Text: Luke 4:16-21 and Luke 18:18-31

Do you think Jesus was nervous? When he stood up to read at the synagogue? These are people he knows. And they know him in a certain kind of way, which is not as public figure. This is a kind of coming out; he’s declaring something about his identity and setting himself apart from them, the ones who raised him. 

He’s a fully grown man at this point, so maybe the public speaking doesn’t bother him. But that’s not what he’s known for. These folks know him both as the son of his parents (if they were Mennonite, he’d be a perfect candidate for the Mennonite game); they’ve known him as a member of their community and probably a carpenter or some kind of a tradesman. 

And now, here he is, reading eloquently from the prophet. And not only that, identifying himself with the prophet’s words: “I have come to bring good news to the poor…” And he concludes with his own comment: Today this prophecy is fulfilled just as you heard it.

He should have been nervous, because as he goes on to explain, this prophetic mission that he is about to embark on is not just for his home community but for all people and maybe especially for those outside of Israel. And that makes his own people very angry. This mission statement will go on to make many people angry and sad because what is good news for the poor does not always sound like good news for those with power and wealth.

We don’t have any stories or evidence or knowledge of what Jesus was like when he was just a guy living in Nazareth and being a craftsman. What we have is the legacy of this speech. Jesus gave his listeners then – and us now – a very straightforward understanding of what the Gospel message is: good news to the poor. 

That’s the yardstick for the rest of the gospel. And I think that’s a pretty good yardstick for our own discipleship as we discern how we follow Jesus today. Is this thing that I’m doing, this way that I’m behaving good news for the poor? This decision that I’m making or person I’m supporting good new for the poor? If not, it does not get the Jesus endorsement.

I recognize that it’s not always – or maybe ever – going to be that cut and dried. But I still stand by it as a base-level yardstick.

Isaiah, from which Jesus was quoting, goes on to give examples of what good news for people in poverty might be: liberation from prison (he probably means debtor’s prison), sight to the blind (I think we can extrapolate to anyone with disability), and freedom from oppression. 

Those examples cover a lot of ground. It is those who are disabled, those whose poverty and indebtedness lands them in jail, those who are on the underside of power for whatever reason, those are the folks for who Jesus wants to bring good news. 

Later, Jesus has a real-life opportunity to engage in a practical exchange with a curious and interested follower. A certain young man who is earnest is his desire to follow Jesus. A young man I think we can all identify with. Especially because when he asks Jesus what he needs to do to ‘inherit eternal life,’ Jesus tells him what he already knows: don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t murder, love and respect your parents, be faithful to your spouse.

He’s basically citing the relational parts of the ten commandments. And whew! No problem. This young man has that down no problem. Easy peasy. 

Same, right? We go to church. We care for each other in community and for those in our families. We are upstanding and honest. Not one of us has ever committed murder. But wait! There’s more.

This is like Jesus’ Columbo moment. Remember how Colombo would be on his way out the door and the suspect would think that they were off the hook but then he turns around in that rumpled bumbling (be secretly genius) way that he had and say, “Just one more thing, sir.” And he’d deliver the question or observation than would nail down the whole case.

Jesus pulls out his Gospel yardstick: “Go and sell everything you have and distribute it to the poor. Then your treasure will be in heaven. And come and follow me.” 

The man wants to experience the Kingdom of God but Jesus is telling him that God’s Reign starts right now, when the poor and the oppressed and the infirm are cared for and find belonging and wholeness. But that sounds like bad news to this man because, we finally learn, he is very wealthy.

And frankly, that sounds like bad news – or at least very difficult news! – to me too. Give up everything?? I remember what it felt like to worry about not having enough each month. About credit card debt being more than the money in the bank. I remember being happy when my spouse got a restaurant job because even though he didn’t make much, he could eat at work and bring home meals.

The thing is though, Jesus also says, come and follow me. I wonder how that changes the equation – both for that man and for any of us. Those in Jesus’ inner circle are presumably sharing what they have with each other. They are making sure that everyone has enough. They are sponsored by wealthy patrons who are giving up their wealth to support their ministry of healing and preaching and prophesy. 

It reminds me that the whole of the law that both Jesus and this young man have learned isn’t just the check-boxes of the ten commandments, it’s also: love your neighbor, let the stranger glean, redistribute wealth regularly, let people borrow without expecting re-payment. In other words, it comes back to creating communities of mutual care and trust where giving up wealth doesn’t cause anxiety and sadness but leads to sharing and joy. Good news both for the poor and for those with wealth who release it.

That’s not an easy prospect though. In fact is sounds pretty unrealistic. And Jesus recognized that. It is harder, Jesus says, for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Besides being a very funny image, Jesus was illustrating how much of a stretch (or squeeze) it is for those with wealth to take steps toward a system that is truly good news for the poor.

The people listening to Jesus found that hard to believe too. Everything is easy for the rich! If the rich can’t buy their way into the Reign of God, then who can? 

Again, Jesus does not leave things there. The beauty and mystery of God’s Reign is the work of God within it and within the hearts and minds of all who seek God through discipleship. Even a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle. Even the rich joining in the reign of God here and now. Even any one of us meeting measuring up to the Gospel yardstick.

The other brilliant thing about the Reign of God is that because it is already begun – and not just a future goal – is that the door is always open. At we grow in discipleship and in faith we are reaching for the Gospel marker. May we continue, as individuals, as a community to reach for the Gospel marker: Good news for the poor, freedom for those imprisoned, healed systems for those with disabilities, liberation for the oppressed and a day when God’s wholeness and vision of a just peace would reach all people – even the rich.

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