Sermon preached on January 27, 2013 at Grand Oaks Retirement Home,
Washington, DC
3 Epiphany: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Luke
4:14-21
Today’s reading from
the Gospel according to Luke is all about the beginning of Jesus’ public
ministry. It starts in Galilee and in our passage, in Nazareth. Before this
Luke places all the events that prepare us and Jesus for his ministry: First the
nativity story, then Jesus’ Baptism by John, and then Jesus’ temptation in the
wilderness. I thought it might be interesting to have a quick look at the other
gospels and compare how Jesus’ ministry starts, and what Jesus’ first words are
there.
Well, like Luke, in Matthew
Jesus’ public ministry comes after the Nativity story, Baptism, and temptation.
Unlike Luke it starts with Jesus calling his first disciples, and Jesus’ first public
words, echoing John the Baptist, are a call to “repent, for the kingdom of
heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17). In Mark again Jesus’ first words, after his
Baptism and temptation and before choosing his first four disciples, are a call
to repentance: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;
repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:14) Finally in John’s Gospel, right
after we have encountered John the Baptist, we hear Jesus speaking to those who
believe that in him they have found the Messiah or Anointed: “What are you
looking for?” “come and see,” and “follow me” are Jesus’ first words to the men
who will become his disciples. (John 1:38, 39, 43)
So why is Luke’s
beginning so different? We have no call to repentance and no calling of the
first disciples – that’s not until the next chapter. And in Luke, Jesus’ first recorded
public words are not even his own, but a selection of verses from the book of
the prophet Isaiah. But actually these words and what happens in the synagogue
in Nazareth help give meaning to what Jesus says and does in the other three gospels.
What is the good news that all should
believe in? What does Jesus mean by repent? What time is fulfilled? What is the
kingdom of heaven or of God? And what does it mean to follow Jesus?
By the time Jesus came
to the synagogue in Nazareth, the town in which he had grown up, his reputation
as a wandering preacher and teacher preceded him. Clearly he was an inspired
teacher, a rabbi, for all the congregations in other synagogues in Galilee had praised
him. So the Nazarenes must really have been looking forward to hearing him, the
local boy made good. But they did not get what they expected.
Whenever I am home from
seminary, the rector of my sending parish invites me to preach. The last time was
just a few weeks ago on the first Sunday after Christmas. But can you imagine
the fuss and how upset everyone would have been, if after the reading for that
day, it was from John 1, about the Word of God having become flesh and living among
us, I had said: Today this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing? Well
that was what the good people of Nazareth heard. The carpenter’s son said that
he was the person called to fulfill God’s promises of old. This was blasphemy!
But that is the first
point Jesus makes. He is the one chosen to fulfill God’s promises, he is the
one appointed to bring the good news, he is the anointed one and the Spirit of
the Lord is upon him. His news is good for the poor and the marginalized in
society, for those in need, and it stands for release, for healing, for
freedom, and for forgiveness, not just financially.
Jesus doesn’t use the
word repentance in this passage. But it is there. If the captives are to be
released and the oppressed are to go free, if the poor are to receive good
news, then those causing this condition must turn away from oppression,
from exploitation, from a focus solely on their own wealth and well-being. This
was a huge challenge to the status quo, so we should not be surprised that
Jesus’ teaching was the cause of violent reactions, both in Nazareth, where they
try and kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff, and later in Jerusalem, where
they succeed.
The time that is to be
fulfilled, we learn, is the year of the Lord’s favor. This is another
expression for what in the Old Testament is often called a Jubilee year: Every
fifty years slaves were to be freed, all debt was to be forgiven, people were
to return to their homes, and even the land was to be allowed to rest and to lie
fallow. This was a time of liberation and of redemption, and of great joy. A
state that truly reflects the just and righteous reign or kingdom of God that
Jesus was announcing and beginning with his ministry..
And what does it mean
to follow Jesus? Jesus was filled with the power of the Spirit. Paul’s letter
to the Corinthians reminds us that we too can be filled with the same power if
we follow Jesus. God has very different tasks, and gifts of the Spirit for each
of us. As we heard from Paul some are appointed as apostles, others as prophets
or teachers; some receive the gifts of healing, still others are called to be of
assistance to those in need. We are empowered therefore to carry on Jesus’
ministry as teachers, healers, liberators, or preachers. No one individual can
do this all of course, none of us are the Son of God, but together we are the
body of Christ. Filled with the power of the spirit and guided by God in prayer
we can do a great deal in helping fulfill God’s promises, and bringing about
God’s kingdom here in your community and in the wider world.
When we do that, then we
will be able to say: “Today this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing,”
without it being blasphemous. On the contrary, it is when we fulfill the
scriptures that we fulfill our calling to be Jesus’ followers, to be Christians.
Amen
