All Gifts are Needed
Over the last couple of days, two angels of mercy have labored to organize my home office, a jumble of boxes and stacks of paper, cards, and files that has not moved in the six months we have lived in Sunnyvale. (Actually, I'm afraid the jumble has started to move on its own, which forced the angels into action.) The angels have rearranged furniture, cleared my desk, organized the disparate items that littered the floor, placed it all on shelves with stylish organizer units, and have begun the final touches of family photos and artwork.
I've learned important lessons these few days:
Our readings today reverberate with gifts. In Nehemiah, we learn about those Jews who have returned to Jerusalem following the lengthy exile in Babylon. In this passage, we meet people with the gifts of leadership – the governor and heads of households – and those with the gifts of understanding the law and interpreting it for others. Perhaps most important are those with the gift of willingness: willingness to hear the Law, willingness to enter into covenant once again. These are people who are brought to tears when hearing the reading of the law, in sorrow for having strayed so far, in joy for being reunited with God, or perhaps both. These are people committed to the arduous tasks of rebuilding their city and their temple, and rebuilding their commitment to their covenant with God. These people are risk takers for whom the "old ways" are completely new and require a leap of faith. They are at the precipice of a new adventure. Each brings the gifts he or she has to that task.
In Luke's gospel, we see a snapshot of Jesus in Galilee and Nazareth. If we pan back to get a broader view, we realize that this is the newly-baptized Jesus. It is the Jesus who received the Holy Spirit, seen in the form of a dove. This is the Jesus who heard the powerful words, "You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." Jesus, too, is at the precipice of a new adventure.
Following Jesus' baptism, the Spirit leads him to the wilderness where he prays and fasts for 40 days. It may be that he retreated to make sense of his baptismal experience, to understand what he has heard and felt. To make matters more difficult, Jesus suffers three severe temptations. The bargain the devil offers? If Jesus acknowledges the power of the devil, Jesus will be rewarded with food, wealth, and power. Perhaps Luke sets this situation to follow Jesus' baptism to show the power of the Spirit over sin and death. Not only does Jesus repel his tempter, but it is at this point that he embraces his role as the Christ.
In Nazareth, Jesus enters the synagogue on the Sabbath and is surrounded by
men who have known him since he was a boy. There is no audience as tough as
the home town audience, yet Jesus has chosen Nazareth to disclose his calling:
He chooses to read from Isaiah:
“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.”
And then, Jesus interprets:
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
This brief passage could not be more important. It's electrifying. After Jesus is baptized, named beloved by God, retreats for prayer, and announces that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him, his public ministry begins. And so does ours.
As followers of Christ, we are called to share Christ's work. Paul tells us that we are gifted by the Holy Spirit to do the work Isaiah described, but how are we to go about it?
Usually, by getting it wrong. We tend to think we have gifts because of our own cleverness and concentrate them on making a living or having a pleasant hobby. This isn't a bad thing unless it is our only goal. It seems that we misunderstand our gifts in the same ways the Corinthians did! Paul's primary purpose in writing to the Corinthians was to settle an argument raging in the community: whose gifts are most important? Who is most worthy?
Those who had the gift of glossolalia – of speaking in tongues – wanted Paul to agree that they were highest and most important on the spiritual food chain. Paul brings their views away from themselves and back to Christ. "That's a great gift you have, but it is just one of many, and if it were all we had we would not succeed in Christ's work. We are one body of many parts. Each of us brings different gifts and abilities and experiences to the body of Christ, and all are equally important in Christ's work." Our gifts are anything that allow us to
“… bring good news to the poor…. to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim…the Lord’s favor.”
It is difficult for comfortable Americans to embrace these words literally or to see much further than our own jobs and homes. They are meant literally; Jesus' goal was to reach and transform the suffering. Our gifts are the hands and feet of Christ. Our eyes see the face of Christ in all others. We are the heart and compassion of Christ. Perhaps we take our bodies into social action. Perhaps we volunteer with 2nd Harvest Food Bank, of work for affordable housing. We might alleviate those oppressed by loneliness or suffering by taking active roles in Stephen Ministry or as Lay Eucharistic Visitors. We teach art or dance or Tai Chi; we share our computer skills or coach Little League or organize a home office; we make donations and make coffee. We listen. We give sight to those blind to Christ by all the actions that say "You are worth the Lord's favor."
Let us pray to be "filled with the power of the Spirit." Let us pray to trust that we have gifts, to discern them and use them as we have been taught, contributing our parts to the body of Christ.
Come Holy Spirit, come.