What Would Jesus Do

After being baptized, and full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus goes into the wilderness to spend time alone with God, to open his heart and mind to God’s purpose for his life, and “to be tempted by the devil.” (Luke 4:2) Returning to Galilee, Jesus begins to teach in their synagogues and is praised by everyone. Finally, Jesus ends up in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, and now the story becomes interesting.

“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. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:16-21)

Jesus outlines in his “first sermon,” why God sent him into the world. I believe he did so because he wanted people to know what they were getting into if they chose to follow him, to know what he and the Creator were asking them to do.

God’s message passed on from Isaiah through Jesus challenges us as well. How do we proclaim good news to the poor when so often we want to blame the poor for the world’s problems? How do we proclaim release to those who are captive: the wrongly imprisoned; those held captive by addictions, or poverty. How do we see our own blindness to the needs of the hungry, homeless, and those without health insurance? And how do we recognize and admit that there really are people who are oppressed because of their race, lack of education, poverty, sexual orientation and other circumstances. Following Jesus’ command is the work, not only of each of us individually, but of the community, and in our case as “followers of the Way,” that community is the Church.

After Jesus made these proclamations, which the people applauded, they then became angry when Jesus suggested that God may have this vision for all God’s people, not just the Jewish people into whose tribe Jesus was born. “The People said, ‘Is not this Joseph's son?’ He said to them, ‘doubtless. . .you will say, 'do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum. . .but the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up 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. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”

Jesus’ vision, God’s vision was bigger than his hometown folks, and it got him into trouble. If we accept Jesus’ vision as our own, that vision may cause us problems as well.

So, how do we live into the vision of Jesus? How do we proclaim the Good News of God when ‘well intentioned people’ may respond by trying to ‘hurl us off the cliff?’ We live by doing what Jesus did, by saying what Jesus said, and by taking the chances he took.” In short, we become co-creators with God and we change the world in Jesus’ name.

The Baptism of Our Lord

The Baptism of Our Lord

(Based on Luke 3:15-17, 21-22)

As John the Baptist continued baptizing in the Jordan River for the forgiveness of sins, “the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah. John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’”

This prepared them, and us, for the climax of this amazing story: “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’"

Through John, baptism became an important symbolic action for God’s people as they sought to live a righteous life, let go of their sins and begin anew. Through Jesus’ baptism, God proclaims Jesus as the beloved, and as the recipient and conduit of the Holy Spirit to God’s people throughout the world. As the Gospel of Jesus spreads throughout the Mediterranean, we see how the gift of the Spirit comes from God’s action, not ours. We offer ourselves or offer our children to be baptized and God sends the Holy Spirit as God chooses.

In the Book of Acts 7:14-17 we see that when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. “The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” Elsewhere in Acts the Holy Spirit is given before baptism or during the act of baptism. Again, the conferring of the Holy Spirit and the timing of that gift are God’s actions not ours. The act of baptism, then, becomes a confirmation of God’s action of filling us with God’s Spirit: whether that happens before, during or after our baptism. What a blessing.

Baptism continues to be important to “the Body of Christ” as we see in Jesus’ final commission and blessing to his disciples (Matthew 28:16-20). “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

This is God’s challenge and God’s promise to us; this is God’s Good News for us today!

Prequel, Prophet, Prince of Peace

Prequel, Prophet, Prince of Peace

(Based on the Gospel of Luke 1:39-55)

After agreeing to become the mother of our Lord, a pregnant Mary sets out on a journey from Nazareth to the Judean hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with a son who will become John the Baptist. This visit is bathed with the presence of God’s Holy Spirit as John leaps in his mother’s womb as he senses the presence of one who he later calls “greater than I.” Elizabeth welcomes Mary and calls her “blessed of God:” “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

Mary was blessed because of her faith and obedience which make the incarnation humanly possible. Mary’s Song, the Magnificat, shows the importance and power of the Incarnation, of “God with us.” Mary’s song also telegraphs something of Jesus’ future, about the challenges and persecutions to come. If we are paying attention, it prepares us for our future as well. Mary confronts every Idol that we humans try to make into God, and she turns them on their heads.

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. . ."(Luke 1:46-53)

Mary is the supreme prophetic witness to God’s tender regard for the forgotten and discounted people of the world. She proclaims that where God’s mercy strikes home, the structures of privilege buckle and give way and Idols tumble.

Jesus’ Gospel is challenging, and Mary prepares us ahead of time for what is to come. May God give is the faith, obedience and courage to be like Mary.