THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[cappie]

Our first reading this Sunday comes from the Prophet Nehemiah. This passage reminds us that all of our worship comes out of the Word. Notice the unusual scene from the story-the people of Israel, just back from seven decades as refugees and exiles, have gathered for no other reason than to hear the Scriptures read. Notice their reaction: they weep for the grief of it and the rejoice for the joy of it!

Nehemiah  tells us about how God reconstructed the people-through the public reading and teaching of Scripture. The Law. The Law-Torah in Hebrew-was the way that Jewish people could be led by God; the Torah showed people God’s will. The Torah was instruction, divine design, and direction for God’s people. No wonder they listen for three hours nonstop. The cause for their celebration, for their great rejoicing, was that they had understood the Word, that they knew the Lord was their strength.

We certainly must not ignore the broken places, the places out of joint in our lives and community. God’s Word calls us to become acutely aware of our need for grace. The worship also leads us to the God who is the source of our energy. Every time we listen to the Scriptures, we are encouraged to trust God as the source of our life, the power and love of our life.

The Philosopher Paul Tillich says that if we think of God as a supernatural being who is “out there,” far away, unapproachable, hidden perhaps, then the only logical conclusion is atheism. At the very least, it presents a problem with prayer, because if God is too far away and we’re not sure where, do we have to shout to be heard? Some of the language of our worship suggests that God is indeed far, far away and unavailable to us. There is a real sense that God is “out there” and uninvolved, not among us at all. But what was the message of Christmas that we celebrated and were meant to learn? That Emanuel, our prayer that God would come among us, has been answered.

Jesus stood up in the synagogue to read from the prophet Isaiah, and then sat down to teach the people, saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The people marvelled at him and “were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” They did not yet understand the full implication for them of a world where everyone is welcome at God’s table with equal place, and that God is there at the table and in their midst.
Paul taught about the Body of Christ: that we need each other for wholeness and health in the Body. And Jesus spoke of reconciling hurts and differences and inequities in the larger family of God.

Right now, we’re living in a world off-balance. Violence of all kinds is so normal that it doesn’t even capture our attention on the evening news. Our elected officials seem often to be at cross-purposes with those they are elected to serve. Relationships are fraught with marriages broken, children ignored, friends too busy to catch up with each other, our old people lonely. What happened? How do we find our way back into a sense of community, of shared purpose, of goals and striving for the good of the whole?

We must understand Paul’s teaching that every member of the Body is crucial, whether the “Body” is a marriage, a family, a congregation, a neighbourhood, a city, a country, or the world! This is true for every person, and because it is so linked to the bedrock of our faith, Jesus, it is especially true for us as Christian believers. We are all members of one Body through baptism, linked together whether we like it or not. Jesus brought us salvation and said that he brought it for all. This isn’t optional.
 
Jesus teaches that the larger family of God shares the responsibility of care, one for another.  But it takes the Apostle Paul to remind us in this morning’s second reading that not one of us is ever alone. We have each other and we have God and we are to live as such, in balance and complexity and harmony. In that, we can find both tremendous comfort as well as great responsibility for action.