Luke 4:14-21
This has been a week of speeches and announcements and decrees in our country, so when I sat down to put this sermon on paper, it struck me that Jesus’ words could be seen as an inaugural address. He’s in his home town, with his supporters, who have come to hear their boy talk about what he’s going to do. They are cheering him on. They wonder what he’s going to say.
He gets to choose the scripture. That’s a powerful privilege. He chooses Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” At face value, that’s a powerful claim. God’s Spirit is with me. I want you to remember, please, that every one of you could say the same thing. God’s Spirit is with you, with all of us, every day. Every morning we could and should ask ourselves, what will God do in me and through me today?
Here's what Jesus sees as God’s work in his life: bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. Set free the oppressed and proclaim that this is the time of God’s favor. Notice, it’s not about him. It’s all about how God is going to do good things for the most marginalized people through him. I suspect that you can measure the most authentic spiritual leaders by the folks they hang out with – the marginalized. We have many wonderful Jesus stories about how he went to these folk on the edges and brought them hope – healing, food, connection, freedom.
The people in Nazareth, we learn, weren’t all that impressed with Jesus’ mission statement. They wanted to know what was in it for them, what miracles would he work in his home town? Even though they lived on the margins they didn’t see a need to reach out to those even worse off than they were. Why not do something impressive? Bring fame and fortune? Don’t waste this moment on those at the bottom of the barrel.
There are passages of scripture where I struggle to understand what Jesus is saying. This isn’t one of them. He’s crystal clear about the people who are the focus of God’s favor and about how God shows up in our world. Notice he doesn’t say, “God has saved me so that I can bring in the golden age of prosperity for you.” There are no billionaires behind him on the platform. There’s no reason for anyone to be afraid of what might come next. This is good news for everyone, beginning with those least accustomed to news being good. Everyone is invited to come along for the ride, so long as they remember the focus: God is lifting up the least and so lifting up us all.
This week Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde stood in the tradition of Jesus when she asked those in power to recognize the ways their actions could harm others and to have mercy on those who were vulnerable and frightened. We aren’t surprised that her words fell on deaf ears. Today the Catholic bishops in the United States joined her in pointing out how this week’s executive orders are harming people. They got a similar response. It’s important that people of faith, that’s us, keep living by Jesus’ plan and calling out those who pretend to have God on their side while harming others. It’s a little overwhelming, with a lot to pay attention to in Washington and Bismarck and St. Paul and here at home. Jesus shows us how to do it …one person at a time. One act of kindness at a time. He never made phone calls to legislators, but maybe one phone call at a time. There’s a ND bill to post the 10 commandments in every classroom so that people who might “do something wrong” will know what God is demanding of them. Here’s what God expects of us in the words of Micah: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. In the words of Jesus: proclaim good news to the poor. It’s our privilege as people of faith to keep the focus where God puts the focus – on those longing to hear the good news that God cares about them through people who care about them.
It's easy to be overwhelmed by the fire hose of actions harming people right now. We have to help each other remember that there is so much good also happening. This is our Annual Meeting day, when we remember what Family of God has done in the past year and look forward to what’s to come. That’s a story about caring for God’s children day by day. I want us to take a few minutes to say out loud some of the things we’ve done together, and some that each one of you has done on your own, to make this community better and to share God’s love….
Jesus says to his neighbors, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” We are celebrating the ways God’s love has been made real, here and now, through small acts of generosity and kindness. Well done!