Shake Your Money Maker is the debut album by the American rock band The Black Crowes, released in February 1990 on Def American Recordings. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Jeff Cease. The album is named after a classic blues song written by Elmore James. The Black Crowes have played the song live many times over the years, but it is not included on this album. Shake Your Money Maker peaked at number 4 on the Billboard 200, and two of its singles, "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels", reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Jealous Again", "Twice As Hard" and "Seeing Things" were also charting singles in the US. "Could I have been so blind" is track 4. Shake Your Money Maker is the Black Crowes' best selling album, having sold more than 5 million copies.
So empty that I've never felt warm
Can I spell it out
Turn myself out of my home
Lookin' like a fool
Feelin' even worse than it seems
Tryin' hard as nails
Believin' only in myself
And now it looks like innocence is gone
I know right and I know what's wrong
Feeling lonely that's the way it goes
Sometimes
But my greatest fear
Paint a smile from ear to ear
Alone and cryin'
Living like this is no better than dying
I tell you baby things are gonna' change
Looking like we were caught out in the rain
Feeling lonely
That's the way it goes
Sometimes
[Chorus:]
Could I ever have been so blind
Could I ever have been so blind
Could I ever have been so blind
Could I ever have been so blind
Solo
Could I ever have been so blind
Could I ever have been so blind
Hardest thing I ever had to do
Was stand up straight and tell it all to you
Look you right in the eye
Tell you baby sorry but I have lied
And now it looks like innocence is gone
I know right and I know what's wrong
Feeling lonely that's the way it goes
Sometimes
[Repeat Chorus 4 times]
The Black Crowes "Could I Have Been So Blind" is a song of astonishment. It's a song of regret and shame. We have all been there. We have al been blinded by one thing or another. We have allowed our hearts to ruke our heads, we have let the old ego get in the way. Even pride has come and offered us a way and we have taken it in our blindness. The scripture reading in Luke 4 this morning is about spiritual blindness and the promise of sight.
The former North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il was well known for making some outrageous claims. In 2000 he claimed to have invented the ‘double bread with meat’ - or as we’ve known it for a lot longer, the burger. Another time, he claimed to have scored a massive 38 under par round of golf - the best Tiger Woods has ever managed is a measly 11 under par. Big claims, but ultimately false. How Blind, How Deluded. Perhaps more believable, although not by much, are the claims that you might hear from the mouths of politicians. When election season swings around there are lots of claims made by the politicians, lots of promises about what they can do and will do. It’s only as time goes on that you see how they measure up to their words or weather just as you had guessed they become blind to the needs of others.
Our Bible reading today also contains a big claim, perhaps it might even seem unbelievable. It comes from the lips of Jesus in the last verse we read, verse 21: ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ For the rest of our time we’re going to think about these words to see what he’s claiming, and if we can believe his words.
The scene is the synagogue in Nazareth. This is the town Jesus grew up in, the place he was known best. Those gathered in the synagogue remember him from when he was wee, they’ve watched him grow up, they’ve maybe even hired him as a carpenter in the past. They’ve heard reports of his teaching and preaching around Galilee, and now here he is, back in Nazareth, in their synagogue on the Sabbath day. We’re told that it was his custom to go to synagogue - the place where the Jews would gather to pray and read the scriptures. He makes a priority to be with God’s people on the Sabbath. When it comes time for the reading, he’s given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and begins to read from chapter 61:
Right there, he stops, rolls up the scroll, and sits down at the front, ready to teach. The eyes of everyone are on him, they’re ready and listening, waiting to hear what he will say. They could not have expected or predicted how he would start. Here’s what he says: ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’Let’s break it down. This scripture - these words of the prophet Isaiah were written about 700 years beforehand. Towards the end of Isaiah’s prophecy there are a series of ‘servant songs’. In these, the voice of the promised king is heard - the promises of who he is and what he will do. In Isaiah 53 we find the most famous of the servant songs, as the sufferings of the Messiah are spelled out. But in this one, from Isaiah 61, the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord declares that God’s Spirit is upon him, empowering him, having anointed him for action among other things to bring sight to the blind.
And what sight will he bring? He will bring good news to the poor - those without hope will be given hope. Those suffering in prison as prisoners of war will be released and freed. Those who are oppressed will go free. It’s freedom from suffering and sorrow. It’s the best kind of good news. And it’s all tied up in the Lord’s favour. How good it is to know that the Lord is for you, not against you. This is the news being proclaimed by the Spirit-anointed, Spirit-empowered King. This is the Scripture that has been read for seven hundred years... yet still they were waiting. This is the hope they clung to, even through exile and defeat and suffering. This is the scripture that gives hope to the hopeless. And in that synagogue on that day in Nazareth, ‘this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ Jesus says that the waiting is finished. Jesus says that the promise is now being fulfilled. No matter how many times before they had heard and hoped and longed for the Messiah to come; they need wait no longer. Sight has come, Blindness has been reversed.
Jesus sits and says the ‘me’ is ‘me’: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (Jesus), because he has anointed me (Jesus) to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me (Jesus)...’ It’s no longer a puzzle to be worked out. He’s a person to welcomed. Now as we said at the start, perhaps this is just another big claim, maybe this is just another politician’s manifesto - says one thing, and then does another. But just trace through the rest of Luke - what Jesus sets out here, he accomplishes. Flick over to Luke 7:20. John the Baptist is in prison, and he wonders if Jesus really was the one promised. How does Jesus respond? ‘the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.’ (Luke 7:22) The Old Testament points forward to Jesus. He fulfills the promises of God. So as we read the Old Testament, it’s all about Jesus. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:20 ‘For in him every one of God’s promises is a Yes.’
This Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus is filled with the Spirit to accomplish the work and promises of God to release those who are suffering and to bring freedom. This is the real vision of these verses. To people who walk in Darkness this is the real light for their blindness. We may well ask the question (With the Black Crowes) when the light come "How could I have been so blind"
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