Ann Fontaine: Favor
Ann Fontaine offers some reflections on her blog ... what the tide brings in ... as well as these questions for contemplation on "favor:"
What does it mean when Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favor?
If we have God's favor - what is our response? When have you felt "the Lord's favor"? When have you returned the Lord's favor?
What does it mean when Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favor?
- A party favor is a gift to those who show up.
- When someone does us a favor - we try to return it or at least pass it on to others.
- Mary was favored among women - bringing God to birth in this world.
If we have God's favor - what is our response? When have you felt "the Lord's favor"? When have you returned the Lord's favor?
posted by SUSAN RUSSELL at 10:10 AM
1 Comments:
Pastor Susan,
I wanted to submit this, but I couldn't find an e-mail address:
--
Thanks be to God! This is the sort passage a preacher ends a sermon on that simply hushes the entire church. I speechless, but incredibly thankful to know that our God came into humanity in order "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 year of the Lord’s favor."
Jesus selects a passage of scripture that defines the rest of his human ministry. And now, our next Presiding Bishop has taken up a similar mission, and calls us all to join her. What inspiration!
What's also very interesting here is to compare Jesus' quotation of scripture (Isaiah 61) and the original text itself. They read virtually the same, but at the end, Isaiah says, "To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God". Jesus omits the "vengeance" part, and I tend to trust the exegesis of the Word made flesh upon the Word. Self-righteousness, judgment, and vidication - when Jesus stopped short of "vengeance", he rejected these as part of his human ministry.
In light of last Sunday's gospel featuring Bartimaeus, Jesus' "mission statement" is even more powerful. When the gospel was being read in church, my mind went dumb at the line that said, "Take heart, get up, he is calling you." That's exactly it.
This week, let's take heart and get up - Jesus calls us to the same mission for which he became one of us. What an amazing opportunity.
Post a Comment
<< Home