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A sermon on the Word:
Good Morning again everyone. You will note that this week’s Gospel narrative continues on from last week’s. And just as we spoke about last week Jesus finds himself the victim of an angry crowd, they try to throw him off the cliff. It’s important to understand that they do this because Jesus points out to them that he, just like the profits of old will be rejected – but that this won’t stop him fulfilling the purpose that God has for him.
But before we talk more about that I want us to talk about Jeremiah.
Lets read from the prophet Jeremiah again –
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”[1]
You see, Jeremiah, one of God’s greatest prophets, tells us that he himself felt inadequate for the task that God had called him. He tells us that he felt under prepared, that he wasn’t ready or capable of the call that God had placed on him.
Despite God – the creator and sustainer of the universe, telling Jeremiah that he truly knew him, that before he was born God set him apart to be a prophet, Jeremiah still felt under prepared!!
But let’s really focus on God’s response –
‘But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you’[2]
God’s response is one of encouragement. He says to Jeremiah – I have called you and I will not abandon you. You don’t need to be afraid because I will equip you for your journey.
Here’s the thing brothers and sisters, God knows each and every one of us too. He called each and every one of us to be his, and knew
before we were born where we would go, and what we would do. God knows what we are capable of. Even when we doubt. Even when we struggle with fear about our own abilities, and about how others may perceive us. God knows us, and he is with us every step of the journey.
Jesus that day in the synagogue would have known very clearly what was likely to happen when he started his sermon. Yet he continued anyway. Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah and says:
‘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’ [3]
He then says that the scripture is fulfilled. He points them to himself – he knows that he is not alone as he stands in that synagogue. He knows that God is with him. That the spirit of God fills him and that he will fulfill his calling through the power of God.
Jesus knew that whether they accepted him or not he is the promised one – he is the Messiah who has come to redeem the world. He truly has come to bring good news to the poor… to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free.[4]
Jesus sitting in that synagogue is confident in who he is. He is confident of God’s call on him, and he is sure of God’s love and care for him.
As we discussed last week as Christians in the world today we are called to take up this call of Jesus to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free as well. We are called to bring others to know the love, freedom and forgiveness that comes only through relationship with Christ.
Sometimes though that can seem a daunting thing. How do we as individuals, with our own weaknesses and flaws bring others to know about God? Seriously, I don’t know about you but I find it awkward trying to bring up God with others, if I don’t know where they stand in terms of faith.
I often feel under prepared, under qualified. What about you?
Here’s the thing. We don’t need to feel qualified. Jeremiah didn’t feel qualified, and God achieved great things through him. When we recall Jesus we don’t see someone who was without fear or struggle – we need only recall of the Garden of Gethsemane where he asks the Father to take the cup of suffering from him… Fear and doubt and struggle are all a part of our journey – the way we conquer them is by being faithful, by trusting that God is faithful to his promises.
God has placed a call on each of us, some of us are meant to be teachers and preachers, others are evangelists or prophets. We have all got our own gifts and talents, and each of us is called to use them for God’s glory.
There is however one thing that each and every one of us are called to be – witnesses. We are all called to be willing to bear witness to God’s transforming love in our own lives.
The way we do that is by being faithful. Jesus that day in the synagogue in spite of facing a hostile crowd, was faithful to the call God had placed on him. We are called today in a hostile world to also be faithful to the Gospel. We are called to be willing to say no to a society that says God doesn’t matter. We are called to be willing to say Jesus is the only way to salvation to a society that says all faiths are equal. We are called to be those who say marriage is between a man and a woman, when the world says it doesn’t matter, we are called to say that Jesus is God incarnate who rose from the dead, to a world that says that isn’t possible.
It’s a daunting thing to face a hostile world. By witnessing to the truth of the Gospel, we will be ridiculed, called haters and bigots. We will be labelled as backwards and outdated. The truth is though that by holding fast to the Gospel, by speaking the truth to a hostile world we are holding out God’s love, because as St Paul says love does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in truth.
It seems daunting doesn’t it. Like an insurmountable challenge – to be counter cultural. But God knows us, and he has called us, he will walk with us and equip us for the journey. We like Jesus and Jeremiah need only be faithful.
The Lord be with you.
[1] Revised Common Lectionary. (2009). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[2] Revised Common Lectionary. (2009). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Lk 4:18). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
[4] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Lk 4:18). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.