Sermon: Epiphany III (Year C) – Sunday 26th January 2025 – St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe (Eucharist)
Luke 4:14-21
1 Corinthians# 12.12-31a
Nehemiah 8.1-3, 5-6, 8-10
To whom would you speak truth to power…..?
Given the chance…. Would you call someone out, or maybe stand silently present at a peace vigil…? What would you do, I wonder….?
I am going to just leave that one there for a moment….
After this last week, I really wanted to find a way of asking such a questions.
The scripture passages for today have prompted me in that direction, but I would not wish to ever make scripture fit a narrative….
Unless that’s actually what we are called to do each week, in crafting a sermon for example, to make The Word of God live in the world of now….!
Perhaps that is exactly what we do because we must…
The words written in gospels, letters, prophecies and historical accounts – all that makes our Holy Bible – needs to be heard and understood (if possible) in our own age – not just translated into Modern, but to speak into our common experiences, the world we see out of our windows… on the telly and in endless Internet feeds….
Now, just for the fun of it….
Here is a brief summary of today’s readings, including the one from Nehemiah, that I would encourage you to read…in which…
A new community, in a rebuilt Jerusalem, is made of all sorts of people, and when Ezra reads the Book of the Law, they lament with nostalgia and hope for the future. There is a necessity however, to fully understand what is being read to them and thus, to go forward and feed the poor and worship God. That is their purpose. It will bring them unity and transformation.
Paul is speaking to a community that is filled with enthusiasm, expertise, gifts and ability….. and yet has no idea how to live together! Does that sound familiar?
He seeks to unite them and transform them into a community that recognises and values all of its individuals equally.
Jesus quotes from Isaiah.
In short – stand up for those who Jesus stood for. That is the way to serve and obey God. For such will reveal the year of the Lord’s favour!
Transformation through unity – again!
Somehow I don’t think Jesus was following the lectionary or the rota, on that day in his local synagogue!
He read what needed to be heard…. And he followed it up with a very brief, pithy yet hopeful sermon….!
In Him – Jesus who they knew and had heard good things recently – In this Jesus, son of Joseph, the words of Isaiah were to come true? Right then and there….
Eh? It didn’t go well….!
This image we have of Jesus publicly reading words written by the prophet of the restoration, to guide people who had been restored to a land and culture after years of exile, is very powerful. Prophets and prophecy are familiar to the people of Jesus’s time. Perhaps less so to us. Yet just as needed…!
When Paul speaks of the Body of Christ, he is reminding the early church that all of its people have value and a place in the community – The Body.
Paul asks of us:
Are any of our bodily components of less value to us?
Are there parts of your body that perhaps you wish were not there? Please don’t call out or point at them!
Are there any parts of the body we cannot mention here in church? Again, keep them to yourselves, please!
Could the same be said about certain members of our communities? Or families?
All are needed, but are they welcome… Are they wanted… are they valued and loved?
We cannot all be healers, leaders, teachers, flower arrangers, musicians, health and safety specialists or child-wranglers!
I have no sense of reference for speaking in tongues… unless there are those amongst us well-versed in languages and act as translators or signers, to those who feel excluded.
We can’t do it all. We don’t have to do it all. Yet, as all parts of the body are necessary, all those in our diverse, strange and fragmented society are a part of God’s Kingdom – with whom we share both honour and suffering alike.
Is that Good News….? Good News for you….? For them?
In returning to my earlier question…. About speaking truth to power…..
I was quite encouraged and inspired, this week, by the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, who directly engaged with the new President – during a sermon – hoping to remind him of responsibility and care for all the people. I won’t be alone in making mention of this today.
Whether we point out the Emperor’s new clothes in the street, seek public office to take our leaders to task, or take up a placard, sign a petition, or write letters to the editor – whatever is done to remind the powerful of their care of the vulnerable… may you prayerfully and joyfully find your own way!
But remember why.
Western ideals of social justice and fairness are mainly a response to how Christian values have been woven throughout our history and laws.
Yet, sometimes it is necessary to return to the values you hold in your soul….. what we have learned sitting at the feet of Jesus…
And the reverse can be true.
When I hear the word Christian associated with power, dominance, or any political affiliation, I feel a genuine revulsion….
As if it has become too easy to make something life affirming into a weapon…. And then into a nightmare… and no it isn’t new…. and yes, we should know better than to allow it by standing idle when others struggle.
I try to foster some respect for leaders that I have no natural liking for. Perhaps in retrospect… Maybe in my hope of seeing something good in one another.
As the current government makes its way through its first year, I must remember that I wasn’t so forgiving for the previous lot, and all leadership is fraught with many pitfalls, or should I say pot-holes!
I tried my best, in later years, to consider the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. Two aspects of her time in office made that hard for me to do:
In 1982 Mrs Thatcher wanted a patriotic service of triumph to celebrate the Falklands War ‘victory’. Instead, Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie undertook a service of reconciliation and peace, praying for the fallen on both sides. It was unpopular.
In 1987, in an often misquoted interview to Women’s Own magazine, Mrs Thatcher derided a reliance on the state, with her comments about society and the significance of individual responsibility, within the more modest landscape of family and community.
There would be nothing remarkable of a Conservative leader taking such a view, yet it came at a time when a very real society had considerable needs that still warranted the state to play its part. Again, nothing new.
Yet, when a leader says do less for those in need – regardless of their own convictions or rationale – there will plenty of powerful people, standing quietly by, to not only make sure that it happens, but that everything else changes towards those whose voice is diminished further.
I hope you will excuse what might seem like a political theme, today. I do not believe that, once choosing to live a life of faith, we can chose to avoid politics, economics and social justice.
In the Kingdom of God, whether a body, a community, a nation, a benefice…. All parts – no matter how diverse or strange – are essential, included and loved.
Community, of one sort or another, is integral to our discipleship. It cannot be avoided, even if we feel we do much better upon our own, individual, journeys of discovery…. Think of the Eucharist we will share in a few moments… that is community, the table where all are welcome.
Yet all of that will fail if we turn aside from the hope of unity and equity, if we give up on the dialogue of inclusion, casting aside love and kindness…
For in that day, hope will not prevail.
As Paul says: “…strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way”.
History gives us many inspirational voices that have pushed against authority.
One example that encourages me, is Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador in the late 1970’s. He became a symbol of speaking truth to power amidst El Salvador’s brutal civil conflict, witnessing the violent oppression of the poor by the military regime. Romero’s national radio sermons condemned human rights abuses and government repression, giving hope to many. Yet his support for the poor threatened the ruling elite, leading to death threats. Romero, undaunted to the end, was assassinated during a Mass, in 1980.
I wonder if you will feel called to speak truth to power in some form or other this week.
We dont all have to critique world leaders, thankfully…!
We might get the chance to stand up to bullies, or stand next to the outcast …
We might do it with words, or through action… or peaceful inaction….
Whatever we do, let it be inspired and grounded in God’s limitless grace…
The grace that we see in the prophets of old that so often challenged the powerful to do the right thing…
The grace that is found in the wholeness of a community, a body… however it is made…
The grace with which Jesus leads us to, in the certainty of hopeful, redemptive love.
It isn’t supposed to be easy….
But remember, we dont have to be perfect to call out those who cause suffering and persecution to others… in our imperfection, God’s free grace empowers us that others may know of the love we have known…
My sisters and brothers, in the days to come, I pray you will prophets and signposts, fearless in the Lord and rich in the Holy Spirit.
God be praised.
Amen.
Image: “Love Versus the Bible (1)” by David Hayward on NakedPastor.com
I love David’s work and follow him on various social media. I have not paid for this cartoon but am planning on purchasing some print versions 🙂
Some Inspirational Sources & References
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/we-are-all-christs-body-2022-02-06/
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/whole-holy-together-2016-04-08/
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/returning-enduring-wisdom-2017-01-20/
You should know…
I use ChatGPT to assist with summarising referential and external resources. NEVER for writing…