Job Description

This sermon was first delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on January 19, 2007.

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

When I began to consider this piece of the Gospel, I was overwhelmed. There is so much stuff in this reading that I had no real idea what needed to be said. If you look in your bible, the heading over this section is often called something like “Jesus Rejected at Nazareth,” and as you can well see, there was no rejection in this section of our reading. When I began looking at this passage, I was thinking of history. I was thinking of the other passages we read today. I was thinking of the Isaiah passages Jesus refers to in verses 18 and 19. I was thinking of the passages we’ll read next week. I was stumped!

So as we begin today, I need to thank the “Listening for God” group that met last Wednesday night. For those of you who are curious about what we do on Wednesday nights, we sit together, read the Gospel reading for the coming Sunday, discuss it, and then we pray.

We begin with a prayer of illumination—just like we do on Sunday before reading scripture. We read the Gospel passage and then we mention words and phrases that catch our attention. After reading the Gospel passage again, we discuss the passage more deeply and broadly, often focusing on the words that caught our attention in the first reading. Then we read the Gospel for a third time and discuss how it is calling us to respond in the coming week. If you ever have the inkling to join us, it is really a lot of fun and we find some very interesting insights about scripture.

As we were discussing this passage, one of the group members took a look at verses 18 and 19 and said, “It's a job description.” Well, I had never thought of it that way and I don't mind saying I was intrigued. Honestly, I missed this tree because I was too busy looking at the forest. As Jesus is reading this passage, the assembly is hearing Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus reads the prophet Isaiah like he is reading a job description to the assembly. It’s like he is reading his job description.

There are several parts of this job description.[1]

The first part is that Spirit is manifest in ministry. In the time of our Lord, they thought there to be two different and very specific states of existence, the flesh and the spirit.[2] The fleshly existence is more solid and the spiritual more fluid. The definition of the spirit is imprecise, as would be the definition of any fluid entity—especially one that is not of our world. So the Spirit is able to fill our solid flesh with its nourishing power. With this filling comes the power and the joy and the glory of the Holy Spirit.

The second part is anointing. To anoint someone is to set them apart for special service under divine direction.[3] We anoint the ill for healing. We anoint the baptized setting them apart. We pray for the anointing of the Spirit, especially for the officers of the church, particularly in our case the elders. Sometimes we anoint with oil. More often we lay hands as a symbol of the anointing of the community.

We have other words that mean something similar. Another word we use to say something is set apart for service to the Lord is to make something holy. It is also said when something is made holy it is sanctified. These lofty words and concepts mean one thing—anointing, making something or someone holy, and sanctifying are means of setting something aside for service under divine direction. And by this divine direction, it is above all that God anoints us through the power of the Spirit to do the work appointed to the body of Christ.

The third part is proclaiming the word of God to the marginalized. Here in Berryville, we are familiar with the Greek word that means “I proclaim.” Do you know what it is? It’s kerusso, the same as the t-shirt company.[4] When Marie and I came to town the first time, I loved the name of the company, because I love the power of this verb. One of the most important features of kerusso is that the content of the proclamation takes authority over the one making the proclamation. And the proclamation Jesus makes is to those on the margins. So when we read of freedom for the prisoners, we read of a church prosecuted in the time of Luke. When we read of recovery of sight to the blind we read of those who are blinded like Paul, that they may regain their sight as he did in Acts. When we read about release to the oppressed, we read of those on the margins of society, those who are tread down by events and circumstances. These are the ones who are ill who need healing. These are the ones who are poor who need food. These are the able who need work. These are the people who are shattered by society yet today need to hear the good news.

This leads us to an unavoidable conclusion. The Gospel, the Good News of God demands a response. And I mean demands. Sometimes that demand is made in the weakest of whispers, a voice that can only be heard in our silent moments of prayer and contemplation. Sometimes the demand is made in a loud voice that insists on being heard.

Here’s an example, The Lord makes demands on from Moses from a bush which burns but is not consumed by fire. Moses is commanded to go to Pharaoh and bring the people of the Lord, Israel, out of Egypt.[5] The most ironic part of this example is that people often speak of wanting or seeking their own “burning bush” experience. But nobody ever talks about having their own “confront Pharaoh” experience. Often we get caught up in the mode of the message instead of the message itself. The bush which burns but is not consumed by fire is impressive, but it is not the most important link in the chain. We respond to the Lord, we do as we are required, but we should never hold the experience above the message.

Does anyone wonder or worry about their ability to hear and respond to the Gospel? In the words of scripture, I say “Fear not!” It is human nature to wonder if we will be able to accomplish what the Lord has set us to do. But it is just as important to remember that the Lord does not call the equipped, but instead equips the called. We have been selected and because of our selection we have been gifted. Some say, “I am not like the heroes of the faith or Billy Graham or any other of the great shepherds of the church.” And that is true, we are not, but this is not to our shame. And this does not let us off of the hook from our responsibilities.

Our reading from Corinthians reminds us that we are all parts of the body of Christ, the very same body as the heroes of the faith, Billy Graham, or other great shepherds of the church. And if we are weaker parts, we are just as indispensable as the major organs. Yes, we may not be the heart, or the lungs, but without the smallest bones in the ear, we will never hear the cries of the poor. Without the many tendons and muscles in the hand, we cannot do the work God demands.

And as we are all called to different ministries for the same body, we must remember that we are equipped as we are anointed—as we are set aside for ministry. God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. No one is equipped to do all of these things, thanks be to God. But all of these gifts are given to the church for the work of the Lord.

While this pretty much takes care of Luke 4:18, there is one more thing we read in this passage that are important when the Spirit of the Lord comes.

When we read deeper in this section, we read that the gospel is not tied to one specific geographic location. By the time we read this piece of the Gospel, Jesus has all ready begun to make a name for himself in Judea proclaiming the good news of God. At a young age, he was the “boy-wonder” in the temple, impressing the old men with questions and wisdom beyond his years.[6] John the Baptist made a tremendous to-do about his coming and his place before Jesus was baptized.[7] And when he was baptized, the Spirit of God came upon him bodily like a dove and he heard “You are my son, the beloved. In you I am well pleased.”[8]

Jesus has made a reputation for himself in a relatively short time. To quote our reading, “He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.” He was beginning to become established in ministry. He was coming to his old stomping grounds, his home town, and the folks at home were proud to see him again.

So Jesus was in his hometown of Nazareth and, as was his custom on the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue. In the synagogue, it was customary that the men of the synagogue would read the scripture and give an interpretation.[9] Since Jesus was the hometown boy done good, the Rabbi was more than happy to offer him this honor.

By the way, this sort of welcome is not unusual for a seminarian who preaches at the home church for the first time after a year or so at seminary. Often after the first year of seminary, the candidate for ministry comes home for an annual evaluation with the Session and then with the Presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry. This is a joyful time for the church and the seminarian. It’s a homecoming, often there is a celebration with luncheon and other events. Everybody asks how everything is going; this applies to the church and the seminarian. Everybody is catching up on time apart.

Often, the seminarian is invited to come and preach on the reading for the day. For some seminarians, it is a time to share their newly acquired heresies with the congregation. Whoops, did I say heresies? The seminarian is often exposed to many new ideas and concepts, some of which don’t always sit well with the folks at home. But at least there is precedent for this sort of behavior.

On Wednesday night, another of the “Listening for God” participants wondered how Jesus read the text from Isaiah. She asked us all to imagine Jesus reading from the Isaiah scroll with special emphasis on the first person pronouns, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me…” You get the idea. Imagine the response from the people in the pews: “Yeah, he’s the hometown boy, but isn’t he getting a little full of himself?”

So, then, after reading from the scroll, Jesus gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of the synagogue were fixed upon him. Then he began his interpretation of the text. He says to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” How does the hometown crowd respond to this?

You know, this is a story better left finished next week.

[1] This is not an original thought, but I am unable to find the source reference. The source split the description into four sections, I have chosen more segments
[2] Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 2 page 540
[3] Bauer Danker Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament from BibleWorks
[4] The t-shirt company claims “kerusso” means “to proclaim” when it really means “I proclaim.”
[5] Exodus 3:10
[6] Luke 2:41-52
[7] Luke 3:1-21
[8] Luke 3:22
[9] Homiletics Magazine Online, http://homileticsholine.com/subscriber/pritner_friendly
_installment.asp?installment_id=2630. accessed January 9, 2007.