A New Phase

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

When I was growing up, my parents had a pop-up camper that we used to travel to all sorts of wonderful places. It was a melancholy day, however, when I was unable to go along on a camping vacation because I had a job that I couldn’t walk away from for two weeks. My sister was in a similar place, but was able to get one of the two weeks off. So, we arranged that I would drive her to a spot where the rest of our family would meet up with us, drop her off, and I’d return on my own.

What's memorable about this drop-off is that, as my mom and sister were transferring her stuff from my car into their car, my dad and I stood behind our car, with a foot on the trailer hitch having a conversation. When I left to drive home, I realized that I had just enjoyed the first adult conversation with my father. I was not a little kid any longer. He now respected me as (mostly)

self-sufficient. It made me feel good and I realized I had entered a new phase of my life.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus announces he has entered a new phase of his life, and a new world order has begun. And it begins with his proclamation that he will lead this new phase of world history personally. To bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, healing to the sick, and freedom to the oppressed. Jesus spent the next three years teaching anyone who would listen to him, how to do that.

However, history has not been kind to Jesus’ dream of a new world based on love and mercy. Oh, it started pretty well, but after the first three centuries, things began to regress. During the Middle Ages, people fell back into a thought process of believing that they were controlled by forces within themselves, like sin and disease. The reformation brought in the modern era that was characterized by belief in external freedom, the idea that we could use the laws of the universe to be free from being controlled. Instead of being controlled, we could be in control of ourselves.  We could do this through modern means, such as science, economics, and engineering. 

This shift ushered in the post-modern era, a time defined by a newfound internal freedom. It became an age where we sought liberation by mastering the forces within ourselves. Many theologians and philosophers envisioned this period as one where we would seek God less in “externals” — such as dogmas, proofs, and external authorities — and more in “internals” like relationships and personal devotion. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, writing in the 1940s, described this emerging mindset as “a world come of age.” For him, the era of “religious consciousness” was fading, and a new “world-come-of-age consciousness” was rising. By “religious consciousness,” Bonhoeffer referred to a worldview anchored in the authority of religion and church, clinging to traditional understandings of God and reality.

In contrast, a “world come of age consciousness” celebrated human achievement, self-determination, and responsibility. The beautiful irony, Bonhoeffer argued, is that people in this “world-come-of-age consciousness” were actually closer to the heart of true Christian understanding than those clinging to “religious consciousness.” Throughout the Bible, God calls individuals to take responsibility for their actions. In direct contrast to the rigid mindset of the Pharisees, Jesus embodied this forward-thinking spirit when he challenged them: “Why don’t you decide for yourselves what is right?” (Luke 12:57).

Jesus left the synagogue and began to teach a way of life that he knew would lead people closer to an internal peace they lacked, because they would focus their cares on loving and caring for each other without fear. It has taken civilization (if we can call it that) over 2,000 years to start to reimagine doing what Jesus taught.

I realize that I need to be more focused on growing my own “world come of age consciousness” by doing a better job of serving those I encounter. I need to open my eyes and truly see the poor and bring glad tidings to them. To see those who are held captive by life’s bitterness and bring a sense of liberty to them. To help bring healing to the sick those in pain, and work to bring freedom to the oppressed. To embrace this Gospel message means I have entered a new phase of my life. And, if I am honest, that will keep me very busy.

Every Day.

© 2025 by Timothy J. Doppel

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