Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10. Knowledge of the Bible and
God's purposes often fall into decline and get ignored. It was ever thus. Here
the scribe Ezra confronts the Jewish people with the scriptures "with
interpretation" to inspire the people again circa 6th century B.C.
1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a. Superb description of the
universal church as "the body of Christ" with particular emphasis on
the profound equality between the constituent members and their gifts.
Luke 4: 14-21. Jesus in effect testifies that He is the Messiah, by quoting the
prophesy from Isaiah and boldly proclaiming that it refers to Himself!
People’s knowledge
and acquaintance with the word of God in the Bible goes through phases of
sometimes being well known and it sometimes becomes lost and discarded.
The scene in
the 6th century BC described in the book of Nehemiah is one such
scene after the exile when all the people were gathered together to hear not
only the raw word of God but also an interpretation of it.
The Bible
has always needed interpreting because although God’s word is unchanging, how
it is interpreted and lived and believed, and applied changes continually.
In Western
Europe as a whole we are living through a period again when the Bible has been
largely discarded, little known, read or understood.
It is also
subject to a lot of misinterpretation as well by fundamentalists.
Even within
the church, people often only have a passing acquaintance with the main
underlying themes of love and redemption and the kingdom of God.
We get by on
knowing a few favourite stories that we learned as children and our faith runs
the distinct risk that we lose our bearings quite easily when we get buffeted
by the storms of life.
Mostly it is
no-one’s fault as it is very difficult to get good instruction. It is an area I
intend to work on over the coming years.
The central
message that comes through Paul’s letter to the Corinthians spells out the
nature of the church – the universal body of people who make up worldwide Christianity,
of which we are a local example.
He uses the
imagery of a human body to describe that we are all equal members within that
body but with particular gifts and roles allotted to us.
Paul is very
keen to assert that for example, my role as the preacher and interpreter of
scripture, while necessary and having a distinct charism within the body of
Christ, I am not more loved or indeed
necessary than the person who makes the tea after services, or serves at the
altar, or gives out the books, or visits an ill person in hospital, or is
involved in any of the hundreds of ministries that we get involved in.
We are all
equally necessary and equally loved.
We are a
community so close that we are likened to a body.
Because we
are guided by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are known not just as any
old body but known as the “body of Christ”.
No-one can
say to another church member “I have no need of you”
Don’t
dismiss or disparage anyone for whom Jesus saw fit to die.
Of course,
that sentiment is extended to all humanity because Jesus died on behalf of the
entire world without exception.
Jesus was
fully conscious of his identity and purpose. He read the scroll handed to Him
in the Synagogue about an “anointed” one and applied that term to Himself.
In Hebrew anointed
is translated as “Messiah”, and in Greek , “Christ”.
To fulfil
the work He started, our mission is to preach good news to the poor in Spirit,
release to those kept prisoner by fear, doubt, cynicism, suffering and the fear
of death, and to free people from both mental and physical slavery.
As members
of His body, that is our task, to bring in the kingdom of God where those
things become realities.
Amen
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