Sunday 30 January, 2022

Reflection:   "All You Need is Love"

Psalm 71:1-6

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Luke 4:21-30

1 Cor. 13:1-13

You may remember from last week’s reading in Luke, that Jesus had returned from his 40 days in the wilderness and was preaching around Galilee.
Eventually he returned to his hometown of Nazareth and read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue.
No problems so far!
 
What is it that allows people to get up and preach in front of others?
Do they have to spend 3 years at a seminary college, or get a PhD in divinity, before they’re qualified?
 
In our reading from Jeremiah, we see that God himself touched the lips of a young man, who was full of self-doubt, saying that he, God, would speak through Jeremiah’s mouth.
God told him that he had been chosen to be a prophet, even before he had been formed in the womb.
 
This is similar to the story of Moses, who also professed to God that he wasn’t a good speaker and probably wouldn’t make a very good prophet.
It just goes to show that God can use talents that we don’t even realise that we have. 
If God wants you, he’ll give you the words, or actions, that are required for you to be his servant.
 
Jesus did not really have any special religious training before preaching to the people in the temple at Nazareth.
He would have gone through the normal schooling for young Jewish boys, which entailed learning the Torah (the first 5 books of our current Old Testament) by heart, at an early age.
The best learners were then apprenticed under a Rabbi, to learn how to interpret the readings and laws.
Today, we understand that, as the Son of God, he could do anything, but to his peers, in the first century, he was just the son of the carpenter Joseph.
 
Maybe Jesus just followed what many preachers do today – he listened to God.
Paul reinforces this process in his first letter to the Corinthians.
He explains that words spoken without love are like a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.
 
We can see from Luke’s account of Jesus preaching to the Nazarenes that there was a problem with what he said.
The words he spoke, after he sat down, definitely did not please the others who were there.
The people weren’t too happy and seemed keen to let Jesus know how they felt.
Jesus was taking a big risk in saying these things in the synagogue.
 
Things had been going well during his time of preaching around Galilee and now he had come home to Nazareth.
Jesus had been preaching to huge crowds and had performed amazing miracles.  
Yes, it was hard coming back where people knew him as a boy playing in the street, but that doesn’t seem to have been the problem.
He was welcomed as the hometown boy made good. 
Things were going well until Jesus challenged them to look at their own feelings towards people who were not Jews.
Their own spiritual pride could not imagine that God would work outside their country, beyond their Jewish faith. 
If Jesus had just stuck to good Biblical generalities, everything would probably have been all right.   
 
Let’s not forget that he’s just finished reading Isaiah’s prophecy of a year of favour, of Jubilee, when the blind find sight, the captives - release, the oppressed - relief, and all the poor of this world - consolation.
 
And, lest we be mistaken about the direction Jesus is heading in, it’s just as important to note what he doesn’t read. Because the passage from Isaiah goes on, telling of that day when the Lord will trample down all Israel’s enemies, crush them underfoot and restore Israel to its rightful place.
But no, Jesus doesn’t read that part.
He’s not thinking locally, but globally, and this isn’t a nationalistic sermon, but one in which he declares that God loves all the world and has a special concern for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.
And for this to come true, there needs to be some changes in the attitudes of the Jewish people.

For, as Mary sings before her boy was even born, in order to raise the lowly, God’s going to have to bring down the powerful; and in order to feed the poor, the rich are going to have to go away empty (Read Luke 1:46-55)
 
This is what Jesus is talking about, but the home crowd just doesn’t get it.
This frustrates Jesus and drives his point home in the words he says in verses 23 to 27.
And this time they do get it.
So clearly, in fact, that they’re ready to get him.
 
Would God favour Syria over Israel?
Would God heal in Capernaum, but not in Nazareth?
I don’t think so - that’s heresy, they say.
And we know what they do with heretics.
They were ready to throw him over the cliff just outside of town.
 
But Jesus was ruled by love – love of God and love of these people of Nazareth.
He loved them too much to let their racism, and their hatred of anyone who wasn’t Jewish, go unchallenged.
 
I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear the words “I’m only telling you this in love” I know I’m about to get verbally whacked.
Too often “speaking the truth in love” is just an excuse for rudeness.
But on the flip side, a really good friend, or a loving partner or parent, will often tell you difficult truths when no one else will.
I rely on Lynne’s critiques of my messages before I send them out and I know that she’ll lovingly tell me when I’m a bit off track and need to revise the way I’m trying to communicate a thought. 
She’s not being harshly critical, but her loving way lets me know when I could express something more positively.
 
As Paul says to the Christians at Corinth, “love rejoices in the truth”. 
He certainly took the risk to tell them that all their spiritual gifts were of no use if they weren’t built on loving relationships.
 
Jesus loved the people of Nazareth enough to show them the truth about themselves, just as he does for us. 
That is why we have a prayer of confession in each of our church services.  
We can only risk having that prayer if we really know that God loves each of us more than any of our sins or mistakes.  
We can only risk speaking the truth to others if we are continually showing them love in ways that speak louder than the difficult truths.
 
So, the next time you feel the need to let someone know that maybe they have strayed a bit and need some loving guidance to get back on track, don’t just say that you’re doing this lovingly, but prayerfully examine your motives for raising the issue, before letting them have both barrels. 
Are you just satisfying your own ego, or do you really, lovingly, care for the person that you’re speaking with?
 
I think the expression being used these days is to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Even that well known singing group, the Beatles, recognised that in their 1967 hit “All you need is love”.
 
In Corinthians we read “Faith, hope and love abide; and the greatest of these is love.”
 
Until we can meet again, face to face, the peace and love of God be with you.
 
Pastor Rick