Reflection for 3rd Feb 2013

Year C 4th Sunday after the Epiphany 3 February 2013
Jeremiah 1: 4-10 Psalm 71: 1-6 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 Luke 4: 21-30

Here in Australia, a land far removed from Israel, we find the Church, the people of God. We are people that God has called and God has chosen. How is this possible that God, who revealed himself as the God of the small nation of Israel, has become the God of so many all over the world?
This week’s readings proclaim God’s care, plan and calling for us all. They warn us of the rejection and hardships that may be faced and comfort us with God’s promise to deliver us. The readings also challenge us to listen to the prophets in our midst, but as prophets, we are reminded to make love our focus, our aim and our purpose.

Luke 4: 24-26 “And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.”

The reason that people all over the world have come to know about the saving love of Jesus is in part because this message was rejected by the very people that Jesus came to save. Of course it was always part of God’s plan that all nations would be blessed through the Messiah, and the example that is given from the Old Testament scriptures is used by St. Luke to confirm to his non-Jewish readers that God sends his message and his love to all.

There is, however, a very definite warning in the Gospel of Luke to those who reject the message of God because they see the messenger as being just an ordinary bloke… or for that matter, an ordinary woman.

Sorry… but I have to bring this up. You see, I am a woman… kind of ordinary – depends on who you talk to  Sometimes rather annoying. But, to get away from me and back to the point; God once used a donkey to get his message to someone. He actually made the donkey speak!!! But here in the 21st century, there are still many who don’t think we should have women preachers. Hmmm…. A donkey can give God’s message but not a female. Please tell me the logical reason behind this?

The same kind of ridicules bias is found from denomination to denomination. There exists a preconceived idea that certain people from certain denominations will be a certain way and preach a certain thing and therefore either be worth listening to or not worth listening to depending on their denomination rather than on what they actually say.

I’m guessing this is ironic. We read the Gospels and take it all so seriously that we call ourselves the people of God and yet we fail to understand what God is saying. We think that we are the good guys in the Gospel stories, but in actual fact, we are the ones Christ was trying to warn against…. Those who rejected the prophets..

How much do you love Jeremiah? I have a big soft spot for the bloke. His is an amazing story about a prophet who knew that God had called him. He knew that God had chosen him and that his was a destiny written by God. He knew that God formed him and knew him in his mother’s womb and that all of his days were known to God. He had a calling, he was chosen, he was destined….. sounds so awesome and amazing… but….. When God say’s don’t be afraid, there is usually a good reason to fear, and this is what God said to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1:6-8 “Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’”

Just to reassure you, God’s message through the prophet Jeremiah was rejected and he was even thrown in jail. Those of his own people, God’s own people, did not acknowledge Jeremiah’s message.

So, if history is to teach us anything, we should be listening very hard and taking note of ourselves and our biases, because Jeremiah, this great and true messenger of God was rejected by his own “religious” people, and Jesus, the promised Messiah, was rejected by his own “religious” people. What prophets are we rejecting today because we “know” them / they are the son or daughter of a certain denomination, etc.. ?

Luke 4:22-25 “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.”

Do you ever wonder if Jesus came to downtown Aussie town, whether we would reject him? What would he look like? Doing street chaplaincy has brought about some interesting conversations and this was one subject that came up and I declared rather strongly that Jesus would probably have tattoos and fit in just fine down the street.
This was met with some disagreement…. Of course we know from the television show, The Big Bang Theory, that Jews can’t have tattoos… but if Jesus came to downtown Aussie town instead of Jerusalem, I don’t think the Jewish dos and don’ts would matter much…. God’s dos and don’ts ..yes they would matter!!! But that is where the argument was on the knife edge, because the Old Testament does actually mention not to have tattoos…… but there was a religious significance about those tattoos, most Aussie tattoos are for various commemorative and decorative purposes – and are skin deep. In fact all this brings me to this week’s New Testament reading.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

I think that about sums it up. End of argument. When we reject anyone, when we refuse to acknowledge the God given gifts that they offer, yet confess to be Christian, we are showing ourselves to be hypocritical Pharisees. – And we are rejecting Christ himself.

There are times for discernment and for speaking the truth, but the purpose of a harsh prophecy is to ultimately promote truth and love.
Jeremiah 1:10 “ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’

When we build a garden there is often some breaking up and tearing down before the plant can be established. Prophets today don’t say anything new. God’s word is complete. But the Prophets of today see the bigger picture and when the church and individuals in it are going astray…. It isn’t really that hard to discern whether we’ve gone astray when we read from the letter to the Corinthians and see a picture of how our church life should be.

I’m going to be a little bold and suggest that if our Church and we as Christians do not have this kind of love then we need to stop having any judgment on anyone else until it does.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

To be honest, we know from the next part of the reading that we will never have it completely right in this mortal shell, as we are told that now, we see things in part, but when we see Jesus face to face, we will then see things fully and know completely. Until then, we strive with God to be perfect in love, but resting and rejoicing that it is enough to strive, because our own failings have been covered by the all-consuming and perfect love of God.