January 27, 2013
Fr. Philip Eberhart
Significance and Security
I’m told that the two
great needs that we have as humans are the needs for significance and the need
for security. We spend whole lifetimes
in search of those things – trying to conjure them up through any means
possible – but always relying on ourselves to create them.
The pursuit is
relentless; through jobs, through relationships, through spouses; by
achievement, by success, by accumulation – of wealth, of friends, even of the
needs around us.
And when things don’t
go well, when we’re not so successful, not so popular, not so wealthy – when
relationships falter or fail, where friends leave or few people need us, all of
our significance – all of our security – Simply evaporates, like
drops of sweat on a hot sidewalk!
Our lessons this
morning teach us something about the source of these things … really. Significance and security are not actually
available to us from most of the sources that we seek them from! As the song goes, we’re “looking for love in
all the wrong places.”
As I read the lesson
from Nehemiah, I was caught by the response of the people to the reading of the
Word of God, the Law of Moses. They wept
as it was read to them. Nehemiah was the governor of the remnant who were left
after the people of Judah and Israel began to come back to Jerusalem. They had finished rebuilding the wall under
his able leadership in just 52 days, and now were gathered for worship in the
city square.
If there was one thing
that they did not have, even though the wall was built, it was any real measure
of security. They were still pressed-on
from every side by those who opposed the work they had just finished.
But what they were
experiencing was a renewal, a revival of their national life and identity – because
of the influence of the Word of the Lord!
The last line of our
reading is a very familiar phrase to us:
“The Joy of the Lord is our
strength!” I looked up the specific
word for ‘strength’ that is used here in the Hebrew, and it means a PLACE of safety,
a refuge or stronghold!
The Joy of the Lord is
our security!
Now look at the
Psalm… one that is very familiar to us,
because we sometimes sing it prior to the Gospel reading – its become a part of
our life because its one of those songs that gets caught in here (your head.)
[“More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine
gold…
Sweeter also than the honey in the honeycomb.”]
The description of the
Law in Psalm 19 and throughout scripture shows us its power and we know why the
people of God in Jerusalem were weeping that day as it was read!
It restores the
soul… makes wise the simple or innocent;
Cause the heart to
rejoice … it enlightens the eyes;
It endures forever … is
righteous altogether!
[“More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine
gold…
Sweeter also than the honey in the honeycomb.”]
Listen to the
adjectives, the descriptors for this Word:
Perfect…
Stedfast… Trustworthy …
Sure!
Upright… Right …
Pure…
Clean…
True…
Worth more than Gold …
sweeter than honey.
Is there anyway for us
to speak more to the needs of the human heart for security than to find it in
the Joy of the Lord and in the Word of God?
But let’s not stop
here!
Paul’s description of
the Body of Christ continues to speak directly to these needs in our lives, but
tells us of an entirely different tack to attaining them for ourselves:
The greater portion of
significance in our lives is found in our sense of “belonging.” Here in Paul’s letter to Corinth, we see his
Magnum Opus on the way in which the Body of Christ is designed, taking its
hints from the actual bodies we live in.
Paul is profound here in his application of simple truth and logic to
the deepest of human needs. The organic
unity of the human body itself is the lesson!
We are all not just a part of this reality, but a significant part of
this reality, from the “greatest” parts to the “least” parts. We are forbidden from competition between
members and from comparison of our gifts to the gifts of others. We are forbidden from looking at outward
appearances and from diminishing others or ourselves based on some misconstrued
hierarchy in the Body of Christ. All of
us are “members one of another” – we all belong, profoundly so, to the reality
that is the living, moving, acting Body of Christ in the
world.
A great follow-on from
this reading is some of the verses from Ephesians 4, that we continue to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace.” Paul goes on
to describe the Body as the Gifted People of God to which “he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelist, pastors and teachers… [why?]
To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the
building up of the Body of Christ, (for how long?)
Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity in Christ – to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ (and a little further
on)
We are to grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into
Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every
joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the
body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Friends, there is no
place of significance to be found on the planet that is better than the Body of
Christ! Especially as it lives into its
calling and giftings from God – as WE live into OUR calling and OUR giftings
from God!
And finally in our
Gospel, we see the Job Description that Jesus claimed for himself, and that is
passed on to us as His Body in the world:
"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 favor."
Have you ever struggled
with significance? Ever felt like what
you did or even who you were really didn’t count for much? I think we all feel that from time to time. It’s the reason that we seek significance so
diligently in our lives.
This is where
significance is found – in the mission of Jesus and in His work in the world,
today through His Body – you and me.
To bring good news to
the poor…
To proclaim release to the captives…
Recovery of sight to the blind …
To let the oppressed go free…
To proclaim God’s favor .
Do you have faces that
come to mind when you hear those phrases?
I hope so. There are lots of folks around us who need to hear and to see
what we have to offer as the Body of Christ.
Most of all, the world
needs to see and hear, Jesus himself.
This is the source of true significance and true security. Just as Jesus said to His hearers in the
synagogue in Nazareth that day, he says to us:
“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!”
Today, we have a
decision before us – you have a decision before you:
Continue to look for
love in all the wrong places… or
Hear and respond to
Jesus, when he says to you, “Come to me.”
Are you poor? Are you captive? Are you blind? Or oppressed?
Today is the time of
God’s favor toward you. Today is the day
of salvation.
Our prayer is that you
hear His voice … in the whispers of His Word …
in the echoes of His voice in your ear…
This is the year of My
favor. Come to me. I will give you what you desire – meaning and
significance; safety, security, a place
of stronghold.
“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”
Let us pray:
[Please repeat each
phrase as we pray together:]I am one of those you were sent to:
Poor, captive, blind and oppressed.
Open my ears that I may hear your good news…
Let me hear the news of my release,
Lay your hands on my eyes that I might see You, Lord,
And set me free from my oppression.
Send your Spirit into my life and direct me,
Speak to me and through me.
I will obey your voice.
[and join me once again in the collect
for the day]
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