Oct 18 2019 Psalm 103 – Commemoration of St. Luke

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.

When I was studying for my ‘competency exams’ to become an ordained deacon, one of the areas to study was Scripture. It was to be a closed book test, and beyond that I didn’t know what to expect. So I read and took notes on the whole Bible, trying to commit to memory important things, dates, quotes, locations. And I relied on some little hints I’d made myself.

I’m not suggesting this is any way to identify Gospel writers, but for me, it worked. My way to identify the Gospel writers? If the writer sounded like a legalistic rule-follower, my bet was Matthew. If it sounded like a second grader telling an excited story, “And then he went here. And then he did this. And then we saw that”, Mark. If it included language I didn’t understand, talk about visions, and poetry, or focused a lot on bread or water, John. And finally, if it was about humans interacting, loving and hurting each other, full of emotion and easy to relate – if it was a story that struck a positive note with me, it was likely Luke. This simplistic description actually served me well for the exam. I mention this because Luke has always been the Gospel writer to which I most relate. This is because Luke tells a story of Jesus, like the Psalmists line, that is full of compassion and mercy - very human traits. 

Luke’s Gospel contains the song of Mary, “My soul magnifies the Lord”, the familiar nativity story, complete with shepherds and a manger, and many familiar parables, such as the prodigal son. Luke also includes quotes from Jesus on the cross not found elsewhere, such as “Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing”. It’s in Luke’s Gospel, we hear about Jesus appearing to the disciples after his resurrection, telling them to look at his hands and feet. Luke also wrote the book of Acts, which tells equally human relatable stories about the earliest church, how is disciples continued on after his ascension.

More than any other Gospel writer, Luke provides me an account of Jesus’ life, and the lives of the earliest church with which I can relate. I read the stories and can see myself in them, or I can imagine the reactions of the people in the story. Luke was a physician, and there are a lot of healing stories about Jesus in Luke’s Gospel.

Reading Luke and any of the other Gospel writers provides me with the clear impact the writer has on the story. Even though there are four Gospels, each which account the same basic story, they are very different. They were written by different people, for different audiences, with different intent. Luke’s writing is, to me, the most human, the most heart wrenching, the most relatable. Luke’s Jesus I can get to know. 

This morning, I’m thinking about how with my reading of different Scripture authors I’m developing some preferences to their style and story. It makes me think about how through the ages, and into the future, people have been and will be writing about their impression and interaction with God. How those writings are all true reflections, based on the face of God they see, and the person doing the writing. It makes me want to read other people’s reflections of God, to learn more about God through other people’s lenses.