Ted Grimsrud—April 15, 2021

There is a saying, attributed to the 18^th-century writer Samuel Johnson, that nothing so concentrates the mind as the prospect of the gallows. I have found that for me, nothing so concentrates the mind quite like having grandchildren. Learning to know Elias and Marja, the future becomes less abstract. The question of where we are going becomes more intense. As the folksinger Jim Page asks, “Whose world is this? What kind of world will our children receive, after all is said and done? What kind of creed have we come to believe, that they may never receive one? What kind of creed are we to believe, if they are to receive one?” Indeed.

When I ask the question Why do we pay attention to Jesus? I don’t think we can hope (or should hope) to find just one answer. Lots of us have lots of reasons. One reason, maybe, for paying attention to Jesus is that in him we find hope, we find a “creed,” a belief, that might guide our future so that our children and their children might have a world. Let’s start by reading several brief texts from the Bible as a guide as we think: What is our hope? What’s it based on? What kind of “creed” do we need to believe in to have a “world”?

For six years you shall sow your land and gather its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. Six days you shall do your work, but in the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn servant and the alien may be refreshed. Be attentive to all that I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips. Exodus 23:10-13

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, who has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. For I the Lord love justice and hate wrongdoing. Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.Isaiah 61:1-11

I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed!” Revelation 15:2-4

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me, to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21

Continue reading “To turn from the abyss toward Jubilee [Jesus story #4]” →