The Rock of Salvation

Epiphany 4 – February 2, 2025

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Luke 4:21-30

If you have been paying attention lately to all the advertisements around you, you may have noticed that most of them are offering to save you from something. The alleged dangers range from being embarrassed by what you look like to financial ruin because you haven’t invested in the stock market, and every other thing in between. This salvation, of course, comes at a cost to you and a profit to someone else. While looking good might be nice, and having enough to live on is a positive thing, they really won’t save you in any sense of the word. That’s what our psalm for today is about. It is a reminder that God is your salvation – the rock you build your life upon. Although we often as not build our lives upon empty promises instead.

Our reading from Jeremiah is a reminder of that. It’s God’s call to Jeremiah to proclaim God’s will and salvation to the Israelites. He is hesitant to answer this call because the task is nearly impossible and he was only a boy. Jeremiah’s call was before the Babylonian captivity when the Israelites were looking to other nations to deliver them from the hands of the Babylonians. That attempt at getting salvation resulted in their loss and eventual exile to Babylon. If they had remained steadfast in their faith, Jeremiah assured them, God would keep them safe. Unfortunately, like us, they looked for their salvation somewhere other than God.

That is what Jesus was telling all who gathered in the Nazarene synagogue. We read from another prophet of the Babylonian time – Isaiah – who called for the salvation of those who are the downtrodden and oppressed of the land. Remember who the Old Testament calls God’s people to care for: the orphan, the widow, and the immigrant (the Old Testament says alien) in your land. A hard task when many in our society are calling for the opposite. I am troubled by the amount of hate and threats and violence that has become an everyday event in our lives. Even looking in the mirror dimly we can see that this is not the Christian way.

The Christian way is mapped out by the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. This is probably the best known chapter in the Bible for Christians. That may be because it is often used as a text for weddings. Although, it is not about marriage. It is about how we are to live together as God’s people and how we are to treat each other. It seems that the Corinthians were comparing the gifts that they had received from the Holy Spirit and some were claiming that, because of their specific gift, they were the most important member of the community. Paul knocks that idea out of the water by telling them that while all of them do have different gifts, the gift that they all share is the gift of love. In fact, without love all the other gifts are nothing.

We all have been given gifts to share with each other and with the world. More importantly, we have been filled with the love of God. Filled with God’s love we cannot hate our neighbors and do violence to them. We can only help them and work to build a society that is welcoming to others in love. Instead of being just like everyone who has latched onto something or someone to save you, let go of the worldly visions in your head and let God guide you into loving all, especially the orphan, widow, and immigrant in your land.