Sermon for Epiphany 23 January 2022
Epiphany 3, Yr C, Neh 8, 1 Cor 12, Lk 4.14-21 8am, 11am, Cathedral 23.1.22
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There is drama going on in the world, with the Ukraine situation, in Parliament over covid rules, and in the leadership of the political parties. It may be a bold claim but all that pales into insignificance when compared with the high drama in today’s Bible readings. Let me explain why I think that.
The Old Testament reading from the book of the prophet Nehemiah, dates from the fifth century BC, and concerned the return of Nehemiah as governor of Judah. In chapter 8 we heard about Ezra who is described as both scribe and priest, as he read the book of the law of Moses to the people of Judah. That followed a period of rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, and the impression was that it had not been read for a very long time, but they knew it was important, so they listened with appropriate attention and contrition. The interesting bit for me is the emphasis on those hearing listening with understanding. We are told that twice, and then that they read ‘with interpretation. They gave the sense so that the people understood the reading’.
This is crucial. The fact is that there is no reading of the Bible without interpretation. We are conditioned by our experiences, our learning and our context to see certain things in a particular way. An obvious example is the amount of history here in which Jesus has been portrayed effectively as a cultured white Englishman rather than as a poor Middle Eastern peasant.
Returning to interpretation, - do not be fooled by those who would have you believe that theirs is a literal or somehow superior or more faithful understanding. It is impossible not to have an interpretation because none of us were there at the time. We all interpret the passages we read, and what they mean to us will always be coloured by context, experience, and history. The question is how much we seek to understand the reality of the original context, the particular circumstances of the experience at the time, and then how then we can legitimately extrapolate from that and make judgements about what is important now. In essence, that is the task of all preachers.
This is called hermeneutics – the science of interpretation and it is an essential element in preaching on Biblical passages or indeed for any of trying to understand anything historic. Many differences in Christian opinion about what we should do or believe, are based around different views of what is cultural what isn’t, of what is of its time in Biblical texts, and what isn’t, of what can be extrapolated and what cannot. The treatment of slaves, of women, of even those who are sick, would be examples that we treat very differently now to Biblical times. Even to use the term Biblical times is to risk covering too vast a period of history and change. Time doesn’t allow me to go further into hermeneutics, but it is a fascinating area to explore if you are so inclined.
Going back to the rest of that reading from Nehemiah - although the people had clearly not heard the books read for a long time, their leaders and priests helped them to do so that day, and then told them to rejoice. This was a good day. ‘Do not mourn or weep, this day is holy!’ And ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’. Oh, that we could be more joyful in our worship! Today we are doing that because it is still the season of Epiphany. Later in the
service, the choir will even sing Dancing Day at communion, albeit the words say Tomorrow rather than today!
In 1 Cor 12, we have the famous Pauline passage about ‘one body, many members’ and that we are all baptised into one body. We are not baptised into the Church of England or the Roman Catholic church, although people often will say that; we are in fact baptised into the Christian faith. Whatever else we may disagree on, in this the week of prayer for Christian unity, it is good to acknowledge that the one thing that the vast majority of denominations do agree on and recognise, is one another’s baptisms. We were all baptised simply and straightforwardly in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Whether we like it or not, whether we like everyone in it or not, we are one body by virtue of our baptism.
Taking of one body, this week some of us were privileged to be present for the Confirmation of the election of Jonathan Frost as Bishop of Portsmouth. This took place at what was largely a legal ceremony in the Church of St Mary-Le-Bow in the city of London last Tuesday. He is now our bishop, but still to be enthroned on 12th March. At the end of the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave his charge to Bishop Jonathan as he stood directly in front of him. In it he talked about abundance and also the challenges of being the Church of England and you can read more in the Dean’s reflections in the notices.
Amongst the challenges he even alluded to the issues we face over things like gender and sexuality which, although one body, can often seem particularly acute in the C of E. I would suggest, though, that this is because we don’t seek to have a single party line on these things but allow a variety of different understandings to be aired. This may be brave and to some even stupid, but unless we allow views to be tested by coming out into the light, how are they to be challenged? How are we to be challenged? How is our interpretation to be improved, unless we risk discussing these things openly and honestly? Hermeneutics again! That seems to me far the braver thing to do than hiding views and completely appropriate for a properly broad church.
And then we come to the next bit of drama in Luke 4, certainly one of the key passages in the Bible in which Jesus sets out what he is about, who he is, and what he has come to do. You can imagine people holding their breath as he spoke, the profound depth of his words, the shock of what this man, whom they thought they knew, was claiming for himself.
Jesus had just been through the temptations when it would be understandable to think that he was exhausted but instead we are told that he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. That often was the case when Jesus spent time alone in prayer. It was where and how he was re-fuelled for the next phase of his ministry. And he was going to need it because there was no tougher gig than preaching in your own home town, where they had known him as a child, and thought they knew him now.
He was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and perhaps had no choice over that, and presumably one scroll would not contain the whole book that we know as Isaiah, but from what he was handed, he chose what we know as chapter 61. And he could read which was hardly usual then, and he read that great passage which also described his ministry, mission, and purpose:
‘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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
And then we had that dramatic pause, pregnant with anticipation as Luke drew out the moment, as Jesus handed the scroll back to the attendant, went and sat down while all eyes were upon him, and then said very simply:
‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’.
That was the moment of his anointing by God for his mission to the world. While he was quoting Isaiah, the words of Isaiah which are reported in Luke that might otherwise have spiritualised the message, are actually omitted and that is clearly intentional. This was a real, tangible, and practical mission. The poor were not to be understood as a metaphor for Israel, they were the poor economically. The imprisoned were those there largely because of their poverty and debt. The year of the Lord’s favour was a hint towards the jubilee year once every 50 years, when people returned home, debts were cancelled, and land returned.
And there is no better time to mark this significant moment than during the season of Epiphany, when light was revealed to the Gentiles, to us, and we think particularly of the wise men from the East. Colloquially we think of an epiphany as a light bulb moment. But this was not a light bulb moment for Jesus. The light bulb epiphany moment was in everyone else – those listening at the time, but also those listening to Luke’s record of the moment, people like us, as we realize this was his mission, this was the forming vision for Jesus’ mission on earth. The Epiphany is ours.
And the epiphanies continue, as we recognise that our mission cannot be to do anything less than to continue the mission of Jesus - to proclaim it and perform it fully.
I leave you then with some questions.
· How is each one of us bringing good news to the economic poor?
· How are we preaching deliverance to those held captive by debt or enslaved in other ways?
· How are we helping people to rediscover their sight and setting people free rather than binding them up in knots of judgment and guilt?
· How are we bringing about the kingdom of God on earth and,
· what more can we do to make it real for others as well as for ourselves?
That is a dance that goes on from here today, tomorrow and the next.
Amen.