August 21: Community of the Spirit in Corinth and Delano

I appreciate the book of Corinthians for the same reason I love Church history; they both refuse to hide the struggles of being the community of Christ. Our denomination is in the midst of its own struggle which some people tend to paint as unique and catastrophic. Yet, one only has to read Corinthians to discover that conflicts in the church didn’t start this year, this decade, this century or even this millennia. No, they were there from the start.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we discover that one of the very first churches ever struggled with divisions over leadership (1:10-17), lawsuits between one another (6:1-11), sexual standards (6:12-20), propriety in worship (11:2-16) and class issues of rich versus poor (11:17-34). No, there was no pristine past for the church, struggle and conflict have been there from the beginning and for this reason I appreciate the book of Corinthians. In it the author Paul does as the kids like to say today, “keeps it real.’

Given the nature of this book, one is left to wonder, “Is there any good news?” Does Paul only state the problems, or does he also offer a way through. In the answer to this, we are not disappointed. For it is in our passage this morning that we discover one of the ways God not only forms Christians, but also the community of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:1-12

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. ¹² The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

The way in…

Paul begins this passage with a bit of a head scratching statement. He makes the claim that no one can utter two sentences unless led by God’s Spirit. Well, let me test this theory. “Jesus be cursed.” “Jesus is Lord.” There, I said both of them, so what gives? Was I not in the spirit in the first statement? Was I in the Spirit with the second? What is Paul getting at here? Perhaps it has something to do with the words of St. Francis of Assisi who said, “Preach the gospel always, use words only if necessary.”

Perhaps, Paul is making the claim that the only way our lives will say ‘Jesus is Lord’ is through the power of God’s Spirit. In our baptismal vows we answer the question, “Who is your Lord and Savior?” To say that Jesus is Lord is not just to utter three words, it is to say that Jesus is my master, my teacher, my guide, my leader, my parent, my coach or whatever term of leadership you might think of. It is to say that I offer my life, my habits, my thoughts, my profession, my entire self to him as his disciple. A large commitment is it not? How can we do such a thing? I think that Paul is saying that there is only one way, through the Spirit. And how does the Spirit come? Apparently, we find the answer in community.

Initial Attraction

Today is the 12^th anniversary of the day when Erin and I got married. Yep, 12 years ago, Harlan Shoop, who has preached here a number of times along with my youth minister Tommy Campbell joined us in holy matrimony in front of friends and family and God at University Place Presbyterian Church. And yet, despite the gift of over a decade of marital bliss, I feel compelled to make a confession on this day. I have a mistress. Yep, there is another who continues to capture my time, attention and attraction. But no, it is not as you may think. This mistress is not another woman, it is a community. I’m attracted to the Mennonites.

It all started in 2006 when I read about the tragic shooting of five Mennonite girls in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. You may remember that event. A mentally unstable neighbor entered the Mennonite school house, taking the girls hostage that unfortunately ended with not only his death but that of 5 of the girls. What drew my infatuation with the Mennonites was not this tragic event, rather the Mennonite response to it.

At the gunman’s funeral, over ½ of those present were members of the Mennonite community. And despite what you may think, they were not there to spit upon his grave. No, they were there to offer compassion and support for his spouse and family as well as forgiveness to this man. What kind of community would respond in such a way when squeezed with tragedy? What kind of community could live the words of the Lord’s prayer to ‘forgive us our debts as we forgive one another’ so faithfully? Apparently the Mennonites were such a community and so, I became infatuated, but it was only at a distance. Until this summer.

Farmer’s Market (Common Work)

Towards the end of my families summer visit to Tennessee last year, I read somewhere that there was a Mennonite community that had settled in Delano, about 30 minutes from my hometown. I tucked this news away and made secret plans to find a way to visit it this year. When I asked my parents about it, they told me that the Mennonites had a farmer’s market that was open every day and was worth a visit and so, of course we visited.

One is only able to enter the community by passing through a narrow one lane tunnel that goes underneath railroad tracks. A sign next to the tunnel appropriately reads, “the needle’s eye.’ Which, of course, is a reference to Jesus claim that ‘it is easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Nonetheless, we entered through this needle’s eye and found a kind of heaven in the farmer’s market. Fresh, abundant, colorful and fragrant are all words I’d use to describe this produce. The market was full of things that wouldn’t keep long, but burst with flavor in the present. German heirloom tomatoes good enough to make you slap your granny, melons and cantaloupe; pepper jelly just the right heat that would cost you 15-20 dollars elsewhere was only $4 at the market. We bought the kids some grapes and sat on the tale of the van to enjoy their flavor. (Common Place) Surrounding this little market were hundreds of acres of fields bursting with corn, cantelope, watermelons, grapes, tomatoes and anything else that would grow. And as we ate I noticed wagons leaving the market to go into the fields while other wagons drove to the market full of produce. I began to realize what a communal effort this market was. It was something in which every member of the community played a role. Some were sellers, some stockers, some planters and some pickers, but all were a part of the market. Sound familiar.

While purchasing our produce, I began to wonder what their worship services were like. I wondered if they allowed outsiders. I strolled around the market even after we’d gotten everything we needed trying to work up the courage to ask. As I went up to pay, my hands got a little sweaty and I felt that little fear that you get before asking someone out on a date. As I handed the money I asked if their services were open to other folks. There was a momentary pause before he replied, “Oh yes, just come on out around 9:15 and follow this road around the bend and over the creek and you’ll see our meeting house.” And there it was, I had a date with the Mennonites.

Mennonite Meeting House (common worship)

My dad let me use his truck and my family was gracious enough to let me spend a Sunday with my mistress Mennonites. So I left in what I thought was plenty of time. However, when I arrived I discovered another difference between my world and the Mennonites; they don’t spend any money on church signs. I drove around their dirt lanes for 30 minutes taking in its beauty and simplicity until finally I came upon a sort of buggy parking lot below a meeting house. (common place)

I knew the service had already begun by the singing. An allcapella melody of male and female voices floated down from the meeting house informing me where to go. I walked upon the wooden porch and found myself standing at the head of the aisle. To my right was a sea of white bonnets and long dresses. To my left were blue and gray suspended shirts and bearded faces of the men. There was no separation by age, everyone from a few weeks to a 90 years was there, singing.

Had there been electricity, you might have thought the record skipped at my entrance as heads turned to see this stranger. A man rose and offered me his chair at the end of the aisle. I sat next to a boy of perhaps 3 and his father who looked to be in his late 20’s. They handed me a hymnal and we sang. After each song a person would say a hymn number and start singing after which the whole congregation joined in. They sang all the verses, with no instruments, but with great depth. I did not know the hymns we sang. They seemed ancient, yet familiar.

After singing a man rose, read scripture and spoke on prayer, after which we turned kneeled, placed our elbows on our chairs and prayed. After this another passage was read and another man rose and talked for about an hour. Now, keep in mind through all of this that it is Tennessee, it is July and there is no electricity, which means there is no AC. The room is full and everyone has on long clothes and there are children. To be sure, it was warm, and yet, there was something refreshing about the breeze that flowed through the open windows. At one point a kitten wandered through the open door and down the aisle as if on its way to baptism.

The service ended with a song at about 12:15 almost 3 hours after it started. A long time by any one’s estimation, yet everyone from the youngest to the oldest made it through. I wasn’t sure whether to feel awe for their endurance or sadness for their Sunday morning worship marathons. When I expressed my amazement afterwards one of the brothers replied, “Yep, all of us have trouble paying attention at some point. The services can get a little long.”

After the service I was invited downstairs for lunch. Over 200 folks crammed around several long tables upon which sat slices of bread, peanut butter, egg salad, pickles and lemonade. A meal like these Mennonites, simple and good. After several good conversations left the community at around 2:00 with my head a swirl. I could not then and still struggle to decide whether I feel envy or pity for this community. They have so little; electricity, transportation, news, clothes. Yet, they have so much; land, good work, faith and one another.

Community of the Spirit

And now you might be asking, what does this have to do with Corinthians? What does this have to do with the Spirit? These are fair questions. To be sure, the Holy Spirit is not the first thought folks have when one mentions the Mennonites. There was no speaking in tongues, no being slayed in the spirit, no drama or even excitement in the worship service which are all things often associated with ‘spirit filled communities.’ Yet, I witnessed the truth of Paul’s claim to the Corinthians, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.” “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

One of the elders told of when he was a young man trying to discern how he would fit into the community. After some searching he decided to learn how to make and repair harnesses. In his apprenticeship, he visited the community that made the steel bits. Apparently when first fashioned the bits are sharp and pointed, too so to be of any use. So, these bits are placed in a tumbler and turned over and over one another. The more they tumble they rub against one another and round the sharp edges and dull the points until all of them are smooth. Community is like this, he said, we are placed in this tumbler where we bump into one another over and over again until our sharp edges are softened and our pointed places are dulled. It is in the community that we become more of who Christ wants us to be.

Brothers and sisters, I’m still not sure what to do with my Mennonite infatuation. Despite my attraction, I don’t plan on leaving cars and electricity just yet. Yet, I see in them a picture of the beauty of community. “No one,” Paul writes, ‘can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” I think what I see in the Mennonites is the Holy Spirit working through the boundaries of community to be a people who can live with Jesus as Lord. Community happens where people have things in common. The Mennonite have common work; the market and the land. They have a common place; the land, the meeting house, the creek and lanes. And each Sunday, they have common worship. Common work, common place and common worship all work like that tumbler forcing each person to rub against one another til the Spirit shapes them into the bit Christ wants them to be. Common work, common place and common worship all pull together to create common unity. “Now to each one,’ Paul writes, “the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” What about us?

Are we common?

What has this to do with us? After expressing my admiration for their community, Leon, my lunch host, said that perhaps I should start a Presbyterian Mennonite community up here in Tacoma. I laughed and told him that there wasn’t enough land. But perhaps there is something there. How could we learn from the Mennonites? What might God’s spirit be teaching us through them?

Is there a call to greater simplicity? Is there a call to turn off some of our electricity, our culture of comfort? Is there a call to think differently about transportation? Is there a call to think differently about time and how quickly it seems to move here versus the slow pace there? All these I think are valid challenges, perhaps the question more appropriately phrased is to wonder where we started, “How can I allow Jesus to be Lord?” (As a community?) (As an individual?)

From what I can tell, all of the Mennonite behaviors flow from their beliefs. They want Jesus to be Lord of all their life, not just on Sunday morning. So they have common work, a common place and common worship. But the converse is also true. Their beliefs are influenced by their behaviors. Their common work, common place and common worship influence the way they see and experience God. Their founder, Menno Simons wrote in 1569, “For true evangelical faith...cannot lie dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it...clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it." Behavior influences belief. The Spirit works through behavior. The Spirit works as we tumble over one another in community.

The way out…

I will close with this though from a hymn in the worship service. The last line of one of the hymns grabbed me as we sang, “World of ours and world unseen, and thin the boundary between.” I couldn’t help but think of the words of our Scottish brethren at the Ione community write that “Heaven is here and earth is here and the space between is thin.” The call to be the community of Christ is not just for the sake of obedience. Rather, the call to be the community of Christ as those who are tossed and turned and rub the sharp edges off one another is because God wants us to glimpse the kingdom of heaven while in the midst of the kingdom of the earth. Like a ripe Mennonite cantaloupe or heirloom tomato, the more we taste what is really good, the less we will be satisfied with anything less.

August 7: Community of the Spirit in John

Text: John 14:15-27

¹⁵ "If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." ²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" ²³ Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. ²⁵ "All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

The way in…

Life is full of departures. We depart after dinners. We depart at airports. We depart for vacations. Some departures are big for a long time and others are brief for just a few hours. Last night we experienced the babysitter departure which I believe we have reached a milestone.

I was thinking about that last night as Joanna came over to watch the kids so that Erin and I could go out for dinner to celebrate our birthdays. There have been times when the kids wailed and gnashed their teeth at our departure. And then there are other times, like last night when they were far more interested in blowing bubbles on the back deck with Joanna then the fact that we were leaving. Very often the biggest factor in which reaction the kids have is not so much where we are going or how long we will be gone, rather it is who will be here with us? Is it grandma? Yeah. Is it Joanna? Yeah. Is it Tracy, yeah. While we’ve never had a bad baby sitter, there have been some, no connection to anyone in here, who the kids were less than excited about and a bit more anxious about our departure. The peace of our goodbyes is often determined by the character of the person who remains.

Jesus departure

In the passage this morning, Jesus was preparing his disciples for a departure; his departure. This is the middle of a 3 chapter sermon that Jesus offers in the gospel of John to prepare his disciples for the time when he will not physically be with them. The bad news is that he is leaving. The good news is that someone else is coming. And I imagine that just like my kids want to know who is babysitting, the disciples wanted to know who was coming to replace Jesus. According to the gospel of John, the one coming is the “paraclete.”

Paraclete is a greek word here is variously translated as counselor, advocate, comforter, helper. But the Greek word is paraclete which literally means, ‘called alongside.’ As Jesus had walked alongside these disciples for 3 years, he was now preparing them for another who would walk alongside them. And just what was the nature of this paraclete? Let’s start with what he isn’t.

Score keeper

Some of the worst baby-sitters are the ones who only remember what the kids did wrong. My sister came to pick up my niece from Sunday School class a couple of months ago and the first thing the teacher told her was. “Well, Ms. Audrey was just a B-A-D bad little girl today.’ She then proceeded to go on to list all the things Audrey had done wrong. Now my sister is not unaware of her daughter’s faults and is not one of those parents who think their kid can do no wrong. But there was something really irritating to her about the way the Sunday school teacher described my niece as bad. “Well,’ she replied, “I understand that Audrey made some poor choices today, but as far as being bad. We’ll leave that up to God to determine.”

Some of us think of God’s Spirit like this scorekeeping Sunday School teacher. There to keep track of all the things we do wrong. This is not the case, but the flip side can be just as bad.

Buddy

The flip side of the score-keeping baby sitter is the buddy baby sitter. This is the sitter who comes over and more than anything, they just want the kids to like them. Now, there is nothing wrong with this. I want my kids to like me, but if that is my only goal, then I will often sacrifice what is best for what is easiest. The buddy babysitter allows the kids to do whatever they want. Wanna eat ice-cream for dinner, done. Wanna watch Cinemax, done. Wanna stay up until midnight, done. I will admit that I haven’t met too many buddy baby-sitters, most likely because being like that is a recipe for disaster.

And yet, sometimes we act as if God’s Spirit is just our buddy, supporting all of our decisions just so we’ll be happy. It may not be a good idea to spend $100 on new shoes, but it’ll make me happy and I think God wants me to be happy. It may not be a good idea to play video games all day, but God wants me to be happy.

Tony Campolo says its interesting the change in parent’s response to the question, ‘What do you want for your kids in life?” Ask that of parents today and what do you think you’ll get? I just want them to be happy. Yet, the same question asked 50 years ago resulted in the response, “I want them to be good.” And this, I think is more in line with the nature of the Spirit which Jesus left the disciples, one that will help them be good.

Spirit of Truth

So, if this replacement is not a judge and not a buddy, then what is it? Jesus explains it in two places. In verse 16 Jesus explains that he will give us a ‘counselor who is the Spirit of Truth.’

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Be it life or death, we crave only reality.” Sometimes truth is sweet and other times it is bitter, yet ultimately it is best. We may not want to hear that we have a booger hanging out of our nose, but the true friend will tell us even though it is uncomfortable. Conversely, we may think that we are inept, without talent, but the true friend will remind us of our gifts. The Spirit Jesus left with the disciples is one that reveals truth, be it life or death.

Spirit of Teaching

Later, towards the end of the passage, Jesus once again explains that he’ll be leaving the counselor who ‘will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’ Jesus leaves the Spirit of Truth and Jesus leaves the spirit of Teaching. Notice how the spirit teaches, by reminding you of everything I have said. I know some of us feel as if we’re forgetting more and more. Yet, here we have the Spirit of good memory. Not just our memories, but the memories of what Jesus has taught. And there is more good news for if we forget what Jesus said, we have it written down right here for us to look at.

Spirit of Peace

Finally, Jesus reminds the disciples that what Jesus is leaving them is not a cause for fear or worry or anxiety. Rather, Jesus is leaving them peace. Not as the world leaves peace, a peace dependent upon wealth or weapons. Rather, Jesus is leaving them a peace that transcends understanding. Jesus is leaving them one who can bring peace in the midst of hardship and struggle. Which leads us to that good part.

Love command

When kids depart, parents often remind them to ‘be safe.’ But when parents depart, they remind the kids to ‘be good.’

Jesus says, If you love me, you will obey what I command. Have you stopped yet to wonder, ‘Just what did Jesus command?’ I mean that seems like a pretty important question to answer. If loving Jesus means obeying his command, then it seems pretty helpful to know what that command is. And the answer to this question is so simple it’s difficult. The answer appears so plain, so unadorned, so uninteresting that we are inclined to skip it to discover more interesting obscure answers. The answer isn’t academic or intellectual, it doesn’t require a PhD an MD an even a GED. The answer to this question is simply this…love. Jesus says towards the beginning and near the end of this 3 chapter sermon in John the same thing. In 13:34 he says, I give you a new command, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. And then again towards the end in 15:12 he reminds the listeners, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

That’s the answer brothers and sisters. That’s the command. If we love Jesus, we will love one another. If we love Jesus we will care for one another. If we love Jesus we will nurture one another. If we love Jesus we will even, as Jesus says and did, lay down our life for one another; for greater love has no one than this, that they lay down their life for their friends. This, Jesus says, is how the world will know that we are Jesus’ disciples, if we love one another.

If we are always fighting, they won’t know. If we are always seeking our own way, they won’t see. If we are only concerned with money, they won’t know. If we are only concerned with our building, they won’t see. If we only talk about the people who God is angry with, they won’t know.

If we care for the sick, they might catch a glimpse. If we feed those who are hungry, they might get an idea. If we discuss our disagreements without degrading one another, their ears might start to tingle. If we lay down our lives for our neighbors, as Christ has done for us, then we may soon be overwhelmed by how much of Christ we start to know and see. In the end it may not be so much about seeing Christ but being Christ; to one another.

The way out…

Paraclatos (paraclate)means ‘called alongside.’ It just so happens that the early Christians ended up using a similar word ekklasia, which literally means ‘called out.’ This became their word to describe their community. It is the word for church. And so, brothers and sisters, we stand as those called out to encourage one another to pay attention to the one who called to walk alongside us through joy and sorrow, struggle and success and even life and death.

July 31: Community of the Spirit in Luke

Texts: Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-4, 4:14-30

Text 1: Luke 3:321-22

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

The Presence of the Spirit

“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove…” To be a prophet, to be a priest, to be a king one needed the anointing, the mesha from which we get the word ‘messiah’ of God’s Spirit. Moses had it. Samuel had it. David had it. Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and all manner of other of Israel’s leaders were given a portion of God’s presence, God’s Spirit. So, it comes as no surprise to read that right here, near the beginning of the gospel of Luke we read that the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus after which we hear the voice from heaven say, “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

They say that timing is everything which is why I find the location of this statement from God so interesting. Had God said this of Jesus after the resurrection I’d have understood. Had God said this during the crucifixion, I’d not have batted an eye. Or if God’s voice had spoken these words of approval somewhere in the middle of Jesus 3 years of ministry it would have still made sense to me. But notice where these words are spoken. What has Jesus done up to this point? Nothing. No miracles. No healings. No teachings to speak of. And yet we hear God say that this is his son, whom he loves and is well pleased with.

On more than one occasion I’ve had discussions with folks about when someone receives the Holy Spirit and how one receives the Holy Spirit. Now, because Jesus says that God’s Spirit is like the wind and ‘blows where it pleases,’ (John 3:8), I am often cautious about making claims that might try to put a box around the Spirit. However, it was also Jesus himself who commissioned the disciples in Matthew 28 to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit…” (28:19) As Presbyterian Christians we believe that God’s Spirit is a gift affirmed in baptism. It is nothing we earn or deserve most often given, like Jesus, well before we have done anything.

Text 2: Luke 4:1-4

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"

Practice with the Spirit

But like most every talent we inherit as a child, they work best when they are nurtured and nourished. We are born with the ability to see, but they must be taught to read. We are born with the ability to move our fingers, but must learn how to hold a spoon. We are born with the make noises, but we must listen to others speak to learn how to talk. God’s spirit is no different, it is a gift with limitless potential. Yet, if you follow any sport long enough you will hear some coach say that one of the most dangerous words in the world is ‘potential.’ The world is filled with people who at one time held ‘great potential.’ The difference between those who succeed and those who fail is very often not how much promise a person has, but of how much practice. And we see this, right here with Jesus.

What is it we read right after Jesus’ baptism? “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” Once again, notice the timing of Jesus’ retreat. He is 30 years old, he’s just been baptized in front of all of the people and so one might say to Jesus, ‘isn’t it about time you got to work.’ There are all manner of sick, blind, lame and lost in need of your help and what do you do? You go off into the desert for 40 days to be tempted by the devil. Why is this? In a word, practice.

If you are a football fan then you are likely feeling a bit relieved these days as they recently settled their labor agreement so that our Sunday afternoons will not be absent the Seahawks. And now all of the sports radio talk shows are started to get filled with accounts of what? Practice. Because football got started late, the teams missed a lot of practice time. I think the first game isn’t until the second Sunday in September. These players are all very talented. Why couldn’t they just wait til that Sunday to go out and play? Why mess with practice when you’ve got the game? Any coach who proposed such a thing would be fired in a second. Why is this? It is the same reason we have school, the same reason we have gyms and the same reason we have music instructors. For a person to reach their potential they need to practice. And such is the case with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is not only led by the spirit into the desert, he is practicing with the Spirit in the desert. While back in Tennessee we spent a lot of time at the neighborhood pool one of the things the kids started doing was seeing how long they could hold their breath. Their first attempt was something like 10 seconds. Their second close to the same, about 11 seconds. I gave them a few pointers like not moving, taking 3 deep breaths and such and the next attempt led to a 24 second breath hold. What was going on here? We were training the lungs to retain air. I have no doubt that a full summer of this would have taught the kids to hold their breath for close to a minute.

Well, this is a bit like what Jesus was doing in the desert. He was training his lungs to work in concert with the Holy Spirit. He was doing this because he knew that there would be many times ahead when he would need to be able to hold his breath for 30 seconds, a minute, 2 minutes and perhaps even 3 days. Jesus was practicing with the spirit in the desert so that he might preach with through the spirit in the city.

How about us? Do we spend time practicing with the spirit in the desert? Jesus went for 40 days, but we don’t have to go that long. You can practice in the morning for 15 minutes, or at lunch or in the evening. Coming here today is a form of practice. Reading the Bible is a form of practice. Praying is a form of practice. All of these things are expanding our lung capacity that we might be prepared to work with the Spirit when needed. And oh how Jesus needed the Spirit right from the start. What happens after Jesus’ time in the desert? He heads to his hometown.

Text 3: Luke 4:14-30
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'" 24 "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed-- only Naaman the Syrian."
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Proclaiming good news to the poor through the Spirit

“He went to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went to the synagogue…” Excited about the potential of their hometown boy, the elders invite Jesus to give the message that morning and so he takes the scroll and reads from the prophet Isaiah which says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” Okay, we’ve witnessed this at his baptism and we’ve seen how the Spirit led him into the desert to practice, but what now? What is the Spirit going to do now? “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” Good news to the poor, that’s it. The Seahawks practice to win football games. The concert pianist trains to play beautiful music. And Jesus trains to ‘proclaim good news to the poor.’

A prophetic evangelical named Jim Wallis rightly asserts that helping and encouraging the poor is a biblical mandate. "During his seminary days in Chicago, he and few of his classmates decided to do a study to find every biblical reference on one particular subject--the poor and oppressed. Thousands of verses later, and to their astonishment, they discovered that those who are marginalized, mistreated, abandoned and forgotten by everyone else fill the Bible. In the Old Testament, poverty is second only to idolatry as the most prominent theme and the two are often linked. In the New Testament, one of every sixteen verses is about the poor. In the Gospels, the number is one out of every ten verses. In the Gospel of Luke, it’s one of every seven, and in the book of James, one of every five verses."

But what does this look like? Jesus through Isaiah goes on to say, ‘freedom for the prisoners, sight for the blind, release for the oppressed and the year of the Lord’s favor to all.” Rather than being prescriptive, I think these are descriptive statements by Isaiah. Good news to the blind is sight, to the prisoner is freedom, to the hungry is food, to the thirsty is drink, to the lonely is friendship. Poverty takes many forms, certainly physical, but also mental, emotional and spiritual as well. But there is a reason why Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Blessed are the poor…” it is not because poverty is some happy situation. It is not. Rather it is because it is only in realizing our blindness that we ask for sight, in prison that we long for freedom, in hunger that we ask for food or thirsty that we seek water. Poverty awakens our awareness of our need. Jesus here proclaims that there is good news for those aware of their needs.

Baptism affirms the presence of God’s spirit, the desert is the place we practice with God’s spirit, but it is in everyday life where we, like Jesus are called to proclaim good news to the poor. Who do you know who could use some good news? Do you know someone struggling to meet the bills, perhaps our food bank is good news. Do you know someone who could use a summer break from their kids, perhaps our arts camp is good news. Do you know someone who is lonely, perhaps a visit from you might be good news? God’s Spirit propels us to find places of poverty and reflect the good news of God’s presence in its midst. But I must wrap this up with a warning. Some folks won’t like who you are giving the good news to.

Hometown Hero and Villain

On my first Thursday back home my Dad invited me to attend the Optimist Club which is a civic organization like Kiwanas or Lions Club. While in line to get my breakfast someone laid their hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Jerry Howell, the father of my best friend Mark. “Now, feel free to say no,’ he began, ‘but I have a favor to ask of you.” As long as it’s not a funeral, wedding or sermon I’m open to it. “Well, he said, I’m in charge of Sunday School and I wondered if you might come and just share about where you’ve been since you were a youth at 1^st Baptist.” That didn’t sound too bad, so I agreed.

That Sunday I attended the Sunday School Class for Adult men over the age of 60. Some of the men I knew well, Randall Kyker taught me in Sunday School. Others I was familiar with and others I’d never met. For the next 30 minutes I got to share a bit about where God had led me since leaving 1^st Baptist back in the 1994. Things went really well and I experienced the 1^st half of Jesus’ Nazareth experience as ‘people spoke well of me.’ Unlike Jesus, my experience remained positive.

After receiving numerous pats on the back and ‘atta boys’, Jesus quickly turns the tables on his hometown folks. As the people are getting excited about the good news that Jesus is going to bring them, he reminds them of others who need to hear the good news by reminding the people that Elijah brought good news to a widow in Sidon, a foreigner. And instead of curing Israelites with leprosy, Elisha healed the Naaman, the leader of the army of an enemy country. To us this may not sound like a big deal, but to the Israelites it was like telling 20^th century Jews that Jesus came to bring good news to the Nazis. Just like that, their praise turned to rage.

Sometimes the Spirit leads us to speak words of affirmation and other times the Spirit leads us to speak words of challenge. Unfortunately for the folks of Nazareth, they only wanted to hear the first and so they missed out on the fullness of Christ as they attempted to throw him off a cliff, but he just passed right through their midst and went on his way to share good news with the poor who were ready to listen.

The way out…

What about us, brothers and sisters? Are we only ready to receive the affirmations of the Holy Spirit or are we also ready to receive the challenges? How is your Spirit? Perhaps you need to be reminded of the good news that God’s spirit is upon you, with in you and around you. You need to hear the words, “This is my child, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”

Or perhaps you’ve grown complacent in this gift and haven’t allowed the Spirit to grow. Is it time to start some desert disciplines; morning prayer, daily bible reading, Sunday School, etc? How is God calling you to practice with the Spirit?

And maybe, just maybe, there is someone who needs to hear good news. How is God calling you, calling us to proclaim good news?