The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
The past few weeks, we have been looking at ways that the reality of God has been proclaimed to his people: in creation, in the ways of nature, which we often overlook, in the miracles of Jesus, and in God's interactions with his people throughout history. Today, we get "up close and personal;" we look at some of the ways God proclaims his reality and power through the individual believer, that is, through you and me.
The first reading is from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, and it tells us of the time when God choose Jeremiah to be a prophet. We all know that being a prophet is not a cushy, honored job. It makes everybody mad at you, for one thing, if you have to go to the government and the people and tell them that God says they're not living up to his expectations, and that they need to change their ways....probably in ways that will affect their economic status. After all, somebody who has been weighing his thumb along with the meat for years isn't going to like it when you tell them that they have to stop that, and give an honest weight from now on. They'll see their profits get smaller, and they'll be losing face with themselves, and maybe with their customers. And if you go and tell the king that he really is not supposed to lie to the people and keep 50 ladies in his harem, he's going to throw a royal tantrum and maybe throw you in jail, while he's throwing things around. Being a prophet is a risky kind of job, not one you would fill out a job application for. And that, of course, is why God doesn't take applications. He drafts people into the job, and usually he will not take "no" for an answer. It's like the old, World War I poster, with Uncle Sam pointing straight at you, and saying, "Uncle Sam Wants You!" But when God picks his prophets, he doesn't even bother to point. He comes to you personally and tells you, You're going to be my prophet, now, listen up, this is what I want you to do, and this is what I want you to say to the people for me..... The story of Jonah and the big fish tells us what happens when someone tries to say, "No, thanks, Lord, I have other plans."
So: Jeremiah is told that he is going to be a prophet, and he doesn't much like the idea. Maybe he was scared, and maybe he just had his heart set on being a farmer. We don't know. But when the Lord told him that he was going to be a prophet, he, like Moses and Isaiah and the other prophets before him, tried to say "no." His first argument was that he was too young. He didn't say he was afraid, but the Lord seems to have known that. And so, God just made it clear that he would not take 'no' for an answer. He was going to have a prophet, and that prophet would be Jeremiah, and no matter how Jeremiah explained that he wasn't the right one for the job, God was going to show his power by making Jeremiah into the proper person to do the work. He made it clear that he would show his power by enabling Jeremiah to do what was neccessary and say what he had to say to the government officials, from the king on down, and the people.
The Epistle reading, from Paul's first letter to the church folks in Corinth, has a similar flavor to it. Paul knows that many of the people in the Corinth church want to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Folks look up to people who have these gifts, people who can speak a language known only to the angels, people who can heal the sick, people who can get up in front of the church and preach. Perhaps Paul felt that the members of that church wanted these gifts more for themselves and their egos than for the work of the church; we can't be sure, but it does sound like it, if we read between the lines. So, Paul makes it clear to the Corinthians: God empowers people with his power not to make them famous or rich or respected in the community; God shows his power through people for one reason only, and that is to build up the church. God will show his power through you, proclaim that he is truly God, not to build up your ego, but to build the church in Corinth into a strong community that can do his work there. Empowerment is not a gift to the individual but to the church, for the building up of God's kingdom.
We come now to the Gospel reading, which is the continuation of the reading from last week. Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah which explained how God's power would be manifested, or shown, by the Messiah who would come. And then Jesus, who had been healing, raising the dead and teaching, said, quite simply and clearly, This Scripture has come true today, while you heard me read it. What that means, of course, is something like this, in modern English: That's what the prophet Isaiah says about the Messiah who will come. That's what you've seen me doing. That means I am the Messiah, right here in front of you.
And then, to make sure that they got the point, he preached them a sermon on that reading. The point of his sermon was that the Messiah is not just for the Jews, but for everybody. He pointed out how God had healed and helped people who were not Jews, people from lands that were even at war with Israel. He pointed out that God is God for everybody, not just the Jews, and so the Messiah was for everybody, whether or not they were descended from Abraham. And, of course, that would include the Romans who oppressed Israel at the time!
You never saw such an angry reaction to a sermon in all your life! The people got up and grabbed Jesus and dragged him out of the synagogue. They dragged him to the edge of the cliff on which Nazareth was built. They were all set to throw him over, because blasphemy was punishable by death, and they thought that what he said was blasphemy. He was, after all, claiming to have the power of God! That meant that he was claiming to BE God! That's blasphemy! Either that, or the man is crazy....so they were getting ready to throw him over, when he used the power of God again, and vanished from the hands of the crowd. The Bible doesn't say, but I would guess that he didn't go back to Nazareth again for a good long time, if at all.
And so this brings us to a question of great interest to all of us:
Can I expect that God will show his power through me sometime?
And the answer is this:
Yes, God can and does empower people to do his work, or the work of the church. You have received some of his power, some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, when you were baptized and confirmed. These gifts gave you the power to have faith in God and to live as a faithful Christian.... if you choose to do so! God can and does empower people for further work in the church, but it is God, not us, who chooses the person and it is God, not us, who chooses the gift of power that person is trusted with.....and it is always for the building up of the church and the kingdom of God on earth, never for our own private pleasure or benefit.
Amen.
Hymn 135 from the Episcopal Hymnal, 1982:
Songs of thankfulness and praise, Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise;
manifested by the star, to the sages from afar;
branch of royal David's stem, in thy birth at Bethlehem;
anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest.
Manifest at Jordan's stream, prophet, priest and king supreme;
and at Cana, wedding-guest, in thy Godhead manifest;
manifest in power divine, changing water into wine;
anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest.
Manifest in making whole palsied limbs and fainting soul;
manifest in valiant fight, quelling all the devil's might;
manifest in gracious will, ever bringing good from ill;
anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest.
Manifest on mountain height, shining in resplendent light;
where disciples filled with awe thy transfigured glory saw.
When from there thou leddest them steadfast to Jerusalem,
cross and Easter day attest God in man made manifest.
Stanzas 1-3 by Christopher Wordsworth; stanza 4 by F. Bland Tucker.
Music: the melody Salzburg, by Jakob Hintze; harmony by Johann Sebastian Bach
