JUST BE YOURSELF
A Reflection on Luke 4:14-21
A casual acquaintance at the time – knowing I was a minister but meeting me in a different context –asked me, “Why do you do what you do?” I laughed to cover my embarrassment. “That is a very good question,” I said. “I really ought to know the answer, shouldn’t I?”
As I revisit the dramatic episode from the 4th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke, I am struck this time by how clear Jesus was about such a question. Having grown up in Nazareth, Jesus’ sense of call had drawn him to relocate to nearby Capernaum, the lakeside centre from which he began his itinerant ministry in the surrounding regions. In this passage, he has come home to Nazareth for the weekend. It’s the Sabbath and, being a faithful Jew, he attends the local synagogue where, probably because the Rabbi recognizes him, he is asked to read the scripture lesson, a passage from the great Hebrew prophet, Isaiah, which in today’s English is rendered this way: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. The Spirit 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.” After reading the passage, Jesus returns to his seat with every eye in the place following him, likely because some of the growing buzz about him has arrived in Nazareth ahead of him. Reading between the lines, I hear the question everyone is silently asking, “What’s he going to say next?” And this is what he does say: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The passage does not make it explicit but implicitly I hear Jesus identifying himself with the “me” in that passage from Isaiah – a bold claim indeed, and one that will get him into hot water (almost killed actually) if we read a bit further into the chapter. It seems that Jesus has a very clear understanding of the what and the why of his life and Isaiah captures it well for him; something like this, if I may be so bold: “I’m here to proclaim and bring about the healing and transformative power of God’s compassionate love, especially for those who need it most because the status quo leaves them out in the cold.” What does he do and why does he do it? He brings hope where hope is scarce because he cares – and the systemically unnatural order of things begins to rebalance toward a world more just, despite the backlash from those who prefer the status to remain quo.
Why do I do what I do? An offhand question tossed my way over coffee those many years ago, a question that has stuck with me even though, unlike Jesus, I have still not been able to come up with a succinct answer. I can only hope my soul knows and is expressing what is deepest within me in everything I do, even despite myself sometimes. I also hope that what I do – whether or not I can articulate my reason for doing it – somehow adds a bit of hope where hope is scarce these days.
Maybe somebody has asked you a similar question sometime. Maybe you ask that question of yourself. I am inspired by and deeply grateful for the few with the vision, passion, skill, and determination to take on one of the big issues of our times, confronting the powers-that-be which hold on tightly to a status quo that favours them. And maybe like them, when the question of the what and the why of our doing is tossed our way, it would be good to have a compelling answer. But, even when we don’t, I have learned over the years that for most of us it doesn’t matter that much if we can precisely name the special calling on our lives or explain what motivates us. What does matter for all of us, whether we have a clear call or not, is working on becoming as true as we can be to our deepest selves in anything we do and trusting that Spirit is at work through us in the unique way that is ours.
If this sounds a bit like head-in-the-sand narcissism, consider this. When we operate unaware out of our culturally conditioned self, no matter how well-intentioned we are, we nevertheless tend to perpetuate the status quo that bred us. When we operate untreated out of the false self that the pain in our lives has created to protect us from even more damage, we tend to do as much harm as the good we intend. But when we attend to our inner healing and seek recovery from our cultural conditioning, we gradually liberate our most authentic selves to become effective agents of change in the world around us. And, when we do operate authentically and unselfconsciously out of that deeper and truer self, those around us can become a little freer themselves – perhaps even empowered – and hope seeps into the cracks too many have fallen through.
This painting, by Winnipeg and Victoria Beach artist, Roger Gateson, is entitled, “Just Be Yourself”.
The original hangs on the wall of our apartment in Stonewall.
Roger suggests the main character in the painting
is that humbly courageous little tuft of grasses in the foreground.
Peace to you.
Ted Hicks
