Another hill far away...

Brow of the Hill Near Nazareth by James Jacques Joseph Tissot

 

This week’s gospel lesson from The New Revised Common Lectionary (NRCL) is from Luke 4:21-30.  Verse 29 reads, 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.

That line has always been a peculiar one as I considered it.  Intellectually it is not puzzling at all.  Jesus’ words in the preceding verses border on blasphemy.  Although as the text progresses it is not Jesus' proclamation that he fulfills the words of Isaiah the Prophet that anger the crowd at the Nazareth synagogue.  When he speaks these words, folks seem to be impressed.  It is when Jesus as much as says that he will heal no illness or exorcise no demon in his home town that people get riled up.

It is as if they say, “We don’t mind a little borderline blasphemy, but we won’t be ignored or discounted.”  The reaction is human enough.  It is fraught with resentment and rage.  The mob mentality takes over and the people chivvy Jesus to the edge of town and to “the brow of the hill.”  Their intent is to toss him over the side.  However, with little fanfare apparently, Jesus halts their murderous progress and goes back the way he came.

In studying the passage, I came across this painting by Tissot.  I was somehow taken by it.  It is not particularly detailed.  In fact, it is difficult to single out Jesus in the picture at all.  But it has a kind of scope that draws me into it.  It depicts the commotion and chaos that must have been present in the moment.  There are other depictions of the story that seem to have Jesus in charge the entire time.  He stands heroically facing his fellow Nazarenes and appears to be facing them down.  Tissot puts Jesus in a bit of a defensive posture and places Jesus within the panoramic frame of all Nazareth.  It is as if, for a moment, we are not sure who is going to win here.

I still have a lot of questions about this passage.  But I find the picture has helped me focus a bit, and perhaps helps me to ask some of the correct questions. 

The Confession of St. Peter

 

This is a little belated, as the Christian calendar observes the Confession of St. Peter on January 18.  Matthew, Mark and Luke each report (with varying degrees of detail) the time in which Jesus asks his disciples what the crowds are saying about him.  He then asks the disciples themselves about their opinion.  At that point Peter makes his Confession – his affirmation – of the Messiahship of Jesus.  The synoptics variously report Peter’s words as:

Matthew 16:13-20 -- “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Mark 8:27–30 -- “You are the Messiah.”
Luke 9:18–20 -- “The Messiah of God.”

It is Matthew alone who reports Jesus’ response, both in terms of revelation and in passing Kingdom responsibility along to Peter.  But for all of the synoptic writers this is clearly a watershed moment not only for Peter, but for the church as well.

 In modern times The Confession of Peter has been related to The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  The Faith and Order Movement of the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Friars of the Atonement have each advocated a time of uniting prayer since the early 20th century.  The week has moved around the calendar a bit, but it the church now designates the week as taking place January 18 – 25.

 Peter’s profession is that of all Christians.  No matter what their views on other ideas and doctrines great and small, it is the affirmation, “(Jesus is) the Christ,” that gathers Christian believers together.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

 

Did you know that January 18-25 (from Tuesday through Tuesday) is The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity?  Neither did I.  If you don’t have a resource like the United Methodist Program Calendar, you may not have had any way of knowing.  I haven’t received anything from the denomination, the conference or my district promoting it in any way.  I can remember in the past receiving all manner of items related to this time.  There would be bulletin inserts and wall posters.  I would get suggested orders of worship and children’s activity books in the mail.  Clergy meetings would have time set aside to interpret this week to pastors.  It was as regular as clockwork.

Then, in THIS year, we don’t hear anything?  When fightings without and fears within threaten to rend The United Methodist Church asunder we don’t hear a whisper regarding prayer and unity?  What are the Powers That Be thinking?

It is true that the Week of Prayer has its origins in ecumenical concerns.  I don’t mean to diminish the importance or the urgency of these issues at all.  But, how do we not take advantage of a built-in apparatus for unifying prayer to encourage United Methodists to bring our concerns regarding agreement before the Throne of Grace in an organized – dare I say methodical – fashion?

So, pray for Christian Unity.  And United Methodist unity. 

You can see all that the UMC has to offer on the subject this year here.

The World Council of Churches has some info here.

The United Methodist Church Official Site links to a Roman Catholic resource for the week under the title “Ecumenical Sunday” (January 20) here.

Ordinary Time

 

Monday was the first day following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  As such (by most reckonings) it was the first day of Ordinary Time.  This is the liturgical season that begins immediately following the Baptism feast and it runs through Shrove Tuesday, or the day before Ash Wednesday (March 2 in 2022).

The church calls this time after The Epiphany Ordinary Time.  This period gets its name from the way that we number the days during this time.  We do not designate this stretch ordinary because we label this time as somehow common or dull.  Rather, the church employs this designation because of the nature of the numbering of these days.  Instead of using cardinal numbers (one, two, three) it utilizes ordinal numbers (first, second, third).  So, we call this coming Sunday, January 16, The Second Sunday After The Epiphany.

Because Ash Wednesday is a moveable feast (an observance that does not occur on the same date each year), ordinary time will be of varying duration from year to year.  Ash Wednesday can fall anywhere between February 4 and March 10, though the two extremes of the range are very rare.  The last time Ash Wednesday was on February 4 was 1818 and will next occur in 2285.  The most recent time Ash Wednesday fell on March 10 was in 1943 and will next occur in 2038.  So, the duration of ordinary time is between four and nine weeks.  In the modern liturgical usage, the first Sunday in Ordinary Time is The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the last Sunday is The Feast of the Transfiguration.  Obviously, there are two more days in the season before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

Ordinary time carries with it emphases on mission (begun with the narrative of the Wise Men visiting the infant Jesus) and spiritual growth.  The liturgical colors of the season are white (for the feast days) and green (signifying new, eternal and abundant life) for the rest of the season.  The New Revised Common Lectionary (NRCL) offers gospel texts that reveal the nature of Jesus Christ (in keeping with the Epiphany theme).  The epistle readings address the topics of spiritual gifts and the character of the church (in an examination of spiritual growth).

We can be deceived by looking over our shoulders at Christmas and ahead to Easter so that we think that ordinary time is a “down time,” a respite between major occurrences where nothing of significance takes place.  But it can be an extraordinary time, where the church addresses some of its most formative ideas.

What a great time.