Ok, Ok,... I Get It

Luke 4:14-21

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, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

The synagogue is the place that Jesus comes to and reads aloud of the words of the prophets to feed the hungry and heal the sick. It is within those walls that he hears, reads, and is instructed.  It is there that he is told that he is called to reach out to those in need.

This passage is a clear message to us that the church is important and has an important role to play in casting vision and setting forward people to heal a hurting world and transform lives.  In this passage Jesus came to the synagogue to get his marching orders. 

When someone asks me what 'church' is, or what 'church' means, I think of this passage. For me, personally, this is church. A place we go to hear the words, read the words, sing the words, in community with other believers. And this same place then calls us into love and action in the world.

So, the last week of the "This is Your Life, Jesus" series ends right here with Jesus in the synagogue.  This place (the synagogue) is the last 'character' to appear in his story of who set him forth in his path to ministry. Without his instruction and upbringing in the synagogue, he has little context for the ministry and the prophetic vision he is beginning to create.  He then, in this place, with all the community of believers around him, can say "Ok, ok.... I Get It, " and allow himself to become Jesus the healer, who would become Jesus the Christ.

 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Why do you think the place we call our church is important? Who/What do you find important within its walls? 

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"Your Mom is pushy!"

John 2:1-11

 The third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."


And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."

 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

I put a subtitle of my own on this when I posted it on my Facebook page. It read,  "Otherwise known as 'Mary helped Jesus fill out his college applications.' "

 I was delighted to once again read this story of Mary pushing and encouraging Jesus to do what she knows he is born to do... what he is capable of doing.  As a mom of a senior getting ready to audition for Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting programs around the country, it feels comforting to read the words in John and know that even Mary is a pushy mom, a mom who is always encouraging her kid to do the next thing around the bend.

So, in week 3 of "This is Your Life, Jesus" we have perhaps the most important player of all in Jesus' journey to being Savior of the World. Mary, who uncompromisingly agrees to be the mother of Emmanuel, despite the dangers and the trouble that would bring her way.  Mary, in this passage, stands there and gives Jesus a little push onto the Savior Stage.  You can almost hear her whisper, "Go on... do it... change the water into wine... change these people's lives... change the world."

It is important to note that Jesus did not feel like 'the hour had come' for him to begin his work, for him to show the miracles he could offer to the world.  His mom, however, knew better.  What daily miracles do we forego because we fear the timing isn't right?  What people would we be better off to listen to when they nudge us to move forward even when we don't feel ready?

Remember Mary when you think about the Wedding at Cana.  Without her, the water does not change to wine and Jesus misses the opportunity for his first recorded, public miracle to occur.  Fortunately he was a good son and listened to his mother when SHE knew the time was right.

Comments? Email me or comment below.

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Cousin Crooning

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

You hear the word 'crooning' and you probably think of Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra.  Or maybe you even think of Michael Buble.  A crooner sings with that mellow, smooth voice that makes your heart skip a beat.  And what does that have to do with a wild man who wears animal hides and lives in the wilderness?  Surely, we can't call John the Baptist a crooner...

But, come on now, those famous words sing out to us like a love song don't they? I think they do.
John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

He goes into some stuff just after that about separating the wheat from the chaff that sounds more like a soundtrack to a Stephen King film than a love song, but there is something about that announcement he gives to the people that compels us to listen to his words, just like we feel pulled into a crooner's song.
He is in love with the very idea of his cousin, Jesus, coming to the world as a Savior, as one who will baptize us with the Spirit.  John sets the stage, puts the needle on the record, allows us to get in the mood to await the One who comes to save us.

Words matter. We talked in Free Thinkers this morning about the way what words you choose to use are vitally important to the message you are trying to convey.   In this interpretation of the gospel of Luke, we have the words 'powerful' and 'Holy Spirit' and 'fire,' among others, to set a tone of the energy that is coming with the arrival of the Savior.

John sings to us a powerful message, telling us we better get ready for something unlike anything we have ever seen before.  What song lyrics would you write to convey how you feel about Jesus and what faith in the Divine is brought to your life?  What lyrics would you write to convey how you feel about your struggles in the faith?  Croon your own song.  Email me or comment below.