Faith, Hope and Charity

28 January * Epiphany 4C
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 * Luke 4:14-30
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland

Faith, Hope and Charity. These are three things we all want, three virtues to which we all aspire- Faith, Hope and Charity. Saint Paul says this is what following Jesus is all about. We are hard pressed to disagree. Yet, we look around the church and the world and see that the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity appear to be in short supply.

The world we live in seems more at home with the Seven Deadly Sins: greed, envy, gluttony, lust, sloth, wrath, pride. Pick any one of the seven and you can see and hear a television commercial or show that advocates at least one of the seven deadly sins as something to which we should aspire. Ditto the paper, the radio, the internet, not to mention the urgings of our political leadership of any party.

We find Jesus reading and preaching in his hometown synagogue a vision of enormous Faith, Hope and Charity: good news for the poor, indentured servants to be set free, sight for the blind, and the year of the Lord’s favor.

This last, the year of the Lord’s favor, was what the Bible calls Jubilee. Every seven years, and again especially on the 49th year, all debts were to be forgiven, land that had been foreclosed returned, and the whole world set right-side up again for everyone – that is for all people. I try to imagine what that would look like and feel like, and quite honestly given the world we live in it is just plain hard to imagine.

Yet, for those sitting in front of Jesus at that moment, we hear that all spoke well of him. That is, until he extends the vision of Faith, Hope, Charity and Jubilee to include, oops, gentiles. Evidently gentiles are included among “all people.” Luke says Jesus returned from the wilderness “filled with the power of the spirit.” With this news about gentiles folks are thinking perhaps he is full of something else.

But you see, the land was under a military occupation by gentiles – the Roman Empire was the epitome of gentile power and glory. Unless, that is, you happen to be subject to the Empire’s occupation. And it turns out Jesus specifically edited Isaiah which should have ended with “and a day of the Lord’s vengeance against the gentiles” rather than “the Lord’s favor.” He really meant to include gentiles in God’s promises.

But Jesus essentially says there is enough Faith, Hope, Charity and Jubilee even for gentiles – putting the “all” back into “all people.” Folks were just not ready to hear that. It is not clear that we are ready to hear that even today.

Despite the opposition to his program of liberty for all, we know full well he went on to live a life of good news for the poor, release of captives of all kinds, recovery of sight and vision, and looking to set the world right-side up again. Jesus lived a life of Faith, Hope, Charity and Jubilee. And most remarkably he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Not in his teaching, nor in his doing, but in our hearing.

We might ask ourselves, since we are Christians, “Just how did Jesus live a life shaped by these virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity and Jubilee?” And how might this scripture be fulfilled in our hearing? The answer appears to be in our lesson from Luke: “…he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.”

As was his custom. He went to meet with the gathered community of faith every week. That was his custom. You knew where Jesus would be on the Sabbath day – in the synagogue listening to the Word of God and talking about God’s Word with others.

This was as reliable as the sun coming up in the east and setting in the west, for this was his custom. We might note that Mary and Joseph raised him with these expectations: on the Sabbath day we all go join the gathered community in the synagogue.

We recall that when he was twelve his parents took him to Jerusalem for the Passover as was their custom every year, and on the way home noticed he was missing from the clan on the road back to Galilee, and eventually he was found in the Temple, again listening to and discussing the Word of God.

He said to them, “Why are you searching? Did you not know? I must be in my father’s house.” His mother, we are told, treasured this experience in her heart. And he grew in wisdom, in years and in divine and human favor – all from spending time in his father’s house. Who among us would not want to grow in wisdom and divine and human favor? The years we could do without!

And when his disciples ask him how to pray he says, “Say, Our Father in heaven….” That is, his father is Our Father – and this, Saint Peter’s, is our father’s house.

Our catechism says it is the duty of all Christians to come together week by week for corporate worship. Why? Because this was Jesus’ custom. It must also be ours.

To ever have a chance of embodying the virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity and Jubilee the way Jesus does, his customs need to become our customs, beginning with being in our father’s house on the Sabbath day – week by week, reliable as clockwork. If it is Sunday and people want to know where we are, we want them to know we are right here – week in and week out. Only by being here and hearing the word of God will God’s Word become fulfilled.

The single most important Holy Habit is weekly corporate worship. Are we ready to make this our custom as well? How badly do we want a life of Faith, Hope, Charity and Jubilee? How soon do we want God’s word to become fulfilled?

I must be in my father’s house
I must be in my father’s house
Why are you searching
Do you not know
I must be in my father’s house

I come to hear and teach the Word of God
I come to hear and teach the Word of God
Why are you searching
Do you not know
I must be in my father’s house

Mary treasured all this in her heart
Mary treasured all this in her heart
Why are you searching
Do you not know
I must be in my father’s house

We must be in our Father’s house
We must be in our Father’s house
Why are we searching
Do we not know
We must be in our Father’s house