The following post is from a series of blogs from the CBFVA Vision Team in preparation for the CBFVA General Assembly 2011. The theme of the assembly is “Beautiful Witness. Being Baptists Together. Doing God’s Mission” and the focal text is Luke 4:18-19.

This week’s blog was written by Dr. Drexel Rayford, Pastor of Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

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“. . . to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:19

At first, everybody felt real proud. The local boy had been just downright eloquent. He’d stood up in front of everyone and had read from the prophets so smoothly: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” It was the rough equivalent of a reader in one of our congregations saying, “This is the word of the Lord,” and everyone mumbles, “Thanks be to God.”

I can imagine people in that Nazarene synagogue pointing in Jesus‘ direction, looking sideways at each other with smug grins, nodding their heads. “I knew him when he was just his dad’s apprentice. You know Joseph? He’s a friend of mine – ordered a coat stand from him.” They cross their arms, jut out their jaws, and nod like bobble heads.

And then, after he waits for the benevolent murmuring to die down, it’s like Jesus says, “No, folks. I really meant it. The year of the Lord’s favor. Yes, the year of Jubilee! I came to tell you that I mean to make it real. God means to make it real, and if y’all who were called to do it don’t get on board with this, God’ll call someone else. And it won’t necessarily be one of you!” (That’s my interpretation of verses 20-27.)

They stop nodding. Grins fade. Jaws drop.

“Now, wait a minute, boy! Who do you think you are?”

“You can’t possibly be so naive as to suggest that we’re really supposed to do what Leviticus and Deuteronomy say! I mean, how in the world are we going to run an economy if we just give all the land back to the original owners and cancel all debts?” (They would’ve been familiar with Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15 just like you, right?)

If Jesus had been a good Baptist preacher like me, at that point he would have told a sweet, tear-jerking story to distract them, rendered a benediction, then gone to the narthex for the vestibule review. That’s the way you avoid cliff edges.

But evidently, he meant this bit about the Year of “Jubilee.” Jubilee? Really? Jesus’ audience that day didn’t find much jubilation in the suggestion that their prosperity was empty, especially when he reminded them of how God lavished his favor on foreigners in Elijah and Elisha’s time. That’s when they tried to kill him. He was actually saying that God’s generosity extended to people who didn’t believe the right things or live the right way!

This story both indicts and liberates me. You see, I’m guilty of sitting with those guys in Nazareth and admiring Jesus’ eloquence – until he points out that God wants to bless even those people who voted for . . . (fill in the blank). But it liberates me to know that God really doesn’t care about property rights or even doctrinal purity as much as he cares about ridiculously lavish, extravagant love – for everyone – today – right now – fulfilled in our hearing! This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!