Ain’t that Good News?
Homily delivered for the Third Sunday after Epiphany (Year C)
Homily delivered for the Third Sunday after Epiphany (Year C)
The
Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson
27 January 2013
27 January 2013
8:00
a.m. Said and 10:00 a.m. Sung Eucharist
Trinity Episcopal Church
Trinity Episcopal Church
Ashland,
Oregon
God,
take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.
I was
waiting along with several other people in the anteroom of a courtroom in
Medford several weeks ago to attend a trial involving two people I had
ministered to here at Trinity. I wanted
to show solidarity and support to both of them, and was wearing my clerical
collar. A couple of times, people coming
from the other courtrooms, on seeing my priestly garb in this secular Temple of
Justice, dropped their jaws, shocked or surprised, and then quickly covered
their astonishment with a vague look out the windows or across the room. Once they were out of earshot, one of the
people sitting with me asked, “Do you often get that when you dress like
this?” “Not so much the look of shock. Sometimes people on the street are just more
willing to approach me, to ask for directions, say, engage in small talk, or
volunteer out of the blue that they are ‘spiritual but not religious.’ Once in Hong Kong, an absolute stranger saw
the collar, got very angry and spit in my face, muttering something about child
molesters. But this look of surprise is
new for me, and I wonder what those people are thinking when they see (pulling
at the collar) this (indicating
court) here.” “Oh, I can tell you that,” replied one of the
people waiting with me, “’cuz it’s what I think when I see it: judgment, of being examined and being
found wanting: Condemnation. What are we supposed to think when we see it?” I paused.
“Well I kind of hoped that you would see in it the meaning I have when I
put it on. It’s a sign of God’s love,
and support. It’s a sign that God’s kingdom
is here and open for business, declaring reconciliation. Declaring God’s forgiveness and love is a priest’s main job. That’s all this collar means for me.” The
reply came quickly, “Most of us, though, are used to being condemned by the
Church, and so I think that’s what we expect.”
Today’s
scriptures all in one way or another talk about our perceptions about God
stuff, and the contrast between fear of
just condemnation or anger at unjust condemnation
and joy and gratitude at God’s love.
In the
Hebrew scripture reading, the scribe Ezra reads the book of the Law before the
people who react by bursting into weeping, totally dismayed at its severity.
The leaders react with a pretty heavy-handed effort at spin control—no weeping
or mourning allowed, only feasting and sharing that feasting with the poor, because
“LAW IS GOOD” no matter what!
The
Psalm says that we can learn much about God in looking at the beautiful and
wondrous stars and planets in the skies above us, as well as by reading the
Law, a “perfect” and “sure” teacher that “revives” and “makes wise” the heart
by stirring it up to “fear” and prayers that our words and thoughts be
acceptable to the God thus revealed.
The
Gospel reading is Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’ first public sermon. He reads from
the prophet Isaiah, like Ezra reading from the book of the Law. But importantly, he picks and chooses what
he reads. He quotes from Isaiah 61,
beginning
“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,”
So far, so good, at least in the
translation of Isaiah that Luke is using in writing up the scene. But then, instead of the next line, “to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,”
Jesus ends the reading by throwing in a line from another part of Isaiah (58:6)
and saying:
“to send out into freedom those once downtrodden,
to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
He deliberately deletes Second Isaiah’s reference to “the Day of Vengeance of our
God” and replaces it with a line from Second Isaiah’s great song about what
true worship is:
“Is not this the fast
that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to send out into freedom those once downtrodden,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to send out into freedom those once downtrodden,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
(Isaiah 56:5-7)
Jesus applies this
doctored passage to himself, and thus announces his mission. By deleting the reference to the Day of
Vengeance, Jesus marks a distinction between his message of Good News, hope and forgiveness, with John
the Baptist’s more fear-inducing focus on the need to repent before the coming Day
of Doom. Jesus is to break the bonds,
and then send out those who were once
downtrodden into freedom, as sent ones, or apostles,
with his message of liberation to others.
We will read of the congregation’s
reaction to Jesus’ sermon next week. But
the bit of the story we read today tells us that Jesus’ mission is to bring joy
not fear, hope not despair. Jesus’ ministry and message was and is one of
joyous gratitude, one of Good News.
Clearly, my friend in
the court anteroom saw the Christian message as one of condemnation and
judgment.
I believe that the main
reason for the last two decades’ great increase of the “nones”—those without
religious affiliation or declared faith—among Americans 30 and under lies in
the fact that for most people, what many Christian Churches preach and proclaim
just is not good news. It’s bad
news. It’s a message that you don’t
measure up, that you need to shape up or ship out, that even if Jesus wants to love you, you are simply not
worthy, too bad, and not up to snuff.
God with a capital G really is
annoyed with you, and especially with the fact that you don’t feel properly
convicted of your evil ways. The things
that give you pleasure and joy are all forbidden, you yourself are deficient
and hopeless, and only by throwing yourself at the mercy of the Church, with
its abusive hierarchs, hypocritical congregations, pointing fingers, demands
for mindless submission and faith, and constant demands for money and time, you
might be able, just possibly, to gain a bit of favor from the overarching,
homophobic, woman-hating, sex-hating, drink-loathing, KILLJOY IN THE SKY.
But what is needed is to
understand that Jesus’ message is a message of GOOD NEWS, no matter where you
are.
I used to sing my
children to sleep by singing lullabies and African-American Spirituals. One of their favorites was this:
I got shoes in that
kingdom, ain’t that good news? (repeat)
I’m gonna lay down my
troubles, and shoulder up my cross,
Good God, I’m gonna bear
it home
to my Jesus,
Now ain’t that good
news?
The other verses
followed suit: “I got a robe in that
kingdom,” “I got a house in that kingdom.”
“I got a crown in that kingdom.”
The point is that in
Jesus, we have a promise for what we need,
even things like shoes, shelter, and food.
We have a blessing in him to receive the true desire of our hearts. It doesn’t mean that all we think we may want
is right, or that he has promised bad things for us because we in our
brokenness want the wrong things. But it does mean his coming is good news, not
bad.
This is not good news just
about the afterlife. It is about our
lives here and now, about who we are here and now. It is about liberation from what binds us,
what keeps us back, what holds us down, both individually and communally. Liberation from addictions, obsessions,
fears, and vicious habits. Healing from
illness. Jesus went out from that sermon
and healed people here and now, and called them to help each other here and
now. Luke says this is the heart of
Christian mission, since Jesus sends out
free those who were once held captive, once down-trodden.
The Christian doctrine
of Salvation, as I said a few weeks ago, is a far broader concept than “transferred
Karmic payback for my sins.” It is being
rescued from anything and everything that is the matter.
And
different things are “the matter” for different people. So “Good News” can mean different things to
different people. And yet Jesus is
proclaimer of Good News to all, of healing to all, of liberation to all, of
deliverance to all.
That
is the gist of today’s epistle reading.
Paul likens us to a body with all sorts of different body parts. The very diversity of the body’s different
parts is a good thing, and makes the body strong. One size does not fit all. And if it pretends to, it fits no one. Paul
calls on us to get along, and to value and respect—even honor—diversity.
One of
the great glories of the Anglican tradition is that we value diversity. Historically, we are a broad tent, and
include both very evangelically-minded protestants as well as
sacramentally-minded catholics (with a small “c”). We include liberals as well as conservatives,
and have—and should have—a wide range
of worship styles. And we try to do this
without reducing our common prayer and worship to simply the lowest common
denominator, to some stripped-down form that is not too offensive to anyone. Recent divisions in the Church over sexual
ethics and the nature of the authority of scripture and tradition has seen some
leave our midst, and that is regrettable. As St. Paul in this passage notes, the key
here in healthy community life in the Church is grounding ourselves in
Christ. It demands not just
toleration—holding our noses and putting up with others’ habits and ideas that
are not so attractive to us—but also truly honoring and welcoming the
differences.
Let us
focus on being heralds of Good News—of liberation, healing, reconciliation, and
love. Let us work to set the captives
free and break every chain that ties us down and holds us back. Let us honor and respect all our fellow human
beings, and especially each other here in the parish, and embrace the glorious
diversity that God created us for.
In the
Name of God, Amen.
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