The Word of the Lord
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Luke 4:14-21
When we read the Scripture lessons every Sunday morning in worship, we do so in stride. In fact, that could often describe our approach to worship in general. In the words of Annie Dillard, words we use in worship are “things we have learned we can say to God without being killed.”
We often have a very lackadaisical attitude when the scriptures are read. We respect them and expect them to be read in worship. Perhaps we are so familiar with them we do not anticipate hearing anything new. We read the gospel lesson and conclude with the words: THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD. We say it without missing a beat. But what impact does this Word of the Lord have upon our lives?
Contrast what is often our approach, with our text from Nehemiah. The people of God had returned from exile. Jerusalem was in ruin and the walls were leveled. (Picture the scenes we’ve seen in Haiti this past week). Nehemiah drew his people together and against great odds rebuilt the wall. When it was completed they asked Ezra the priest and scribe to bring forth the law of Moses, the Word of the Lord and to read it in the public square. When he opened the scriptures all the assembly stood up to listen. They were almost 50,000 in number who had gathered. Ezra read from early morning to midday, the congregation standing all the while. And all the people wept when they heard the words of the law of God. They were moved to the very core of their being.
Let’s be honest. For the most part we do not like to be disturbed. That’s true on several levels but I suspect it is also true in worship. We want to hear confirmation that we are doing well. We prefer affirmation that confirms our lifestyles are in synch with God—to hear that we are doing all the right things. But if you have lost everything you have known, as was the case with the Israelite people, you hear things in a different way. The Word of the Lord fell on their ears like rain on parched soil.
Our gospel text presents a parallel scene of a public reading of scripture. This time it was Jesus reading in the temple.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
‘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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Here was Jesus, the hometown boy, making everyone proud. Then it happened.
Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
You can almost hear them talking to each other. What did he say? Did I hear him correctly?
Did he say “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing?”
It began to settle in on some of them the impact of what he had said: He was proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. He was talking about the ancient tradition of the Year of Jublilee. According to the Law, at the end of seven sabbatical cycles, slaves and prisoners were to be freed, debts were forgiven, land under lease was returned to the original owners and the land itself was to remain fallow, unused. It was a year of rejoicing—Jubilee. Those who heard Jesus knew what he was talking about. According to the law every 50th year was to be a time of forgiveness. Even though this was a part of Jewish law—it does not appear to have been in practice.
Suddenly Jesus says: This is the year of the Lord’s favor. Today these words have been fulfilled in your hearing. They were disrupted by the Word of the Lord.
I am reminded of the words of the author of Hebrews: Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
God’s Word has the ability to cut through the exterior of our lives and penetrate our flesh. The Word becomes flesh, not only in Jesus, but by the grace of God, in our lives.
Walter Brueggemann writes about “doing the text.” We read the text and allow the Spirit to work.
Note in both of our texts that the emphasis is not on the personal good but the common good. The good news is collective in nature. The temptation is to so personalize the gospel that we live as islands unto ourselves. We do not have that luxury as Christians. The apostle Paul grasped this when he used the metaphor of a body as reflective of our lives as believers. We are members of one another. We are all a part of the same body. What affects you affects me. What one person does has implications for all of us. We are called to work for the common good of the body—looking not only for our own well-being but that of each other.
Malcom Muggeridge: a British journalist, author, and satirist, became a Christian convert late in life, very much influenced by Mother Teresa. In his book Something Beautiful for God, he recalls how one day he went into the chapel where Mother Teresa and her sisters were praying. He was amazed to hear the detailed nature of the their prayers. They were requesting from God the tiniest things needed in their work among the people of the streets. At first, he was offended, but then he said, “Those of us who cannot participate are not so much more sophisticated as less gifted with faith. If God cares to array the lilies of the field so splendidly, then assuredly Mother Teresa is right in believing He cares about her and the sisters’ tiniest necessities.” (Alan Walker, Jesus the Liberator [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1973], p.98)
How is the Word of the Lord being fulfilled in your life? What does it mean for you that Jesus says I come:
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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
We are the ones who can fulfill Jesus’ words and give good news to the poor with our generosity and compassion. We are the ones who can fulfill Jesus’ promise, witnessing the release of captives by our forgiveness of one another. We are the ones who by God’s grace can let go of the pain of the past and be freed in spirit for a new day.
How are we listening for God’s word?
When we come gather for worship, among other things, we expect to hear a sermon. When you think about it, a sermon is very limited. A sermon can be inspirational, it can draw us away from the cares of the world for a few minutes, it can lift one’s spirit. But it is simply that, a sermon, a spoken word in a moment in time—easily forgotten in a few hours. A sermon can be affirming or you can take issue with it or ignore it. But when a word comes from the Lord, it can crack the hard exterior of our ordered lives and affect transformational change.
We all share a common confession. We want to know that God is working in the world—yet at the same time, we keep a certain distance from it so as not to disturb our safe existence. We are then left wondering why it seems that we do not perceive God’s presence in our lives.
There is a poignant line in scripture when we are introduced to the boy Samuel.
1 Samuel 3.1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
When Ezra read the Word of the Lord to the people, it was a people for whom the Word of the Lord had been absent for a long time.
When was the last time you sensed a Word from the Lord in your life—when you were convicted, when you were given a sense of peace about something deeply troubling you?
Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (4:12)
We need not fear it. We need to listen for it and welcome it.
‘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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
Amen.
-Rev. Frykholm
Tags: Gospel of Luke, Nehemiah, sermons