon
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Epiphany 3 - C
January 24, 2010 Allan Conkling
I am glad to be home. Just one month ago it was Christmas. In the lofty words of the Nicene Creed:
"For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made human."
Described in the words of St. Basil, one of the early church fathers, this is:
"God on earth, God among us! No longer the God who gives us law amid flashes of lightning...but the God who speaks gently and with kindness in a human body to his kindred. God in the flesh!" (Sermon, Basil the Great)
So revolutionary was this teaching that it was rejected by most people: If you want to know what God is like, look to the person of Jesus. If you want to experience the depth of God's love and how to put it into practice in your own life, look to the person of Jesus.
Turning to the Gospel reading, in this short passage we are told three things about our Lord: First, that he had been gone. In the other Gospels we are told that after his baptism Jesus was led into the wilderness for a time of discernment and testing. Now he had come home again. Here he was giving his first sermon.
But if Jesus felt that his life was taking a new direction, from that of the son of the local carpenter, others were not so convinced. Back home, people still knew him as he was before. As different as his life had become, there would be those who just could not accept the changes. Jesus read from the Prophet Isaiah (chapter 61):
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me...he has anointed me...he has sent me to bring good news...and proclaim that a new day is dawning...and the beginning of a new age."
How shocked they were when Jesus told them: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." He never said "I am the Messiah" or "I am God among you". He didn't have to. They knew he was serious, and as we will find out next week as this passage continues, Jesus was sadly rejected because of his claim. People just could not handle the paradigm change. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
Several years ago I was asked to lead a Vestry workshop for a church in San Antonio. The theme of the workshop was how to envision changes in a congregation, when the old ways of doing things were no longer working. I told them that when it comes to transitions, people tend to react in one of five ways. We either...
Hold Out; Keep Out; Get Out; Close Out; or Reach Out.
The process of discovering ourselves Christians can be painful, but the key is to look beyond ourselves, to what God calls us to do. Surely that was the dilemma the day Jesus addressed the people of his home town. Sad to say that even the most sincere, devoted, pious, and long standing church members can at times become the greatest obstacle to God’s will being done.
The readings for today are Action Readings. They call us to consider how we can best serve the Lord in our time. Here at Emmanuel we might not be Nazareth, but the same Lord is present with us, and the same Holy Spirit knocking at the door of our heart: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Do you believe that? These scriptures proclaim power. God's Power:
Ø Power to heal
Ø Power to liberate
Ø Power to bring light to the darkest recesses of the human heart
Ø Power to open the prison gates, and
Ø Power to bring meaning and joy in times of doubt and uncertainty
This is a message begging to be heard! But who will share it if we don’t? Who will be the messenger if we are not? Who will take these words to your school...to your work...to your friends? Will you dare accept the challenge?
Despite his being the hometown boy, Jesus began the work to which he was called. Some had ears to hear him; others would not or could not. However, the fact that you and I are gathered together this morning is a testimony that some did listen. You and I--this church--are the products of Christ’s work, the community to which his ministry was devoted, and for which would give his life.
Author Fredrick Beuchner says,
"On this planet at least, the church is the only body that, for the time being, Christ has, which is to say, that you and I are the only bodies Christ has. He has no hands to reach out to people except our hands; no feet to go to them with, except your feet; no other eyes to see them with, no other faces to show them his love." (Excerpt from a sermon--bold mine)
I am glad to be back in my own home and in my own pulpit this morning. One week ago I was in a little church in Central America. I close this sermon with the words which opened our service, the Collect of the day:
"Give us grace, O Lord to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."
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Revised: 03/09/10