Epiphany 3 C: A Peculiar Power
Dear Partner in Preaching,
When you hear the word “power,” what comes to mind? Significant influence or wealth, as in one who strides down the “corridors of power”? Or perhaps great physical strength, the powerful front line of the Carolina Panthers, for instance?
I was struck by the line introducing the passage we’re reading this week: “Then Jesus, filled by the power of the Holy Spirit,….” According to Luke, Jesus does what he does and says what he says precisely because he is filled with power, great power, the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is the first scene Luke offers to describe Jesus’ public ministry and, as we’ve seen before, first things matter in the Gospels as they set the tone and name the priorities for the narrative to come. So clearly it’s important to Luke for us to know that Jesus comes filled with power and, perhaps even more, it’s important to Luke for us to know just what this kind of power looks like.
Which is what makes his choice of these excerpts from Isaiah so interesting, because if there’s one thing all the people referenced by this passage have in common, it’s that they are definitely not the powerful people in the world.
Think about it: Jesus brings good news to the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed. These aren’t the powerful, they are the outcasts, the ones you’ve been trained to feel sorry for as you pass them by at the street corner even as you give a prayer of thanks that their lot is not yours. These are the folks, that is, you may pity, but not admire. Yet Jesus says he comes for them.
All of which challenges our typical notions of power. Power – at least the power of the Holy Spirit, the power, that is, of God – is demonstrated not by any accomplishments or attributes one claims for one’s own self but only through what it accomplishes for others. Power is power only when it sets others free, only when it builds up others, only when used for the betterment of those around you.
How peculiar, when you think of it, and how different from the notions of power that surround us. Indeed, the power of God at work in Jesus pushes us to reconfigure our notions of power and re-orient our attention away from our selves to those around us.
But it does one other thing, too. In this first sermon of Jesus, we cannot avoid the conclusion that perhaps one of the chief powers of Jesus is to declare that God sees all of us – not just those the world sees, but everyone. Because the very fact that Jesus’ sermon is all about what God will do for the least of those in the world tells us that God gives special attention to those whom the world doesn’t want to see.
There has been a lot of talk, this year, about the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Any number of politicians, pundits, and opponents to the movement have questioned why the focus on black lives; why not, that is, say that all lives matter. I get it. The focus on black lives somehow seems to imply that those lives matter more. But I don’t think that’s the case at all. I think it’s more a matter of the movement calling attention to the fact that the way this world and culture acts makes one think that we have collectively decided that black lives don’t matter, at least not as much as white ones do, and so they are calling attention to this through their very name and assertion.
A colleague of mine put it this way: “When you see a house on fire and direct the firefighters to that house, you’re not saying that all the other houses in the neighborhood don’t matter; you’re saying this one especially matters because it’s on fire.” My colleague is an African American pastor, I should add, who lives in a predominantly white neighborhood and has on various occasions been pulled over, though not for speeding. When he asks why, the officers say they’re just doing their job. “Right now,” he added, “our house is on fire.”
Jesus, I think, is doing something similar. Filled by the power of the Holy Spirit, he testifies to the fact that God’s power is always seen as peculiar, odd, and uncomfortable by the world because it focuses on those the world has overlooked, forgotten, or discarded. He knows that we act in a way to make it seem like some lives matter and some don’t, but proclaims that those distinctions fade away in the face of grace, that God sees all, loves all, and intends and promises to redeem all.
It also means that God sees the parts of us that we don’t want seen. That God sees the parts of us that we deem ugly and unlovable and loves us anyway. That God will not wait for us to improve enough to be loved, and that God is never satisfied that we are all we can be. God loves us enough to see us, God loves us enough to forgive us, God loves us enough to challenge us, and God loves us enough to send us out to see and love others – especially those the world does not see. To do that is to share in the peculiar power that drives Jesus to preach such an odd and inclusive sermon.
God sees all, loves all, and intends and promises to redeem all. Good news for those who heard it then and for those who hear it today. But also challenging, as we’ll see next week, as it makes it difficult to rule out of bounds anyone whom God has called and claimed. So thank you, Dear Partner, for proclaiming this peculiar, powerful, and challenging word of love, acceptance, and grace. It is such an important message, and each time you give it voice you are seizing the peculiar power Jesus offers. Blessings on your proclamation.
Yours in Christ,
David
Good morning, David,
Thank you for your postings. I use something from them every week.
Here is my dilemma: I preach God’s love and acceptance of all people every week. Folks agree until they see the latest ISIS bombing and then God’s love is thrown out because of the hatred people feel. No doubt the behavior is not indicative of God’s love, on either part, but how do I help people to see beyond the action to the person? If it involves loving someone in America (#blacklivesmatter)I can get more of a positive response. Outside the good ‘ole USA, the hatred is palpable. Help, please.
That’s an important and at times painful issue, Denise, that you are not alone in addressing. I wonder if we can raise the question about what we imagine are the bounds of God’s love. Maybe that’s why it took the cross to get through to us: that’s just how far God will go to communicate God’s love and redeem us. As we imagine whether or not God can love various persons it’s soon difficult to imagine God limiting (not us, but God) limiting who God is willing to love. The challenge, when you take the biblical witness seriously, is that whenever you start drawing a line between who’s in and who’s out, you always find Jesus on the other side of that line. Blessings in your ministry.
I’m planning on doing an anointing service this Sunday – to remind folks that they too were anointed in their baptisms with the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord is upon them, as well. You’re discussion of power is a good one – they’ve been anointed and empowered with the Spirit to preach and proclaim, to witness and liberate. We are not left desolate! I am overjoyed.
Using spirit water? 😉
Exactly! Is this THE Tom Krieger?
Nice idea, Sarah!
David,
Thank you for this look into the heart of God.
In the past three years I have been led to minister to and among refugees and the poor of my city, Syracuse, NY. I have come to experience the love and the power of God in ways I could never have known without leaving an old religious mindset where good theology was something to be proud of, and loving God was mostly about avoiding personal sin. It was like knowing and loving the outside of God, but never truly experiencing the heart of God.
What has been most amazing and surprising is the “peculiar” pull that I have begun to feel toward the marginalized in my city. I used to ignore them. Now I seek them out. I used to avoid them. Now I visit them and invite them into my home. As Mother Theresa would point out: I used to talk “about” them, but now I talk “to” them. I am just beginning to feel proud to be one of them. Bless the Lord.
Mike,
I have a sense of what you are experiencing in serving the least of our sisters and brothers. I’d like to chat withyou more about your experience. You can look me up on FaceBook – Debbie Graham, Boise Idaho. Private message me there. Blessings!
I would suggest that our presidential (and other) candidates read this. And then perhaps actually take it seriously…both the scripture passage and your reflection on it. Thank you.
Hi David
Thank you once a again for your inspiring and thought provoking words.
I only have one observation. The way you referred to #BlackLivesMatter and “the cop who is just doing his job” give me the feeling that you only focus on the Republican side of the USA. (I hope I am wrong). What about referencing to those who claim the moral higher ground’s comments about Deplorables and turning a blind eye to the Black on Black killings in Chicago?
I totally agree with your references in your writing but I think your references give the impression that you only have a word for the Republicans. By the way. I live in Canada and am originally from South Africa.
Blessings
Kobus Genis
I was so blessed by the treatment of the text, and the insights it provides. Your biblical and social sensitivities intersected in ways that provide a relevant witness for our day and age. Thank you!
The respondent who connected your witness with some kind of Republican “bashing” befuddled me. I did not read anything that alluded to partisan politics, with the exception of aligning ourselves with the Kingdom of God. God struggles to speak to those lost in the noise of partisan buffoonery.
Excellent interpretation!