WEBVTT 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:27.040 Let's be called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:33.680 Let's pray together. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:34.879 Almighty God. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:37.439 To you, all hearts are open. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:39.040 All the Spirit. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.480 And from you the secret spirit. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:48.319 Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:56.079 Let me perfectly love you and worthily magnify your name through Christ our Lord. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:57.040 Amen. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:58.560 Lord be with you. 00:01:58.879 --> 00:01:59.359 And also. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:01.840 Let us pray. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:09.120 Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things, both in heaven and on earth. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:12.319 Mercifully hear the supplications of your people. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:21.919 And in our time grant us your peace through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:23.039 Amen. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:28.159 As you're being seated, our children are invited to children's chapel. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.479 A reading from Jeremiah. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:50.000 And before you were born, I consecrated you. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.199 I appointed you a prophet to the nations. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:01.199 Then I said, Ah, Lord God, truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:13.759 But the Lord said to me, Do not say, I am only a boy, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:20.719 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.520 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:31.120 And the Lord said to me, Now I have put my words in your mouth. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:46.719 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:51.280 Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:07.919 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:15.759 In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.920 Be my strong rock, a castle, to keep me safe. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.439 You are my trade and my stronghold. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:31.839 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked. 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:39.279 For you are my hope, O Lord God. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.319 I have been sustained by you ever since I was born. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:52.319 From my mother's womb, you have been my strength. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:15.839 Reading from First Corinthians. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:25.199 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:44.800 And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, I'm sorry, understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:55.839 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.240 Love is patient, love is kind. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:05.279 Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.720 It does not insist on its own way. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:12.639 It is not irritable or resentful. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:18.000 It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:25.519 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:27.920 Love never ends. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.879 But as for prophecies, they will come to an end. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:34.879 As for tongues, they will cease. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.279 As for knowledge, it will come to an end. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:44.560 For we now we know only in part, and we prophesize only in part. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:49.759 But when the complete comes, the partial would come to an end. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.720 When I was a child, I spoke like a child. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.519 I thought like a child, I reason like a child. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:01.120 When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:07.600 For now we see in the mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:10.959 Now I know only in part. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.079 Then I will know fully. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:17.360 Even as if I have been fully known. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:23.439 And now faith, hope, and love abide. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:27.920 These three, and the greatest of these is love. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.079 Hear what the Spirit is saying to God. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:16.160 I'm intentionally extending the reading. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:24.399 Jesus, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread all through the surrounding country. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:28.240 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:34.000 When he came to Nazareth, where he'd been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day as was his custom. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:41.519 He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:56.639 To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:01.200 Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:04.639 The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:10.399 Then he began to say to them, Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:15.279 All spoke well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.240 They said, Is not this Joseph's son? 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:30.320 He said to them, Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, Doctor, cure yourself, and you will say, Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.879 And he said, Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:45.039 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine all over the land. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.919 Yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:57.600 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:01.440 When they heard this all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:10.320 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.919 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:17.600 The gospel of the Lord. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:52.000 The compilers of the revised common lectionary presume that you're already biblically fluent. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:11:00.960 So they presume you knew that sermon when they started the reading for the day, which is all this has come to fulfillment. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:07.200 I am not making that presumption, because it's just good to know what it is people were happy to hear. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.720 You'll see on your bulletin that Eric was slated to preach. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:16.960 So I do invite your prayers for Eric who tested positive for COVID on Friday, so he's doing fine by his own admission. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:20.000 And what you're going to get is probably a second-rate sermon. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:21.519 So here it is anyway. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:30.639 Keep in mind, we're in the middle of Epiphany, and so far what we saw happen was the Magi saw this light. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:36.480 Jesus was baptized, the wedding at Cana. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:42.159 And now here is this other event, Jesus' first sermon. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:51.919 So he's unrolled this scroll from the prophet Isaiah, which I want to remind you means he was theologically liberal because conservative folk in the time of Jesus didn't read Isaiah. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:55.679 They read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, stop. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.120 Those people were called Sadducees. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:05.200 The Pharisees read Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:09.679 So clearly Jesus is going to a Pharisaic synagogue. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:16.320 If you've ever wondered why the gospel is so critical of the Pharisees, it's because they had the highest hopes for them. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:19.039 Because Jesus was raised a Pharisee. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:26.720 He unrolls this scroll and he reads, and there's this little tagline on the bottom that I never quite understood as a kid. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:29.919 Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:45.039 The year of the Lord's favor in Isaiah is a direct reference to a practice in the book of Leviticus that we're not sure ever happened, but is rather a beautiful picture that was never depicted on a flannel board when I was growing up. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:46.879 This is called the year of Jubilee. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:51.360 So the year of the Lord's favor is the year of Jubilee. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:13:00.320 Many of us understand as we read the Hebrew Bible and think about still Jewish practice, that there are seven days a week. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.600 The last day of the week is the Sabbath day. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:06.159 In Hebrew, Sabbath is the number seven. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:07.279 It means seven. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.840 It also means perfect, and it's a day of rest. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.720 So you have a Shabbat every year. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:23.360 When you read the book of Leviticus, it turns out that not only do people get a Shabbat once a week, but the land gets a Shabbat every seven years. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:33.120 And the prescription is you can plant, you can sow and plant and reap six years, and the seventh year let the land lay fallow so the land can rest. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:41.519 Otherwise, you will overburden the land, exceed its carrying capacity, and you will have nothing. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.919 Every seven, seven years, that's 49, right? 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:52.639 You add on the 50th year, and that's called the year of Jubilee. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:59.200 Now, there is relief not only for land, but also for minor debts every seven years. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:16.000 But in the year of Jubilee, and you have to think about this in an agrarian economy, this is not a monetary economy, but an agrarian economy, uh, Jubilee shuffles the land ownership back to its initial distribution. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:24.799 So let's pretend that I cut a land into four parcels and we're all farmers, and three of the parcels do really, really well, and the fourth doesn't. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:28.320 Like I don't produce enough food to feed my family. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:30.399 Where am I gonna get food? 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:33.200 Because it's a pre-monetary economy, right? 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:47.039 I suppose I could borrow, or I could try to hire myself out, but if it gets really, really tough, I have to start selling parcels of my land away, even just to have enough money to buy seed to plant next year. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:53.440 After a couple of bad harvests, I may have to sell the entirety of my land. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:15:02.559 And consider in an agrarian economy, what that does is it institutionalizes servanthood within a family. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:08.720 Because without land, you have no means of producing your own income. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:11.360 You perpetually have to be hired up. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.879 So in the year of Jubilee, what happens is your family gets it back. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:26.080 If you think about it, 50 years is two and a half generations, which might feel like forever, but it is not forever. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.519 The year of Jubilee is also when prisoners of war are set free. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:39.759 It's also a time when people who are serving land aside are released from their servitude. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:45.519 We're not sure the Jubilee was ever practiced. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:47.200 There's no evidence. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.120 And you can understand why. 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:53.440 Particularly if you're one of those three people that bought that plot. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.679 Has anybody heard of this before? 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:57.039 Jubilee? 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:00.879 I didn't grow up here in church. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:01.440 I really didn't. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:06.159 It's because it's in the middle of the book of Leviticus, and we usually think like that's not a fun book to read. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:18.559 Um I'm still not sure it's a fun book to read, but this is really important to hear that this is a biblical injunction against institutionalizing hierarchy. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:22.559 The year of Jubilee, you see, is really like a big reset button. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.919 And every 50 years you hit reset. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:45.200 Further, the book of Leviticus implores people that if it's year 47 and this farmer is coming to you for money, and you know I'm only gonna get the land for three years, you still have to buy it, knowing you'll only possess it for three years. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:53.279 The book warns what will happen if people are hard-hearted against their neighbor, knowing the Jubilee's coming. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:58.960 Now, the last time there was a Jubilee was the year 2000. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:08.880 And this uh paralleled some of those millennium development goals, but it was pronounced by uh Pope John Paul II at the time to be the year Jubilee 2000. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.200 The next one obviously will be 2050. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:27.839 And around the year 2000, uh actually 1995, this gained some extra traction that spun out into the late 90s, with people like the World Council of Churches and people like pop musician Bono really arguing for the release of the developing world debt. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:39.759 After all, the people owing the debt hadn't willingly incurred it in the first place, and being stuck and making interest payments really deprives you of the opportunity to advance. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:44.079 In some ways, it's like an institutionalized way of servitude in the world. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:46.799 Obviously, that didn't happen. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:52.640 Now, I don't know how to affect any of this stuff politically. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.880 Just to be honest, it's not really my thing. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.720 Politics are not my thing. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:08.799 Um and it takes, I think this is helpful, even though it's not my thing, it is part of our duty, uh, knowing that no one of us can handle a big political issue is that we can, in fact, do more together. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.160 That's why we vote, right? 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.480 This is important and part of our American democratic process. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:20.880 But I do want to suggest to you that Jesus shows up in the synagogue, and we don't know that it's a Jubilee year. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:22.480 It probably isn't. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:29.599 He reads a passage about Jubilee, like this is the year captives go free, and he's not just talking about people in prison. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:33.359 He's talking about people who don't have their land anymore. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.440 He's talking about debt remission in general, which is captivity. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:41.920 And he says, Today this has been fulfilled in your hearing. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:55.200 Now, it's very possible the original crowd was thinking, Antha reminded me of this after the eight o'clock service, oh, we're gonna be free of the Romans who have put us into this debt peonage. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.480 And maybe that's why they were excited. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.680 Or maybe they thought, oh, look, Jesus is going to help. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:03.279 Well, I guess it's about the same thing. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.920 Jesus is gonna do this at a political level. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:16.720 While I do believe in political deliverance being necessary, I do also want to invite you to consider how we might be invited to fulfill the scripture and our hearing. 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:20.559 See, there's people in my life that have done things that I didn't appreciate. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.319 And sometimes I say, well, okay, in 50 years I'll let that go. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:29.599 I know that's a joke, but I'm not joking. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.960 So what if this was the year of the Lord's favor? 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:41.039 What if instead of waiting until 2050, I decided to join God in release for the captives and sight for the blind? 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:48.319 If you get nothing else, I want you to consider that we don't have to wait as long as we think to push the reset button. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:49.759 I'm not naive. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:56.400 I understand that there are some kinds of hurt that don't mean I go back into proximity. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:58.880 I'm not naive. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:02.480 I understand that accountability and dignity are different things. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:06.480 In the Jubilee year, serial killers are not just turned out of the street. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:07.200 Not. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:17.759 So I'm not being naive, but I do think sometimes I put people on a 50-year plan when maybe just a 50-day plan would work. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:25.519 So I think we're always invited to consider why are we not hitting that reset button? 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:26.880 Why are we not? 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:38.559 The crowd notice reacts favorably to Jesus, I said, for a variety of reasons, maybe because they hear him politically saying he's gonna overthrow Rome. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:43.119 But then Jesus decides to do something that sex sort of seems rather ungrateful. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:44.240 I don't know if you notice. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:50.720 He says, No doubt you're gonna ask me to proclaim a jubilee in this town, like heal sick people. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.559 You heard I did that somewhere else. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.160 I'm not gonna do that. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:57.680 This is really tough, just to be honest, right? 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:07.119 This is like going to your home church that sponsored you to go to college and seminary and saying, like, hey, thanks for the sponsorship, and I'm not doing anything here now. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:20.240 Not only does he refuse to heal people in his hometown, but he kind of excoriates the people and says, My mission is somewhere else out there. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.680 And the crowd gets upset. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:31.440 They get upset enough, apparently, to haul him to the cliff and they're prepared to throw him off. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:32.880 Now, I don't know if it helps you to hear. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.279 That cliff is about seven feet high. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:38.640 Nonetheless, you get the gesture. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:45.440 Um it's helpful that Jeremiah does this thing for us this week. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:54.160 Uh anytime you take, well, I shouldn't say anytime, the classes I took on Hebrew prophets remind us how unpopular of a calling that is. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.680 And I just want you to hear in the words of Jeremiah, this has really distilled what it means to be a prophet. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:07.680 Pluck up, pull down, destroy, overthrow, build and plant. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:10.480 Do you see the balance? 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:16.240 Four parts deconstruction, two parts construction. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:21.279 Now we understand why prophets usually met untimely deaths. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:26.400 People are much more excited about these two than these four. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:34.000 I'm not much of a gardener, but to be honest, gardening is usually more about these four than these two. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.200 If you would like to be successful, right? 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:44.160 Of course, all four of these things are about removing weeds so that fruit can grow. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:52.319 It's just having like cultural suppositions and things you love plucked from you usually feels rather painful. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.400 So Jesus stands in this prophetic tradition. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:04.559 Another way of saying this is to afflict the comforted and sometimes comfort the afflicted. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:10.079 And in a prophetic tradition, usually what they do is they afflict the comforted. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:14.160 So Jesus is telling his people, like, hey, you're not getting help from me. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.839 I don't know why. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.559 I don't know why he chooses to say that. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.400 There's lots of hypotheses out there, and it's sort of tough. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:27.920 And when you read this story, you might find yourself thinking, like, wow, the crowd is nuts. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.279 They're gonna throw this guy off that seven-foot cliff. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:34.480 And then all of a sudden, he just walks right through. 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:35.359 Do you notice that? 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:36.079 Like they don't. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:37.279 He just walks through. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:41.279 And um, I guess I've been thinking about that a little bit. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:47.279 And you know, normally we get really mad at the crowd by I I've been thinking about these words from Elie Bizel. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:48.160 Maybe you know him. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:53.200 Elie Bizel was sent to Auschwitz when he was nine and ended up writing the book Night. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:55.119 That's the first of the trilogy. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:05.519 And I saw this quote from Ellie Bizel recently that says, the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:12.160 And it made me think, you know, throughout the scriptures, there's these people who get really mad at God. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:15.759 And they go ahead and tell God, like, I'm really mad at you. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.240 The Psalms are full of this. 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:25.440 And I've told you like a couple of months ago that in Hebrew the word blessing can also mean curse. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:30.400 And there's sometimes there's people who bless God and they might actually be cursing God. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:36.880 And I got into a discussion with the parishioner who was very thoughtful, that said, Well, how could you possibly curse God and not sin? 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:43.279 And I realized maybe you can, because actually the opposite of love is not hatred, it's indifference. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:57.440 And so if you tell God, I'm really mad, people that in the moment I hate, it's actually because I deeply want to be connected with, and something has gone counter to my expectations. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:02.720 The people I care about the littlest are the ones I ignore. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:14.160 So there's this interesting thing, I think, to read this story as the people get so mad at Jesus they're ready to throw him off a cliff. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:18.960 But he's their guy, so he walks right through. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:20.799 I've had children. 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:24.240 I've been ready to throw them off a seven-foot cliff. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:28.160 I know not to do that, because they're my kids. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:29.839 I have parents. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:33.680 I've been ready to throw them off a 70-foot cliff. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:35.920 I've gone to the brink. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:42.000 And then, of course, they pass right through when I choose love. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:46.160 When I choose choose love. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:55.519 And that's why I think we get to hear this passage from 1 Corinthians today that is so popular at weddings, and that I'm afraid I internalize the wrong way. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:59.039 As a kid, see, I thought this passage was all about how love feels. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.079 And it's not at all about how love feels, at least not for me. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.319 Now, you are probably more mature than I am. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:05.519 Love is patient. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:08.000 Boy, I rarely feel like being patient. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:12.480 I usually feel like being inefficient and getting stuff done now. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:18.640 Love begs us to practice patience. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:24.799 And since we talked a little bit about an agrarian world, you know, the things that grow quickly, they don't do well. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:29.440 They don't lay down sufficient roots to keep them from being blown over. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:33.680 They don't lay down sufficient roots to uphold them in time of drought. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:40.880 So, you know, sometimes I get so impatient because people aren't making steps I've already made, or frankly, they're not obeying. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:46.559 And, you know, it just takes time for things to be sustainable. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:54.880 I wish I had some way of reminding myself that when I need that reminder, which is unpredictable. 00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:57.039 Hey, it takes time. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:01.440 It takes time for things to be sustainable. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:04.319 That's a practice, that's not a feeling. 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:05.759 Kind. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:10.079 I love people, but I don't always feel like being kind. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.039 Even some of the people I love the most. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:15.039 I mean, look, I want to be really clear. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:16.880 It's not okay to shake your child. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:17.839 We get that. 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:24.319 But if you've never wanted to shake your child, we got nothing in common. 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:26.640 Look, I know not to do it. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.480 I know not to. 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:31.759 And I have a support system that makes that possible. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:36.240 But the desire, that speaks to my feelings, right? 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:41.119 And so the practice of love says, regardless of how you feel, you practice kindness. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.160 Love doesn't envy. 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:47.200 Look, I love people and I want some of the stuff they've got. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:50.720 I often look at people and think, man, I wish I were happy like they were. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:52.319 That's not a feeling thing. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:57.200 The practice is, can I be joyful for them instead of wanting what they have? 00:27:57.279 --> 00:27:58.160 And that takes work. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:00.160 This is how we practice love. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:11.440 So I wonder if we don't proclaim the year of the Lord's favor when we're brought to the brink in our feelings, and we choose to practice love and pass through. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:18.799 Now, all of us have different journeys, and I didn't think my mom's watching this, so I don't think I'll get in trouble. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:24.000 But I would tell you the reason like faith means something to me is because my mother is a faithful person. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:26.720 And our faith is very, very different. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:34.400 I feel really comfortable having doubts and uncertainties and pointing out like linear inconsistencies. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.119 And I've talked to my mom and she says, like, I'm not interested in that. 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:38.400 That might hurt my faith. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:41.279 And, you know, I used to think we all have to do it the same way. 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:43.680 And she's taught me very gently that we don't. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:56.160 And uh, to be really fair, um, particularly when I was in high school and even through my early 20s, I did grow up with a really strong fear of when I would cross the threshold and be beyond the pale. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:58.880 Like, when would my church absolutely reject me? 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:03.359 And frankly, when would I lose my mother because of what I thought or who I was? 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:09.839 In my 30s, I realized I never would because my mother is committed to loving me no matter how she feels. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.240 But I did come up with this confusing or interesting formula for me. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:17.680 How could I break my mother's heart the worst with who I am? 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:27.359 And it occurred to me that if I told my mother that I was gay or transgender, it would absolutely break her heart because it would be a rejection of her faith. 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:36.799 And because my mother has a faith where it's emulating, I know that about her, and I know she would choose to love me. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:45.599 I wasn't sure my church would do that, but I was sure my mother, who was a part of my church, would choose to do that. 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:50.079 And I want to suggest to you that's when we proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:53.680 When we're brought to the brink. 00:29:54.880 --> 00:30:00.319 And we choose to say, I don't even know how, but I'm gonna practice love with you. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:14.880 Read this way, you see, the people in Nazareth might not be villains. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.119 They might be like you and me. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:24.240 During the pandemic, I found myself brought to the brink more frequently than I'd like to be. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:26.240 I can't explain why. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:37.839 I'd like to think I'm in my right mind and I'm thinking linearly, but the truth is there's this ambient malaise and stress in the air that brings us all to the brink faster than we'd like to admit, my belief. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:46.240 Uh, I think the proof is in the way we talk about politics, or even the way we talk about masking, or quite frankly, the way we talk about what we believe. 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:49.359 We just lose our minds in a quick second here. 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:58.160 And uh I think this opportunity is to remind us: hey, actually being upset is a reminder, I want to love you. 00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:01.039 Indifference is the opposite. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:02.880 I want to love you. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:12.160 And there's some frustration in the way, and Corinthians invites us how can we proclaim the year of the Lord's favor with the way we practice love? 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:16.160 Look, let's be honest. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:22.400 Sometimes our feeling and our practice lines up, and those are the great parts about being married, aren't they? 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:30.400 You know, if that is all we get, though, if they have to line up for it to work, I've never seen a marriage last more than two and a half years. 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:35.599 To make it long term, you've got to practice when you don't feel. 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:43.279 And even practicing when I don't feel doesn't guarantee it's gonna be great. 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:47.039 It just means we got a chance of staying together, right? 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:59.039 I want to suggest if you find yourself like I do often at the brink, actually, it's probably a sign of love, not a sign of the opposite. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:04.400 Indifference is what we're called to fear. 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:09.119 Indifference to the developing world of death. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:20.799 Indifference to the fact that 30 people who came to our food distribution yesterday live in this neighborhood, including homeowners. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:23.599 I'm not just talking about apartments. 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:26.240 Indifference. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:34.799 Throwing our hands up and saying, because I don't know what to do, I choose to give up. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.519 I think that's what we're being called away from. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:45.920 If you find yourself being agitated, like I say, I think it's a sign, I want to love, and something's hard. 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:52.880 And that's where we have these virtues of practicing love, and particularly we have them as a community. 00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:59.440 Look, if there was one guy in the synagogue, and guy is the right word, because no lady would throw Jesus off a seven-foot cliff. 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:02.799 Um, if there was one guy in the synagogue, he might have gone ahead and done it. 00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:06.880 But don't you see there was a group of people, and they were able to say, no, that's Joseph's son. 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:11.119 Maybe he's a little weird, but we can't throw him off a cliff. 00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:13.279 That's Joseph's boy, you know? 00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:15.920 That's why we baptize as a group, don't you see? 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:17.680 Because we do it together. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:23.839 In case Mike is not in his right mind as usual, then Jim can say, Really, Mike, like you can't do that. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:25.839 This is our call. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:30.720 And increasingly more, if you were here Thursday, you heard the rabbi say this, right? 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:39.839 The rabbi said, what's important is knowing that we're different, but not being indifferent. 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:50.160 I think if we can be mindful and we can choose to practice love, we can start living into the Jubilee before it's 2050. 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:08.960 Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:18.800 We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, creator and earth, the Lord that is seen and unseen. 00:34:19.519 --> 00:35:06.960 We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally the Father, life and life, truth, truth, believe in the Father, we salvation, the came from the Holy Spirit, we became the Spirit, until the day you read the end, in the Lord to the Scriptures, he seemed to heaven, and the seed of the right name of the Father. 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:13.360 He will come again in glory to just the living and the dead, and the same amen. 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:21.440 We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and Son. 00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:25.119 With the Father and Son, He is worshiped and glorified. 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:27.760 He is working through the process. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:32.159 We believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.159 We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:41.280 We live in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:42.559 Amen. 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:51.360 The prayers of the people. 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:58.400 With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord. 00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:30.320 I ask your prayer for God's people throughout the world, for all people and ministers, for the priests in our community, Mike, Jim, Craig, Bill, and Lillian, for our bishops, Andy, Hector, Jeff, and Kai, and the diocesan cycle of prayer, for Christopher's Austin, Saint David's Austin, and St. 00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:39.440 George's Austin, for Justin, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and for our presiding bishop, Michael. 00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:42.800 Pray for the church. 00:36:46.480 --> 00:37:12.559 We ask your prayers for all who govern and hold authority in the nations of the world, for all members of the armed forces, and for all who struggle for peace and justice, that they may act with prudence and vision to plant the seeds of our of your kingdom everywhere. 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:16.960 Pray for justice and peace. 00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:37.440 I ask your prayers for our parish and for our vestry, for the source of wisdom, that the source of wisdom may guide us, the source of strength may support us, and the source of love may unite, unify us. 00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:46.960 I pray for your community, that may discern clearly and administer effectively. 00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:50.239 I ask your prayers for St. 00:37:50.320 --> 00:38:08.159 Thomas of the Apostle School, that those who teach and those who learn may rejoice at the knowledge of your truth, that we may teach our students to love whatever is just and true and good. 00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:17.119 Pray that we may be bearers of God's grace to all who come through our doors. 00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:31.840 I ask for prayers for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the oppressed, and those in prison. 00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:36.880 Pray for those in any need or trouble. 00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:47.360 I ask your prayers for all who seek God, or a deeper knowledge of God. 00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:53.519 Pray that they may find and be found by God. 00:38:55.840 --> 00:38:59.840 I ask your prayers for the departed, especially JB. 00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:04.320 Pray for those who have died. 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:14.559 Let us give thanks for our blessing and pray for our own needs and those of others. 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:22.159 Especially Chris, Sean, and Nancy. 00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:35.280 The congregation is invited to name their own celebration or petition silently or aloud. 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:55.199 Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of our people, and the multitude of your mercies. 00:39:55.920 --> 00:40:02.079 Look with compassion upon us and all who turn to you for help. 00:40:03.199 --> 00:40:18.400 For you are gracious, O lover of souls, and to you we give glory, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. 00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:20.480 Amen. 00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:33.920 Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God, holy God, creator of all that is, donor of grace, and give of life. 00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:35.599 Hear our prayer. 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:43.119 There are chasms and allies, deep valleys that separate us from one another and from you. 00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:55.280 We confess that we have the grace to grow, for fear of being apart and separation, for fear of being rejected when we reach out. 00:40:55.679 --> 00:41:04.079 You call us to a reconciled life, to heal relationships, to a wholeness with each other and with you. 00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:14.079 Mend us we pray, and make us new creations through the power and love of Christ, in whom we pray. 00:41:14.559 --> 00:41:15.199 Amen. 00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:17.440 Friends, hear this good news. 00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:22.880 The love of God is beyond all measure, and you are included in that love. 00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:28.400 Know that you are forgiven and thus freed to love and serve anew. 00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:30.079 Hallelujah. 00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:41.679 The peace of the Lord be always with you. 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:43.519 And I also with you. 00:42:00.880 --> 00:42:07.440 If you're new to us or have not done this before, in the room right behind the one we're in, it's called the Narthix. 00:42:07.599 --> 00:42:13.280 There's these little cards that say welcome, and we'd be tremendously grateful if you'd fill one out so we have a record of your visit. 00:42:13.440 --> 00:42:15.199 And thank you for worshiping with us today. 00:42:15.519 --> 00:42:18.719 A couple of announcements I'd like to just highlight. 00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:23.679 You'll see most of these in your Wednesday e-news, but we don't always put some of the details. 00:42:23.840 --> 00:42:27.280 Like yesterday, we hosted our fresh food distribution. 00:42:27.440 --> 00:42:33.840 Normally we do that on the first Saturday of the month, but because the food bank was closed for New Year's, they pushed it to the end. 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:42.880 And we had actually one of the higher turnouts, 93 vehicles representing 344 people in about an hour and a half. 00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:50.239