Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 21, 2007 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Nehemiah 8:2-4A, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21]He said to them, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
The newspapers and the other media are feasting on declarations of candidacy by various individuals for the position of President of the United States - or should I say, candidates for NOMINATION to be President of the United States. Ringing statements are beginning and a LONG weary process begins since the national election for the position won't occur till November of 2008! Thus begins the political pageant which will daily confront us with positions taken and abandoned - platforms declared and forgotten, etc. etc. It is a ritual with dangerous possibilities. Jesus comes to his hometown and for his "inaugural" speech, he chooses a text from Isaiah which describes the mysterious figure of the "Suffering Servant" and follows it with a one sentence speech (oh that more would follow his example!). That one sentence is enough to incite his hometown crowd to drive him out of town! He claims to be the Suffering Servant! He has a much better claim than those who wrap themselves in the national flag and claim to be followers of Washington or Lincoln, etc. etc. They claim to personify the values on which they stand but a jaded public knows better. In Nazareth, the claim is much greater and the public is just as incredulous. Jesus' platform is not just his. It is OURS. It is not a matter of his being "elected" to be Savior. It is a matter of recognizing that he IS the Suffering Servant and that we have to be one too! AMEN
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