Sunday's Sermon - January 30

January 30, 2022
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
1 Corinthians 12:1-13
Luke 4:21-30

Please pray with me,

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and suitable in your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

How about that gospel lesson, huh? 

This passage, as we hear it today, accompanies the story of Jesus’ own announcement of his ministry in Nazareth. We hear Jesus saying that the scripture is fulfilled in their hearing and at first the crowds are amazed. But as Jesus takes the time to outline what his vocation – his life of service will be in the world – the people around him get upset. They are frustrated, actually downright angry that he brings a message of healing and reconciliation to ALL people, including the Gentiles.

They are filled with rage that the expectations they had of God were not the expectations God had or has for God’s people. The people are so upset, they drive Jesus out of town and are ready to hurl him off a cliff.

As Fred Craddock writes, “Anger and violence are the last defense of those who are made to face the truth of their own tradition which they have long defended.”

Anger and violence are the last defense of those who are made to face the truth of their own tradition which they have long defended. 

And yet, somehow, Jesus passes through the midst of them, unscathed and goes on his way. 

In our first lesson, Jeremiah hears his call to speak to God’s people.  Jeremiah’s vocation (his calling) was in calling all members of the community back to their vocation as followers of Israel’s God. This was Jeremiah’s mission to all the people. (McKim)

Like Jeremiah, Jesus is understood as a prophet. Like Jeremiah, Jesus is questioned and rejected by his own people, who attempt to kill him, though he survives to continue preaching. Like Jeremiah, Jesus gets into trouble over foreigners.

In essence, Jeremiah’s calling is in turn echoed by that of Jesus. And it’s a prophetic calling. To speak prophetically is to follow God into a calling one would not necessarily have chosen, saying and doing things that anger one’s own neighbors, things that though supported by God, will only be seen as fruitful later on, following trials and tribulations.

But prophets are needed, aren’t they? Because in the time of Jesus, and before, people had strayed from God. God loved God’s people, showed them that love and yet the people strayed from God. They would turn from God, in on themselves, or their own cares and worries…and so again, God would swoop in with a call from a prophet to turn the people from old ways, and open them up to the path that of God’s calling.

In Jesus’ time, this happened, too.

And, in our time, it happens, too. It happens to us.

That’s the hard truth in our readings today, right? That we, the church, are the modern equivalent of Jesus’ townspeople.

Not that we want to admit that, however, because we hear God’s call.

We know God’s message of love and forgiveness and we know that the way we respond to God’s call is spot on.  We’re doing it right.  We don’t need prophets to redirect us, we’re good. 

We’re comfortable here, in this place and this church and the ways we are used to doing things…which leads us to forget that God has left the building, that God is indeed on the move.

The gospel lesson calls us to leave home, just as Jesus did, to in the words of Debi Thomas, “to choose movement over stasis, change over security.” 

Jesus calls us to choose movement over stasis, to choose change over security.

Yup, Jesus calls us to be on the move, because God has been on the move and will continue to be on the move. God’s mission continues in us, around us, in spite of us, and outside of us…

Let me share a story that might help bring this gospel message home.

It’s about a family I know, maybe you know them too, the Madrigal family…or Familia Madrigal! They are the main characters in Disney’s latest movie, Encanto.

How many of you are familiar with this movie?

The soundtrack is great! If you’re not familiar with it, here’s what you need to know.

La Familia Madrigal has been blessed with a miracle. The miracle of a place of sanctuary in a magical home surrounded by protective mountains. As the family grows, each child (at age 5, mind you) receives a gift to help the community.

Julieta received the gift of healing through her food.

Pepa received the gift of her emotions controlling the weather.

Their brother Bruno, can we talk about Bruno? 

Bruno received the gift of seeing the future, prophetic sight, if you will.

But when the movie begins, all we know is that we don’t talk about Bruno.

You see, Bruno has a vision of Mirabel and the outcome is unclear…as to whether her gift will help or hurt the house and the family. So Bruno disappears.

Mirabel, surrounded by sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles all with gifts…doesn’t have one.

Yet she is the one to notice the cracks in the house and realizes that something is not right. She is inquisitive and digs deeper and is hushed by her family.

Mirabel has the ability to see that something is wrong with the magic and her sisters open up about their own worries and insecurities…their fears about not living up to the family’s and their Abuela’s (their grandmother’s) expectations of how they will use their gifts.

Both Bruno and Mirabel have this ability to see that things are not what they seem. That instead of the family living into their gifts for love and service of community, they seem to be using their gifts to maintain the status quo, and to please Abuela and the community.

In a fit of rage over Mirabel trying to share what she has seen, Abuela shouts, the magic if fine! We are the family Madrigal! Abuela is trying to hold onto what she has known and in doing so, the house is destroyed.

Only after Abuela and Mirabel are truly able t see one another and hear one another’s stories is the family (with the help of the community) able to rebuild their home.

Look at this home

We need a new foundation

It may seem hopeless but we’ll get by just fine

Look at this family, a glowing constellation

So full of stars and everybody wants to shine

But the stars don’t shine, they burn

And the constellations shift

I think it’s time you learn

You’re more than just your gift

Those are the words of the prophet, Mirabel. 

Calling her family not just back home, but to a new home, a new future, where each family member is truly able to be themselves and to see one another as more than just the ‘gifts’ they possess.

I won’t give away the ending, in case you haven’t seen it, but when the first learns the truth, it is hard for them to see it and it is much harder for them to let go of what they think is right (or the way it’s always been done) to see a new way forward.

Yet, once the family is able to live into the truth of who each family member is by truly sharing their gifts are they able to live into a new future, together.

Once the family is able to live into the truth of who each of them are created and called to be, they are, together, able to move forward into a new future.

Into that new future, together, is where God continues to call us.

That’s what the prophets are saying to us today…

Unlike the movie, we don’t need a new foundation, we need to remember that Christ is and will always be our foundation, but know this…

God is on the move.

God is busy at the margins.

God is doing new things.

And God always invites us to join on the journey.

Are you ready for the journey?

Are you afraid?

Are you wiling to try, anyway?

Okay. That’s good enough.

Let’s go!

And now may the peace, which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and let all God’s people say, amen.