3 Epiphany, Christ Episcopal Church, St. Joseph, La.
Every Sunday in Episcopal churches across the country and around the world, people—ordinary people like you and me—stand and read Holy Scripture.
Typically a passage from the Old Testament is read first. The Christian Old Testament is, of course, one and the same as Hebrew Scripture, the bible of the Jewish people.
The second reading is called “the Epistle” because it is taken from one of the many “epistles” or “letters” written by Paul or one of the other apostles that make up the bulk of the New Testament.
Then finally, and just before the sermon, we hear a passage from one of the four Gospels—that is, from the “good news” of the story of Jesus the Christ—each one written with a slightly different emphasis by a person who knew Jesus on his earthly journey.
I mention what might seem obvious to you in these Episcopal pews this morning—especially you cradle Episcopalians—that the history of the scripture-reading portion of our worship—the “liturgy of the Word,” we call it—goes way, way back. We are participating in a centuries-old pattern every time we do it.
Ezra reads God's law.
Look at the story we have this morning in Nehemiah. It’s one of my favorites of the Old Testament. Why? Because the people are so moved and so captivated by hearing Holy Scripture read out loud that they stand for hours listening, heads bowed. Indeed, they are ultimately moved to tears by it—so much so that a few verses farther on from the ending of today’s lesson Nehemiah instructs them to not be sad but go celebrate and rejoice.
The context of the story is that the Israelites have fallen away from the teachings of the law. Nehemiah was leading them in the process of restoring Jerusalem, fending off Israel’s enemies all the while. The Torah scrolls were found in a forgotten recess of temple rubble.
Nehemiah had them dusted off and a platform built. The people assembled. The scribe Ezra was called to read—and not just to read but with interpretation. He gave the sense, so that the people understood.
And the people stood with heads bowed and listened, from early morning until midday, we are told. Wow! Could you do that?
In fact, today’s lectionary passage consists of excerpts.., because we have to keep it short…! But in one of the verses missing from what we just read, the people are so moved by hearing again the words of their Holy Scriptures that they begin to weep. That is why, at the close of our passage today, Nehemiah is instructing the Israelites to not mourn what is past, but eat, drink, share with those who have nothing and celebrate being reunited with their Holy Scripture.
So, when we read and interpret holy scripture as an act of worship, we stand in the midst of an ancient and ongoing lineage of people of faith. Jesus was part of that lineage as well.
In today’s Gospel story, Jesus is reading and interpreting Holy Scripture as part of temple worship. And I think we can learn some things about how to read and interpret Holy Scripture by paying attention to how Jesus did it.
So let’s look at it again. Jesus stands to read and is handed the Isaiah scroll. I’ve always been curious: Did Jesus ask for that scroll specifically? Or was the temple using some kind of schedule or rotation like our lectionary? Or did the scribe who handed it to him choose it, maybe because Isaiah is so full of hell fire and brimstone preaching and prophecies? We don’t know.
Whatever the case, Jesus knows what he wants to read. He knows his Holy Scripture and he turns straight to Isaiah 61 and reads…
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 broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
And he rolls up the scroll and sits down. Now, do you know what the very next line in Isaiah chapter 61 says? I didn’t either until Fr. Richard Rohr directed my attention to this.
It says this: and the day of vengeance of our God. Hear both lines again. The last one Jesus reads is to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the next line is, and the day of vengeance of our God.
Kind of changes the tone, doesn’t it? Right away, I’m thinking, am I going to be one of the ones who receive good news, be liberated in the year of the Lord’s favor? Or am I going to feel the fire of God’s vengeful wrath?
See, here’s what you’ll see if you put together all of Jesus’ quotes from Hebrew Scripture: He never quotes the many passages that appear to legitimate violence or that paint God as vengeful and judgmental. Never.
Rather he quotes passages that paint God as loving and merciful. Here’s another interesting tidbit from Fr. Rohr’s analysis: The book of Leviticus is a book of rules. I believe the official count is 603—603 rules, most of which are negative. Don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t eat whatever, the punishment for such and such is thus.., and on and on it goes.
Jesus quotes the book of Leviticus exactly once. And on that one occasion, what did he choose to quote?
He quoted the one clearly, unequivocally positive law in the book: Leviticus 19:18b, …you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord.
In other words, in stark contrast to so many Christians today who love to pick a verse, especially from the Hebrew Scripture, to tell people how wrong or sinful or unworthy they are, Jesus.. never.. does that! Jesus always picked and quoted biblical passages that comforted people, that turned people in a merciful and loving direction.
That’s “The Jesus Method.” And it’s a bit of a struggle because it is pretty human to want to make the world behave according to our standards and morality. How convenient it is when we can find a passage in the Bible we can use to beat up on people. Make them behave. Justify our judgment of them.
But that’s not what Jesus
did. Jesus used Holy Scripture to build people up, to heal them, to show God’s
love in the world. Let us follow Jesus. Let's use The Jesus Method to love people through our use of Holy Scripture.
In the name of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, AMEN.
