Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Luke 4:14-21

Mt. Zion UMC, Stokesdale, NC

21 January 2007

Know Thyself

Do you know who you are? Biologists say that self awareness is a trait of an intelligent creature. Humans can recognize themselves in a mirror. According to America’s Funniest Home Videos… cats cannot. Have you seen some of those videos? You know, where a cat either walks past a mirror or is placed in front of one and sees its reflection and then… goes spastic. I think they’re rather funny. It’s absurd really. Doesn’t the cat know that the cat in the mirror is doing the exact same thing it is? Well, obviously not.

This past week, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on who I am. I’m in the middle of writing my commissioning papers for the conference – they’re due on Friday, pray for me please. This past week I’ve been working on the call portion of the papers. In this section, I’ve been asked to tell a lot about myself, my life, and how God called me into the ministry. I’ve been asked what my gifts and graces are and how I’m using them for ministry. I’ve been asked what my weaknesses are and how I’m planning on improving myself in those areas. All said and done, these papers are to be a reflection of who I am.

In our gospel reading for this morning, we find Jesus making a claim as to who he is. Jesus had just spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness and has now come back to Nazareth. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue “as was his custom” [Luke 4:16]. And he stood up to read. Now, during that time, any Jewish man could stand and read in a synagogue. The synagogue was not so much a place of worship as it was a place of teaching, learning, and discussing. It was also traditional for the reader to stand to read the scrolls. Then the scriptures tell us a scroll was handed to Jesus. Similar to today, there was a set schedule for what reading would be read on any particular day. Today, we call this a lectionary. Apparently, the reading on that day came from the book of Isaiah. Actually, the reading that Luke records is a paraphrase of Isaiah 61:1-2. Jesus read aloud, “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.” Jesus then sat down. This was another aspect of the synagogue tradition, sermons – well, they were really more like commentaries – were delivered by sitting down, not standing. So Jesus sat down and said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” That’s it.

Jesus knew who he was. He knew that the Spirit of the Lord was on him because he is Lord. He knew his ministry would be to reconcile a fallen creation to God. He knew that he was going to bring sight, the ability to see God, back to a humanity that was blinded by sin. He knew that he would break the bonds of sin and death, bringing freedom of everlasting life to humanity. He knew that he was bringing “the year of the Lord’s favor.” - What does that mean? What’s “the year of the Lord’s favor?” It’s a part of the ancient Israelite tradition. According to Israelite Law, every seventh year was to be a year of rest for the land and no planting or harvesting was to be done [Leviticus 25:1-7]. Then every seventh seventh year – that’s every 49 years - a year of Jubilee would be celebrated. In a Jubilee Year, all things would return back to their original state. That is, all slaves would be freed; all land that was lost would be restored to its original family; every debt was to be forgiven [Leviticus 25:8-17]. That’s the year of the Lord’s favor.

Now, there’s no record of a Jubilee Year ever being celebrated. I mean, that would just play havoc with the economic system. But Jesus claims that this year has been fulfilled. Jesus knows that he is that Jubilee Year – a Jubilee Year for all eternity – for through his death on the cross and his resurrection to eternal life, all debts would be forgiven, humanity would no longer be a slave to sin and death, creation would be reconciled back to God. Jesus most definitely knew who he was. But, do we know who we are?

The Apostle Paul tells us who we are in our reading from 1 Corinthians. Paul says in verse 27, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” [1 Corinthians 12:27]. As the Church, we are the body of Christ. Individually we are all members of the body of Christ. Individually, we’re not Christ’s body, but together we are. That’s who we are.

Paul reminds us that in our baptism, we are “all baptized into one body” [1 Corinthians 12:13]. There is no distinction made, politically or ethnically, between baptized Christians. We have taken on a new identity together as the body of Christ. Although we share the same identity as the body of Christ, Paul does observe that we are different from each other because we are also individuals. Paul describes this aspect of God’s plan for us by reminding us that not all parts of the body are the same although they are of the same body. Paul uses illustrations of the body that were known at that time: hands, feet, eyes, ears… Yet even with our more advanced medical knowledge, the same emphasis is evident. We all have muscle cells, skin cells, nerve cells… different types of cells, yet they all contain our DNA. They may be unique between themselves, but they are all directly related because of the body they make up.

If we all have a part to do as members of the body of Christ, then what are we as members to do? Before we can really understand what part each of us play as a member of the body of Christ, it’s important to know what we should be doing as the body of Christ. Christ came as the Jubilee Year. He came to reconcile humanity, all of creation, to God. He did that on the cross and at the resurrection. Now what? If all the work is done, what does the body of Christ have to do here and now? Remember that the words Jesus read from Isaiah included the word “proclaim.”

As the body of Christ here and now, we are to proclaim “the year of the Lord’s favor.” We are to proclaim that debts have been forgiven and that reconciliation is possible. And because we are a complete body, we are to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in every possible way. A body is not made entirely of mouths, so our proclaiming is not just with voices. Our proclaiming is not just with writing, it’s also with actions. Actions like the means of grace – both the acts of piety like prayer, scripture study, worship, and Holy Communion, as well as acts of mercy like caring for the poor with our gifts of food, clothing, and time. Yes, caring even for the poor who are not directly related to us or are even a part of our nation, ethnicity, or community. In this fallen creation, there are plenty of ways to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with our words and our actions. So, what are we going to do as Mt. Zion United Methodist Church?

What are we going to do? We can do more as a congregation than we can do as individuals. But we can’t do it all as a congregation. Of course, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church is not the body of Christ at its fullness. Our congregation as a whole is also a member of the body of Christ. Just like individuals are members of the body of Christ, so too is our congregation. We’re a congregation within the United Methodist Church, and the United Methodist Church is a part of the Church Universal – the body of Christ.

Now then, what part of the body of Christ is Mt. Zion United Methodist Church? We are comprised of individuals with various gifts and graces that make up the congregation’s gifts and graces. What gifts and graces, what talents, what resources, what interests do we have as a congregation that will be our part in proclaiming “the year of the Lord’s favor?” These aren’t hypothetical questions, they aren’t rhetorical questions… they’re essential questions because a body part that doesn’t function is dead.

Jesus Christ has given us life. “The year of the Lord’s favor” is here. We don’t have to worry because the battle is already won. Our job as the body of Christ is to show the world that God’s kingdom is here. Yes, bad things still happen, it’s still a fallen creation. Bad things still happened when Jesus walked the earth in the New Testament. That’s no different. The difference now is that Jesus’ physical body is much larger because it’s not simply made up of body parts. Now, it’s made up of all Christians. So, what part of Jesus’ life and ministry are we, as Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, responsible for?

SDG