Day 1525 - I Need a Witness

A sermon presented at First Presbyterian Church, Spring City, TN, February 12, 2017 with the help of friends.

Isaiah 61:1-2

Luke 7: 18-35

This is one of the important messages in this text of Luke. (There are many!)  John the Baptist, in prison, heard what Jesus is doing and because of his faith in his prophecy, asks, “Is this what the messiah does, bring good news to the oppressed, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners? Can this be the vengeance of the Lord that brings comfort??” For John and us, it isn't our view of Jesus that needs to be adjusted, it is one's view of what the Messiah does that needs adjusting. Like everyone John can chose to accept the reports of witnesses, not on getting more witnesses to know how God is working in the world.

Last week we heard about the centurion in Luke’s gospel. The Centurion heard about Jesus because Jesus had been so extensively preaching and teaching about the town of Capernaum that everyone around had heard him telling to live the good life of the gospel. Many witnesses had seen healings. Even John the Baptist languishing in Herod’s prison for criticizing his adulterous marriage to his brother’s wife has heard of the acts and words of Jesus from his disciples.

To understand this passage, let’s ask, “What do we know about John the Baptist?” We are tempted to read into this passage all the information we gained from the other gospels, but each gospel tells us something different about John the Baptist. Mark tells us John the Baptist proclaimed that “one is coming who is more powerful than John, and will baptize people with the Holy Spirit.”  According to Mark, John baptized Jesus but never proclaimed Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus kept his identity quiet until after John was arrested, and even then did not explicitly identify himself as the Messiah. Matthew tells much the same story as Mark, and adds that John did not want to baptize Jesus because Jesus was greater than him. Matthew never reports John saying Jesus is the Messiah. Only the gospel of John reports that John the Baptist testified the Messiah is coming. In John’s gospel when John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus after baptism, he testified this is the Messiah. But John’s gospel never clearly states John baptized Jesus. Neither Matthew, Mark or John give us any details on the family history of John the Baptist. Only Luke gives us information about the childhood of Jesus beyond the birth story.  

Luke says he has collected the reports about Jesus and recorded them in his gospel as an orderly report. Luke evaluates all the material and writes what he thinks is the important message in each event.  Luke placed importance on the connection of the lineage of Jesus to Hebrew history. Luke alone gives us his family history telling us that (1) Luke describes the conception of John and his birth in a series of events that markedly parallel the story of Abraham, Sarah And Isaac, (2) the mothers of the two are relatives, either aunt and niece, or cousins. This means Jesus and John are cousins.

Luke tells no childhood details, but perhaps as children the two cousins played together. What we do know from Luke’s account is that Jesus and John have had no contact as adults until this occasion when John, in jail, sends his disciples to inquire of Jesus about what he has heard.

A lot of sermons have painted John languishing in jail facing death for taking on King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. They say John doubts his own faith in the Messiah. Such a sermon says John by his own voice proclaims the coming good news and the coming of the king, the powerful Messiah, baptizing people for repentance so John must think that the Messiah will come and save him. In these sermons when John sends the question, “Are you truly the Messiah?” John is thinking “Maybe Jesus isn’t the Messiah,” so he sends his disciples as more witnesses to ask.

If you put aside what you have read in the other gospels and carefully read the text, it does not support these conclusions. John knew the Messiah is greater than he is (The angel Gabriel told his parents this fact and that John is on a divine mission.)  We have no reason to think John has abandoned his belief that Jesus will bring the good news to the poor, heal the sick, give sight to the blind and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor because he is proclaiming what was written in Isaiah 61:1-2 and Psalm 146: 5-10 (as did Jesus in Luke 4:18-21):

 The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

                because the LORD has anointed me;

    he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

                to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim liberty to the captives,

                and release to the prisoners;

    to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor,

                and the day of vengeance of our God;

                to comfort all who mourn;

John knows all these things. He has heard of all the signs of the Messiah, so it is a very logical that he will send his disciples to inquire if this is really it, “Are you the Messiah, the one marked by the Holy Spirit and burning zeal?  Or should we continue to look. He recognizes the signs of the prophecy but maybe he wonders are these signs of a prophet such as Elijah or Isaiah, or is this the Messiah?

Maybe John wonders only if more signs are to come? If his cousin is the Messiah, is he going to overturn the Roman kingdom and free Jerusalem and the captives and open its Temple gates to everyone, including John?

It is entirely possible that John ‘s idea of the Messiah is shaped by his Jewish history. For centuries, the Jewish people suffered continually under subjugation. The Rabbi’s read these passages from Isaiah and other prophets in the synagogues and Temple regularly. The prophets tell of the mighty deeds of the Lord when he gathers his people together again. John knows the promises of the coming Day of the Lord. Isaiah epitomizes these hopes, “He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; and proclaiming the year of the LORD’S favor.” This prophecy shapes the dreams and hopes of the people. People build subjective ideas of what it will be like when that Day of the Lord comes. Much like the four different gospels shape our perception of John the Baptist, people wonder when will the bondage by the chains of Rome be broken?

Does John wonder what Isaiah meant when he said a day of vengeance of our God is coming when the Messiah comforts all who mourn? After all, the reports of witnesses to John do not say Jesus carries a sword?

Perhaps John is asking, “Jesus you are spending all your time with the poor, sick and distressed, the outcasts, the unclean who violate the Law. Does the Messiah eat with the tax collectors, those who take advantage of the poor, and drink too much? Is this the way the Messiah acts?”

Maybe John would be better assured by more witnesses? Would 100 more witness reports of the same event make any stronger impact? I don’t think so.

The test in John’s mind is not doubt of whether the Messiah will release John from Herod’s prison, but rather, “Do I believe what my ears hear and my eyes see, does my own witness sustain my faith that this Jesus is the One?

I argue that we all think in a similar manner, at least some of the time.  We read our bibles that contain all the hopes and promises of the Lord. Do you remember the hymn, “When we all get to heaven what a joyful day that will be?”  That hymn is the stuff of dreams of our future. It captures something very important but also contains something dangerous.

The focus of that hymn and others like it points us towards the future and away from the present. When we are in distress it is a natural thing to look to the hopes that we have built for the future. What is more satisfying than to dream of the joy and fulfillment we will have when we are sitting at the foot of the Lord?  Not much.  But if we spend all out day dreaming about that future and lose sight of what we should be doing in the present, we have a serious spiritual problem.  

By now you may remember how many times I’ve repeated this, Jesus said that God is the God of the living. The reports of Jesus’ actions brought back to John by his witnesses reveal one thing, Jesus’ actions are the way God works and moves in the World.  We must not let our subjective ideas lead us to conclude “This isn’t the way my dreams and aspirations say it is going to work.”

The question of John the Baptist, ‘Are you the Messiah?” brings us directly to that point. Jesus is fully engrossed in bringing good news to the oppressed, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners; and proclaiming the year of the LORD’S favor directed towards all God’s children. He is so focused on this that at times we read that the disciples worry that Jesus will not even eat because it takes time away from this calling.

John’s question is born of faith, “Is this the way the Lord works in the world? …With compassion not judgment?”

If our faith says, “yes” because we have heard Jesus tell us the good news, then we come to understand the last part of Isaiah’s proclamation, he will “proclaim … the day of vengeance of our God; (and) … comfort all who mourn,” to mean that our salvation is the Lord’s vengeance against the world and a comfort for all who mourn.

There is nothing new under the sun. I believe that. The names of leaders change, the names of countries change, we get new science and technology that can be used for good or evil, intentionally or not. What remains in front of us then and now is faith that the testimony of the witnesses is true, “The Kingdom of God is near;” that “God so loved the world he redeemed it with his love”; that “Jesus has broken into this world, but that Kingdom is yet to be fully consummated.”

Like John, we must answer our own question, “Are you the Messiah?” and decide based on the testimony of a single witness, Jesus Christ, that we have a Messiah who walks in the world, making this place a little safer, comforting and loving for all our neighbors, especially those who languish in hunger, grief, and are imprisoned by habit, vice, or iron bars.  The world will know we are Christians by our love. 

Isn’t that what the one witness, Jesus Christ, testified to the world? 

Day 1518 - Just Say The Word (Are power and humility exclusionary virtues?)

A sermon given at First Presbyterian Church, Spring City, TN, Feb. 5, 2017

Some scholars attribute a somewhat trivial message to the gospel passage, Luke 7:1-10: “salvation is open to everyone.”(See Fitzmyer) It is a valid point but most gospel writing attributed to sayings and acts of Jesus have an important message buried within that works as an undercurrent message roiling the waters of commonsense thinking and values. In this passage that undercurrent is the exercise of authority guided by the virtues of humility and power.  The message seems quite appropriate in the current national political conversation in the United States. Let’s find it.

Jesus has been preaching and teaching, though not in some quiet, private setting. Luke offers a few clues a quick reader might overlook. Luke says that Jesus has been telling his sayings in the hearing of all the people. “Telling his sayings” sounds like Jesus has been describing the Christian ethic; namely, how to live the good life of the gospel. “In the hearing of all the people” clearly means everyone, including this centurion, knows Jesus is around, who Jesus is and what he teaches.

The centurion has a dilemma. His favored slave is deathly ill. Hearing of the healing acts of Jesus, the centurion orders some Jewish elders to beseech Jesus to come back.

This presents two puzzling problems that begin to disturb the water. The centurion wants to talk to Jesus. This is surprising. The centurion is a military official of Rome with some high rank. The centurion has heard most certainly Jesus is called the “King of the Jews” or “Messiah,” given his position as a powerful Roman officer. He would not be particularly interested in a one-on-one conversation with a common Palestinian Jew because many Palestinian Jews who drew crowds were likely to be rebellious and threatening zealots. Soldiers usually traveled together prepared for such potential violence. We are left to think perhaps his compassion for his slave is so strong he will try anything. But this raises the second troubling matter. To show compassion for a slave is a surprisingly humble reaction for a powerful centurion.

Realize a centurion was a senior officer of the Roman Army. He commanded a group of about 80 soldiers, and if well-qualified may have commanded other centurions. These were elite, hardened soldiers. They were required to be literate (a skill very few people had), and at least 30 years-old. They were marked by experience, leadership and bravery required of one who fought at, and survived the frontline of battle.

The issue of virtue and ethical perspective is an important but often overlooked matter in Roman times. The virtues one prizes as “good” shape one's ethical perspective. Such virtues might be compassion, love, frugality, stewardship, hate, egotism, etc. For example, the ethical of charity rests arguably on the virtue of love. Domination rests on the virtue of power.  The centurion represented the ethical perspective of Rome and that ethic was domination based on the virtue of power. Domination of  its conquered lands such as Palestine, required other virtues in its populace.

The virtue of power was always a characteristic of Rome, it was how Rome accomplished its goals. By the time of Jesus, power had become an “intrinsic virtue,” it was valued not for ethical reasons but as an exercise for its own sake.

Rome ruled its conquered lands with a calfskin glove on one hand, and an iron fist of power on the other. The iron fist always lurked, looking for and eliminating dissent.  Political dissent was not tolerated. The punishment for dissent was a cruel and painful death by crucifixion.

The army run by its generals and centurions enforced a two-fold message from Rome; “embrace Roman ethics (values) and ‘work with the program’ so you can enjoy all the freedom and benefits of Roman rule, otherwise if you dissent, it means death.”

Being a good Roman citizen required primarily accepting their gods, serving in their military and paying their taxes. Rome offered a religious compromise to its new subjects. They could keep worshipping their gods but they must also honor and worship the Roman gods - especially the Emperor who is the self-proclaimed messiah.  This was a thorn in the side of the Palestinian Hebrews who worship the one God in the land God gave them. That thorn fed the continuing militancy that required a strong Roman military presence.

There were other important Roman virtues. The calfskin and iron gloves demanded the virtue of humility in its subjects. Humility in Roman eyes is the virtue of willingly conforming to absolute power. The most valued virtue for a slave is absolute humility. (This is what makes Philippians 2: 5-11 such a powerful and subversive passage.)

Even so, humility was a small or large part of every person’s behavior depending on one’s social station. The centurion was expected to be humble in the face of the superior power of a general, and smart to show some deference to peers who he depended upon in combat. Rome viewed view its world through this lens of power and humility.

Knowing the importance of power and humility makes this encounter an even more surprising scene. The centurion had the power simply to say the word and order something done but he shows a side of power tempered with humility that we don’t expect. He has compassion for his dying slave (why not buy another slave and train him or her). He sends a local delegation of Jewish elders to solicit Jesus to come to heal him.

Besides the ideals of Roman virtue, the relationship of Gentiles and Judaism also shape this event. The Jewish elders are not rabbis or scribes but older lay leaders of the synagogue; however, the whole religious establishment accepted Roman rule of Judah even though it was repugnant to a practicing Hebrew. It was an act of hypocrisy done to maintain their authority and management of the Temple and synagogues. (Let the reader understand.)

Regardless of the matter of Rome rule and some Jewish compromise, the theological relationship between Romans and Hebrews was complex. A particular Gentile-Jewish relationship may be at play. Even though the centurion was in a position of authority over the Jewish elders they respected him because he had some respect for their religious practice. They say he built a synagogue for them (They are in Capernaum, not Jerusalem where the Temple is located).

 Luke mentioned “God-fearers” in the Acts of the Apostles. God-fearers were Gentiles (another word for Romans), probably educated as this centurion who had high regard for Judaism and its ethical focus and commitment to one God. Even though the requirements to convert to Judaism were quite difficult and politically inadvisable, God-fearers often attended synagogue and practiced some forms of Judaism. That the elders tell Jesus the centurion has built synagogues for them and is kindly disposed towards them suggest the centurion might be a “God-fearer.”

Now we come to the most important thing the elders say to Jesus about this centurion, the statement that sets up the climax of this event, “Jesus, this centurion is a good man who has helped us so he deserves to have you do this.”

The elders don’t sound negative, but their motivation seems more related to what the centurion can do for them than whether they think Jesus can heal, or out of respect for his powerful office. They do not say “Jesus we know you can do it, come and heal this centurion’s slave.”

Jesus heeds the elders and goes back with them towards the centurion’s residence. The centurion sees Jesus at a distance coming his way and now sends his friends, a new group, out to meet Jesus.  Their message to Jesus strikes at the heart of that of the elders.  The centurion instructed them to tell Jesus not to come further to his abode because the centurion is unworthy to have the presence of Jesus in his house, or even to come out to see him where he was teaching.

This is the most surprisingly behavior yet by the centurion. It completely conflicts with what we know about the centurion. It forges his status of power into humility. He is a gentile of high authority granted by the state but shows an embarrassing display of humility to a Jew. His cohorts might consider scandalous, if not worse.

Only a person of authority who possesses great character and confidence can act so humbly. Let me repeat that, only a person who possesses great character and confidence can hold such power in his hands and act so humbly.

But the centurion goes far beyond showing great character and confidence. Remarkably, the centurion says, “I am also a man of power like you, if I want something done I simply order it done and it is. So, Jesus, I know you do not even need to come into my home, just say the word heal my slave from here.”  (e.g., "You can do what I cannot.")

The centurion acknowledges the authority of Jesus is not just equal to, but greater than his!  What motivates this centurion to show such deference? Is it his need for healing grace for his slave? Is it knowing Jesus might not come because a religious Jew does not associate with a Gentile? No, it is because he has faith in the authority of Jesus.

Jesus reaction is as remarkable as inexplicable. He completely upsets our world of commonsense in an absolute reversal of expectations. If we could read Greek, we would understand that Luke tells us that this centurion’s statement spectacularly amazed Jesus. Luke uses a word for amazed that is almost exclusively used in the Gospels to describe  people’s awe of an act of Jesus. The word conveys a sense of being stunned, struck dumbfounded, awed by a divine act.

Jesus is dumbfounded by the act of this gentile centurion’s faith to acknowledge his divine authority and power. If you remember my Katrina story about Buddy and the faith his friend had in the crucifix on the wall, this is the kind of faith the centurion shows. Not hope but faith. An amazed Jesus can only marvel, “Never in Israel have I seen such faith.”

Jesus is dumbfounded(amazed) by this reversal of events. A gentile centurion recognizes, honors and believes Jesus for who he is, Emanuel, God who saves us, yet the elders and most of the religious leaders are oblivious to, if not enraged by Jesus. You may remember the people of his own hometown drove him away because were blind to and threatened by his authority.

We have uncovered the important message buried beneath the obvious. It is a message to those who have authority.  It is a message to all of us who exercise even a modest bit of authority somewhere in their life. If we do not allow the virtue of power to blind us, but embrace humility, it will give us eyes to see the world in a new light. The buried message is not only that a kind word from power born of grace gets more results than a harsh word, but that a kind word grows from the virtue of love, humility, and faith; a harsh word grows from the virtue of power and ego - the focus on self. One gives sight, the other blinds the eye to grace. One engenders cooperation and sight, the other breeds resistance and spiritual blindness. A wise person does not let love of authority blind one to the responsibility and obligation of faith to work constantly to embrace and model the humility of the highest authority who gave us the gift of life. To do otherwise follows the folly of a failed ethic.