Hearing the good news - how do we respond?
Dear friends and members of St. Matt's,
Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Luke the Evangelist. This is the Luke we believe to be the author of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Luke was a contemporary of Paul's. In fact, tradition tells us that he sat with Paul in prison when Paul was near the end of his life. And it was here that Paul told Luke the greatest of stories - and Luke wrote it down for the generations of faithful people who would come after him. Tradition tells us, too, that Luke was a doctor - and his concern for the people around him echoes through his telling of the good news. Luke's Gospel is deeply concerned with the health and wellbeing of all God's people. The Jesus that Luke describes is unrelenting in his commitment to love, mercy, and a community that shares in abundant life.
In the passage we hear on Luke's day, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in Galilee. And he unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and reads these words:
“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.”
What we don't hear is that a few verses after this, the gathered crowd chases Jesus up a hill and tries to throw him off the side. Seriously, they literally try to toss him off the side of a hill - because he claims the authority of God and he proclaims the good news. Who has that kind of a reaction to good news? What happened to "how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one who bears good news" (Isaiah 52:7)?
How could they be upset with the idea that Jesus had ushered in - not just a year - but a lifetime - an eternity of the Lord's favor? How could they be upset at the idea of freedom and life abundant? Who responds that way to good news? How do you respond to good news? Probably differently depending on the news...but what's your instinct?
Which one of us doesn't have the ability to look up at the sky on a bright, blue day and see the storm clouds gathering? Which one of us hasn't wondered for a moment, or for a season if we were worthy of the good news? Which one of us has wondered for a moment, or for a season if the good news was really just for other people and not for us? You may not have taken Jesus up to a high place and tried to toss him over the edge recently - and still, in all of our hearts and minds there are obstacles that keep us from taking in this good news, that keep us from knowing the life abundant that Jesus sets before us.
What are the obstacles in your life that prevent you from claiming the season of the Lord's favor? What prevents you from seeing this time now as the time when God has come to you with love and with promise? The good news of Luke's gospel is that this Jesus who insists on love, on community, on forgiveness is a Jesus who comes for everyone. The good news Jesus proclaims is for each one of us and for all people. We just may have to work a little bit at letting that good news in. Because it is, in fact, meant for you.
I hope that in this season of your life, you'll make time to join us as we hear and practice living this good news, as we follow this relentless Jesus on the way of love. And I hope that we'll see you on Sunday. Until then, you'll be in my prayers.
Faithfully,
--Marissa +
PS - that picture is of a joint confirmation trip to Temple B'nai Chaim as Rabbi Rachel Bearman shared with us one of their amazing scrolls. This is just what the scroll would have looked like that Jesus unrolls in the passage from Luke.
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