Luke’s Prescription of Hope – Br. Jim Woodrum
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Among my favorite windows here in the chapel are the “Workmen’s Windows,” (here to my right where you enter the chapel from the guesthouse) so called because the workmen who built this stunning chapel gifted them to the Society to show how privileged they felt to do this work for the glory of God. You may know that the chapel was built during the height of the Great Depression when the economy had crashed and people were desperate for jobs to earn money for food to feed their families. The fact that many of the friends of these men were going hungry was not lost on them and the “Workmen’s Windows” are a memorial to their gratefulness to God.
The two windows portray Jesus’ earthly father-figure, St. Joseph on the left and the writer attributed to today’s Gospel lesson, St. Luke on the right. Tradition tells us that Luke was a physician. You can see here in his window that Luke is holding a caduceus, which is an ancient symbol of medicine and healing. In other words, Luke the Physician was a bearer of ‘hope.’ When you’re sick or have a physical ailment, you go to a physician who will diagnose the problem and prescribe a remedy with the hope that you will be made well. How appropriate that Luke would be the subject of one of the “Workmen’s Windows” during a time of great suffering and uncertainty.
If you ever have an occasion to join us for Evening Prayer you’ll note that we brothers always pray from Luke’s gospel, the Magnificat (1), which is a song that Mary the mother of Jesus sings where “the mighty have been cast down and the lowly lifted up; the hungry filled and the rich sent away empty.” She goes on to sing, “He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever”: a message of hope that through Jesus, God has entered into our human condition and is restoring us to the good health that was lost in Eden. As a side note, tradition tells us that Luke was also a painter. Therefore you will see in the medallion at the bottom of the window a picture of Luke painting the portrait of Mary holding the baby Jesus, the budding hope for the people of God.
In today’s gospel we hear Luke’s version of a portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount known as the beatitudes. The word beatitude comes from the Latin ‘beatus’ meaning “supreme happiness.” Jesus says “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.” I don’t know about you, but the message seems bittersweet….for who really feels blessed when they’re hungry, sad, hated, excluded, reviled, or defamed? Do you have experience with any of these ‘maladies?’ I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all experienced one or more of these at times in our lives…either in seasons past or maybe currently. Maybe you’re feeling the symptoms of something on the horizon. Luke tells us that there has been a diagnosis and to be hopeful for Jesus has entered into our condition to restore us to health. At morning prayer we heard in Paul’s letter to the Philippians that Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. (2)
Whatever our state of un-health, Jesus is there, working to make us well if we will only have faith. When a physician prescribes medication, we patients rarely understand the ‘why’ or the ‘how’ the antibiotics are working, or even the time frame in which we will be restored to health. Whatever the problem, give it to Jesus in prayer and then get some rest. We may not feel ‘on the mend’ right away, but healing will happen in God’s time. Be hopeful, for the prognosis is good. Paul says “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.”
Jesus is our balm and our hope. Blessed are you!
Today is 9/11 2020. Today we remember the tragedy of 9/11 and where we were on that day.
We are in the midst of an election season where, some like like me, see a candidate who is pure evil. Four years of the current President will bring than end the American experience. My daily prayer is that all Americans will wake up and see the need for major change that will allow all of us to treat our neighbors with love and kindness. May God be in the midst of us as we prepare to vote and make the needed changes in our country for Go’s sake.
Thank you Br. Jim. This has been my experience so many times.” Whatever the problem, give it to Jesus in prayer and then get some rest. We may not feel ‘on the mend’ right away, but healing will happen in God’s time”
I want it instantly, right now. My heart lifted up and set on fire but instead it is probably the next day when I realize something has shifted and I am moving more freely again. Thank you fro putting it into words.
Margo
Thank you for this message of healing and hope.
I like the beginning of the sermon as I find it very humbling & beautiful that workmen would offer their skills on gratitude to God – it reminds me of one of our neighbours who tragically lost their little girl to an unknown medical condition & yet in gratitude he has offered to put his skills to rebuilding a neglected pathway round the graveyard – in his grief he can still respect & find gratitude to God. What faith. Pray for him & his wife.
great message
What a wonderful thing faith and prayer is. Recent research shows that there are changes in a patient’s brain from praying. These changes have to do with healing. The study was done by someone who was not a believer. Bet they are now.
What a beautiful message of
hope, speaking right to my own circumstance today!
Thank you for painting a picture with words & The Word, who “became flesh & dwelt among us.” Thanks be
to God!
Br. Jim, I loved this sermon. I heard it via of sound, and I read it. Thanks
for explaining the Magnificat so clearly. What a message from our Virgin
Mary! I look forward to reading others of your sermons. Blessings on you.