“Imagine, If You Will…” January 26, 025
“Imagine, If You Will…” -1-
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21
Imagine, if you will, that you have gotten yourself all gathered up and cleaned up and made your way to church, except you’re not in a church; not if you’re in the little town of Nazareth at the time when Jesus was a young man. No, you would find yourself in a synagogue. And you wouldn’t be happy or sad or fidgety or bored—you would just be there; it’s what you do if you are a member of the nation of Israel. It’s mandatory, it’s required, and it’s important. It is what you are, it is who you are. Now imagine, if you will, that there is music, there is singing of some sort at this church, this synagogue, although it’s hard to imagine what that music might sound like. The musicians and the congregation all seem to know what to do, though. It is soft, it is pleasant, and it is familiar. It is the music of a people. At about this time the priests bring in the scrolls. These are the sacred writings of God as spoken to Moses and to the prophets. These are the stories of your people; of what you are, of who you are; and it’s a big deal. This is why you are here.
One of the priests of the synagogue reads from one of the Psalms of David – the one that ends saying, “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Rock and my redeemer.” Yes, you think, I’ve always liked that one. Another reads from the prophet Jeremiah and you get to thinking that maybe I should try to learn how to read someday. Apparently, in this synagogue they’ll let just -2-about anybody read – if you know how to read, that is. That’s when this
new guy stepped up. Folks said he was from around here but had been away for a while and apparently had made quite a name for himself. He was teaching in the synagogues and some said that he had the gift of healing. Interesting. But he could read…now that’s something. Anyhow, the attendant handed him the scroll of Isaiah, and he unwound it until he came to the spot where he read, (Is 61) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. I expected him to go on, but he just rolled it up and handed the scroll back to the attendant. The place was real quiet – too quiet.
Now, imagine, if you will, hearing this short text that you have heard so many times before. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me;” and you can’t help but think, “what it would be like to be a prophet of some sort, to be ‘anointed by the Lord.’ What would it mean to be sent to preach the good news, to announce pardon to the prisoners, and to set the burdened and the battered free?” Well, right about then this guy, the hometown boy, sat down and then in front of God and everybody said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Now imagine, if you will, that it got even quieter in that church or synagogue or whatever, and the only sound you could hear besides a collective intake of air was the sound of heads spinning around as if to say, “Did he just say what I think he said?” It’s a troublesome thing to be a
prophet in your hometown. -3-
Last week I mentioned that I wanted to spend these next few weeks before Ash Wednesday exploring the gifts of our faith. This journey of faith that we are on is, first and foremost, very personal bu tit can be much bigger. From small groups to large auditoriums, I have to say that when we invite the power of the Spirit into the room it’s for everybody and it’s big and it’s alive. That is the gift of faith. A lot of the reason for this is because we share the same stories. When Jesus stood before the people at Nazareth, he knew their stories. There was a tradition that couldn’t be denied. And you know, even though he put a wrinkle or two in the story, it became our story because what he said was true: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And so, people of faith, this is our story now; we heard right – the Lord has anointed us to preach good news to the poor.
I’d like to leave you with a poem by Howard Thurman that speaks to an anointed people of Christ called “The Work of Christmas”
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry, -4-
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
Imagine that, if you will
Amen & Shalom
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