Words of Healing and Forgiveness

 

Luke 7:1-17, 36-50

 

There is a lot in this reading today.

A few comments:

The army officer would have been Roman, and we don’t know what the background of the slave is.

Why help a Roman officer?

Why heal the slave, why not set the slave free?

 

Then the story of the widow’s son. Jesus does not ask the woman if she wants her son back, he acts out of compassion.

 

The people in these two healing stories are either outsiders or vulnerable or both.

 

To get attention and gain some credibility, surely Jesus would have been better off healing someone famous or important, like a national leader, chief priest, or a rock star. Notice the people who Jesus healed, the slave of a Roman officer and a widow.

Then the story of the woman who washes Jesus feet. The woman labelled sinful by the host of the meal.

 

One thing that stood out to me in these three events, is that Jesus spoke, and something happened.

Jesus didn’t go to the slave; Jesus spoke and the slave was healed.

Jesus stopped the funeral procession and said, “Young man, get up!” and he did.

Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

 

In the Bible we see the power of words:

In the creation story in Genesis one, God spoke creation into being

In John’s gospel we read of Jesus, the Word of God

 

I think of the power of how we use words in worship:

Words declaring Forgiveness

Words of blessing, such as the peace.

 

The words of Jesus to us are powerful:

Healing

Offering grace

Saying I love you

Words that include

 

 

Our words are powerful:

Encouraging

Supporting

Welcoming

Shunning

Undermining.

 

Words are powerful!

 

 

A story that made the news this week is Daniel & Leila Abdallah who created i4give Day as a remembrance of the four angels, three of their children and a niece, that were tragically killed on the 1st of February 2020.[i]

 

 

 

[image of I4give logo https://www.i4give.com/

 

They are a Maronite Catholic couple

 

Leila told the media during the days after the accident. “The guy, I know he was [allegedly] drunk, driving on this street. Right now I can’t hate him. I don’t want to see him, [but] I don’t hate him,”

“I think in my heart to forgive him, but I want the court to be fair. It’s all about fairness. I’m not going to hate him, because that’s not who we are.”[ii]

 

I’m not going to hate him, because that’s not who we are.” – nothing about what he deserves, or about the driver’s remorse. that’s not who we are.

What a witness to grace.

 

[image https://www.i4give.com/ page with heart] 

 

 

Danny & Leila Abdallah. “Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself and others. The more you practice the better you become at it and it allows you to live peacefully and to heal. Forgiveness is more for the forgiver than the forgiven” [iii]

 

 

Here is another quote about forgiveness:

When we don’t forgive, when hold onto hate, when we want retribution, our hearts and lives become clogged with hate, fear, anxiety, and rage.

Forgiving allows you to not be tied to the past, to not let the one who hurt you continue to have power in your life.

 

I think forgiveness can also set the person being forgiven free, as well as the person forgiving.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean no consequences, but it allows a person to not be held by their past.

I am sure there are things in your past you would prefer did not happen – some would be mistakes, and some intentional.

Have you accepted the forgiveness of God?

Have you forgiven yourself?

 

And there will be some people in our past we never want to see again, can you forgive them?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if by grouping these stories together Luke is making a connection between forgiveness and healing.

When people talk to me about the pain and hurt in their life, some of that is physical, and ongoing continual pain is hard to bear.

Generally, I find the hardest pain for people to deal with is the pain that comes from

rejection by someone close;
broken family relationships;
shame or
guilt.

 

Shame is a focus on self,

guilt is a focus on behaviour.
Shame is “I am bad.”
Guilt is “I did something bad.”

 

Notice the difference?

How many of you, if you did something that was hurtful to me, would be willing to say, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake?”
How many of you would be willing to say that?
Guilt: I’m sorry. I made a mistake.
Shame: I’m sorry. I am a mistake.[iv] Brene Brown

 

Shame can be incredibly difficult for people to deal with. It often comes from words, and actions, that tell people they are not wanted, they don’t count, life would be better without them.

God never says that to us. Never!

 

What we hear in the gospel, the good news Jesus came to live out, is that

·       we are loved,

·       you are loved

·       your sins are forgiven

·       you are freed from what holds you shackled to the past

·       you get to start anew

 

It doesn’t mean the past did not happen,

But we don’t need to stay in that place.

People in abusive relationships leave, they may forgive, but that doesn’t mean they go back to the abuse.

 

If you get a bad haircut, you forgive the hairdresser, but remember to go somewhere different next time. Why hold onto the anger, all it does is eat us away from the inside.

 

 

 

 

 

[image https://www.i4give.com/ image with broken chains]

 

 

Our words have power,

They can bring hope and joy and peace into someone’s life

Or despair and shame and hurt.

What do you use your words for?

Are you following in the ways of Jesus and using your words to heal and forgive?

 

Danny & Leila Abdallah. “Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself and others. The more you practice the better you become at it and it allows you to live peacefully and to heal.” [v]

 

May you find healing in the grace of God

And may you work with God in offering that grace to others.

 

 

Silence

 

 

Prayer

God who brings grace and peace

Help us to hear and accept your words to us

 

I love you

I forgive you

You are free

 

Jesus the Word, whose words bring healing and hope,

Help us to use our voices in ways that heal broken hearts and broken lives.

Amen.

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[i] https://www.i4give.com/

[ii] https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/leila-abdallah-if-it-wasnt-for-my-faith-i-wouldnt-be-standing-where-i-am-today/

[iii] https://www.i4give.com/

[iv] https://fs.blog/2014/10/brene-brown-guilt-shame/

[v] https://www.i4give.com/

What to do about Jesus?

Luke 6:1-16

What to do about Jesus?

To say Jesus is an interesting person is an understatement. 

He grew up in a devout Jewish family, 

He studied Torah

He knew the Hebrew Scriptures. 

The Pharisees were religious leaders, 

they knew Torah, 

they knew the Hebrew Scriptures

but they are wondering what to do about Jesus. 

The Pharisees believed that God gave Moses an oral law as well as the written Law, or Torah, at Sinai. The Torah, or Written Law, set down a series of laws that were open to interpretation. The Pharisees believed that God also gave Moses the knowledge of what these laws meant and how they should be applied. 

The Pharisees wanted people to live lives connected to God and faithful to God every day, not just in the Temple. 

Basically, the “Pharisees were the liberal, mainline Protestants of first century Judaism. While other Jewish sects claimed the people needed the priesthood and the temple to mediate between them and God, the Pharisees democratized religious experience.”  

There are several examples in the gospels of the Pharisees and Jesus have different ways of looking at how to live faithful to God. 

In the passage today, the Pharisees ask Jesus about gathering grain, to eat, on the Sabbath.

 

Now Sabbath is about rest, it is not about doing nothing. Sabbath comes from God resting on the seventh day of creation, and the people of Israel being able to take a day from work each week after being freed from being slaves in Egypt. 

With gathering grain, you could not harvest your field on the Sabbath. 

Anyone who was hungry could take some grain to eat, that was not considered stealing. The question is, are you allowed to pick grain to eat on the Sabbath if you are hungry? 

The other situation is about healing. The text notes that the Pharisees are keeping on eye on Jesus to see what he will do when he sees the man with the withered hand. I wonder if this is a setup. 

Jesus askes the Pharisees: “On the Sabbath should we do good deeds or evil deeds? Should we save someone’s life or destroy it?”

Jesus does not touch the person who was healed, so did he heal him? 

There is still debate in Jewish communities today about what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath. There are places where the traffic lights have a Sabbath mode, that means you do not need to press the button to be able to cross the road, because pressing the button makes something happen and is therefore work. Some Jewish families leave lights on in the house because on the Sabbath you cannot turn the light on. 

“Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for humankind. It is meant to be life-giving, not life-draining. It is meant to be a gift, a time apart from the relentless demands of daily life, a time to rest in God’s presence, a time to saviour the goodness of God’s creation and celebrate God’s deliverance, a time to do what is good and what gives life.”  

The Pharisees were wanting things to be done in good order. The Sabbath was there for rest, renewal, prayer, not work. 

What is work?

For one person cooking will be work, for another cooking is a joy. 

For one person gardening is work, for another gardening is relaxing. 

The thing that stands out for me in this series of incidents is the way the Pharisees have structured what is good. 

I was thinking of an example from the Christian tradition. 

We share in Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper. Some churches celebrate this sacrament each week, some monthly, some less often. 

Some places celebrate with a loaf that is broken and shared, some with special wafers.

Some places have a common cup, some individual glasses

Some move forward to be served, some stay in their seats. 

Which one is right, or correct. 

They all are. 

The point of the sacrament is to remember the meal Jesus shared with his disciples, 

to see our connectedness with God and each other, 

to remember the story of Jesus, his life, his death, and his resurrection. 

Sometimes we have treasured traditions, 

about the time we worship, 

the way we worship, 

the songs we sing, 

the instruments played.

What is the point of worshipping together? 

We gather to share faith, 

to be embraced by prayer when we cannot pray ourselves

to support each other as we live out our commitment to Jesus, to following the call of Jesus, together and as individuals.

Does it matter where we meet or what time we meet or how we meet? 

What matters is that we meet. 

The Pharisees were wondering “What to do about Jesus?”

Do we want to do something about Jesus? 

Does Jesus make you uncomfortable in these stories

breaking with tradition

questioning

looking deeper into the meaning behind the ritual. 

I wonder what Jesus would question about our life, 

our life as a Parish, as well as our individual lives. 

What do we do out of habit?

How often do we go along with the crowd to avoid conflict?

Are there parts of our worshipping life together you do not understand? 

I wonder how much of our life is ‘going through the motions’

Doing what we did last week and the week before and the week before that. 

In Luke, Jesus reminds the hearers that changing or breaking with tradition is done by those who value the tradition. Departing from the sabbath is not inherently bad. Instead, the question becomes how, when, and why departures are made. 

I remember when I started leading worship and preaching, I followed the same order of service as our Minister. I didn’t know why things were in that order, so I followed it exactly. Then I did the studies to be a Lay Preacher, I learn about the different parts of worship, I understood why we usually put parts of the service where we do, and I then had the freedom to change from the standard order when it fits. 

This Parish, with every other church, is facing a time of great change. COVID has changed people’s patterns of worship attendance. 

Some of the people in our Parish are less mobile than twelve months ago.

Some prefer live streaming to attending worship in person. 

Some will wait until most people are vaccinated. 

One of the biggest surprises for me has been the number of people connecting with this Parish for the first time in the past 12 months. Even when we were not meeting in person, 2 new people came to the Parish. 

I hear people asking, how will we survive as a Parish, 

we are getting older, 

we can’t do what we used to, 

we need younger people to take on various roles. 

Maybe this is a time to think about church differently.

About how we worship

Not only in ways that encourage and support our own spiritual life

But in ways that encourage and support people with questions 

about Jesus 

about faith

about life and death and relationships and ….

Maybe this is a time to think about church differently.

What it means to be the church 

What are we offering people – a chance to go on a roster or committee, 

or an invitation to new life in Christ

Is the way we live out our Christian faith life-giving or life-denying, 

Do people see joy and hope in our lives

or tiredness and duty

Is our focus in on ourselves, 

or is our focus on 

God, 

creation, 

justice, 

serving the community 

The Pharisees were not bad people, they were challenging a system that required priests and Temple to connect with God. Which sounds like the Reformation, remember Martin Luther, and the beginning of the Protestant church.  

The Pharisees want Jesus to follow the standard order, not to push the boundaries.

When the dictates of religion become burdensome and harmful, it is time to change. 

When we use religion to shame people, 

to oppress people

to put people down.

when our faith tells us 

not to untie what binds them

not to feed the hungry

or offering healing and hope

then we are not living out the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

Leave it all Behind and Follow

 Luke 4:42-5:11, 27-32

Last week we were with Jesus teaching in the Synagogue, announcing that he had come to bring good news to the poor, release to the captive and proclaim the year of the Lords favour.

 In the second part of chapter 4, after Jesus manages to walk through the crowd and not get pushed off the cliff, we read about Jesus travelling to Capernaum and releasing a man from an unclean spirit, healing Simon’s Mother-in-law from a fever, then more healings.

Then we get to the part we heard read this morning.

Jesus is travelling around Judea, teaching and healing.

 Simon and others have been out fishing all night.

Fishing was by net, by hand, and was very tiring work.

Fishing was done at night, I read somewhere that it was because the fish couldn’t see the nets during the night, but they could during daylight.

 Simon and the others had been out, working hard all night.

Now they are packing up, cleaning debris from the nets, patching any broken bits, letting the nets dry so they can be packed into the boat ready for the next night.

 Along comes Jesus, and the crowds.

Jesus gets into Simon’s boat; remember they have already met. Jesus gets into the boat, they go out to sea a little, so Jesus can teach the crowd.

 I imagine that when Jesus finished teaching, Simon was hoping they could now go home, have something to eat and sleep.

No.

Jesus says go out deeper and put down your nets – the nets they had just finished cleaning and drying and mending.

Simon says: Master if you say so.

 And they go and put the nets down again and catch more fish than they can handle.

 When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t come near me! I am a sinner.”

 Then phrase we hear so often in the gospel of Like: Don’t be afraid.

And the fishermen go with Jesus.

I added in another few verses, this time about Levi, the tax collector. Jesus said: Come with me, and Levi did.

 The fishermen follow Jesus

Levi, the tax collector follows Jesus.

 Note: Being a disciple to a rabbi was a big deal! It was kind of like going to University. So, it is meaningful that Jesus asked regular fisherman to be his disciples. That means he believed anyone could follow his way. Even us! [i]

 On Friday morning the Church Council and some other leaders met together to listen to God, to be inspired, and to think about the possibilities for the year ahead. Our thinking focussed on what it means to Follow Jesus.

We looked at 20 pieces of Scripture, and come up with a list, including:
Sacrifice
Leaving the known for the unknown
Hearing God’s voice
Not worrying about security
Following Jesus is about relationship, not law.

Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and they caught a huge number of fish, and then they followed.

Levi’s story appears to be different

Just like each of us have our own story of how we became aware of the calling of Jesus to follow.

For some of us we will follow Jesus after a miracle, or a blessing; for others it will be connecting with the story of Jesus in some way; for others it will be a spirit moment.

For each of us to follow Jesus we will need to give up
our dreams,
our security in wealth or status
the known

 When we follow Jesus, we will be prepared to

venture into the unknown
trust in God
live for others.

 Because following Jesus is about being in a relationship, not submitting to the law. 

 I wonder what your story is, what events led you to deciding to follow Jesus. And we don’t decide once, we decide each day, though for some people they no longer are aware of making the decision each day.  

 The image we see of Jesus is one who provides abundance, who knows how to meet our human needs, who invites us to work with him.

We Are invited to see the blessings and generosity of God, then to make the decision to join in the work of bringing transformation to the world, by allowing ourselves to be transformed.

 I know some people find the image of God as Father helpful. I am not one of those people and discussed it with my spiritual director one day. For me, God is my Grandmother, she was the one who was patient and kind and generous and warm. She had a huge lap, and it was always available for a little girl who wanted a hug.  

I obeyed my father so I did not get into trouble; but I liked being with and helping my grandmother, and I would not have done anything to hurt her intentionally. I was my best self with her, because I wanted to be, not because I had to be.

 

Do you follow Jesus because you are worried about getting into trouble if you don’t, or if you put a step out of line?

Do you follow Jesus because you have experienced grace, healing, forgiveness?

Do you follow Jesus because you are invited to?

Invited into an amazing life where you risk everything for new life.

A life where you don’t have to be an expert but allow God to work through you.

 

A question from a commentary this week:

is your discipleship being inspired by the joy of God’s abundant grace?
Or are we still stuck in the patterns of discipleship-as-obligation, continuing somehow to believe that we are earning our way into heaven? 
Does it feel like a challenge to let Jesus do the fishing for us, instead of trying all night with no catch?[ii] 

  

The fishermen left everything behind and followed Jesus. What will we leave behind to follow Jesus?

What if, as a Parish, we could leave everything behind,

the skeletons in the closet,
the past conflicts,
the idea that all will return to ‘normal’
the anxiety about numbers
the wondering who will do the work

 And in fact, it may not be all bad — to leave everything behind and follow. It may even feel freeing, to be unencumbered anew.  As Jesus calls us to “leave your nets and follow me,” we are granted permission to imagine all things new for the good of our communities and our discipleship.[iii]

 if to follow Jesus is to step into the unknown,
if to follow Jesus is to live in the love and guidance and inspiration of one greater than us
if to follow Jesus is to trust
if to follow Jesus means be willing to sacrifice all
maybe, we are all a bit too comfortable
maybe we have let our relationship with God fall into the predictable
maybe we are no longer listening for the voice that nudges us, that calls us to renewal.

 Jesus taught and healed and called and challenged
Jesus invited people into relationship with the God whose love and grace is transforming.
are we willing to follow
to leave behind those things that bind us to the past
are we willing to follow into new places, unknown places
trusting in Jesus as our guide and inspiration.

 

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[i] Be the Story Curriculum 20 January 01.25 Facebook

[ii] Rev. Cathy M. Kolwey RevGalBlogPals

[iii] Rev. Cathy M. Kolwey RevGalBlogPals

Good news ?

 This is the Saturday evening version, and I think it needs an ending, just not sure what yet, hopefully, i do in the morning.  

1.   We are reading through the Gospel of Luke, here is a quick recap of where we are up to.

2.   Luke starts with the prophecy of the birth of John the Baptist – an angel appeared to Zechariah.

3.   Then another angel, this time to Mary telling of the coming birth of Jesus.

4.   Then the birth of John

5.   And the birth of Jesus, with more angels appearing and the shepherds.

6.   Jesus as the twelve-year-old who stays behind and causes his family grief.

7.   Teaching of John the Baptist

8.   Jesus is baptised.

9.   Genealogy of Jesus

10.               Temptation

11.               Jesus reads the Isaiah scroll, and then the crowd get angry with him.

 

 

I wonder why Jesus did not stop at the end of the Isaiah passage, the people were amazed at his teaching, he was popular, then he goes and blows it.

Let us look at the first part of the reading:

We know Jesus grew up in an observant Jewish family and he maintains the practise of attending the synagogue.

As any adult male could, Jesus went to read from the scroll.

Just as we follow the lectionary, so that we hear and read most of the Bible over a 4-year period, the Jews had a reading schedule that included a section of the Torah, that is the books of law – the first 5 books of our Old Testament, and a reading from the Prophets. Jesus is given the scroll and reads a section from Isaiah. It is an amalgam of a couple of verses of Isaiah.

 

The part of Isaiah he reads, speaks of good news, that is freedom and healing; This is the year the Lord has chosen, or the year of the Lord’s favour.

 

Was this the year of Jubilee written about in Leviticus 25? ‘Every 50 years, God’s people are to observe a Sabbath of Sabbaths: “you shall proclaim liberty (aphesis, LXX) throughout the land to all its inhabitants.” The law of Jubilee is designed to transform society and undo the damage that human greed has caused: it frees people who have been enslaved because of debt, and it returns land to its original owners so that every member of God’s people has a way of earning a living. During the year of Jubilee all the people return to their property and their families. Both land and people rest, and the people live off what the land produces by itself.’[i]

We don’t know if that is what Jesus is referring to. But it fits with much of his ministry as recorded in Luke’s Gospel.

It also reminds me of the words of Mary before Jesus was born:

 

He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones,

    and lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

    and sent the rich away with empty hands. [Luke 1:52-53]

 

The Isaiah reading starts: “The Lord’s Spirit has come to me,

because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor.”

 

I wonder what the good news to the not poor might be. Or is it only good news to the poor?

 

The people in the synagogue in Nazareth, have heard of the healings and other miracles already performed by Jesus, and they want a piece of the action. After all, he grew up there, they know him, Joseph’s boy, as a child he would have played with some of them and sat next to them in class.

All is well until Jesus reminds the people that the good news is for all people, remember when Elijah helped a woman from Sidon and Elisha healed a hated Syrian. And the people wonder about this Good news.

The good news, the freedom and release they were waiting for, was for them freedom from foreign rule that had dominated so much of the history of Israel.  

Is it good news if your enemy is healed?

Is it good news if your neighbour is fed?

Is it good news if people are no longer homeless?

I think we would all say yes, but what if that healing and food and accommodation costs us?

 

Jesus is transforming the way the world works, healing, freedom, sight to the blind; all things we will see Jesus do in his ministry.

The people wanted the good news to be what they expected to be for them, and when Jesus speaks of good news, of freedom and salvation for all people, then they cannot take it. They ask who does he think he is, we remember him, Joseph’s boy.  and they try to kill him.[ii]

 

Jesus does not turn to the Gentiles because those in Nazareth reject him. They reject him because he turns to the Gentiles.[iii]

 

What about today, can we accept that the good news is for all people?

For those addicted to drugs?

Those who surf on Sundays?

Those who are unemployed?

Those with chronic illness?

Those who live in different countries?

 

And if the good news is for those who are poor and oppressed and in need of healing, what about us; what about us who have food in our cupboards and can move around without being harassed for our skin colour or our religion or our birthplace.

Is this good news for us?

 

As you read this passage at home later, I want you to think about being in the Synagogue, you are not Jesus, we are the people in the crowd. In most of the stories we read in the gospels, we will be part of the crowd. We will be the ones who question and follow and don’t understand and get angry because Jesus has upset our predictable lives.

And we don’t like that.

We don’t like it when Jesus challenges us to share our wealth or our food or our caring.

But you know what – Jesus does not give up on us.

The good news does not disappear, it is still good news, for the world.

This is not an individual good news, this is good news for the world, for the left out, the excluded, the invisible people.

 

Something I read this week:

When the gospel has become bad news to the poor,
to the oppressed,
to the broken-hearted and imprisoned,
and good news to the proud,
self-righteous and privileged instead,
it is no longer the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Beth Moore dec 9, 2018]

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[i] Judith Jones https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/sermon-at-nazareth/commentary-on-luke-414-30

[ii] Judith Jones https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/sermon-at-nazareth/commentary-on-luke-414-30

[iii]O. Wesley Allen, Jr. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/sermon-at-nazareth-2/commentary-on-luke-414-30-2