In the name of God-
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today we celebrate the Feast of our patron, Saint Luke. Whenever
we remember a writer of a Biblical text, I like to point out the passages that
are unique to their writings, so that we can fully appreciate their
contributions to our faith and understanding of Jesus.
St.
Luke, not St. Paul, is actually the most prodigious New Testament author. Luke
wrote both the gospel that bears his name, and also the Book of Acts, which are
together longer than all of the Pauline letters. Without Luke’s writing, we
would not have the birth narrative of Jesus- as only that gospel tells us about
the angels and shepherds that are present at Jesus’ birth. Only Luke records
wonderful poems such as the Song of Simeon or the Magnificat sung by Mary. In
Luke alone does Jesus say from the cross “forgive them,” “you will be with me
in paradise,” and “into your hands I commend my spirit.” Luke gives us the
parables the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son and he also records the
Resurrection appearance on the road to Emmaus. All of the stories of the early
Church, as recorded in Acts, are known to us only through his writing. Luke
also have an elevated status of women and lifts up the poor and oppressed in
the telling of the Good News of Jesus. So we give thanks to God for Luke’s
witness and writing.
A few
stray references to Luke in the New Testament have led us to believe that he
was a physician and a travelling companion of Paul. And so our first reading is
an ode to doctors from the book of Ecclesiasticus. If you are a doctor, you can
revel in this wonderful Scripture passage that sings your praises. But I think
there is a message for all of us in it: “God gave skill to human beings that
they might be glorified in his marvelous works… God’s work will never be
finished; and from God health spreads over all the earth.” Physicians provide
the treatment, but these verses seem to be indicating that healing comes from
God.
There is a wonderful African-American spiritual called There is a Balm in Gilead that speaks to
this. At clergy conference, which was last week, Bishop Curry preached an
outstanding sermon by using the words of that hymn, which will be sung at
Communion. The hymn proclaims that “There is a balm in Gilead to make the
wounded whole, to heal the sin sick soul.” Given that our patron saint is known
for his work as a physician and evangelist, let us consider the question that
so many of us are likely wondering: is there really a balm in Gilead?
It is a question that was on the mind of Luke and his
audience when he penned his work. In the Galilee region, the people were living
under the ironic pax romana, which
was no peace at all. The people lived under Roman occupation in sub-standard
living conditions. The life expectancy in this area was about 30 years, while
it was nearly 60 in the nearby Roman city of Sepphoris. The Jewish people were
anticipating their Messiah to liberate them from Rome. And so it is no accident that, as Luke records it, Jesus’ first public words are “God has
anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God 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.” The people of Israel were
pondering in their hearts- is there a balm in Gilead? Is there salvation yet to
come?
Jesus is recalling the history and tradition of Israel in
his proclamation. His words are a direct quotation from chapter 61 of the
Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is writing during the time of the Exile to Babylon, when
the people are displaced from their homes. God’s promise to bless them and give
them a land flowing with milk and honey is in question, as they’ve been
uprooted. So when God, through Isaiah, proclaimed that the captives will be set
free, this was a word of hope to a broken people.
It is the prophet Jeremiah who asks “Is there no balm in
Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people
not been restored?” Just as Jesus reinterpreted those words from Isaiah as an
assurance that God will continue to be a source of healing, these powerful
words speak to us today. It is no accident that one of the primary ministries
of Jesus was that of healing. Though the specifics have changed, we still need
this word of hope to be spoken to us.
What good news does the poor need to hear? Our government
has said that corporations are people, and for the most part, corporations are
given better treatment and protections than the poor are. A few weeks ago, I
had a wonderful tour of the new facilities at Rowan Helping Ministries and I
got to see, firsthand, the great work that is done there. But the very fact
that we need such a large ministry to support the poor in our region speaks to
the fact that there is good news yet to be proclaimed. Is there no balm in
Gilead?
What are you captive to? Is consumer debt crushing you?
Are you trapped in an upside-down mortgage? Are you battling an addiction? When
you lie awake at night, what thoughts race through your mind? What makes you
feel vulnerable? Turn on the news and there isn’t much good news to see. Fears
are running rampant about an Ebola outbreak, about the threat of terrorism, about
a plunging stock market. We worry about aging parents and children in school.
We deal with cancer and unemployment. Is there no balm in Gilead?
What are we blind to? With all that we are captive to and
afraid of, it is easy to become distracted. The grace of God is all around us,
but our preoccupation with anxieties can obscure this. Ours is the most
over-weight, overly medicated, and overly addicted population in US history.
And whether it is food, drugs, or alcohol, we are seeking to dull the pains and
anxieties of life. But when you dull pain, you also dull every other emotion-
including joy and gratitude. The anxiety of our culture makes us blind to good
news. Is there no balm in Gilead?
Who are the oppressed in our midst? Is it those without a
voice in Washington and Raleigh? Is it the migrant workers who pick most of the
food that we eat? Is it the earth which is being abused and polluted? Is there
no balm in Gilead?
What would the year of the Lord’s favor look like? The
idea of the Jubilee year was ordained by God. Every fifty years, things would
be reset. Debts would be forgiven and slaves were set free. Poverty is not
something that should be passed down from generation to generation. The sins of
the parents should not plague the lives of the children. The Jubilee year
reminds us is that there is always a time for forgiveness and fresh starts. If
we could start over, what might we change in our nation’s trajectory? What
might we do differently in our lives if we were allowed to go in a new
direction? William Faulkner once wrote that “The past is never dead. It’s not
even past.” How are we captive to decisions made long ago? Is there no balm in
Gilead?
Jesus came and said “this Scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing.” When Bishop Curry preached on this hymn, he boldly proclaimed
that Jesus takes a question mark and turns it into an exclamation point. There
is a balm in Gilead! There is healing for the wounded and the sin sick soul.
There is good news for the poor, release for the captive; the blind will see,
the oppressed will go free, and the year of the Lord’s favor will come. As
today’s Psalm proclaims “God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their
wounds.”
There is a balm in Gilead, and that balm is Jesus of
Nazareth. That is the lens through which Luke writes. Jesus is the great
physician who will heal our souls. But, as you’ll recall from the
Ecclesiasticus reading, though God provides the healing, it comes through the
work of physicians. In the opening of Luke, the letter is addressed to
Theophilus. We have no idea if such a person existed as the recipient of this
writing. But the name is a combination of two words: God-lover. Luke is writing
to those who love God. And isn’t that us? We are the intended audience for this
message of liberation and salvation. The balm of Gilead is being offered to you
and me.
Central to my personal theology is Luke 17:21- “Neither
will they say, ‘Look here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ for, in fact, the Kingdom
of God is among you.” You might also correctly translated that as “the Kingdom
of God is within you.” In the spirit of St. Luke, I believe that we are all
called to be physicians of the Good News. At our Baptisms, we are sealed with
holy oil and made full members of the Body of Christ. We are commissioned to
anoint others with that balm of Gilead. The Kingdom of God is not something
that we are waiting for in a Second Coming. The Kingdom of God is not reserved
for us after our deaths. The balm of Gilead is not some future promise, but
rather a present reality. Today, this day, is the day of the Lord’s favor.
In the hymn, one verse says “if you cannot preach like
Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus, how he
died to save us all.” There is a balm in Gilead, and you carry that balm with
you. As I’ve said before and will say many more times, what God gives us is
maximum support with minimum protection. The balm might not take away all the
pain, but it will be there to comfort us. We are to be the balm to each other
when we lose a loved one to death, when we find ourselves out of work, or
receiving a bad diagnosis. As we have been transitioning to a new home and a
new city, your warm welcome and hospitality has been a great balm to my family
in the time of transition. One of the things that attracted me to St. Luke’s is
the strong sense of community and care for each other. You can tell the love of
Jesus to those you meet. You can proclaim that Jesus is with us and knows our
pains. You can share the victory cry of his Resurrection over all that we are
captive to.
When
Jesus preached his sermon, it got him into trouble. In fact, those hearing it
tried to kill him. It was a political sermon, and it should be heard as one
today. I’ve gotten to know many of you over these first weeks together, and I
know that some of you care deeply about justice and have some influence in our
community. Use that to give the balm of Gilead. Take the balm of Gilead with
you to City Council meetings. Take it to County Commission meetings and School
Board meetings. Run for office if that is what it takes. Support the good work
being done in our community by Rowan Helping Ministries, Food for Thought, and
St. Luke’s. When you see the captive or the oppressed, set them free. When you
see the blind, be their guide. When you find someone that needs a fresh start,
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor to them. Spread that balm of Gilead.
There are a lot of books out there that spill a whole
bunch of ink talking about the purpose driven life. Jesus didn’t need so many
words, instead he proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is among us, and that is a
Kingdom of liberation and dignity for all people. Luke, the physician, wrote
about Jesus, who was the definitive answer to the question “is there no balm in
Gilead?” Jesus is a resounding “yes.”
Today is a day for us to celebrate who we are at St.
Luke’s. It is a day to thank God for the wonderful heritage of this parish, a
day to worship God in a beautiful building that points to the glory of God, and
a day to enjoy the company of each other at a pot luck. Following in the
footsteps our patron, Luke the physician and evangelist, let us proclaim- yes,
there is a balm in Gilead: Jesus Christ. Amen.
