Epiphany 4
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Luke 4:21-30
(prayer)
A mother held her new baby and very
slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she
held him, she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The baby grew. He grew and he grew and
he grew. He grew until he was two years old... At night time, when that
two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the
floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she
picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The little boy grew. He grew and he
grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old... and [then] a
teenager... But at night time...
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
That teenager grew. He grew and he grew
and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house
across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove
across town. If all the lights in her son's
house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and
looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she
picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
from Robert Munsch's
//
I believe that it is a
parent's prerogative to, perpetually, view their children as their babies, no
matter what age those babies are.
As of this
coming Friday, Patti and I will have two adult
sons: they were ages four and two when we first moved to Leduc. Where has the time gone?
As long as their living,
our babies they'll be.
Even so, it is potentially
a wonderful experience for a parent-child relationship to evolve into a
positive adult-to-adult connection - rarely do these relationships completely
discard the parent-child traditional hierarchy, but (at its healthiest) these
relationships do evolve. Usually that
involves a change of expectations on both the part of the child and the parent:
the parent releases decision-making control to their child (especially the
decisions to make mistakes) - and the child relieves the parent of the
responsibility of solving all of their problems.
I can attest (from both
sides of that coin) that this transition does not always happen smoothly. And it does not have to be a linear
change. More often than not, we
fluctuate between the extremes of a hands
off but loving attitude (tough love) to a let me make everything better one (ooky-pooky).
//
That struggle is
illustrated in Ron Howard's 1989 movie, Parenthood. The family patriarch, played by Jason
Robards, feels obligated to do what he can to protect his wild-child youngest
son (played by Tom Hulch [hools as in
book]). Frank comes up with a plan to
pay off Larry's gambling debts over time in exchange for Larry coming to work
with his dad at the family plumbing supply store, only to have to accept his
son's wrinkle in the "Frank Buchman" plan - Larry just got a call
from a friend and will be leaving for Chili for a new business opportunity. If
that doesn't work out, Larry will consider a career in plumbing supplies. In the meantime Frank can help him out with a
little cash for the road and letting Larry's young son stay with his
grandparents. Don't worry about it, the father says - walking that edge between
trying to solve the problem and letting the adult-child make his own decisions.
//
All kidding aside, I have
very heartfelt empathy for those who are caught in the ebb and flow of what
kind of a relationship adult children have with their parents and visa versa.
When things get difficult,
sometimes, all we are left with are less-than-desirable choices: dilemmas in the worst sense of the
word. And no matter what we choose,
someone will argue that we are doing the wrong thing.
//
Family relationships are
hard.
//
//
//
According to the synoptic
gospels, immediately after his baptism, thirty year old Jesus spent several
weeks alone in the wilderness struggling with the focus of the next phase of
his life.
From what the gospels
imply, Jesus had a fairly normal and predictable life up to that point: he
stayed in his hometown (Nazareth) and followed in his father's footsteps and
became a carpenter.
Now, in mid-life, Jesus was
setting out on a new path.
He had moved from his small
farming village to the major fishing port city of Capernaum.
When he came out of the
wilderness, Jesus was 'deeply inspired' (filled
with the power of the Holy Spirit the author of Luke writes) and traveled
around various towns and villages from his new home base by the Sea of Galilee,
teaching in various local synagogues.
Reports were that Jesus and his message were well received. He started to develop a bit of a reputation
as a wise and inspiring teacher healer.
If you were here last
Sunday, you may recall that Jesus' travels brought him back to the synagogue in
his hometown of Nazareth where he (along with others, as was the custom)
offered reflections on a text from Isaiah. The text in question read:
The
spirit of the Lord is upon me because God has anointed me
to
preach good news to the poor.
God
has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and
recovery of sight to the blind;
to
set at liberty those
who
are oppress`ed
and
to proclaim the acceptable
year
of the Lord.
Jesus' reflection: "Today,
this scripture had been fulfilled in your hearing."
The people in the synagogue
that Saturday were impressed with Jesus articulate and gracious words: All spoke well of him and were amased,
the text reports.
The word "amased"
seems to the right word here. We could
read surprised in that sentence based
on what Luke reports next.
Wow! Who would have expected such wisdom from
Joseph' son?
Many of these people knew
this same Jesus when he was in diapers.
They were neighbours of Joseph and Mary; they knew the rest of Jesus'
family in Nazareth. [Mark's version of this story mentions Jesus' sisters and
brothers.] They had heard of what Jesus
had been doing and saying in the other towns, but now they were hearing it for
themselves.
This new Jesus was not what they had come to expect.
//
Luke is less direct than
Mark and Matthew, but clearly, the hometown crowd questioned whether Jesus
could live up to the rumours from the other communities. They wanted to see for themselves: do 'here' the things we heard you did in
Capernaum.
But Jesus was not a
travelling minstrel, putting on shows for people's amusement. He was ministering
- proclaiming a fresh vision of the nearness of the Realm of God.
It was a misunderstanding
of what he was now about to assume that he would be pulling rabbits of of his
hat on request.
The crowds reaction seems
extreme, but - according to the text - at least a few of them became quite
angry at Jesus' lack of respect for his home town's desires (filled with rage) and ran him out of
town.
An group of them even
followed him up the hill on the edge of town.
The story goes that they might even have wanted to hurl him off the cliff.
As I said, that seems to be
an exaggerated reaction. If it was the
case, fortunately cooler heads prevailed and Jesus was allowed to go on his
way.
It seems that Jesus was
right when he said: no prophet is
accepted in his hometown. A saying
that is referenced in all four of the biblical gospels by they way.
//
//
//
If you are familiar with
some of my past sermons, you will know that I like to focus on not only the literal details of scripture stories but
also the messages they can relay beyond
the literal - at the parable or metaphoric level.
//
This week, as I was reading
some background materials on today's readings from the Seasons of the Spirit resource from Wood Lake Books, I liked how
they pointed out that Jesus found himself (literally) at the edge of his
hometown.
Figuratively, that can
remind us of a risky, but profoundly impactful, ministry that is lived out on
the edge.
Jesus could have played it
safe and became the showman that the fickle crowds demanded to save him from
the risks of being on the edge.
But Jesus was prepared for
this conflict; he had wrestled with this temptation while he was in the
wilderness after his baptism.
//
Jesus must have been
disappointed that people in his hometown couldn't reconcile the old reputation
of his childhood in Nazareth (and his first career as a second generation
carpenter) with the emerging reputation of his new midlife career as a
travelling teacher-prophet who had moved to the bigger city.
Jesus had to accept that -
for the time being at least - they were too close to appreciate the
significance of what he was proclaiming - we might use the metaphor that they couldn't see the forest for the trees -
they were "too close to see".
//
//
The new direction of Jesus'
life and ministry was not going to be held back by those who wanted to hold on
to his past.
Like young Jeremiah, Jesus
knew that God does not hold us back.
Yes, we are known for who we were, but that does not limit who we can
become.
//
//
I think a message for us
today (from what we have read in Jeremiah and Luke) is that we are encouraged
to not be so quick to think we know everything about our current situation.
//
Our accumulated knowledge
and understandings not withstanding, there is more to discover - more to
learn. We are continuously maturing as
individuals in this life and in our relationship with God.
Our call to be people of
faith is constantly evolving.
Each day, there are new
opportunities to become the people our God would have us be.
//
That will, no doubt, bring
us times of (both) comfort and challenge.
Like it was for Jesus, for us, faithful living involves being on the
edge.
There is great value for us
to remain mindful of the wider perspective - the bigger picture of God's
compassion for us and all creation.
//
Let us desire to know more.
Let us view mystery not as
something to be feared, but as a wonder be embraced.
//
When we find ourselves on
those difficult ledges and edges, let us trust that God can guide us toward the
new paths - away from the difficulties of the past.
Let's give each other room to
grow. And let's find ways to walk the
paths of life and faith together.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
//
Let us pray:
God, we find you with ones we did not expect. You do what we would
not have chosen. Move our lives to join you on the edge, where holy love
stretches out with grace.
Amen.
#161MV “I Have Called You By your Name”
