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Luke 4:22-30
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All spoke well of [Jesus] and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself.' What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well."
And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepersin Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.
(ESV)
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We Are Here
Tuesday of Easter 6
15 May 2012
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"I am so deeply affected by other persons, their suggestions, examples, words, and actions, that if I could avoid human interaction I would be so much better off. If I could just cut out contact with other people my piety quotient would undoubtedly rise." The ancient monks who had themselves walled up in cells separated from human interaction subscribed to this theory. They thought that if they separated themselves from external influences they could get control of their sinfulness and live lives untainted by desire, sorrow, and wickedness. They sought a Nirvana where they were untouched by worldly suffering or desire. They were trying to out-Buddha Buddha.
The monk who was walled up in his hermetic cell could not escape the world and its desires, because the world lived in His heart and that heart was walled up with him. The world is not first and foremost something outside of us or external to us. It is old Adam upon whose throat we must keep our hands until we draw our last ragged breath. The influences that defile us are not primarily those without, but those within. Jesus says: "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person" (Mk 7:20-23). The list of what Jesus says is within sounds like the sins of worldliness to me, and yet he does not attribute them to the world, but to the heart. Notice, too, that there are no restrictions on this list. Every human is defiled by what comes out of him. This is a universal malady. Even if it is walled up, it is still your malady. To be walled up is to be walled up with evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, etc. When my children were younger they came to me and whined, "I'm bored." I would reply, "You're bored because you are boring. Go find something to do." They were wrong in attributing their boredom to outside influences. The problem is not out. It's in. The world resides in our hearts.
We do not seek to flee the world by being walled up against it, not only because we cannot flee what is in us, but we also recognize that while walled up from the world, we are no earthly good to it. The Lord calls us into vocation to live in the world, even if not as part of it. We must live in relation to other people. Human discourse is a fully human way of life. The hermit is missing his vocation. This is especially true for the holy church. The holy church is built when Christ's Word is shared with the people around us. If we wall ourselves off for fear of being tainted by them, they will never benefit from the teaching that the Lord has placed on our lips to deliver to them. They are sinners. We are sinners. We are both benefited by our speaking the Word of God. Are there risks involved. Yes. However, what if our Lord had walled Himself off from us by declining to be tainted by us sinners? What benefit would we have received from Him then? He could easily have avoided contact with us, of course. He had no need of us for Himself. As God we were unnecessary to Him, for to be God is to have no lack. But He decisively chose to come among us humans for our good. God's love for humans is never theoretical, but always active. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" (Jn 3:16). Jesus comes into the world because we are here and in need of Him.
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Martin Luther
"Therefore the stupid and impious opinion about the name 'saint' (whereby we think the name saint only applies to the saints in heaven, and hermits and monks on earth, because they perform such prodigious works) must be repudiated now that we have learned from sacred scripture that all faithful Christians are saints. The world admires the holiness of Benedict, Gregory, Bernard (of Clairveaux), Francis (of Assisi) and others like them because it hears that they have performed certain works magnificent and unusual in appearance. Certainly there were saints like Hilary (of Poitiers), Cyril (of Alexandria), Athanasius, Ambrose (of Milan), Augustine, and others, who did not fall into an ascetic and horrible life, but led their lives in the company of other people, ate common foods, drank wine, and dressed in elegant and decent clothes, not making uncultivated discriminations but seeking to live according to the common custom. These and other honest men are much to be preferred to the men previously mentioned. For these men taught purely and without superstition the faith of Christ, rebuked heretics, and cleansed the church from uncounted errors. They provided much joy to those who were their friends, who, when in the midst of trials and afflictions, they encouraged and consoled them with the Word. They did not allow themselves to be led away from human interaction, but carried out their offices in the midst of frequent disturbances. Those other men taught many things contrary to the faith, and also many superstitions, errors, and were the authors of impious forms of worship. Therefore, only in the agony of death did they apprehend Christ and trust only in His death and victory, for their ascetic life was no benefit to them."
Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians, 5.19
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Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, help us to live profitably in the world rather than to be a slave to the world. Keep us in the world to be of benefit to the world, which You have created and redeemed. Amen.
For the pastors and people of the Wyoming District of the LCMS, that they would ever be strengthened in the true faith
For Chaplain Donald Ehrke (Major, U. S. Army), that the Lord Jesus Christ would continue to bless and keep him as he serves the soldiers serving us
For Pr. William Heine as he prepares to move to Houston to take up his new office, as Headmaster of Memorial Lutheran School that he would be kept safe and arrive able to take up his new office
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Art: DUBOIS, Thomas Lamb of God
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 © Scott R. Murray, 2012
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