Jesus announces a social revolution

Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday 24th January 2010, Epiphany 3

Readings: Nehemiah 8: 2-3,5-6,8-10 1Corinthians 12: 12-31a Luke 4: 14-21


The story we heard in our gospel reading today comes right from the very start of Jesus’ public ministry. It is the first public teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke’s gospel. And Jesus uses this occasion to announce his manifesto, to declare publicly what he is all about, what he is going to do. He says he has come, “…to declare good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…” Jesus is reading from Isaiah 61, but it is interesting that Jesus chooses to define his ministry in this way. We might perhaps expect him to say he has come to reconcile humanity to God, or to teach us to walk the road to heaven, or to bring about the kingdom of God. But no, Jesus chooses to emphasise the social revolution which is implicit in the gospel message. The gospel is good news for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.
But it is not immediately clear how this social revolution comes about. How is the gospel good news for the poor, how are the captives released? Well one suggestion has been “Liberation Theology”. This was an attempt to import some socialist and communist ideas into the gospel so as to bring about this revolution. The trouble was Liberation Theology was not always true to the whole gospel, which also urges us to respect legitimate worldly authority and demands that we love the rich as well as the poor. Liberation Theology has now mainly passed away.
It seems to me that a much more realistic, more demanding and ultimately more complete model for the Christian social revolution arises from the teaching that we heard from St Paul in our epistle reading today. The Church is the body of Christ. We are all members of this same body. When one is honoured, all are honoured. When one is hurt, all are hurt. All have different roles and purposes in the service of the whole body. Some might be thought of as higher or greater, so lower and less respectable, but we cloth with greater honour the less honourable members and afford greater respect to the less respectable. It makes no sense for the ear to try to be an eye or to worry that it is less than the eye, or for the head to reject the feet. As part of this body the poor are uplifted, the captives freed, the blind receive their sight. The churches social revolution is realised when we fully live out this reality of all being part of the body of Christ.
So it is a question of living this better, in a more complete way, and this is the road to fulfilment both for individuals and communities. So I would like to offer a few tips on living better as one body; the body of Christ.
First of all, we need to be mindful that the human body is conscious that it is one body because there is sharing and circulation. Blood flows round to all the cells, bringing oxygen and removing waste. Nerves transmit commands around the whole body and ensure that the whole body is aware of what is being sensed in one part. Well we too as church need sharing and circulation. News, good and bad, must be shared and rejoiced in or wept over together. Hopes and fears, needs and resources must all be shared and owned by all. Sharing is a key skill. It is through sharing that Christ gives to us his eternal life.
Secondly, to bring about this sharing we need to grow in the virtues. We need to be generous in giving to others. We need to be humble and simple enough to receive from others. Certainly we need patience because sharing never works out quite as we first hope. And the way to grow in the virtues is to practise, especially to practice sharing effectively.
Thirdly we need love. Immediately after this teaching Paul spends the whole of 1 Corinthians 13 talking about love. Love is patient, love is kind… the famous passage that is often read at weddings. And just as a couple need love if they are to be one family, so the church needs love if it is to be the body of Christ and to share effectively.
So these are my tips for realising the Church as the body of Christ, and realising the social revolution of the gospel. We need lots of sharing and circulation. We need to grow in the virtues. Above all we need to grow in Love. Amen.