Epiphany3C 2007

Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10

Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 a

Luke 4:14-21

”The members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”

So says the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. Corinth was a capital city; a center of commerce…a cosmopolitan place. They were well learned folk too. Smart, good gene pool. The place to be. For nice, popular, well-educated, strong people. They had it going on. Proud of their fair city. The home of the brave and the strong.

Even today, we worship strength. We watch “The Apprentice” to see who is the most cut-throat. “Survivor” continues to draw huge audiences as we vote the losers of the Island. We laugh at the losers on “American Idol.”

We want our role models to be strong and fearless. We want our winners to be perfect and powerful. We want our heroes to be handsome and strong.

At the same time it is nice in a perverse sort of way to watch people lose. To make fun of people weaker than we are. To have people under us that make us feel a little smarter, a littler stronger, a little more talented. “At least I’m not like her…”

So on the one hand we look up to, glorify, the strong and powerful…the firm leader…the undefeatable athlete, the winner of the contest.

On the other hand, we revel in being better than the loser. I could have done that better we….I would have won that contest… I could have answered that one, we say to the player on Jeopardy. At lease I don’t have it that bad, we say to the folks on the evening news.

We are all caught up in this. At some level we all want to be on the winning team. Be identified with the ruling party. Be part of a successful movement. At the same time we look to make sure there are folks worse off than us. So we can be sure we aren’t on the bottom.

Jesus’ village was like that. His home time was doing okay. The fine folks at the synagogue were proud of the home town boy. Jo’s boy is a fine scholar, smart good. He’ll go far. He’ll make our town look good, add to our reputation.

They were proud of the local winner. Until he got uppity on them. Started talking about the poor and the captive, the blind and the oppressed.

And then claim that he is the fulfillment of Scripture. Keep reading the Gospel of Luke…Jesus soon gets driven out of town. He dares to suggest that the message of God isn’t just for the fine citizens of Nazareth.

We don’t want to hear that. We don’t really want to know that God loves those poor slobs sleeping under the bridge. Or cares deeply for the folks wasting away at Guantanamo Bay. We don’t always listen when Jesus starts to go on about the blind and the oppressed.

We just want to know “what’s in it for me?” Or “how will this make us look better?” Or “will this make us winners?”

All right, that’s a little harsh. But time and again Scripture reminds us that God sides with the weak: With the less respectable, with the inferior members, With the vulnerable.

The people in our first reading are returning from Exile. They come home to find Jerusalem in ruins. But Ezra reads from the holy texts all morning long…well, from early morning until midday! And the people listen. And understand. And wept because they knew what they had done wrong. And wept because of the power of God. And wept because they were so vulnerable returning to a broken city. So much work to do to rebuild and reconnect.

But what does Ezra say? “Do not mourn or weep. Go on your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength…and all the people went their way to eat and drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.”

Here is a vulnerable people, rejoicing in the Word of God, responding by eating the fat and drinking sweet wine and sending food off to the hungry so all could eat together. Unlike the fine folks of Narareth, who respond to the Word of God by chasing him out of town. The these folks Ezra speaks to hear the Word of God and it sends them out to share their food.

So the Word speaks to us today in two ways, for part of us has it all together, a part of us is concerned with appearances and power. This is the part of us that tries not to listen, that pretends that today’s texts are for the people sitting next to them. The Word speaks to the power hungry part of us as a chisel speaks to stone…breaking up the façade until the beauty of the figure is released.

The Word also speaks to that part of us that is weak, vulnerable, that knows we are really called to be with the weak and vulnerable of our land, or our world. The Word speaks to our loving, compassionate, breakable hearts. For part of us really cares about the poor, imprisoned, oppressed, and blind. We only laugh at the hurting because it protects our own hurt.

But God sends Jesus into the midst of pain, the cracks in the stone let the light in. God sends Jesus to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.

To be a lamb in the middle of a world that worships lions.

It isn’t about being rich and famous; powerful and handsome. It isn’t even about success. Growth. Fancy buildings or big numbers.

It is about the body caring for its weakest members. It is about the community gathering to eat the fat and drink the sweet wine making sure that portions are shared with those for whom nothing is prepared. It is about being faithful even when our faith stands against the culture of this world.

It is about how much we need each other in the body of Christ, from the strongest to the weakest. And it isn’t a competition or a TV show. We don’t get to vote anyone off the Island or the stage.

Instead, we help the weakest, pay heed to the most vulnerable, care for the poorest, share our portion with the unprepared. In doing so, this show will never make prime time or even a late night cable episode. Following the Word of God won’t bring fame and fortune to our fair city. It won’t put us up in the ranks of great cities to live in.

But it will make the world a better place for all people. Jesus “has received God’s Spirit in order to bring about a new society as well as a new humanity. Although he may be seen to be feeding hungry individuals, comforting those who are in prison, healing the blind, and lifting the burdens from the shoulders of those who are oppressed, his mission is not merely to individuals. The feeding of the hungry is a blow in the War on Poverty; the healing of the blind a skirmish in the fight against disabilities (John C. Purdy God With A Human Face, Westminister/John Knox 1993 pg. 30)

Our concern for the whole body reflects Jesus own mission of compassion for the whole of humanity. So let us go on our way— “eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Neh. 8:10 (NRSV)

Rejoice in the whole body of Christ. Amen.