I've decided to call my lectionary study "Lectionary Trails" because I like hiking, and sometimes it feels like I'm on a hiking trail with a map but still not quite sure where I am when I'm digging through the lectionary readings. Yes, here are the trail blazes, yes, here's the trail head, but where's the big tree everyone mentions in articles about the trail? And how long did it take them to get to the overlook, because it's taking me longer. Did I take enough water? Hat on, hat off, jacket on, jacket off, am I even looking at the trail with all this fussing about? Sometimes my lectionary study feels a LOT like that.
Texts for Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year C are 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a, and Luke 4:14-21.
Dr. Zan Holmes, my Intro to Preaching professor, recommended that when reading through a text it is good practice to ask who has voice and who is silenced? Who has power and who does not? These are good questions for these texts.
For the gospel of Luke reading, Jesus is speaking in his childhood synagogue. One could assume that as an adult male in his hometown, he would have power. He certainly has the authority to speak in the synagogue after reading scripture. The set up to this scene notes that he'd begun to be the topic of conversation. Everyone in the "whole countryside" was talking about him. He was on a teaching tour of sorts "and was praised by everyone". What preacher wouldn't like to have such a warm reception everywhere they went? The desire to be praised by everyone is strong.
However, he's about to upset that apple cart. The reading does not include the reaction in Nazareth to his teaching, but the text he chooses does address the questions raised above. Jesus has the authority to teach. He teaches that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him specifically to empower him to preach good news to the poor, who are often voiceless and powerless. Release to the prisoners, sight for the blind, and liberation for the oppressed - also good news for those whose voices are suppressed and who do not have access to the centers of power. The tension I find in this text is that while Jesus proclaims the scripture has been fulfilled - and I do believe that Jesus is indeed good news for the oppressed and poor - that we still have people who suffer oppression all these years later is disheartening. I look to the work of Rev. Dr. William Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove for inspiration. The Poor People's Campaign and Moral Mondays movement help me to listen to those voices that are too often marginalized by the powers that be.
This need to listen to the voices on the margins is at the heart of the 1 Corinthians reading. "But as it is, God has placed each one of the parts in the body just like [God] wanted. If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body?" Still an excellent illustration of the need for diversity within unity. Given the impending UMC special General Conference on the topic of human sexuality and possible schism, this is a critical scripture for paying attention to who has power and voice and who is silenced. The perception of being silenced does not mean that someone is actually silenced. Intentional and prayerful listening to others is what this scripture calls us to practice.
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