The Kingdom’s Constitution
Luke 4: 14 – 30
Rev. Peter R Green, Sunday morning, 12 January, 2003

I WANT to read you part of an article in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald. It is by Julia Baird, and has the title, The inside story on giving love the hard cell. (SMH 11 Jan 03)

Julia Baird refers to a movie released last year, called The Experiment. It's about a real–life experiment at Stanford University where students were divided into “guards” and “prisoners” and placed in a simulated prison environment. After six days the project was abandoned because of the brutality which followed the division into captives and captors. The head of the Stanford team said: "In only a few days, our guards became sadistic and our prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress."

Baird writes, “It's an oft-stated truth: once we have power over someone, the temptation to lose sight of that person's basic humanity is obvious. And the rhetoric of law reform - which persistently promotes prisons as the sole answer to crime - from both sides of the political chamber seems to confirm that.”

You know what she means here. You've seen how Carr and Brogden -- or Chikarovski before that -- constantly shout out about how tough they will be on criminals when they are elected. Our gaols are over-full, and it still hasn't dented crime figures.

She goes on: “Now there is another experiment under way in NSW's bulging prisons, which is the flipside of that conducted at Stanford: it focuses on prisoners as human beings. It's a program run by a virtually unknown group called Kairos — a Greek word meaning “God's time”. A group of Christians from different denominations spend a week in prisons with a selected group of inmates, talking to them about love, acceptance and how to learn to forgive others and yourself. Since it began in 1995, almost 2000 prisoners in NSW have been through the program...
Organisers claim that in the United States, where it has been running for 25 years, those who did Kairos are far less likely to return to prison: 10 per cent instead of the usual 70 per cent.”

Baird notes that there has been no detailed study to confirm or deny these figures. It seems that some research is now underway, but the Kairos Director, Edwin Galea, doesn't want to brag, because it is the Lord's work.

“The program seems to centre more on the fundamentals of Christianity than institutional dogma, and is refreshing because of it.” Baird writes. But she points out that some people question the idea and worry about Christians being aggressive.Others ask if it is too soft on people who have done evil things. Baird notes that it may also be about the possibility of redemption and change.

She tells of how excited Prisons staff are about Kairos. The NSW head of women's prisons, Lee Downes, supervised three Kairos programs at Grafton and Mulawa (Silverwater) prisons, and sees them as "...a powerful force for change." She talks about how people who have never received unconditional love, never been told they are good and worthwhile, have their self-esteem built up in the course of a Kairos program through receiving those things. Commander Downes can't see the Christian basis as having any negative role in the program.

“The freaky thing about these stories," writes Baird, "is that Mulawa is the most violent jail in NSW: half the inmates are assaulted each year, and almost one in five officers is attacked. But Downes claims that Kairos improves relationships with prison officers, as well as between inmates, and has even resulted in some women being taken out of protective custody. One extremely violent woman who had been in and out of jail several times had not returned after doing Kairos.”

“This experiment, reliant entirely on volunteers, raises dozens of questions about evil, crime, penance, redemption and hope. It's easy to condemn prisoners from afar, and whip up community fear. Of course people should be punished for their crimes, but it seems that, as politicians vie for the mantle of "toughest on law and order", it's people working behind the scenes in prisons who are tackling the hard stuff.”

Baird continues, “After attending two closing ceremonies, where prisoners emerge at the end of the week, even I could see the extraordinary impact of this program. Women stand up shyly and talk of lifetimes of abuse, uncertain because they have not spoken publicly before. Prisoners who have committed the most extraordinary crimes beam and say they have never been so happy, and never felt love - or had self worth - before. At Long Bay, I've observed toughened, tattooed blokes stand with their arms around each other, tears dripping off their chins.“

“At the last ceremony I went to, a guard said that Kairos had changed the way she thought about the prisoners: what we all needed to be reminded, she said, was that they are human beings.”

At various times, Jesus set out the Constitution of his Kingdom. Each time, he put it in different ways. But the overall message was the same: God is in charge; things have to change.

In our passage, Jesus comes back into Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. You remember from last week that Galilee is very much a backwater in Jewish life. It has no religious importance, no social substance, no political clout. But Jesus centres his ministry on that area. As I said last week, real change never begins with the politicians, but always with the people on the fringes.

If we had begun reading a little earlier in this gospel, we’d have seen that Jesus was baptised in water and the Holy Spirit. Now he commences his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, we need the infilling of the Holy Spirit and his anointing for service.

Just remember that Jesus went through trials before the anointing really kicked in. People on the margins who learn to face their hardship with faith gain awesome power.
Blessing and empowerment never come easily. Blessings generally follow testings.

The devil goes around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

He’s always looking for a weak point. He thought he could get Jesus by offering him quick and easy routes to regain control of the world. But Jesus knew that any gift he received from Satan would make Jesus the puppet and Satan the real ruler. He could not afford to go down that route. Grace is free, but it’s never cheap, as Bonhöffer reminded us.

What is your weak point? Power? Wealth? Sex or romance? Leisure? What do you really want? Satan will steal it from someone and offer it to you. I've been at the point where I could no longer even cry out for help. Only that little whisper, “Lord, I want to be here, but I shouldn’t be. If you can...” That was enough. He came to my aid, he took me out of the slippery clay and set my feet on deep–rooted rock. Then I could serve!

Don’t seek tests, because Satan will get you. “Flee from youthful lusts.” But count it all joy when trials come on you, because they are proof that God loves you and they will make you stronger if you resist in Jesus’ name!

So Jesus came into Galilee and went to the Nazareth synagogue, and he was full of power! The people sensed that something different was about to happen. And it did.

When Jesus read that passage from Isaiah 61, he didn’t read anything new that people hadn’t heard before. What made the difference was what he said afterwards.

17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Everyone knew the passage. But then Jesus said,

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

In other words, “Today, as you listen, this is coming true.”
To whom are they listening? Jesus! In what power and anointing has he come? In the power of the Spirit of the Lord.
And what is his message? What is his ministry about?

Pretty much what Julia Baird wrote about, only extended. Good news for the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, release for the oppressed, and the beginning of the era of God’s favour.
I read that article about Kairos, because that is part of freedom for prisoners.

Good news for the poor might mean more cash, but it also has to mean empowerment to escape from the trap of poverty.
Freedom for prisoners might mean iron gates flung open, but it also has to mean finding a way out of crime’s clutches.
Sight for the blind might mean eye drops and cataract removal, but it also means ending conditions whch cause blindness.
And release from oppression also has to include breaking the chain by which oppression and being oppressed are passed on through the generations.

Just imagine how this was received among the poor and outcast of Galilee.

The well-off hated what Jesus said, because it threatened the status quo. They wanted him dead because he was rocking the boat. For the poor to get richer, the rich must get poorer. For the imprisoned to be released, the gaols must be emptied, letting criminals roam free. For the oppressed to be freed, I might have to cease oppressing. For the blind to see, we might have to lose the blind beggars who daily remind us of our own blessedness.

But the poor and the outcast — the beggars, the pimps, the prostitutes, the corrupt officials — they loved Jesus, they had him at their parties, they wanted him around — because he was their friend!
I will not continue much further today. We can pick up more about change strategies next week. What we need to see today is how Jesus worked.

The world says, “Punish the poor: they are a burden on my wealth.” Jesus says, “God blesses the poor.”
The world says, “Lock up criminals and throw away the key.”
Jesus says, “God releases prisoners.”
The world says, “Your blindness is invincible, your heart is darkened.” Jesus says, “Eyes, be opened!”
The world says, “Keep in your place: it's what you were created for.” But Jesus says, “The first shall be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus came to overturn the world's values. He still acts to achieve that aim. After all these years of the gospel, the world has changed only a little, and it remains true that friendship with the world is enmity with God.
Here’s what it is all about: grace, and liberation.
Jesus came to free us: the world binds us; Jesus came to enrich us: the world impoverishes us; Jesus came to enlighten us: the world still blinds us; Jesus came to unburden us: the world seeks to load us further.

But it’s still the time of favour, still the time of grace. It’s still the time of freedom for all the human race. The trumpet blast has sounded — children, get on board! Shout your “Hallelujah!”s: we're meeting with the Lord!

Think what would happen if we applied grace instead of punishment to Iraq. Think of what would happen if we applied grace instead of punishment to criminals. Think of what would happen if we were gracious in all areas of life, what a change there would be!

I don’t deny the need for justice. As Nelson Mandela and the South African nation showed us, truth is necessary to reconciliation, and truth and justice are linked. But reconciliation and grace are also linked. Put them all together and you have redemption. It’s what it’s all about.

A few weeks ago, I said we need to commit ourselves to peace. Let’s also commit ourselves to proclaiming good news, just like Jesus did: proclaiming it, and working for it.

Our land has gone far enough. Elections are won or lost on the strength of which side can promise the most violence towards the poor, the failed, the criminal and the helpless. It’s time to stand up for right. It’s time to speak, not as Liberals, not as Laborites, but as the radical voice of Jesus our Lord.

And it’s time to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. It’s time for us to be involved with Kairos and people like them, to be a church in partnership, so that those who find Christ in prison can find fellowship with his people outside. It’s time for us to go into the highways and byways with the message of hope that Jesus taught. It’s time for the Kingdom’s constitution to be declared and practiced.

By the grace of God, let’s do it!

AMEN