“More than a comma- it’s personal”

Luke 4: 14-19; Deut. 6:4-9

Do you ever feel that you are walking on a tightrope

And could fall off at any time?

A tight rope between family problems, work pressures,

Financial commitments, church obligations,

Personal and health issues.

Do ever feel like you are right on the edge

And it wouldn’t take a lot to topple you off?

If you are nodding internally to these questions

Then today’s passages are for you.

They are about a God who loves you so much

And who understands the dilemma of being

A human being so well that he has entered into

The foray with us in Jesus Christ.

Jesus came into this world not only to save us eternally,

That is the work of Christ and it is important,

And we’re going to be talking more

about that work of Christ next week in the sermon.

Next week we will dwell on the salvific work

Christ did in his death on the cross

But this same Jesus who came into the world to die for us,

Also came into the world to live for and with us:

To walk with us, to talk with us, to eat with us,

To encounter and be with us personally.

That’s what we mean when we talk about the person of Christ.

We live in a de-compartmentalized world.

We separate our lives into our personal lives, our work lives,

Our family lives and our church lives, our school lives.

Sometimes we think in terms of our social life, personal life,

Physical life and spiritual life.

Jesus was different.

His spiritual, personal, social and work lives were all integrated

And he invites us to live fully integrated lives with him.

Jesus grew up as a Jew and he was merely living out

The words of the Schema in a way that nobody else could.

“Love the Lord with all you heart and soul and might.”

Jesus was a fully integrated person

and he invites us to be fully integrated persons

and to live fully integrated lives.

That is what’s happening at the synagogue in the gospel lesson.

The translation says that Jesus

“went to the synagogue as was his custom”.

Jesus wasn’t going to the synagogue to make a statement,

Or to create a scene, or to shake things up.

He went there every day- it was his custom or

Habit or routine or lifestyle or norm

It wasn’t just what he did sometimes

It was part of who he was always.

Remember the question Jesus asked his disciples

Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am?

And their answer was first the title of what he did

“You are the Christ…”

And secondly who he was in relationship

“Son of the living God”.

It’s interesting to consider the way that we introduce ourselves.

We say our name and then we ask “What do you do?”

We are wondering what someone does to earn money.

We define ourselves and our worth by what we do

And how much money we earn doing it.

That makes it especially difficult when one’s work is

Raising children or when one retires or

When one loses their job.

But in Jesus case his identity was both his being and his doing.

They were integrated together,

So that when they read the passage from Isaiah 61

he wasn’t just reading a very ambitious “to do list”

rather he was explaining who he was

in the core of his being.

The passage could be a lot of talk. Litlerally the passage says:

“evangelize to the poor;

proclaim release to the captives and sight to the blinds;

to send away the crushed ones in release;

and to proclaim a year of the Lord which is acceptable.”

In our world we could imagine politicians promising all this

But then forgetting about it when they got into office.

In our world this might be a campaign speech

And amount to a lot of empty words,

But in Jesus case ‘the word become flesh.”

Jesus didn’t just talk about the poor

He entered into poverty so that he could stand in solidarity with

Those who had nothing, not even a place to lay their head.

He didn’t just talk about sight for the blind but he actually got his

hands dirty literally as he put mud in a blind man’s eyes

and healed his vision.

He didn’t pay lip service to those who were crushed by the political

And religious burdens of the day but he himself was crushed

By both the religious and political powers of the day,

He was condemned by two courts of law

So that when he was raised from the dead

he would be in solidarity with all

who had suffered oppression.

And the good news is that he invites us into his way of being

An integrated person- loving God with your heart,

And soul and might.

That’s why we not only send money to disaster relief

But we also send people- so that we can stand with each other

Especially when we feel crushed-

and that image of crushed certainly describes

what we saw and experienced in Greensburg.

The buildings were crushed, the cars were crushed,

The trees were crushed but the people weren’t.

We talked with one little lady whose house had been hit

by the tornado and leveled and she was in shock.

She didn’t know what to do next

and who would help her.

Just being there, listening to her, standing with her,

walking with her into the house and recovering

keepsakes and clearing her yard helped her to

know that she was not alone.

That’s why we volunteer at the Lord’s Diner.

Not just so that work of feeding might get done

But that we can share with Jesus in doing it,

So that we can listen to each other in the process,

And maybe even offer a word of hope.

That’s why our deacons personally deliver the food and presents

To Christmas families each year.

They could just give the stuff to the school counselors

who identify the families in need,

But when we actually deliver the food

it becomes personal. We talk. We listen.

We enter into relationship with each other

And with God.

That’s why we have both teachers and guides in our Sunday School

Classes and teachers & sponsors in our confirmation classes.

We don’t just want to talk at each other but we want

For the youth and children and adults to talk with

And listen to each other and learn from

Each other.

The punch line of the Luke passage is when Jesus says:

“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

When we listen to God and each other

Something miraculous happens.

Lives are changed and relationships are created.

The Brief Statement of Faith helps us remember

this relational aspect of who Jesus was and is

and will be forever more.

While the Apostles Creed abbreviates Jesus whole life with a comma

“Born of the virgin Mary(comma) suffered under Pontius Pilate”

the Brief Statement of Faith expands this description of Jesus life

to illustrate the continuity between his life and his word,

his person and his work,

his identity and his worth and ours as well,

since we are brothers and sisters of Christ

son of the living God.

Yes, Jesus life is so much more that a comma and so is yours.

Let us also live integrated lives in which our word and our work

Are part of the same whole and where we do truly love God

With every part- heart, soul and might.

Amen