Priorities of the New Age
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 -- Week of Proper 22, Year Two
William Tyndale, 1536, and Miles Coverdale, 1568, Translators of the Bible
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 987)
Psalms 119:145-176 (morning) 128, 129, 130 (evening)
Micah 2:1-13
Acts 23:23-35
Luke 7:18-35
Luke portrays John the Baptist as the end of the line of prophets, and the greatest of the great Hebrew prophets. Jesus inaugurates a new age. Even the least of the members of this new age is greater than the greatest of prophets, he says. The prophets pointed to and anticipated the coming of the Messiah and the inauguration of a new way of being. In Jesus, God has fulfilled the prophets' dreams.
Yet the fortunate generation who lived to see the greatest prophet and the initiator of the new age acted childishly, rejecting and ridiculing both of God's acts. "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'"
We have the good fortune of knowing these stories -- the prophets and Jesus. Yet we still shy away from living fully in the new age.
John wondered about Jesus, asking from prison, "Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?" Jesus' answer points to his opening announcement at the synagogue in Nazareth. "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
As residents of the new age of Jesus, we participate in his mission. Our priorities are to be his priorities. We are to be healers and reconcilers. We are to be advocates for the poor, relieving poverty of circumstance and spirit.
What if we structured our cultural priorities in the spirit of Jesus? What would that look like?
No one would be without health care. The physically challenged would be central to our policies and priorities. The poor would have a ready path out of their poverty. No one would wonder about their "bread for the morrow" -- "give us this day our daily bread." And a reconciling spirit would prevail. "Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
But we live in a world that does not embrace the cultural priorities of Jesus. We live in a world more like the ancient prophet Micah spoke to -- a world dominated by the lure of riches and power. Where finance becomes a gambling game of trading sub-prime mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps until the prophet's words of judgment reach us: "Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil deeds on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in their power. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and take them away; they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance. Therefore thus says the Lord: Now, I am devising against this family an evil from which you cannot remove your necks; and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time." That sounds pretty contemporary.
What would happen if we shifted our priorities? What if the wealthy and powerful no longer made the rules and laws? What if our focus was on the health and welfare of the needy and poor? What if we used our national resources as Jesus used his spiritual resources -- to heal, to reconcile, to bring good news to the poor?
That's a dream of a new age worth committing to. It is the new age Jesus calls us toward. We will always have to confront opposition. "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep." There will always be those who are so selfish that they cannot embrace the joy of loving one's neighbor as oneself; they cannot embrace the ethics of structuring compassion for those who suffer.
Like Micah, John the Baptist and Jesus we face the same struggles against greed and power, self-centeredness and folly. But we struggle with the assurance that the Kingdom of God has come near. The new age has dawned. God is at work. Resurrection happens. Love is stronger than anything else in all creation.
William Tyndale, 1536, and Miles Coverdale, 1568, Translators of the Bible
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 987)
Psalms 119:145-176 (morning) 128, 129, 130 (evening)
Micah 2:1-13
Acts 23:23-35
Luke 7:18-35
Luke portrays John the Baptist as the end of the line of prophets, and the greatest of the great Hebrew prophets. Jesus inaugurates a new age. Even the least of the members of this new age is greater than the greatest of prophets, he says. The prophets pointed to and anticipated the coming of the Messiah and the inauguration of a new way of being. In Jesus, God has fulfilled the prophets' dreams.
Yet the fortunate generation who lived to see the greatest prophet and the initiator of the new age acted childishly, rejecting and ridiculing both of God's acts. "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'"
We have the good fortune of knowing these stories -- the prophets and Jesus. Yet we still shy away from living fully in the new age.
John wondered about Jesus, asking from prison, "Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?" Jesus' answer points to his opening announcement at the synagogue in Nazareth. "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
As residents of the new age of Jesus, we participate in his mission. Our priorities are to be his priorities. We are to be healers and reconcilers. We are to be advocates for the poor, relieving poverty of circumstance and spirit.
What if we structured our cultural priorities in the spirit of Jesus? What would that look like?
No one would be without health care. The physically challenged would be central to our policies and priorities. The poor would have a ready path out of their poverty. No one would wonder about their "bread for the morrow" -- "give us this day our daily bread." And a reconciling spirit would prevail. "Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
But we live in a world that does not embrace the cultural priorities of Jesus. We live in a world more like the ancient prophet Micah spoke to -- a world dominated by the lure of riches and power. Where finance becomes a gambling game of trading sub-prime mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps until the prophet's words of judgment reach us: "Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil deeds on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in their power. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and take them away; they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance. Therefore thus says the Lord: Now, I am devising against this family an evil from which you cannot remove your necks; and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time." That sounds pretty contemporary.
What would happen if we shifted our priorities? What if the wealthy and powerful no longer made the rules and laws? What if our focus was on the health and welfare of the needy and poor? What if we used our national resources as Jesus used his spiritual resources -- to heal, to reconcile, to bring good news to the poor?
That's a dream of a new age worth committing to. It is the new age Jesus calls us toward. We will always have to confront opposition. "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep." There will always be those who are so selfish that they cannot embrace the joy of loving one's neighbor as oneself; they cannot embrace the ethics of structuring compassion for those who suffer.
Like Micah, John the Baptist and Jesus we face the same struggles against greed and power, self-centeredness and folly. But we struggle with the assurance that the Kingdom of God has come near. The new age has dawned. God is at work. Resurrection happens. Love is stronger than anything else in all creation.
Lowell
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| The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love. See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org Our Rule of Life: We aspire to... worship weekly pray daily learn constantly serve joyfully live generously. Lowell Grisham, Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church Fayetteville, Arkansas |
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