Welcome
41 Tell his praise
in song and story [Abbot’s Leigh 494]
Prayer and the
Lord’s Prayer
Each
of the Gospels has a different feel to them.
One thing that’s special about Luke is his the way he notices that the
Good News of Jesus is for everyone, just everyone. No one is excluded. Everyone is included.
You
cannot get away from it right from the start of Jesus ministry, that first time
when he came to Nazareth where had been brought up and went to the synagogue on
the Sabbath day, as was his custom.
Already
he was known as a teacher and so when the time came he stood up to read, and
the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where
it was written:
‘The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
He
rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of
all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them,
‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well
of him and were amazed at the gracious words, the words of grace that came from
his mouth.
There was something about the way that Jesus
spoke. His words were gracious. They were full of grace. But they made you sit up and listen. And what he went on to say so enraged the
people who had gathered together that day that when they heard this ‘all in the
synagogue were filled with rage and drove Jesus out of the town.
Why?
Jewish
people recognise that any passage of Scripture has to be interpreted. Interestingly Rabbi Jonathan Sachs was at
the Literature Festival speaking in connection with a recent book he has just
published, Not in God’s Name. As you
do, I browsed through the book and as ever with Jonathan Sacks found it a
riveting read. One chapter was about
those Hard texts in the Hebrew Bible, that can be used to justify violence ‘in
God’s name’ – he suggests that actually Jewish people have always recognised
those texts need interpretation.
Jesus
didn’t just read these words and say that’s what it says. He explained them, he interpreted them.; And one of the things he did was to bring in
two stories from elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures to throw light on to the
passage he had just read.
You
get the feeling that the people in that gathering that day that it was the good
news should be for ‘our poor’, release for ‘our captives’, recovery of sight
for ‘our’ blind, the oppressed who should go free should be ‘our oppressed’.
But
Jesus turned to two stories from the Hebrew Scriptures – the first was the
story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarehath in Gentile, non-Jewish, Sidon. And the second story was the story of Elisha
and Naaman the Gentile, non Jewish, Syrian who sufferd from leprosy.
Reading 2 Kings
5:1-14
Naaman,
commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour
with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram.
The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans
on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel,
and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord
were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So
Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of
Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send
along a letter to the king of Israel.’
He
went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and
ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which
read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant
Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel
read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or
life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just
look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’
But
when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes,
he sent a message to the king, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to
me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came
with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s
house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan
seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But
Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would
surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God,
and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not
Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of
Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a
rage. But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet
had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How
much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went
down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of
the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he
was clean.
Psalm 31
You
are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
In
you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
take
me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
Be
gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
and my bones waste away.
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
and my bones waste away.
But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, ‘You are my God.’
You
are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
My
times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
for I call on you;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
for I call on you;
You
are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
O how
abundant is your goodness
that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of everyone!
that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of everyone!
You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
Blessed
be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege.
I had said in my alarm,
‘I am driven far from your sight.’
But you heard my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege.
I had said in my alarm,
‘I am driven far from your sight.’
But you heard my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.
You
are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
Love
the Lord, all you his saints.
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.
You
are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
Lord
Jesus Christ, in times of trouble
Be
my rock, be my strength and be my fortress
Lead
me in the way I should go
Guide
me every step of the way
Give
me that strength I need each day
And
let my heart take courage
Sure
in the knowledge that
your
love to me is steadfast
And
will not let me go
Amen.
318 We give God
thanks
When
Jesus spoke they were gracious words, words of grace that were precious. When Luke came to write up his Gospel account
of the life and teaching, the death and resurrection of Jesus, he went to great
pains to make sure he told an accurate story.
AT the outset he describes how others had already written up the Gospel
story, how they had drawn on the recollections of people who had been eye
witnesses, and how he had investigated everything carefully from the first so
that the reader, Theophilus or maybe any friend of God, should be able to get
at the truth.
It’s
fascinating to see how Luke used his sources.
He has got access to his own sources for the stories of the birth of
Jesus and indeed for that first sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth. But then as he starts to tell the story of
Jesus’ ministry from chapter 4 through to chapter 9 he draws heavily on Mark’s
gospel, often quoting Mark word for word.
When it comes to the last week in Jesus’s life he returns to Mark’s
gospel and not only quotes him word for word but basically follows Mark’s
structure and order of events. And then
at the end he draws on his own sources to tell about resurrection.
But
in the central backbone of his Gospel from 9:51 to 19:28 Luke draws on his own
material … and what looks like another fascinating source he is using. Careful study of these chapters shows that
quite a number of the sayings of Jesus that Luke quotes are also in Matthew’s
gospel but in an entirely different context.
It looks very much as if someone had made a collection just of the
sayings of Jesus, those quotable quotes that stick in the memory. Both Matthew and Luke draw on that sayings
source and include those sayings – but in different contexts.
Isn’t
that interesting?
From
the start, it wasn’t only the parables, the miracles, the teaching, or the
life-story of Jesus that counted it was those quotable quotes, those memorable
sayings.
What
are the quotable quotes of Jesus that stick in your mind?
What
are the sayings of Jesus you treasure?
Time to share
those quotable quotes – those precious sayings of Jesus
As
Luke 17 opens the NRSV gives the first few verses the title, Some Sayings of
Jesus. Here are some Luke considered to
be important: they are thought provoking, they make you think.
‘Occasions
for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!”
It
would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were
thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
3Be on your guard!
If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is
repentance, you must forgive.
And
if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you
seven times and says, “I repent”, you must forgive.’
The
apostles must have found some of what Jesus said, hard to take.
It
was when Jesus said things like this that they were prompted to question their
own faith … maybe we can take heart from their questioning.
The
apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ 6The Lord
replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to
this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey
you.
Then
Luke reminds us Jesus is on the journey of his life time, the journey that for
Luke gives meaning to all that Jesus came to do.
11 On
the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria
and Galilee.
What
happens next captures for Luke what the Gospel is all about. None is excluded: all are included.
Even
those suffering from leprosy.
12As
he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their
distance, 13they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy
on us!’ 14When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show
yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean.
The
compassion Jesus had for those suffering from leprosy has left its mark down
through the centuries. One of those who
made a very detailed study of the Jesus of history was Albert Schweitzer. It was while he was still writing a book that
has had an impact right through to today, The Quest for the Historical Jesus
that “it struck him,” to use his own words, “as incomprehensible that I should
be allowed to lead such a happy life, while I saw so many people around me
wrestling with care and suffering.”
And
so it was “On October 13th, 1905, a Friday, I dropped into a
letter-box in the Avenue de la Grande Armee in Paris letters to my parents and
to some of my most intimate acquaintances, telling them that at the b beginning
of the winter term I should enter myself as a medical student, in order to go
later on to Equatorial Africa as a doctor.” One was a letter of resignation
from the post as Principal of the Theological College of St Thomas. (Schweitzer,
1933, p. 102) It was in the first year of his study that he
completed his book on Organ Building and completed his Quest for the Historical Jesus. In the course of his
studies he completed work on how organists should play Back he joined forces
with a contemporary, Widor, whose Toccatta and Fugue is still one of those
great party pieces for the organ. This
is how he later explained his book: “To
organists, then, who are familiar only with the modern organ, Widor and I stand
for an appropriate rendering of Bach’s organ compositions which is in many
respects new to them, in contrast to the modern showy styloe with which they
are familiar.” During his medicatl
studies he regretted later that they ‘only’ could complete the first five
volumes of the new edition of Bach’s organ works containing the Sonatas, the
Concertos, the Preludes and the Fugues, before his departure for Africa. (Schweitzer,
1933, p. 161)
It
was in the afternoon of Good Friday, 1913, my wife and I left Gunsbach; in the
evening of March 26th embarked at Bordeaux and were then welcomed by
the missionaries at Lamborene where he devoted the rest of his life to working
as a medical doctor among leprosy sufferers.
(Schweitzer,
1933, p. 163)
And
the work still needs to go on.
Only
a couple of weeks ago I received a mailing from the Leprosy Mission asking this
week that we Pray that a work permit will be granted for Tanny, Acting Country
Leader for thhe Leprosy Mission – Ethiopia and that she’ll be able to effectively
lead the TLM- Ethiopia team and take project development forward.
We
are invited to ask God in our prayers to make a way for the many people in
Niger who are unable to travel the long distances necessary to access treatment
for leprosy. Pray for the newly
diagnosed patients who have already suffered irreversible disability due to a
delay in starting multidrug therapy, the cure for leprosy, or through lack of
self-care.” (‘The Leprosy
Mission Prayer Diary October to December 2015’, 2015, p. 1)
For
Luke one thing more was important. It
was not just the healing of leprosy sufferers.
That counted …
Let’s
hear the story for ourselves …
Reading: Luke 17:11-19
15Then one of them,
when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud
voice. 16He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked
him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten
made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18Was none of
them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ 19Then
he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’
The
point for Luke is that everyone is included.
Everyone matters. No-one is
excluded.
This
is what counts in the Good News of Jesus – the love that makes a difference as
it reaches out to all to bring healing and wholeness.
It
prompted more questioning. And the
questioning came from the Pharisees.
Once
Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and
he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be
observed; 21nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it
is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’
That’s
another memorable saying if ever there was one.
The
kingdom of God is within you, some translations say.
The
kingdom of God is among you.
It’s
there, God’s rule is real, as this kind of all-inclusive love is shared with
everyone reaching across all boundaries and marker lines – including the
leprosy sufferers, including the Samaritans.
This
gets to the nub of the matter.
Coming
towards the end of the first volume of his autobiography, Albert Schweitzer
summed it up like this:
“The
essential element in Christianity as it was preached by Jesus and as it is
comprehended by thought, is this, that it is only through love that we can
attain to communion with God. All living
knowledge of God rests upon this foundation: that we experience Him in our
lives as …” and then Albert Schweitzer coins a name for God .. that we
experience Him in our lives as Will-to-Love.” (Schweitzer,
1933, p. 277)
Writing
in 1933 Albert Schweitzer felt in his head he could not see this love of Christ
taking a hold – but nonetheless this is what he held on to in his willing and
his hoping. “To the question whether I
am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but
my willing and hoping are optimistic.” (279).
I like that thought. It’s what
you see in the very last part of Luke 17. It is as if Jesus is using his
knowledge, looking at what is going on in the world he has that kind of
pessimism and sees that events are going to lead to awful destruction and
people will face very difficult times.
His analysis of how the political situation in the world is going to
work out is pretty chilling: “Where the
corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
But
what is to hold on to is the very nature of the Gospel. Come what may that is good news for the poor,
sight for the blind, release for the captives … and everyone, but everyone, is
included
That’s
the very spirit of Jesus that leaps off the page at you from this wonderful
Gospel of Luke. And it is this spirit of
Jesus that is needed in the face of what Schweitzer saw in 1933 and in the face
maybe of what we can see in the world situation today.
“What
Christianity needs is that it shall be filled to overflowing with the spirit of
Jesus, and in the strength of that shall spiritualize itself into a living
religion of inwardness and love, such as its destined purpose should make
it. Only as such can it become the
leaven in the spiritual life of mankind.”
(Schweitzer,
1933, p. 278)
So,
like the disciples before, I find myself saying to the Lord, increase our
faith. And I take heart that all that
matters for Jesus is that we have faith the size of a mustard seed … for that
will make all the difference.
360 Father, hear
the prayer we offer
Prayers of Concern
Offering and
Dedication
531 O Jesus I have
promised
Words of Blessing
Schweitzer,
A. (1933). My life & thought : an autobiography. London: George
Allen & Unwin Ltd.
The
Leprosy Mission Prayer Diary October to December 2015. (2015). . The Leprosy
Mission.
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