{"id":4578,"date":"2020-12-27T13:49:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T13:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/27\/consolation-based-on-isaiah-6110-623-and-luke\/"},"modified":"2020-12-27T13:49:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T13:49:54","slug":"consolation-based-on-isaiah-6110-623-and-luke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/27\/consolation-based-on-isaiah-6110-623-and-luke\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cConsolation\u201d based on\tIsaiah 61:10-62:3 and Luke 2:22-40"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

A
\nmonth ago, the words to the hymn \u201cCome Ye Disconsolate\u201d jumped
\noff the page at me. \u00a0It isn’t a hymn well known to me, until that
\npoint I’d picked it once in 14 years, but it fit the moment too well
\nto ignore:<\/p>\n

\n

\nCome, ye disconsolate, where’er
\nye languish;
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here
\nbring your wounded hearts; here tell your anguish.
Earth has no
\nsorrow that heaven cannot heal.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Disconsolate
\nmeans \u201cwithout consolation or comfort.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a>
\n \u00a0I checked to be sure I had that right. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Perhaps,
\nthen, it is not surprising what I heard and noticed in today’s Gospel
\nlesson that had never pulled my attention before. \u00a0Parker read verse
\n25, \u201c Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this
\nman was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of
\nIsrael,…\u201d \u00a0and I thought \u201cconsolation!? I never noticed that
\nbefore\u201d \u00a0Followed by, \u201cwhat does that really mean?\u201d \u00a0I figured
\nit meant \u2026. something to do with the Messiah. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The
\nNew Interpreter’s Bible says, \u201cThe ‘consolation of Israel’ was a
\nterm for the restoration of the people and the fulfillment of God’s
\nredemptive work. \u00a0\u2026 The term comes from references in Isaiah:<\/p>\n

\n

\nComfort, O comfort my people
\nsays your God. \u00a0Speak tenderly to Jerusalem <\/i>(Isaiah 40:1-2 NRVS
\ncf. 49:13)<\/p>\n

\nFor the Lord will comfort
\nZion <\/i>(Isaiah 51:3 NRSV)<\/p>\n

\nBreak forth together into
\nsinging, you ruins of Jerusalem;<\/i><\/p>\n

\nfor the LORD has comforted
\nhis people, he has redeemed Jerusalem <\/i>(Isaiah 52:9 NRSV, cf
\n66:10-13)\u201d3<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Right.
\n So this was about the Messiah, who for the Jewish people was the one
\nwould bring the fulfillment of God’s promises of restoration.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How
\ninteresting it is that it is called the \u201cconsolation\u201d and focuses
\non comfort! \u00a0Simeon is a man introduced as waiting for God to act to
\nbring comfort, and trusting that God would. \u00a0Then, when he sees the
\nbaby Jesus, he sees this as the fulfillment of the promise that he
\nwould see God’s Messiah. \u00a0The story also says that a holy prophet,
\nAnna, saw and understood who Jesus was.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jesus
\nas comforter, Jesus as consolation. \u00a0That is both a familiar and
\nunfamiliar idea to me. \u00a0I grew up with it, but that version was
\nvery… milquetoast. \u00a0 Jesus was presented as available to me to make
\nme feel better when I was sad, to listen to me, to be my friend.
\nAnd, I think all of that is true. \u00a0But as I’ve grown, I’ve become
\nequally interested in the idea that God wants good things for
\nEVERYONE, and in order to make that possible, I need to participate
\nin building a just society. \u00a0God doesn’t just LISTEN, God wants to
\nhelp, and we are God’s hands and feet in the world.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

The
\nexpectations for the Messiah at the time of Jesus were for a king \/
\nprophet \/ general who would restore the nation of Israel to political
\nand military prominence. \u00a0As you may have noticed, Jesus didn’t do
\nthat, but as Christians we tend to claim that what he did do was
\nbetter!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’ve
\nbeen told many times that my job is to comfort the afflicted and
\nafflict the comforted, which interestingly was originally said about
\nthe role of journalists. \u00a0 \u00a0This year, I think we’re all the
\nafflicted, so my attention has been largely on comfort.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This
\nweek I read a wonderful article entitled, \u201cJesus wasn’t born in a
\nstable and that makes all the difference.\u201d4<\/sup><\/a>
\n I bet you can deduce the point from the title \ud83d\ude09 \u00a0The author makes a
\nsubstantive argument that the word \u201cinn\u201d is mistranslated in Luke
\n2:7(b) \u201cShe wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in the
\nmanger because there was no room for them in the inn.\u201d \u00a0A better
\nword would be \u201cspare room.\u201d \u00a0As in \u201cshe was out in the main
\nfamily room with the family and the livestock because the spare room
\nwas already overflowing.\u201d \u00a0Jewish peasants at the time kept animals
\nwith them in their homes. \u00a0And throughout the Middle East it would be
\nUNTHINKABLE not to stay with family if you have family.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The
\nauthor’s primary point is that when we think of Jesus being born out
\nin a stable, his family rejected by everyone, alone and distanced
\nfrom everyone. That is, we tend to think of Jesus being born
\nAPART. \u00a0 Luke’s actual story puts Jesus in the middle of a small
\nhouse filled with a lot of family, so stuffed that the only
\nreasonable place left to put the baby down was in the
\ndug-into-the-ground animal feeding troughs. \u00a0(A place he wouldn’t
\nroll away.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The
\n\u201cspare room\u201d translation makes it clear that Jesus was part of
\nthe Jewish peasantry. \u00a0So does the detail in today’s reading about
\ngiving a sacrifice, and the fact that what was given was the poor
\nperson’s gift, for those who couldn’t afford the more expensive \u201ca
\nwhole lamb\u201d option.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Remembering
\nthat Jesus was born into a devout, poor, Jewish family helps me
\nunderstand his role as comforter. \u00a0There is an understanding of pain
\nand a yearning for justice that fits having grown up both poor and
\ndevout.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\ndo think that old quote is true, of journalists, of preachers, and
\neven of Jesus himself. \u00a0Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the
\ncomfortable. \u00a0And, dear ones, most of us are both. \u00a0And, more than at
\nmost points in our lives, we’re the afflicted. \u00a0So, may you make
\nspace in your being to accept the comfort and love of God. \u00a0\u201cEarth
\nhas no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.\u201d \u00a0NOT EVEN 2020.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And
\nthat’s some good Christmas news.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n

1<\/a>United
\n\tMethodist Hymnal #510<\/p>\n

2<\/a>Summarized
\n\tfrom Apple Dictionary<\/p>\n

3<\/a>
\n\t \u00a0R. Alan Culpepper, \u201cLuke,\u201d<\/i> in The New Interpreter\u2019s
\n\tBible Vol. 9<\/i> (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994): 70.<\/p>\n

4<\/a>https:\/\/www.psephizo.com\/biblical-studies\/jesus-wasnt-born-in-a-stable-and-that-makes-all-the-difference\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A month ago, the words to the hymn \u201cCome Ye Disconsolate\u201d jumped off the page at me. \u00a0It isn’t a … Continue reading \u201cConsolation\u201d based on\tIsaiah 61:10-62:3 and Luke 2:22-40<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38,28,39,1886,1881,1884,1882,1696,1265,80,1885,1883,1484,64],"class_list":["post-4578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-come-ye-disconsolate","tag-comfort","tag-comfort-the-afflicted-afflict-the-comfortable","tag-consolation","tag-first-sunday-of-christmas","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-intersectionality","tag-jesus-was-born-in-a-peasant-home","tag-luke-alvez","tag-pandemic-preaching","tag-sorry-about-the-umc-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}