THPTFTU

A sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary 4B - Luke 4:21-30.

This sermon was preached in the community of 

     Lutheran Campus Ministry at UT-Austin 

          on February 3, 2013 

(which happened to be Super Bowl Sunday).

I’m glad you could all make it,

     and I really appreciate you coming early

          so I can be home in time 

               to watch the cute puppies on Animal Planet.

I assume you will all be doing the same…

But before we get too distracted 

     with the other events of this day,  

I hope we can settle in for a few moments 

     to reflect together on the words 

          we have heard proclaimed…

     because they are beautiful and complicated

          and timely and…as I have found them…true.

The readings today are full

     of compelling narrative and beautiful language…

          And I think they might even be 

               especially appropriate for a day 

                    of such cultural significance as today.

When we go home today

     many of us will participate in an hours-long ritual

          where we  will be reminded 

               of how much value we give

                    to an odd assortment of things:

                         like the ability to throw and run 

                              and tackle and kick….

                         And like the beauty, attractiveness,

                              cleverness or wealth 

                                   that will surely come to us

                         if only we buy the right beer, 

                              car, clothing,

                                   snack food and razor blades…

We will be reminded of our own tenuous quests 

     for what is worthwhile.

But worrying about what is worthwhile…

     and who is worthwhile is not a new struggle.

          Thousands of years ago, God called a prophet…

   a prophet who knew that he was too young 

          to speak with authority.

But Jeremiah was given God’s own words…

    after God reminded him 

          that he didn’t have to explain his credentials…

God already knew exactly who Jeremiah was…

     And had determined his worth and purpose long ago.

In First Corinthians, 

     Paul talks about what is worthwhile, too…

          And it’s nothing they advertise on network TV.

The love that Paul describes –

     patient, kind, not irritable 

          or insisting on its own way...

               is not formulaic enough for match.com 

                    to corner the market on it…

     or for a certain soft drink to help you find it.

It’s a love too perfect for us 

     to ever fully realize in ourselves…

           though there are those moments 

               we cling to that feel so close…

When I asked my stepson Avery 

     to talk with me about love,

          I asked where we find 

               the kind of love Paul talks about,

          And where we need more of it…

He talked about how even in our families, 

     even with those we love most,

          We still fight and fight…

               and fight and fight and fight.

He’s right. It’s kind of our thing. It’s what we do.

    

At the theological conference 

     Pastor Paul and I just attended,

          We heard someone share from a book

               where the word “sin” was redefined in a way

                    that might capture its meaning better 

for our modern ears.

It’s a long enough phrase

      that it’s easier to refer to by its acronym:

           THPTFTU…The Human Propensity to…

                 umm… "Mess"…Things Up.

Maybe the strong language is necessary

     to really feel the weight of that, though.

          Because we know that we do…pardon me…

               fuck things up.

Badly. And we the victims of other people’s HPTFTU…

     And so are whole groups, classes, nations of people…

          So is the whole planet.

Paul speaks of love…

     but we miss the mark most of the time.

And I think that one of the reasons we do 

     is because we are afraid.

          We, like Jeremiah,

               don’t think we are capable of being 

                     who we are meant to be.

Like him, we are afraid that we don’t count now…

     when we are young…

         But we are also afraid 

              that we will never count at all.

We don’t believe we are loveable…

     we are still afraid of being alone and unloved.

And the love that Paul describes 

     is so shocking in its scope,

          And we are still so captive to our fear 

               of being on the outside…

That when we hear real Love speak

     we tend to try to drive it out of town 

          and throw it off a cliff.

When Jesus explains how the good news of God 

     is for foreigners like the Syrophoenician widow 

          and the Syrian warrior Namaan,

he is talking about a love so wide

     it goes beyond the boundaries of Israel…

          of us and them…of in and out…

but I think what makes his hometown crowd

     (and probably us, to be honest)

angry is the fear that if Jesus is for them…

     he’s not for us…

          as if loving everyone else, too, 

               is a sort of betrayal…

          as if the love of God was as scarce a resource

               as the approval we crave 

                   from the rest of the world…

After all, we know the feeling 

     of being left behind and left out…

          If there were television commentators 

               assessing our skills or critiquing our lives,

     we wonder what good things 

          they would have to say about us.

We watch television, and we know

     that we don’t belong 

          on the international stage as sport legends…

               or on tv commercials 

                   as the icons of beauty and success.

Those people are not us…so who are we?

Well…a voice spoke to Jeremiah’s doubt and fear 

     thousands of years ago…

          And it speaks to ours today.

“I have known you since before you drew breath.

     I have loved you forever.

You are my child,

     and you are one who I trust 

          to bring my words to a world

               that needs more than anything

                    to know that they don’t have to be afraid.”

The good news is…

     God isn’t listening 

          to what anyone else is saying about you…

               Or not saying about you…

God has said everything about you that matters already:

     “I love you. You are mine.”

God’s love is not scarce.

     God’s love for this whole universe 

          does not diminish you…

               It connects you into a web of light and life

                    that is endless and safe and free.

Jesus’ first sermon of his public ministry in Luke…

     the one that seemed to be going so well last week…

          is another theme in the same symphony

               whose notes called Jeremiah to bold witness.

Jesus is saying…I am here for her and for him…

     for those people out there…

          Maybe Jesus was trying to be provocative. 

               Who knows?

But when the people heard those words,

     Maybe they felt like Jesus

          was tearing the words of the prophet Isaiah 

               away from them.

Because they became so angry.

  

But then…even as the people who were afraid

      that God was being taken away from them

          for someone else…

     even then, as they were angry enough to mob him

          and quite literally throw him out…

Jesus moved peacefully through them.

That’s another irony of THPTFTU…of sin… isn’t it?

     When we are afraid that we are losing hold of God,

          we try to physically throw God away…

     which is the exact opposite of what we really want, 

          isn’t it?

But we can’t.

Having finally gone to see The Hobbit yesterday,

     I would be remiss 

          if I didn’t find a link to J.R.R. Tolkein

               in the arc of this story…

     because Tolkein loved epic adventures

          of transformation, loyalty and love…

     almost as much as God does…

And the brave love of others for which God frees us

     came across so strongly to me 

          in the words of hobbit Bilbo Baggins

               when he was reunited with his company 

                     after escaping the goblins…

     though the dwarves still questioned his loyalty

          and ability to share their quest.

“I know you doubt me, I know you always have, 

     and you're right.

          I often think of Bag End. I miss my books,

               and my armchair, and my garden.

                    See, that's where I belong; that's home,

          and that's why I came back…

              'cause you don't have one…a home.

      It was taken from you, 

          but I will help you take it back if I can.”

Whether we feel ready or qualified

     to be drawn into the adventure 

          of God’s redemption of the world,

we are called…we are loved…and we are claimed.

And yes…

     Jesus is for him and her and everyone out there…

          And Jesus is for us.

God has the last word on our worth, 

     and to God, we are priceless.

          In the freedom of that knowledge,

               we know that God’s love for others

                    does not diminish God’s love for us…

     and we, like Jeremiah, can bear that promise to the world without fear.

Thanks be to God. Amen.