This
element of immediacy of Jesus' mission is a consistent and integral part of Luke's
Gospel. When Jesus' birth was announced the angels told the shepherds, “Today
there is born a savior among you, go now and be with him.” When Jesus was
presented in the temple, Simeon knew that he was in the presence of something
new, something much greater than himself and larger than any of his dreams. Upon
being present at the ceremony where Jesus is named, Simeon in effect exclaims,
“Now your servant can go in peace, for salvation is within my sight.”
Jesus
taught his disciples to pray, inviting them to give thanks and say, “Give
us today our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others, lead
us not into temptation, deliver us not into temptation,” all in the present.
Lastly in some of Jesus' final words on the cross, he turns to one of the thieves
who had asked for Jesus' blessing, and Jesus replies, amidst the pain and crying,
“Today you will be with me in paradise.” That is to say today my friend
you will taste of God's forgiveness and grace.
The Gospel isn't particularly concerned about the sweet
by and by. The Gospel lives, and sweats, and struggles among us today. It is this
freshness, this immediacy that, in some way, a healthy Christian community communicates.
Over
this past week we have been reminded of many of the profound words of Martin Luther
King, Jr. He was truly a 20th century Christian prophet and deserves to be on
our calendar of saints. Yet at the time King spoke many of his words, they were
not readily appreciated, for they smarted right then and there. There was no escaping
or pushing off their implication. They made people think. I don't think that by
in large, the words of Jesus were received by their original hearers any differently.
It is instructive to note that soon after Jesus had finished teaching, Luke reports
that some attempted to kill him and bring an end to his ministry.
Prophets confront our world with an immediacy that makes
us grow into the future. That is why we so need prophets in our church and larger
society. Martin Luther King's observations have led us as nation in the direction
we have needed to go. Very few would like to return to the racial conditions of
the fifties and before.
In today’s epistle, Paul describes characteristics
of a church community by using the analogy of the human body. We are members with
many differences, and we need to honor and have those differences if we are to
function, to fight off disease and to grow. A real problem of polarized societies
is that they don't appreciate how much they need differences, how much they need
prophets to confront them, and to help them grow.
This morning's lessons are a warning about those who want
to debate without listening; who want to win their case, not search for larger
truth; and who want to kick out or suffocate voices that oppose their own opinions.
