The Second Monday in Advent (December 10, 2018)
Virginia Theological Seminary – Alexandria, VA
Lectionary readings:
Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 85:8-13; Luke 5:17-26
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Over the last year or so, to keep myself intellectually stimulated and engaged, I have started studying Irish Gaelic, which is a challenging prospect to say the least. One of the most frustrating parts of the language for me are the points at which it the language quite passive. So speaking about emotions, for example, one would say “Ta bron orm” or “Ta athas orm,” which literally means that “sadness or sorrow are upon me” or “happiness is upon me.” Now, as someone who has spent my entire life speaking and writing in the English language, I do not like this construction. I find it frustrating and annoying. Even more than that, as an American I want to claim those emotions. I want my agency. I’m happy! I’m sad! It’s not that these things are on me, but it’s what I am and who I am.
And yet, this morning this question agency is at the very heart of the Gospel message that we heard – the lack thereof… the inappropriate use of agency. There are competing realities here that are in conflict in their use of agency, and they speak different things about the source and the appropriateness of agency.
Let’s look briefly at the two competing situations that we have in this gospel. First, we have this man who is paralyzed and is brought by his friends to Jesus. We don’t know much about his situation, but what is clear is that in this moment he lacks a significant amount of agency. His friends have to bring him to Jesus, and even in that they have to get creative in the way that they bring him to Jesus, lowering him down from the roof. And he is totally dependent on Jesus and his friends to seek this healing. After going to great lengths Jesus recognizes the faith displayed in this act. He forgives the man his sins, he heals him, and he sends him on his way. And what does the man do? He goes home glorifying God. He used his newfound agency to witness to what God has done in his life. His agency is derived from his transformation at the feet of Jesus. He agency was not about him but what God was doing through him.
And then we have the Pharisees. Throughout this whole section of Luke, they seem to do nothing else but follow Jesus around and criticize him for his ministry. Their agency in this context is not about witnessing to what God has done and is doing, but it is about what they think is the right and proper and true in terms of the faith and the tradition. It is all about them. Whether it is the healing of the paralytic, the interaction with the tax collector Levi that immediately follows, the questions about fasting and Sabbath observance, time and again the Pharisees get caught up in being so rigidly tied to their interpretation of scripture and tradition that they fail to see what God is doing right in front of them. The Devil uses their agency to blind them to the work that is unfolding before their very eyes.
And this is where they get tripped up. Dare I say, this is where we get tripped up. We think it is our agency leads us to God, whereas it is in fact it is God who is the source and ground of our agency. It is the faith displayed in this man and his friends that drive them to seek out Jesus, and it is faith that draws us too to the feet of our savior. And it is that act of humility, seeking the savior out first that then activates us and gives us the agency to go out into the world Glorifying God and proclaiming the gospel.
The truth is, at the end of the day, that matters of doctrine or dogma are not unimportant – they are in fact vitally important – but it is all about our point of departure. Are we first going to the feet of Jesus? Are we first grounding ourselves in Holy Scripture, in our prayer life, in our worship? And then from that point of departure then going out into the world to say, “This is what God is doing in my life, this is how God has transformed me, and this is what God has shown me in my life.” This morning, let us pray that this is so for each of us. Let us pray that we go from here fixed on what God is doing in our life and proclaiming that to each other and to the world. Amen.
Ad Orientem 