chaplain

Go To The Edges

Luke 4:21-30

Today I’m thinking about edges. There are all types of edges we could talk about–edges of a page, edges of anything flat, really. We could call the moment the sun goes down, the edge or border between day and night. The earth’s ‘edge’ is turning away from the sun (or toward it as sunrise comes). People used to believe the Earth was flat and that there was an edge one could fall off. When I taught Middle School science, I used to ask students to talk about whether there is an edge to the universe—whether there is something beyond what we can see or know. And… I know my porch is edged because I’ve stepped off it sideways. Edges can be uncomfortable, exciting, and painful.  

The passage from the gospel of Luke teaches us something about edges. It begins by telling us of a peaceful Sabbath morning in the synagogue in Nazareth, where Jesus was raised and grew up preaching. Jesus is there giving a sermon and has just unrolled a scroll with words written by Isaiah. He reads the words written by the prophet and points out that he, Jesus, is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus is claiming here that God sent him.  

After this, the ‘people’, those who knew him as a child and watched him growing, seem to be satisfied that this young person, from their very midst, is making them proud. Jesus is a hometown hero, and they claim him as their own. We can almost hear the cheering from here, can’t we? 

Jesus doesn’t stop there though. That’s where the story stopped last Sunday, and often, that’s where my memory of the story stops (partly because I don’t like to think about the rest of the story; I’m uncomfortable with the ‘edge’). You might say that we left the story last week at the point of a cliff hanger. 

Here’s the edge. Can you feel it? Jesus reads the words of Isaish and says scripture has been fulfilled. Then Jesus goes further. . . he says a prophet is not welcome or accepted in his hometown. Before the people can even begin to ask him for favors, he names their expectations. . . and then he dismisses them by saying he won’t be meeting them. He won’t, he says, be working miracles in Nazareth. What?! And the cheers from the crowd die down. The tension here is like another character in the story. 

Stepping away from the story for a bit, I have a question for all of us. Have you ever felt like you couldn’t meet the expectations of others? I wonder whether that felt uncomfortable for you. What feelings arise when you remember that time? For me, it’s like a living nightmare. I like to anticipate expectations and exceed them. I really don’t like the feeling of letting people down. 

I can tell you that I am doing a lot of work in this area–the area of feeling like I need to meet the expectations of others.  

When the expectations are agreed upon by two sides, meeting them is a good thing idea. This kind of situation creates peace. . . a Shalom community where all are thriving (the true biblical shalom means an inward sense of completeness or wholeness. Although it can also describe the absence of war, a majority of biblical references refer to an inner completeness and tranquility). But when the expectations are one-sided and not agreed upon by both sides, meeting them is not healthy. This situation would create an unbalanced community where some are pushed down by others (or some are raised up by stepping on others). This is exploitation; the opposite of Shalom. 

Back to the scripture, Jesus goes on to tell the people that in Israel’s history there were miracles performed by the prophets Elijah and Elisha that did not meet the expectations of the Israelite people. Jesus reminds them that Elijah was sent by God to heal a foreign woman while widows in Israel went unhealed. And Naaman, a man from Syria was healed by Elisha while the people of Israel were not healed.  

This is another ‘edge’ or turning point in this story. After Jesus had established that he was sent by God, and that he is a prophet like Elisha and Elijah; and after he predicted that the people of his hometown might start asking him to perform miracles in Nazareth, he tells them that he would not be doing that. As we might expect, the people (who had just admired his work and his prophet-ness) were furious with Jesus.  

Here is Jesus who says he’s sent by God and can work miracles, but instead of helping those in Nazareth—people who seem to feel like they own him—he promises to help people on the edge of society. The foreigner, the outcast, the poor. . .  

The people at the synagogue in Nazareth are quick to turn toward violence. They immediately bring Jesus to the edge of town, to the edge of a cliff. The Israelite people see themselves as chosen. Special in the eyes of God. Even so, they are oppressed and marginalized by the Roman occupation. And now their hometown hero refuses to perform miracles for them. They want exclusive rights to God. They want Jesus to work for them. 

In the story arc of the Bible, the Israelite people forget over and over that God’s love is for EVERYONE (not specifically them). The Romans, the Syrians, the poor, the rich, the ruler, the slave. I wonder whether we do too.  

I know that when something especially hard happens to me, I question God’s love for me. I find myself thinking, “God, I’ve done all the things you ask of me. I’ve tried hard to live my life according to your will.” I know I’m forgetting that God doesn’t promise any of us easy lives. God does tell us there is an abundance of love for ALL and that will never change. 

Jesus reached outside the edges of the community that claimed him as their hero. They wanted to claim him and his love for themselves. Jesus showed his own community that God’s love is for EVERYONE. No one deserves God’s love more or less than anyone else.  

Jesus taught about Shalom. Shalom can only be felt in a community. If all in the community are not thriving, there can be no Shalom. If there is exploitation—there is no Shalom or thriving. If there is exploitation, it creates an edge. 

And there are no edges, no boundaries to God’s love. 

Citations:

Jolene Miller from Roanoke Mennonite Church in Illinois

Luke 4:21-30

Joy!

When I was young, Christmas was a time for ‘dressing up’ in my family. We wore our ‘good’ clothes to church and to special Christmas events. I loved the feeling of joy that surrounded these opportunities. My mom created a sense of joy in our home by decorating and inviting my sisters and I to help in the decorating. I have fond memories of getting the boxes out of the attic, unpacking them, and then spreading the garlands, bows and tinsel all around the house. We had a few different nativity scenes to put in different rooms too. Once we had the tree up, unpacking all the beloved ornaments was an activity all its own. Still today, as I talk about this, I feel the joy of the season coming through me.

I grew up on a beef feedlot just a few miles from here, on Eicher Road. By this time of year, my parents were finalizing plans for creating more than 100 ‘meat packages’ to distribute to friends and neighbors. This meant that my sisters, brothers, and I would gather around the kitchen table, wrapping sausage and chipped beef in freezer paper, then in red cellophane. We would add a bow, and place some of each type of meat into a basket. These special packages would be loaded into the car and off we’d go to deliver them over the next handful of days leading up to Christmas.

It was a special thing to grow up this way—with a sense of generosity and abundance to be shared with others. I loved being part of this joyful sharing. Some neighbors on Eicher Road have lived there more than 50 years and I know they received that many Eicher Christmas Meat packages. The most beautiful part of this is what happened next—neighbors would appear at our house with packages of all kinds of treats! Cookies of every sort, including Donna Rietz’s famous chocolate covered peanut butter balls! Our kitchen counter held plates and baskets of homemade treats!

I bring all of this into this message for the third week of Advent because we celebrate the Joy of Jesus’ birth, and the Joy of Jesus’ life and message: Share with others, help each other, ALL ARE WELCOME. In the scripture reading from Isaiah we hear the words, “The year of the Lord’s favor” which might ring a bell for some of you. It’s a reference to the ‘year of jubilee’.

Jubilee was historically a time when everything was set back to its starting place and I think there is something so beautiful about this idea. It seems like a relief to know that things can return to they way they started, rather than just getting worse and worse, or more and more confusing.

I am a nanny for a little boy named Nathaniel, who is 3 years old. He loves to play with his wooden train tracks and we often build entire worlds when we are together. It’s always different. He usually doesn’t want to put the wooden train set away, to preserve this world he built. But his mom has taught him that at the end of each day, the house will be ‘re-set’ to it’s ‘put-away’ state, and tomorrow everything will start afresh. Nathaniel has learned that this is a helpful way to go about building his train worlds because with each new day, he remembers how to build the parts he really liked about his previous world but can forget about the parts he didn’t care for, or that weren’t as he wanted them to be. In this way, he is exponentially growing and learning.

Another personal connection to this idea is from my one-day lesson in welding from a master welder. There is more to this story, but the part I bring to share today is this: As I learned to hold the tool and create a ‘bead’ of weld along the joint line, this teacher told me that if I got too shaky or the line got too wobbly, I should stop (rather than keep going). In other words, take a moment to pause and refocus my attention to creating a clean line. That lesson has proven so helpful in my non-welding life.

Two weeks ago Rob in maintenance here at MV told me a wonderful story that I want to pass on to you. I wanted to bring it into the first week of Advent as a story about Hope, but I think it fits during this week of Advent just as well, and it resonates with this idea of ‘year of jubilee’. On a walk near his property, Rob heard an interesting sound coming from a pipe near the ground. After further inspection, he found it came from a tiny kitten deep inside the pipe and even after urging the kitten to come out, it resisted and was scared. Rob spent 20 minutes trying to coax it out and made a tiny lasso which he finally managed to hook around the tiny kitten’s arm. Gently he pulled the kitten out. Covered in oily sludge, Rob wrapped it up and brought it home. And found a great home for him, where he lives and plays with a big German Shepherd dog friend. Imagine the joy!

These stories illustrate, at least to me (and I hope to you), that there is restoration in Christ’s birth and life. There is restoration in righting things in the world that have become out of alignment. The world can be restored to its starting position if we follow Jesus and there is JOY in this because people (and kittens) who don’t have what they need will be given enough; people on the fringes or margins will be included into the mainstream or ‘whole cloth’.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have or haven’t done in your life. It doesn’t matter whether you live in a house/tent/apartment/tiny home/mobile home/or the Mennonite Village. It doesn’t matter whether you experience illness or immobility. It doesn’t matter who you are. ALL ARE WELCOME to be surrounded by the Hope/Peace/Joy of Jesus and welcomed into the house of God.‘The Jesus way is to come together with those who are on the fringes, the marginalized, who are present within and outside of our community.’ As followers of Jesus we can seek out those who are marginalized, or on the fringes of our society. We can light the way for others by sharing joy.

AND, as followers of Jesus, when we are not experiencing this joy, we can join with others who are. We can soak up the joy of others around us, and in this way ‘water the seeds of joy’ in us. Sometimes, if you are like me, you can feel guilty for not resonating with the joy of the season. Remember, ALL ARE WELCOME. Joy is here for all of us whenever we are ready for it.