Sunday, January 29, 2006

January 29, 2006

Jesus teaches at the synagogue in Capernaum, and the people are amazed because he teaches with authority, not like the scribes. He then heals a man with an unclean spirit, and Jesus’ authority is confirmed.

We’re not told what Jesus taught in the synagogue that day. We don’t know what it was that initially signaled to the people that Jesus was a person with authority.
Let’s consider some ways that Jesus might have signaled to the people in the synagogue that he had authority.

Maybe he expressed his authority by talking very loud. Haven’t you met people like this? I served a bishop who used to signal that all discussion was over by increasing the volume of his voice. Some people attempt to win an argument through increasing the volume, don’t they? Usually, the weaker their argument, the louder these folks tend to get. But, I doubt if Jesus convinced the crowd in Capernaum of his authority by getting in a shouting match.

Or maybe Jesus did a bit of name dropping. We’ve probably all met people who use this technique to convince us they’re important. And, yes, this method also shows up in the church. Among the clergy, the biggest give away is when someone refers to the bishop by his first name. “I was talking to George the other day, and I told him…” Most folks are not too impressed by this method. Of course, Jesus had a pretty good name to drop…”I was chatting with God Almighty, creator of heaven and Earth the other day…” but I doubt if Jesus did that either.

Or, maybe Jesus impressed the people in that synagogue with his credentials. Those with graduate degrees often like to put lots of letters after their name on their business cards, in an attempt to let folks know that they are educated people. I used to put M.Div. after my name…master of divinity, but no one ever knew what it meant, so eventually I dropped it. If I was a doctor, and could put MD after my name nurse, or a nurse with a RN suffix, I might still do it. Imagine Jesus’ business card; Jesus the Christ, SOG. Now that would be impressive!

But, I doubt if Jesus used any of these methods to convince the Capernaum crowd that he was a person of authority.

Most likely, what Jesus used was a blend of four sources of authority;
The bible. Jesus knew the Hebrew bible well. He quoted it often. Some would say that the bible, the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament, should be our only authority. And, on many issues, that is true. Certainly on all essential things, all things necessary for our salvation, we need to accept the authority of the bible.

But then there’s all those other things in the bible that just aren’t very clear. The way the many Christian denominations differ is evidence that we all don’t interpret the bible to be saying the same thing. Some say that we should baptize babies. Others say we should only baptize adults. Some say a priest shouldn’t get married. Some denominations never allow instrumental music. All based on their understanding of the bible. Each denomination pile verse upon verse from the bible to prove that their way of being the church is the one that is “true to scripture.”
This is what the scribes of Jesus time did. They used biblical texts and saying from the rabbis to make complex rules that usually only they could understand. This morning’s Gospel tells us that Jesus teaching was not like that of the scribes. It appears that quoting bible passages was not the only way that Jesus expressed his authority.

Maybe Jesus taught with authority by revealing to that crowd God’s Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God dwelled within Jesus. He often expanded on the meaning of the scriptures. “And you have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' but I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Such inspiration would have to be seen as a manifestation of God’s Holy Spirit.

Or maybe it was Jesus’ use of reason that made his authority so obvious. Unlike the scribes, Jesus often used home grown stories that made sense to the people to make his points. They understood him, and heard the wisdom in his words.
Or maybe Jesus’ teaching passed the test of experience. Our past experience is certainly an authority for most of us. We know something to be true because we have tested it through experience. Jesus’ words rang true because those who heard them had experienced that truth.

Today, we can look for these same sources of authority to inform us on our spiritual journey. But I think we need all four. If we lean on the bible alone, we begin to treat the bible like an idol. If we depend just on the Holy Spirit, we might fall into the error of emotionalism. If we just use reason, we will fall into the maze called philosophy. And experience by itself is nothing more than humanism.
But, when combined, we can depend on scripture, the Holy Spirit, reason and experience to reveal to us what is true and good. When kept in balance, we can use these tools to discover the will of God.

Jesus granted us his authority here on earth. We are called to be the teachers and healers in the world today. Let us go out into the world, and use the tools God has given us; scripture, the Holy Spirit, reason and experience, to proclaim to this world the Good News of God’s redemptive love.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

January 15, 2006

January 15, 2006

When Samuel is called, he responds with, "Speak, for your servant is listening." Listening is not always an easy thing to do, especially when we have prejudged the message to be something we'd rather not hear. However, sometimes such messages are important, so we have to overcome our resistance and preconceived notions in order to fully receive the message being offered. Here's how I envision the way the encounter between Nathanael and Jesus unfolded.

Philip finds Nathanael sitting under a fig tree. He excitedly tells him that he has found the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets. Nathanael responds with, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" We don't know what Nathanael was brooding about as he sat under the fig tree, but this rather insulting reply suggests that he was responding from a very dark place within himself.

When I am full of doom and gloom, I am inclined to mutter the most awful things in response to anyone who attempts to enter the dark cloud surrounding me. For instance, if someone mentions some news about Texas, I might grumble, "Can anything good come out of Texas?"

Now I've never lived in Texas and have never visited the state, yet I have all of these preconceived notions about its inhabitants. There's a word for this kind of attitude: prejudice, a term defined in the dictionary as "an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. " What might we call one who expresses such prejudices? A bigot, defined as "a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own."

We don't know why Nathanael was so prejudiced toward anyone from Nazareth. But we can surmise the effect such bigoted attitudes might have had on his interior life.
Prejudice builds walls which we hide behind to avoid facing the truth. Prejudice also forms mental barriers within ourselves. When hiding behind these self-made walls, we become dependent on own ideas, the stone and mortar from which these walls are made. When these ideas are challenged, our safety feels threatened. We defend our walls by all means possible. Prejudice is an attempt to guard our safety. It is a response that springs from fear, a deadly poison that will eventually destroy us all without the proper antidote.

For some reason, Nathanael decides to go meet this man from Nazareth. When Jesus sees him approaching, he shouts out, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" This comment makes no sense, unless we consider it a retort to Nathanael's bigoted remark about Nazareth. Here is an Israelite who does not hold his tongue. Here is an Israelite who disregards the social mores, who is not restrained by being "politically correct," but who speaks his mind and doesn't care whether others are offended.

Nathanael is rather taken back by this response. How did this man from Nazareth overhear his conversation with Philip? "Where did you get to know me?" he asks. Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." This stranger from Nazareth knew what Nathanael had said to Philip. He also knew that dark place Nathanael had been in under the fig tree. Yet, here he stood, knowing Nathanael's ugliest inclinations, yet still smiling with an invitation to join him in his mission. Could it be this man from Nazareth was indeed the one promised by the prophets? As his prejudices against Nazareth begin to fade away and a new hope stirs within him, chasing away those dark clouds, Nathanael finds himself transformed. He blurts out, ""Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

Jesus is amused by this sudden transformation. "You will see greater things than these," he tells him. "You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Nathanael would have recognized the reference to the story of Jacob's dream of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven. Jacob, the original "Israelite," was quite the rascal, yet was blessed by God. It might just be possible that even a bigot like Nathanael, a tax collector like Matthew, a hothead like Peter, or a sinner like you and me could also be blessed by God and become a follower of the Messiah.

St. Paul reminds us that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Here is our antidote to the prejudices that dwell within each one of us: God's healing Spirit. But we first have to do all we can do to make a place in ourselves for this gift. We have to bring to light the prejudices that dwell within each and every one of us. We have to see the walls that we have built. And then we need to trust that God will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, that God will tear down those walls that are beyond our strength. Free from these barriers, the light of God's Spirit can then shine brightly, allowing us to offer freedom to a world trapped behind walls of bigotry, an antidote to the poison of prejudice.