Epiphany 3, Year C (2019)

Nehemiah 8: 1–3, 5–6, 8–10; Psalm 29; I Corinthians 12: 12–31a; Luke 4: 14–21

This is the homily prepared for St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, January 27, 2019.

“TODAY, THIS IS FULFILLED”

“Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus uttered those words immediately after having read a portion of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 61, verses one and two, which reads:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (ESV)

Luke alone, of the four Gospel writers, records this incident in the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Luke’s account gives us a very small glimpse into worship in the synagogues 2,000 years ago. For example, we know from Luke’s report that the prophets were part of the readings offered in synagogue worship (though we do not know if there was an appointed cycle of readings that was similar to our lectionary cycle in use today). We also know, from this account, that someone in attendance was asked to be the reader. Perhaps, because Jesus was back in town in the synagogue, someone in charge in the synagogue asked Him to read because He had been away for a time. (We don’t know that for sure, either.)

It would be a good thing if our Gospel text for this Sunday were to be extended a bit to include the reaction of those who were present in the synagogue that day to Jesus’ application of the Isaiah passage to Himself. Since we don’t hear those following verses, we might summarize what happened in response to Jesus’ comment that the Scripture He read had been fulfilled “in their hearing”, and it had been fulfilled “today”.

Here’s a summary of their reaction: 1. All in attendance “spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth”; 2. Then they asked, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”’; 3. Following Jesus’ rebuke (at their apparent disbelief), they take him out to the edge of town, and prepare to thrown Him over it (but He escapes).

What might these Sabbath worshipers have objected to? The possibilities are many:

The audacious nature of Jesus’ claim: The reactions of those in attendance that day in the synagogue seem to confirm that Jesus’ linking of the phrase “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (italics mine) with “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” seem to confirm that Jesus was telling His audience that the passage referred to Him specifically. The question, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” seems to confirm the onlookers’ reaction which implies that Jesus isn’t some spectacular figure, but is just an ordinary person.

Proclaiming the Jubilee Year:  Jesus’ comment that He had been appointed to declare “the year of the Lord’s favor” seems to point toward the requirement, found in the Law of Moses, that there be a Jubilee Year once every fifty years. We must turn to Leviticus 25: 10 for its provisions. Among those provisions was the requirement that Israelites who had sold themselves into indentured service were to be released. With this requirement, we see the opportunity for liberty for those who weren’t free.

It’s possible that Jesus’ hearers were offended because He referred to the Jubilee Year, when, in fact, the Jubilee Year wasn’t due to come up on the calendar. Perhaps some of His hearers thought He was going to try to change the calendar, or to proclaim the Jubiliee Year on His own authority.

“Today”:  Another reason for the reaction might be to Jesus’ reference to the present time, or “today”. The impression we get from the Gospel accounts is that God’s people in the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry were either living in the past, or were living in some far-off future. They didn’t seem to be living “today”.

For example, many of God’s people in those times longed for a return of the glorious days of Kings David and Solomon. Expectations of a coming Messiah often fit into such a political and military mold as that of these two monumental figures from a thousand years earlier in history. Part of the desire for a return to former glory was connected to a desire to overthrow the oppressive Roman occupation. (The Jewish party of the Zealots advocated violent overthrow of the Romans.)

But others among God’s people had some sort of a “pie-in-the-sky” image of a coming time when the Messiah would come. This view of a coming Messiah shared some things in common with those who yearned for a return to the great age of David and Solomon. Many who longed for the coming One probably didn’t expect such a great thing to come to pass in their own lifetime. Perhaps many thought that such an event was in the far-off future. But we might be able to say with some certainty that most of those who heard Jesus that Sabbath day didn’t believe that anything so wonderful could happen “today”.

How, then can we apply today’s appointed Gospel text to our own lives? After all, that’s always a question that should be in our minds and in our hearts whenever we encounter Holy Scripture. We ought to be asking ourselves, “What does this mean for me today?”

The three points we’ve made above can be applied to our answer:

Jesus’ audacious claims:  That our Lord Jesus Christ is “King of kings and Lord of lords” is undeniably true, and such a claim is true primarily because of the evidence that our Lord and the Father are one. Proof lies in the resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday morning. There, we see God the Father’s hand at work in the raising of His Son. Jesus’ miracles underscore the audaciousness of His claims, but the principle basis for believing our Lord’s claims lies in the truth of the resurrection. The power to make create new life, which is the basic understanding of the meaning of the resurrection, is a power that can create new life for anyone who asks for it.

The Jubilee Year:  Jesus inaugurates a new calendar, one in which each and every year is the year of Jubilee, the year of release, the year of new life. So this new proclamation of freedom isn’t dependent upon the occurrence of a fifty year period of time. That new life is available to all persons who ask for it, not only in any year, but on any day. Ultimately, the liberty that Jesus promises us and which leads to true freedom is available on the basis of God’s great work, accomplished in Jesus Christ and received by us on faith.

Today:  It’s been said that “Today” is the gift we have before us, a gift that we are called to make the most of, today. Surely, the past informs where we have been as believers in Christ, and the future promises of God which involve the eventual return of His Son give us hope for the future and the strength to realize that the present reality we see around us isn’t all there is.

But the past and the future come together in “today”. Some Christians may be tempted to live in the future, turning their eyes heavenward in expectation that the trumpet will sound and will signal the Lord’s Second Coming. It’s an important truth to hold and to maintain, that the Lord’s eventual return is a certain reality. But it can’t be the only thing we focus in on. The early Christians in Thessolonica were apparently doing just that, so St. Paul has to warn these Thessalonians that they are not to be sitting around, waiting for the Lord to return. Instead, they are to be about working, doing productive things, in order to be able to provide for themselves and to be able to give toward the needs of others.

Still other Christians today might be tempted to live in the past, glorying in some prior age which has been elevated to mythical status. Yes, it’s important for us as mature Christians to be aware of our past, to be thankful for it, to preserve the best of what the past brings forward to us today, and to allow the past to inform where we are as Christians in the contemporary world.

But the truth is that God’s work and God’s will are being worked out “today”. Often, that work and that will are fulfilled in small, almost unnoticed interchanges between people, acts of generosity and kindness, words offered in support of others in times of need, and prayers sent upward on behalf of others.

Our Lord’s call to action is for “today”, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled “today”, that God’s will might be “done on earth, as it is in heaven”, as our Lord taught us in the prayer He gave us, known as the Lord’s Prayer.

AMEN.

Epiphany 2, Year C (2019)

Isaiah 62: 1–5; Psalm 36: 5–10; I Corinthians 12: 1–11; John 2: 1–11

This is a reflection prepared for St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, January 20, 2019.  (This reflection is written in lieu of our service for this day, since we’ve experienced a significant winter weather event. So my hope is that this reflection will allow some insights into this season of Epiphany, and into the appointed Gospel text for this day. Enjoy!)

 “THE FIRST OF JESUS’ SIGNS, A SIGN OF GREAT THINGS TO COME”

(Homily texts:  John 2: 1-11)

An overall view of the Epiphany season:  This season carries with it a subtitle, “The Manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles”. So, on each Sunday of this season (which is, this year, longer than it usually is, due to the fact that Easter falls late this year), we explore one way in which we come to know Jesus Christ, made known to the world. So, for example two weeks ago, on Epiphany Sunday, we heard a Gospel text from Matthew, relating to us the visit of the Magi, those mysterious figures who’d seen in the heavens a sign that something wonderful was going on in Judea. They, being Gentiles, come as the first of an enormous group of people down through the ages (yes, that would include you and me, Gentiles) who will come to know Jesus Christ. Then, last Sunday, we heard Luke’s account of the Lord’s baptism, a theme we consider on the First Sunday after the Epiphany each year. We heard, last Sunday, God’s approval of His Son, “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.” And, too, the Holy Spirit’s presence was known in the descent of the dove upon the Lord. So, in His consent to being baptized, the Lord demonstrates by His actions what He wants us to do. Or, as we said last week, the Lord calls us to “Follow me”.

How does today’s Gospel text fit into the Epiphany theme?:  John makes two things clear about Jesus’ action in turning the water into wine:  1.  This is the first of the signs[1] that Jesus did, and 2.  This sign  manifested His glory.

So we may say that the miracle before us today marks the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is a ministry that will unfold before His disciples’ eyes, and, eventually, before many people’s eyes. It is a ministry that demonstrates Jesus’ power over the created order, and, in particular, His power to transform. 

Trouble in the text:  Many readers and many biblical scholars have puzzled over Jesus’ response to His mother (who, by the way, in this text and in the entire Gospel account John has provided for us, is never mentioned by name), when He said, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” (John 2:4)

To our contemporary ears, His response sounds harsh and disrespectful. And yet, by the standard behavior of the time, it was customary for a man to speak to a woman in public in such a manner, and perhaps even to one’s own mother. Two more examples can be found in John’s account to substantiate this claim:  1.  Jesus, talking with the woman at the well in Samaria, refers to her in the same way, saying, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father….” (John 4: 21); and 2. From the cross, Jesus speaks to his mother, saying, “Woman, behold your son.” (John 19: 26)

What do we make of this incident?:  Several points might arise as we consider this text:

A demonstration of faith:  Notice what Jesus’ mother does in the wake of His comment to her: She is undeterred and tells the servants to “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)  Nowhere in the scriptural witness do we have any evidence that Mary knew what Jesus was capable of doing. Yet, she tells the servants to do whatever He tells them to do. Apparently, she had a sublime faith that He was able to address the situation.

The best is yet to come:  One point that might arise from this event is the fact that Jesus created the best wine, which was reserved for the last part of the wedding feast. In times past, just as it is today, hosts put their best foot forward, offering their guests the best they have to offer at the beginning the celebration. And that was the expected treatment that the bridegroom in Cana was supposed to offer to his guests, as well. Yet, Jesus provides the best for the latter part of the celebration. His reference to his “hour” points forward, in John’s Gospel account, to His “hour”, that is, to His death, resurrection and ascension. Truly, this is the best of what God has offered us in Christ. God saved the best for last. In Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension.

The power to create and to transform:  God’s power, if we were to try to summarize it briefly (yes, that’s a risky venture, to be sure!), consists of God’s power to create, recreate and transform. Here, in Jesus’ miraculous transformation of the water into wine, we have God’s power to create and to transform in view. 

What does this have to do with you and me?  Perhaps the point God wants us to “get” is that an encounter with Jesus Christ has everything to do with God’s power to create, to recreate and to transform. After all, that’s the reason the Father sent the Son, in order to make God’s power to change who we are currently into what He (God) would have us become eventually.

May God’s power to change the way things are into the way He wants them to be be evident in our lives and in our hearts.

AMEN.

       

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[1]   Some biblical scholars offer a subtitle for chapters two through twelve of John’s account, calling this section “The Book of Signs”.

The Epiphany, Year C (2019)

Isaiah 60: 1–6; Psalm 72: 1–7, 10–14; Ephesians 3: 1–12; Matthew 2: 1–12

This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, January 6, 2019.

“LIGHT MEANT FOR ALL, NOT JUST FOR SOME”

(Homily texts:  Isaiah 60: 1–6 & Matthew 2: 1-12)

Light has been a theme in our worship and in our readings from Holy Scripture since Christmas. And now, as we find ourselves at the end of the Christmas season (remember, Christmas is twelve days long!), ending today on the great feast of the Epiphany, we will wrap up this theme with today’s readings.

Specifically, Isaiah’s prediction that God’s light, coming into the world, will bring nations to that divine light, underscores the theme.

Our Gospel text from Matthew carries out this same idea. Matthew relates the visit of the Wise Men (or Magi), who had come “from the east” to find the Christ child. These foreigners had come to see this new king, led by the light of the star they had seen in the heavens. These Wise Men would be the leading edge of many, many peoples from all over the earth who would come to God’s light, made known in the person of Jesus Christ.

We might distill this theme in this way:  God’s light is meant for all, not just for some.

Let’s unpack this idea a bit.

The ancient world was an interesting place from the standpoint of its religious beliefs and practices. Religion tended to be a tribal thing, more or less. It was one way of giving people an identity, a common purpose, and a sense of belonging. We can see this clearly in the case of God’s chosen people, the Jews, and especially in the time in which our Lord came among us. Jews in that day and time claimed their allegiance to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They seemed to be proud of their descendancy from Abraham (which is one reason why they looked down on the Samaritans, for the Samaritans’ blood lines were no longer purely descended from Abraham). The Law of Moses and its strict observance marked them as being different from other peoples (and especially from their Roman occupiers).

The things we’ve just said about the Jews could also apply to other peoples in the ancient world. For example, the Greeks had their god, Zeus, and a pantheon of other gods. The Ephesians had their god, Artemis. The ancient Philistines had Dagon, while the ancient Canaanites had a variety of gods, Baal and Moloch being two of them.

We’d be less-than-complete in our assessment of the religious climate of the ancient world if we didn’t acknowledge that there was some blurring of the religious boundaries between different groups of people. For example, the Jews welcomed Gentiles who had come to worship the same God they did, even if these Gentiles weren’t fully integrated into Jewish practice. They were known as “God-fearers”. The Gospel accounts contain a record of some of these people. Likewise, mixing of religious practice took place in places like Corinth, which was on a major trading route and which saw people coming from all over the known world….mixing of religious belief and practice was one result of the interaction of people from different places and backgrounds.

But God is doing a new thing in the sending of Jesus Christ: God is letting the world know that the sending of the Christ child reveals to us God’s light in a way that surpasses any and all other ways of believing, and that the revelation of God made known in Christ is meant for all the world to receive.

Jesus makes clear that God’s light is meant for all people, not just for some.

We can see this in the unfolding of His earthly ministry: For example, He regularly travels through Samaria and interacts with the Samaritans. (Remember that the Jews hated the Samaritans. They hated them so much that, in order to go from Galilee in the north of the Holy Land to Jerusalem, they would go entirely out-of-the-way to avoid going through Samaria.) More proof of this new reality arises from the Lord’s interaction with Gentiles. Jesus’ interchange with the woman from Tyre and Sidon is another such example (see Matthew 15: 21 – 28).

Jesus’ command, given to His disciples in what we now call the “Great Commission” makes clear that God’s light is meant for all, not just for some. We would do well to hear the Great Commission’s words: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And, behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18b – 20) (English Standard Version)

“Go into all the world,” He says.

What are the implications for us as contemporary Christians who are living in an age when the mixing of religious belief is quite common? (After all, as I look out at the world today, I am convinced that our world looks a good bit like the world of ancient Corinth, where people from all over the world mix with one another, resulting in a pick-and-choose sort of religious practice, whereby the individual becomes the final and sole arbiter of what is desirable and good.)

Perhaps what we might take away from our experience of the light of God, made known in Jesus Christ, is this:  God’s light isn’t our own prized and personal possession. God’s light isn’t meant to be for members of the Church alone. God’s light is meant to be shared with everyone, everywhere. For if we believe that the revelation of God in Christ surpasses all other ways of thinking and believing, then we have a wonderful gift to share with the world.

And that’s precisely the point, I think. We are called to let the world know that God’s light is meant for all, not just for some.

AMEN.