How Is Jesus Calling You to Love?

Epiphany 3C; Luke 4:14-21; St. Paul’s Smithfield, NC 1/24/2016

Jim Melnyk: “How Is Jesus Calling Us to Love?”

A story is told about Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk who “once referred to a certain rabbi as… ‘a righteous person with a fur coat.’

He explained: ‘When it is winter and it’s freezing cold, there are two things one can do.  One can build a fire, or one can wrap oneself in a fur coat.

In both cases [the rabbi continued] the person is warm.  But when one builds a fire, all who gather round will also be warmed.  With the fur coat, the only one who is warmed is the one who wears the coat’” (Synthesis, 1/24/2016). And after the power outages of the past two days, and the experience of people taking family and friends into their homes to help them keep warm, we can certainly understand the wisdom behind the words of Rabbi Mendel. 

Jesus enters his hometown synagogue, picks up the scroll of Isaiah and invites those listening to gather round the fire – he reads what will become one of the central themes of his Gospel message.  “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 favor.”  The congregation looks on with expectancy – wondering what teaching Jesus might offer in response to God’s promise through Isaiah.  The next few words from Jesus catch those gathered by surprise.  Rather than sitting before them and talking about how such a promise of God’s Spirit will unfold for God’s people, Jesus tells them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  And the members of the congregation, we are told, were “amazed at the gracious words that came from Jesus’ mouth.” 

And so, when I listen to today’s Gospel lesson from Luke – when I hear about Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah – I realize that I am listening to – that we are listening to –

not only what Luke considers to be Jesus’ inaugural sermon, but a sermon that “sets the agenda for  his entire ministry” (synthesis).  What we heard read this morning is part of the very core teaching of Jesus.  We are listening to the heart of what Jesus comes to proclaim – to a teaching that’s so central to his message that we hear the very meaning of the word Gospel in its message – Good News.

In all four Gospels Jesus is asked about the core teaching of Torah.  He is asked one way or another to comment on which is the greatest commandment of all and his response is always straightforward.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength…, [and] you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31).  This seems to me to be the mission statement of the Gospel from which Jesus’ whole agenda is set– and therefore it must be the driving force behind the mission of the church – the Body of Christ gathered.  Love God with all that we are – with every fiber of our being; and love our neighbor – the one who is one like us – even as we desire to love our own selves.

So if the Great Commandment – as Jesus’ words are called – is the mission statement of the Gospel, then perhaps today’s words from Luke might well be understood not only as the agenda for Jesus’ fledgling ministry, but as one of the key action statements of our baptismal calling: bringing good news to the poor – whether that be those who are physically and financially destitute or those bereft of spirit; proclaiming release to the captives – whether captive politically, spiritually, or of their own choosing; recovery of sight to the blind – whatever incarnation that might be; freedom for the oppressed – whether in body, mind or spirit; and the Jubilee year of God’s favor – God’s promise of freedom for all of creation.

This echoing of the prophet Isaiah must indeed be central to the teachings of Jesus – because he sees his own life as a fulfillment of God’s promise in the words of the prophet.  And if this way of acting – this way of living – comes out of Jesus’ ultimate love for God and love for his neighbor – if it is indeed central to the teachings of Jesus , then it must indeed be central to how we live out our baptismal calling as followers of Christ.

This is the how and why of being Church in the world – love.  In fact, Torah Teaching actually takes what Jesus pulls forward from Leviticus as the second half of the Great Commandment even further.  Just a handful of verses after the command to love the neighbor, God says to Israel – and therefore to us – Wait, there’s more! “When a stranger – that is, an alien – resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the Lord am your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34).  So, this is the how and why of being Church in the world – our love for God, our love for neighbor, and our love for the stranger – the sojourner – among us.  The Stranger – those who may not look just like us, or speak just like us, or believe just like us.  However they are fellow human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, just like us.

Jesus came to his home town in the power of the Holy Spirit bringing Good News to the poor – proclaiming release to those held captive and recovery to the sight of those who are blind.  In two weeks time many of us will gather in Lawrence Hall to participate once again in Stop Hunger Now, and package thousands of meals for those who are hungry – for those who face the reality of day-to-day poverty or those who are striving to survive unexpected disaster.  It is one way that we can bring Good News to sisters and brothers in need.  As those who are baptized into Christ – as those who are called to be imitators of Christ – how can we bring Good News – bring release – bring sight to those who are blind – and Gospel sight to those who turn a blind eye toward others – what one person calls embodying “the Divine Life active within us” – incarnating, putting “flesh and blood on the impulse of the Spirit of Christ active within us” (Mark Brown, Brother, Give Us a Word, 1/22/2016).

Brother Jim Woodrum of the Society of St. John the Evangelist asks: “How is Jesus calling [us] to love? It’s most likely through something broken, something in need of God’s life, light, love and provision. Certainly it is more than [we] can handle on [our] own. Jesus’ good news is that [we] don’t have to [handle it on our own]. God the Father’s love will see us through to healing if we will just say ‘yes’ to Jesus’ invitation” (Brother, Give Us a Word, 1/17/2016).

Recalling the teaching of Rabbi Mendel, we can most certainly put on a good, heavy winter coat and keep ourselves warm, or build a fire so that all may be warmed.