Leaning into Luke

 

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” ²³ He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. ²⁵ But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶ yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Well, that went south in a hurry.  Talk about a story taking an unexpected twist and turn that can cause your head to spin!  To recap here, yesterday we heard how Jesus fame was spreading.  People were liking his posts on Facebook, his LinkedIn profile was getting lots of attention, and the speaking requests were pouring into his agent.  While we who are convinced that Jesus is someone who follow, who captures our hearts and sings to our souls, lets step back for just a moment – pause – and ask: why? 

“Well,” you reason, “He is Jesus.”

Got it.  But wait, we are saying that after reading and hearing the whole story about the angels at his birth and healing and teaching and death and resurrection.  But much of that hadn’t happened yet.  We don’t know if his neighbors knew about the manger or shepherds.  Maybe they just knew that he was healing and could give a good talk.  So, why again is a carpenter whose childhood, at least within the gospels didn’t seem to deserve much reflection upon, suddenly start gaining attention and affirmation? 

Um, maybe his halo started shining brighter? 

Here is what we do know.  Jesus went down to the river to pray with John.  He waded in the water.  The Spirit blessed him and affirmed his belovedness.  Note that the Gospels are unclear if anyone overheard any of the Spirit’s words.  Then, right after that, Jesus goes off the gird.  He doesn’t post his morning meditations while being tempted in the wilderness.  For forty days no one hears from him.  Then, Jesus comes back and starts a speaking tour in Galilee that gets attention.  We don’t know what he said in those initial sermons, we don’t have the transcriptions.  Luke calls us to a moment when he had returned home, goes to the Sabbath service, reads scripture about God’s liberating love.  And people respond by saying, “Amen.”  And then, Jesus appears to get angry? 

Why?  What in the name of the good news is going on here?

Maybe there was a history here between Jesus and his hometown congregation.  Maybe when they referred to him as, “Joseph’s son” it tweaked something in him.  Jesus wanted them to see him as sent by God, not just the neighbor next door.  Maybe Jesus felt disrespected or discounted?

We don’t know.  There are countless untold stories in-between each word of Scripture.

I do, however, find it fascinating that the crowd is about to toss and throw Jesus off a cliff and he parts the mob like Moses before the Red Sea.  This is a beautifully strange story that should cause us to pause.

Pause to ponder our own relationships with our hometowns.  When was the last time you were back to the place you grew up?  Or maybe you never left.  When was the last time you were frustrated because people saw you one way and you saw yourself another?  When was the last time you found a situation being escalated and grow out-of-control – not just on the news – but something you were a part of?

To let these words sing and settle in your heart this day and come back to it each time you pause today.

Prayer: Pausing and pondering God, help me step into this story in ways that speak and sing to my story today.  Amen.

Leaning Into Luke

 

¹⁴ Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.  ¹⁶ When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “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,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Luke 4:4-19

This week I want us to lean into Luke’s gospel.  The above words happen right after Jesus’ temptation that we dove into a few weeks ago.  Notice how the Spirit continues to drive and dance into the story.  The Spirit is an active actor/actress in Jesus’ life, this will continue in the book of Acts (which many scholars believe the same author of Luke writes as a sequel).  The Spirit prompts, pulls, pushes, provokes, and persuades Jesus back the region of Galilee, where he grew up. 

How does the Spirit do that?  What does that look like or sound like or feel like? 

Those are great questions.  But there is not, in my experience, a one-size fits all answer to it for everyone who will read this.  Sometimes the Spirit is peaceful…sometimes passionate…sometimes persistent…sometimes patient.  The Spirit can wear a thousand disguises.  But, what tethers and ties all this together is that being grounded and guided by the Spirit is being fully alive and awake.  Often, it is easy to get caught up in the past or future rather than the present moment.  Jesus seems to stay open to the Spirit whether in the desert being tempted or traveling back to the place he called, “Home”.  I think one way to practice such openness is by pushing the pause button several times a day.  Pause after you read this to reflect and respond to what stirred within you.  Pause before lunch to consider the way you are connected to countless people who made the meal you are about to eat happen (earth, farmers, truck drivers, grocery store workers).  Pause in the afternoon to see the way the sunlight is shining a light on the grass outside.  Work in pauses into your life rather than rushing and running and racing on to the next thing.  Right now, put in your calendar and set an intention to pause today.

Prayer: God whose first language is silence, help me find moments of sacred stillness to feel Your stirring Spirit in me.  Amen.

Winding Down/Wrapping Up this Week

 

We wrap up and wind down another week of 2021.  I think so much of the blur and fog of life comes from the difficulty we can have to pause; to breathe; to just be in the moment with all it’s beauty and brokenness.  Our minds are hardwired to point out all the less-than-perfectness of everything.  We see the blemishes and what is lacking.  We have been told that pointing out the defects is a sign of intelligence.  I am convinced that contemplation, quietness, can open us to also the beauty in the brokenness.  To hold the wonderful tension of between the shores of optimism and pessimism, seeking God’s grace to guide us between the two. 

As you pause today: where did grace seem most tangible this week for you?  Where did love light up your soul?  Where did laughter erupt, and tears cathartically fall?

As you pause today: where did frustration fume?  Who pushed your buttons?  When did you wish you had a rewind button to go back and try again?

As you pause today: how is this moment, right here and right now, a culmination and coming together of what was, is, and can be?

Take time today to hold these questions.  Take time together to listen to ways your soul offers responses.  Take time today in silence to lean in and listen to how God responds to these questions. 

And may grace and peace and love be with you now more than ever.  Amen. 

Finding Our Way

 

Amid the brain fog, uncertainty, tectonic shifts of the ground beneath us – as well as the soil within us – we long for stability and solid surface we can stand.  When the whirlwind of the world within and around us feels too much, we long for something we can hold onto or even cling to.  I remember one time I was at an amusement and ended up going on a ride called, “Ship Wreck.”  To be clear, that didn’t exactly sound like the sort of event or experience I wanted to have happen in my life.  My mind was saying, “Um, Wes, perhaps it would be best if you do not do this.”  But there is this thing called, “peer pressure”.  And so, I ended up not only in the line but on the ride because my friends said, “It is just like a big swing.”  Only, it was not.  I really wanted to get off that ride.  And when I did my head was swirling, my stomach churning.  Did you know that they have a medical department at amusement parks with a cot?  I spent some quality time in one after that particular ride.  Good times.

So, what do we do when this heart breaking and soul aching reality is repeated and replayed in our lives?  I have been playing around with the idea of a spiritual compass.  Words that can guide, ground, support and sustain you as you try to decide the next right step.  I see one of those words at each of the points of a compass – North, South, East, and West.  North is a word that guides you.  South is a word that grounds you.  East is a word that supports you.  West is a word that sustains you.  I invite you to do prayerfully ponder this today.  You may want to use the words from Epiphany a few weeks ago:

Kindness                                           Compassion                                       Love

Openness                                          Understanding                                   Laughter

Discipleship                                      Service                                              Depth

Prayerfulness                                     Playfulness                                        Praise

Gentleness                                         Acceptance                                        Imagination

Friendship                                         Contentment                                      Creativity

Courage                                            Confidence                                        Clarity

Strength                                            Thoughtfulness                                  Patience

Forgiveness                                       Tenderness                                        Enthusiasm

Sharing                                             Healing                                              Rejoicing

Justice                                               Mercy                                                Humility

Wisdom                                            Wholeness                                         Wonder

Curiosity                                           Graciousness                                     Flexibility

Generosity                                         Steadfastness                                     Serenity

Humor                                              Vision                                               Thankfulness

Or select your own word for each direction.  I pray that this exercise awakens your soul, sings to your heart, and gives you a place to be/breathe in these days.  May God’s love enfold and hold you today.  Amen.

Prayers for our Country

 

Prayers for our Nation – January 20

Today is the inauguration of President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.  Our nation faces many, many challenges of the pandemic and polarization; too much anger and distrust; violence and discrimination and pain that has been unprocessed.  As we have heard the past two days from Dr. King. As humans we can give lots of thought to length and breadth of our life, but we can miss the third dimension – height of life.  The call to pay attention to the mystery that is beyond us.  Our connection to the Spirit that abides before and behind us; God’s light within us.  Hear how Dr. King speaks about height:

And I’m here to tell you today that we need God. Modern man may know a great deal, but his knowledge does not eliminate God. And I tell you this morning that God is here to stay. A few theologians are trying to say that God is dead. And I’ve been asking them about it because it disturbs me to know that God died and I didn’t have a chance to attend the funeral. They haven’t been able to tell me yet the date of his death. They haven’t been able to tell me yet who the coroner was that pronounced him dead.  They haven’t been able to tell me yet where he’s buried.  You see, when I think about God, I know his name. He said somewhere, back in the Old Testament, "I want you to go out, Moses, and tell them ‘I Am’ sent you."  He said just to make it clear, let them know that "my last name is the same as my first, ‘I Am that I Am.’ Make that clear. I Am." And God is the only being in the universe that can say "I Am" and put a period behind it. Each of us sitting here has to say, "I am because of my parents; I am because of certain environmental conditions; I am because of certain hereditary circumstances; I am because of God." But God is the only being that can just say, "I Am" and stop right there. "I Am that I Am." And He’s here to stay. Let nobody make us feel that we don’t need God.  As I come to my conclusion this morning, I want to say that we should search for him. We were made for God, and we will be restless until we find rest in him. 

Prayer: Here I am, O God.  Here You are, O God.  Here we are together.  We pray for a lasting peace within us and across our country today.  May God’s grace guide and ground as we face the challenges before us individually and collectively.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. King Day continued

 

We continue today with excerpts of the sermon Rev. Dr. King preached at New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1967 entitled, “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life”.  Remember yesterday, Dr. King invited you to consider the length of life.  Today we hear about the breadth of life.  I pray you will lean in and listen to these words. 

And a man has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. This is what God needs today: Men and women who will ask, "What will happen to humanity if I don’t help? What will happen to the civil rights movement if I don’t participate? What will happen to my city if I don’t vote? What will happen to the sick if I don’t visit them?" This is how God judges people in the final analysis. Oh, there will be a day, the question won’t be, "How many awards did you get in life?" Not that day. It won’t be, "How popular were you in your social setting?" That won’t be the question that day. It will not ask how many degrees you’ve been able to get.  The question that day will not be concerned with whether you are a "Ph.D." or a "no D."  It will not be concerned with whether you went to Morehouse or whether you went to "No House."  The question that day will not be, "How beautiful is your house?" The question that day will not be, "How much money did you accumulate? How much did you have in stocks and bonds?" The question that day will not be, "What kind of automobile did you have?" On that day the question will be, "What did you do for others?" And don’t forget in doing something for others that you have what you have because of others.  Don’t forget that. We are tied together in life and in the world. 

I pray you will ponder the beautiful tension Dr. King is articulating and explaining to us about life.  We can get so caught up in stuffing our life with stuff, with our awards and recognitions.  But life, Dr. King is about letting these words of the Spiritual, ‘If I can help somebody,’ be your theme song today. “If I can help somebody, as I travel along.  If I can help somebody, with a word or song.  If I can help somebody, from doing wrong. No, my living shall not be in vain.  No, my living shall not be in vain.  No, my living shall not be in vain.  If I can help somebody, as I’m singing the song.  You know, my living shall not be in vain,”

Prayer: May the words above be my theme song, O God, today.  Amen. 

Rev. Dr. King Day

 

Today is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr day.  On the news you will hear snippets of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” sermon he gave in Washington DC on August 28, 1963.  However, Dr. King preached many, many powerful and profound sermons that should be quoted because of his intellect and insight and inspiration.  This week, I want to share with you portions of a sermon he preached at New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1967 entitled, “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life”.  I pray you will lean in and listen to these words.

And there are three dimensions of any complete life to which we can fitly give the words of this text: length, breadth, and height.  Now the length of life as we shall use it here is the inward concern for one’s own welfare.  In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve his own goals and ambitions. The breadth of life as we shall use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others.  And the height of life is the upward reach for God.  Now you got to have all three of these to have a complete life. 

(Pause for a moment to prayerfully ponder how those three dimensions are right now in YOUR life).

Now let us turn for the moment to the length of life. I said that this is the dimension of life where we are concerned with developing our inner powers. In a sense this is the selfish dimension of life. There is such a thing as rational and healthy self-interest.  A great Jewish rabbi, the late Joshua Leibman, wrote a book some years ago entitled Peace of Mind. And he has a chapter in that book entitled "Love Thyself Properly." And what he says in that chapter, in substance, is that before you can love other selves adequately, you’ve got to love your own self properly. You know, a lot of people don’t love themselves.  And they go through life with deep and haunting emotional conflicts. So the length of life means that you must love yourself.

And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you’ve got to accept yourself.  So many people are busy trying to be somebody else.  God gave all of us something significant. And we must pray every day, asking God to help us to accept ourselves. That means everything. Too many Negroes are ashamed of themselves, ashamed of being black.  A Negro got to rise up and say from the bottom of his soul, "I am somebody.  I have a rich, noble, and proud heritage. However exploited and however painful my history has been, I’m black, but I’m black and beautiful.”  This is what we’ve got to say. We’ve got to accept ourselves.  And we must pray, "Lord, Help me to accept myself every day; help me to accept my tools."

(Pause for a moment to prayerfully ponder the length of your life through the frame of love and acceptance for yourself – with all your beauty and moments of brokenness).

Prayer: God thank you for the length of life, this precious day when I can wake up this morning with my mind set to Your love and Your voice that calls me, “Beloved”.  Let me embrace and embody that word this day.  Amen.