ANNOINTED, GIFTED, AND SENT 1-21-07
Sermon for January 21, 2007
Scripture: Luke 4:14-21 and 1 Cor 12:12-31
Our Gospel reading today is Jesus’ first sermon or what some folks call his mission statement. The core of all his teachings and the reference for his ministry relate to these passages from the Temple scroll taken from the book of Isaiah. These words: “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” (Lk 4:18-19). This is who Jesus was, the very core of his being. His ministry is not about fire and damnation; he doesn’t focus on being “born again”. His emphasis on that day as well as today is to care for the outcasts, the poor, the marginalized. And how would Jesus bring this good news? He would do it in many simple, day by day actions: befriending the tax collectors, the women, the lepers—the little people of his day. He listened to them; he ate with them; sometimes he healed them. Unfortunately for the integrity of our Christian churches, in many places the interpretation of this “good news” was bad news for the marginalized and the outcasts: for GLBT persons, for the people of color, for undocumented workers, for abused women, and so forth. To be good news it must meet the needs of the people. The Good News we share always needs to be related to the listener’s life. The gospel is God’s truth, God’s message, God’s action, God’s word for a particular person or group of people in a particular historical situation. For example, you don’t throw a drowning person a sandwich no matter how good that sandwich is, it won’t keep the person from drowning. Instead the downing person must be given a life jacket or have someone dive in to save him or her.
Who are the poor that Jesus is talking about? In the ancient Mediterranean culture and much of the social world of Luke/Acts, one’s status in the community was not so much a function of economics but depended on things like education, gender, family name, vocation, religious purity as well as economics.[1] So the designation of poor could mean more than just lacking means of subsistence. It also referred to low status; for Luke the wider meaning of diminished status was very important. In a holistic sense it referred to those who for any number of reasons relegated to positions outside of the “acceptable boundaries”—for example a woman who might be rich but was shunned because of her single status and gender. From the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus preached that even these “outsiders” were included in divine grace, included in the unconditional love of God; they too could be part of God’s family.
In this reading from Luke, there are two parts, each emphasized by different kinds of churches. The social gospel which challenges us to build communities with foundations of service influenced by peace and justice is what someone with my orientation would focus on. The other part, usually emphasized by more charismatic churches that focus more on the activity of the Holy Spirit, is equally important. They focus on the words about anointing, the sense of being grasped by the Spirit. I more frequently talk about being called; the evangelicals and Pentecostals use the word anointed. It means a heightening and focusing of God’s spirit in life transforming ways. “When God’s spirit “anoints” someone, …God touches that person in a special way, giving her or him a special gift of tongues, healing, discernment etc.”[2] We occasionally anoint people in this church with oil at healing services as a sign of God’s healing touch. Anointed touch can soothe, comfort, and transform. For me this anointing by the Spirit that Jesus refers to is like us being called to do the work that Jesus calls us to. We may not talk in tongues or create miraculous physical cures; however, I believe we are called to become communities of anointing, “called to touch our communities in the spirit of the healer Jesus”.[3]
Now maybe some of you are wondering what could you possibly be called to do to help transform the world. Let me tell you a story that I’m borrowing from Steve Goodier. This story is about a merchant in New York who sent a letter to a postmaster in a small, rural town in NH asking for a name of an honest lawyer to work on a collection case where a local man refused to pay for a shipment of this merchant’s goods. This was the postmaster’s reply: I am the postmaster of this village and received your letter. I am also an honest lawyer and ordinarily would be pleased to accept a case against a local debtor. In this case, however, I also happen to be the person you sold those crummy goods to. I received your demand to pay and refused to honor it. And if I were not, for the time being, substituting for the pastor of the local church, I would tell you just where to stick your claim.
Now most of us are not as multi-talented as this man; we can not do all things well. Even a man as gifted as Albert Einstein had his areas of weakness or insecurity. In 1948, he was offered the first presidency of the new nation of Israel and turned it down, saying, “I know little about the nature of people…And I am saddened and ashamed that I cannot accept the office. I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people.” In spite of all that Dr. Einstein knew about the nature of the universe, he recognized his limitations. He focused on what he did well.
Last week Margaret spoke to you about gifts. The last part of this chapter 12 written by Paul to the Corinthians continues with an emphasis on how we are all members of the body of Christ, just as in our physical body one member or part is not more important than another, neither are the gifts that each of you have. We each have one or more gifts which lead to a special function or role, eg. one of the Huggards’ gifts is in handling finances; however, that does not make them more important than Sam and Laura’s gifts of speaking up in the service to praise God and speak of their gratitude for their blessings aloud for all to hear. We are not asked as individuals to do everything, but to do those things we are best able to do. (Sometimes we ask folks to do something that is not compatible with their gifts and the result is not good; we often lose that person or it becomes obvious that they are not happy or feeling okay about that role.) We are asked to be members of a body, of Christ, and to play our part - not more, not less.
So if we can discern what our gifts are and answer God’s call, allow ourselves to be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord, we can then be sent out to do our ministry in the world, to share the Good News, especially to those that are on the outside, whether that is because of their economic poverty, their spiritual poverty, or for whatever reason leads to their being on the margin.
After reading the scroll and rolling it back up, Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” I think this “today” brings us to the present time. It is today that we are to bring good news to the poor and release to the captives and so forth. Not tomorrow, but today. You know today is an extraordinary day; God is with you today. It is today that we are all being called into action. Just as the spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus, the spirit is on each of us. As Brian Stoffregan says, “We are called to be a radical community on this earth. We are called and empowered to work for the release of people who are bound—the rehabilitation of prisoners, the freeing of people wrapped in their shells of self-doubt and self-pity. We are called and empowered to work on behalf of the poor and the oppressed.”
Who needs our help around here? What about the elderly? Can you shovel snow or sand their ice? Can you visit the shut-ins and those in nursing homes? Can you work in the Food Pantry? You know every Sunday is Food donation day at this church. How often do you remember to bring something in? If you forget, what about putting some money in the basket? Can you tutor students who need extra help? What about being a mentor for a kid in a single parent family? Many of you recently helped with money or goods for our HIV/AIDS baskets for caretakers. Some of you may feel called to help by going to Back Bay Mission in Biloxi Mississippi or New Orleans to help rebuild what was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. What about supporting a child’s schooling in Nicaragua? I was so surprised to learn when I was there about how many kids can’t go to school because of what they have to pay for books and supplies as well as the uniform. Most everyone hear knows the many needs that our partners in Zimbabwe have. If you want to know how you can help, the Marcrofts or I can give you information. What about advocating for a higher minimum wage, or for equal rights for all people, including marriage for same gender couples? There is so much work to be done. As I’ve said before, none of us can do it all but each of us can do something. As always if you would like to talk with me for help in resources or discerning what God is calling you to do, I would be most delighted.We are in the part of the church year that is called Epiphany, the seven Sunday’s after Christmas or more specifically after Epiphany day on January 6th. The word Epiphany means according to De Jong “to behold the world or one's life in a new way, with new eyes. It is when something becomes clear to us in a way we have never seen or noticed before. New light can be shed on an old problem; a situation which has always been seen the same way suddenly becomes radiantly clear with a new meaning. A special door in the mind or spirit opens and suddenly we see things in a new light. An epiphany is both a revelation and a challenge because it forces us to change.” [4] That my dear friends is what I am wanting for all of you today—an in pouring of the Spirit anointing each of you to be transformed, able to recognize your gifts, and go from hear with both a clarity and a willingness to be and do what God is calling you to be and do.
[1] Brian Stoffregen, online sermon from Textweek for 1-21-06.
[2] Bruce Epperly in sermon referred to by Textweek for 1-21-07.
[3] Ibid.
[4] From Sermon Nuggets, on Textweek for 1-21-07.
Scripture: Luke 4:14-21 and 1 Cor 12:12-31
Our Gospel reading today is Jesus’ first sermon or what some folks call his mission statement. The core of all his teachings and the reference for his ministry relate to these passages from the Temple scroll taken from the book of Isaiah. These words: “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” (Lk 4:18-19). This is who Jesus was, the very core of his being. His ministry is not about fire and damnation; he doesn’t focus on being “born again”. His emphasis on that day as well as today is to care for the outcasts, the poor, the marginalized. And how would Jesus bring this good news? He would do it in many simple, day by day actions: befriending the tax collectors, the women, the lepers—the little people of his day. He listened to them; he ate with them; sometimes he healed them. Unfortunately for the integrity of our Christian churches, in many places the interpretation of this “good news” was bad news for the marginalized and the outcasts: for GLBT persons, for the people of color, for undocumented workers, for abused women, and so forth. To be good news it must meet the needs of the people. The Good News we share always needs to be related to the listener’s life. The gospel is God’s truth, God’s message, God’s action, God’s word for a particular person or group of people in a particular historical situation. For example, you don’t throw a drowning person a sandwich no matter how good that sandwich is, it won’t keep the person from drowning. Instead the downing person must be given a life jacket or have someone dive in to save him or her.
Who are the poor that Jesus is talking about? In the ancient Mediterranean culture and much of the social world of Luke/Acts, one’s status in the community was not so much a function of economics but depended on things like education, gender, family name, vocation, religious purity as well as economics.[1] So the designation of poor could mean more than just lacking means of subsistence. It also referred to low status; for Luke the wider meaning of diminished status was very important. In a holistic sense it referred to those who for any number of reasons relegated to positions outside of the “acceptable boundaries”—for example a woman who might be rich but was shunned because of her single status and gender. From the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus preached that even these “outsiders” were included in divine grace, included in the unconditional love of God; they too could be part of God’s family.
In this reading from Luke, there are two parts, each emphasized by different kinds of churches. The social gospel which challenges us to build communities with foundations of service influenced by peace and justice is what someone with my orientation would focus on. The other part, usually emphasized by more charismatic churches that focus more on the activity of the Holy Spirit, is equally important. They focus on the words about anointing, the sense of being grasped by the Spirit. I more frequently talk about being called; the evangelicals and Pentecostals use the word anointed. It means a heightening and focusing of God’s spirit in life transforming ways. “When God’s spirit “anoints” someone, …God touches that person in a special way, giving her or him a special gift of tongues, healing, discernment etc.”[2] We occasionally anoint people in this church with oil at healing services as a sign of God’s healing touch. Anointed touch can soothe, comfort, and transform. For me this anointing by the Spirit that Jesus refers to is like us being called to do the work that Jesus calls us to. We may not talk in tongues or create miraculous physical cures; however, I believe we are called to become communities of anointing, “called to touch our communities in the spirit of the healer Jesus”.[3]
Now maybe some of you are wondering what could you possibly be called to do to help transform the world. Let me tell you a story that I’m borrowing from Steve Goodier. This story is about a merchant in New York who sent a letter to a postmaster in a small, rural town in NH asking for a name of an honest lawyer to work on a collection case where a local man refused to pay for a shipment of this merchant’s goods. This was the postmaster’s reply: I am the postmaster of this village and received your letter. I am also an honest lawyer and ordinarily would be pleased to accept a case against a local debtor. In this case, however, I also happen to be the person you sold those crummy goods to. I received your demand to pay and refused to honor it. And if I were not, for the time being, substituting for the pastor of the local church, I would tell you just where to stick your claim.
Now most of us are not as multi-talented as this man; we can not do all things well. Even a man as gifted as Albert Einstein had his areas of weakness or insecurity. In 1948, he was offered the first presidency of the new nation of Israel and turned it down, saying, “I know little about the nature of people…And I am saddened and ashamed that I cannot accept the office. I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people.” In spite of all that Dr. Einstein knew about the nature of the universe, he recognized his limitations. He focused on what he did well.
Last week Margaret spoke to you about gifts. The last part of this chapter 12 written by Paul to the Corinthians continues with an emphasis on how we are all members of the body of Christ, just as in our physical body one member or part is not more important than another, neither are the gifts that each of you have. We each have one or more gifts which lead to a special function or role, eg. one of the Huggards’ gifts is in handling finances; however, that does not make them more important than Sam and Laura’s gifts of speaking up in the service to praise God and speak of their gratitude for their blessings aloud for all to hear. We are not asked as individuals to do everything, but to do those things we are best able to do. (Sometimes we ask folks to do something that is not compatible with their gifts and the result is not good; we often lose that person or it becomes obvious that they are not happy or feeling okay about that role.) We are asked to be members of a body, of Christ, and to play our part - not more, not less.
So if we can discern what our gifts are and answer God’s call, allow ourselves to be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord, we can then be sent out to do our ministry in the world, to share the Good News, especially to those that are on the outside, whether that is because of their economic poverty, their spiritual poverty, or for whatever reason leads to their being on the margin.
After reading the scroll and rolling it back up, Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” I think this “today” brings us to the present time. It is today that we are to bring good news to the poor and release to the captives and so forth. Not tomorrow, but today. You know today is an extraordinary day; God is with you today. It is today that we are all being called into action. Just as the spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus, the spirit is on each of us. As Brian Stoffregan says, “We are called to be a radical community on this earth. We are called and empowered to work for the release of people who are bound—the rehabilitation of prisoners, the freeing of people wrapped in their shells of self-doubt and self-pity. We are called and empowered to work on behalf of the poor and the oppressed.”
Who needs our help around here? What about the elderly? Can you shovel snow or sand their ice? Can you visit the shut-ins and those in nursing homes? Can you work in the Food Pantry? You know every Sunday is Food donation day at this church. How often do you remember to bring something in? If you forget, what about putting some money in the basket? Can you tutor students who need extra help? What about being a mentor for a kid in a single parent family? Many of you recently helped with money or goods for our HIV/AIDS baskets for caretakers. Some of you may feel called to help by going to Back Bay Mission in Biloxi Mississippi or New Orleans to help rebuild what was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. What about supporting a child’s schooling in Nicaragua? I was so surprised to learn when I was there about how many kids can’t go to school because of what they have to pay for books and supplies as well as the uniform. Most everyone hear knows the many needs that our partners in Zimbabwe have. If you want to know how you can help, the Marcrofts or I can give you information. What about advocating for a higher minimum wage, or for equal rights for all people, including marriage for same gender couples? There is so much work to be done. As I’ve said before, none of us can do it all but each of us can do something. As always if you would like to talk with me for help in resources or discerning what God is calling you to do, I would be most delighted.We are in the part of the church year that is called Epiphany, the seven Sunday’s after Christmas or more specifically after Epiphany day on January 6th. The word Epiphany means according to De Jong “to behold the world or one's life in a new way, with new eyes. It is when something becomes clear to us in a way we have never seen or noticed before. New light can be shed on an old problem; a situation which has always been seen the same way suddenly becomes radiantly clear with a new meaning. A special door in the mind or spirit opens and suddenly we see things in a new light. An epiphany is both a revelation and a challenge because it forces us to change.” [4] That my dear friends is what I am wanting for all of you today—an in pouring of the Spirit anointing each of you to be transformed, able to recognize your gifts, and go from hear with both a clarity and a willingness to be and do what God is calling you to be and do.
[1] Brian Stoffregen, online sermon from Textweek for 1-21-06.
[2] Bruce Epperly in sermon referred to by Textweek for 1-21-07.
[3] Ibid.
[4] From Sermon Nuggets, on Textweek for 1-21-07.
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 1:36 PM
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