Proclaiming the Year of the Lord's Favour

Australians all, let us rejoice, for we are young and free;
we’ve golden soil and wealth for toil, our home is girt by sea.
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts of beauty rich and rare;
in history’s page, let every stage, advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing: Advance, Australia fair!

Or perhaps, like Curtis Levy, you prefer:

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong under the shade of a coolibah tree…

Or even:

When you’re lonesome away from your kindred and all…

Or

Hey true blue, Don't say you've gone,
Say you've knocked off for a smoko and you'll be back later on,

Or

I’ve been to cities that never close down…

There are some things that put us in touch with the deep stories of our community—with our collective mythologies. Now, by mythology, I don’t mean untrue tales, I mean the stories and ideas and concepts and imagery which are the currents and undercurrents of our society: things which seem to speak to us of something of who we are; pictures that help us to think about our place in the world as a community and where we fit in. Very often these stories and pictures and ideas are fairytale-like—they’re don’t seem quite real, but they speak to our dreams, our hopes, our aspirations. And, of course, all of the songs that I alluded to earlier are part of the collective mythology of what it means to be Australian. They’re not the only things that are part of our mythology, but they are some of the significant and enduring musical motifs that keep cropping up whenever anyone wants us to know that it’s Australia and being Australian that they’re on about.

Mythology doesn’t usually appeal to our rationality, our analytical minds; it appeals to our emotions. It articulates something that we don’t really have the words for. And that’s why it’s stories and songs and imagery that come to the fore when we’re looking for those symbols or signs that speak of things too deep or complex for words.

Every society, every community, every group has its mythology. It’s what tells the group who they are, where they belong, what their purpose is, and the type of journey that the group is on. The Armidale Congregation has a mythology. The Uniting Church has a mythology. The whole Christian Church has a mythology. And the people of Israel had a mythology. And when Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah, he is well and truly tapping into the mythology of the people.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He 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 favour.
(Luke 4:18-19)

This is the grand vision of what’s called the Jubilee year—the 49th year or the seventh Sabbath year of a 7 by 7 year cycle—although we generally think of it as the 50th year; and we still call the 50th anniversary of something a jubilee. I know that there are quite a few of you who are celebrating your jubilee anniversary of marriage this year.

This is the grand vision of what is possible in a community of people, a nation, which honours God, and enjoys the benefits of the promises of God. It speaks of a time when the ground is left fallow; prisoners (including slaves) are set free; the lost come home; the disabled are healed; land that has been lost is returned. And that vision presumes that the people have been able to enjoy a stable and bountiful existence for nearly 50 years.

In the history of the Jewish people, there has been a lot of discussion of the Jubilee year—when it should be counted from; what it should really mean; what it should really entail—but it is almost certain that such a year has never been celebrated in all its fullness; similarly with the Jubilee years that the Christian church has, at various times, proclaimed. The year 2000 is perhaps one that you will remember where a focus on the justice of jubilee was highlighted in relation to global poverty. And let’s face it, that proclaimed jubilee year got nowhere near where it hoped to be in relation to tackling that immense and complex issue. The Jubilee year has almost certainly never been celebrated in its fullness, although again very clearly there have been calls to both the Jewish and Christian faith communities to at least move towards this grand vision because the vision is something to which we aspire. It speaks to us about something of who we are and what we believe that God has called us to be.

So, here we have the story of Jesus reading about this grand vision from the scroll of Isaiah. And then we have the beginning of his exposition of the passage: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” We get no more of his sermon. Nor, in the assigned reading for today from the lectionary do we get any indication of the response of his listeners. We are thus forced to focus on the reading and the proclamation: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He 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 favour.

Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

The passage from Isaiah is part of the vision of the renewal of Zion. It was probably developed during the time of the Exile when the people were far from what they believed God was calling them to be. The vision told a story of hope for the future in a time when Israel's present seemed hopeless. Their hope was initially for the restoration of the nation. Later on, the idea of the Messiah, the anointed one who would bring about the promised dreams of a restored Israel, crept into the interpretation of the passage and the people of Israel had begun to wait for one special person to lead them forth out of their sorrow and oppression. The passage would have had impact in a synagogue in Nazareth of Galilee in the first century. There they were still living under the domination of a foreign power, this time the Romans, and promises of future release would still have been very powerful motifs for the hearts of the people. This grand vision was part of their mythology—the stories that told the people something of who they were, where they belonged, what their purpose was and what kind of journey they were on.

And in the midst of these still unmet dreams and hope and aspirations, Jesus proclaims: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
What did it mean for Jesus to say that? The year of the Lord’s favour is now. I don’t expect that people looking around Israel or Nazareth would have been thinking we’ve reached the pinnacle of what our community can be. We often read it as Jesus’ self-proclamation as Messiah; but this vision isn’t simply about a Messiah, it’s about a community. "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

What would it mean if a community lived towards the vision of the Jubilee year? And I remember the proclamation of John the Baptist in just the previous chapter of Luke: “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise”; “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you”; “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

"Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." “Today, the kingdom of God is at hand.” Don’t wait for the 49th or the 50th year. Live the life to which God calls you now. The year of the Lord’s favour is now. This vision is really about who you are, where you belong, what your purpose is, and what kind of journey you’re on. Don’t just dream it. Live it! "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." “Go and do likewise.”