"Has been fulfilled"-Sermon for Epiphany 3, Luke 4:14-21
In our Gospel lesson this morning, which comes from the 4th Chapter of Luke, we find Jesus still very much at the beginning of his earthly ministry. Following his baptism by John in the Jordan River, Jesus travels north to the region of Galilee, where he begins recruiting his team of co-ministers…those he will teach and train up to support and share in his love-spreading and life-giving mission…those we call his disciples. He then sort of soft-launches, if you will, his ministry there in Galilee…announcing that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near, and he begins to heal all those who come to him who are sick in heart, body or mind. And, this life-transforming, miraculous work understandably begins a buzz among the people living in nearby communities. Word is, indeed, spreading that a new rabbi, a new teacher, with a new sort of teaching and even working miracles has emerged…and a sort of hope begins to dawn among the people. As Luke says, reports about him spread among the whole of the country. God is up to something. God is on the move. And, then, almost like in response to the word spreading about this new wonder worker, Jesus returns to his hometown, to Nazareth, to, in a sense, formally and publicly inaugurate his ministry.
Luke tells us that Jesus goes on the sabbath day to the local synagogue that was likely full to overflowing with a buzz in the air…full of leading citizens, Jesus’ own relatives, those he had grown up with, those new followers who had joined Jesus’ team early on, and those who likely traveled from nearby towns to see what the buzz was really all about. And, there, standing before this very public gathering full of people who were, at the same time, both excited and anxious about what might happen next, Jesus unrolls the scroll that contained what we know as the Old Testament Book of the Prophet Isaiah and begins to read. Luke tells us the eyes of all in the synagogue were upon him. I imagine they were actually hanging on every word. What would Jesus choose to read…what would he then say? Many among them already knew who this person was…or thought they did.…the carpenter’s son, Mary’s first born…so could God really use one of their own to accomplish great things…to turn this world right side up…to heal broken hearts, bodies and minds…to even restore Eden…to usher in God’s own kingdom of love, light, and peace? Were such hopes simply naïve fantasies…a mental crutch to just help us limp along to the very next day without going mad in the meantime…or…or could God do something entirely new…is it possible that this local boy, now grown into adulthood, is the one long-awaited…the one to save the world from sin and death…just as his name suggests…for the name Jesus literally means, “God saves”.
Friends, I think it is hard for us to even just begin to comprehend the hopes and fear of all the years that were met in Jesus…focused on Jesus…in that very moment. And, indeed, he begins to read from Isaiah’s prophecy. Ancient words that spoke directly to those hopes and fears in hearts of God’s people…not just those in Nazareth…but all people at all times…mine and yours…the fear of captivity to systems of inequity and injustice…the fears of economic uncertainty felt most by those who are already food insecure and living paycheck to paycheck…the fears of chronic illness in body and mind…the fears of losing someone we love to death, disease, distance or divorce…the fears of our own sense of inadequacy and brokenness. And, into such fears, Jesus reads, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And, to be absolutely certain that all those gathered that day in that synagogue and all those like us who get to pear into this moment through Luke’s recounting of the story…to be absolutely certain that each and all understand what Jesus is suggesting, he continues, in his own words, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
So, here in Nazareth, in the very midst of those among whom he was raised, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is emphatically stating that he is the one in whom God’s Spirit has taken flesh…the Light of the World come down to earth…to dispel its darkness that our eyes might be opened to see the living God in our very presence…and most gloriously of all…to release us…to free us from our captivity to sin and death…our most ancient foe. This is our great, good news that all the principalities and powers that seeks to oppress us, to keep us down, keep us small, impoverish us in body or spirit have been overcome in Jesus…in his life, death and resurrection. Thus, the Apostle Paul, who will eventually take up Jesus’ ministry and share it with all the generations that will follow, writes, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And, friends, this all just burst my heart wide open. And, sharing this hope-filled, good news…of God’s redemption and release in Jesus…is that for which I have given my life. It is that for which this family of faith exists.
As many of you know, my father, my earthly father, JB, is quite ill. He is battling an infection that almost took his life just before Christmas and has left his body and mind ravished. Though not entirely certain, each day he remains with us provides a little more confidence that he will overcome the infection, but the road to recovery will be hard and long…and what that recovery will look like remains uncertain. And, I share this with you to ask for your prayers for healing for my dad and strength for my mom, Ellen, who is carrying and awfully heavy load. But, I also share this with you in the context of what I have already said in this sermon. For, though I do not know how this medical crisis will resolve itself, I do know and believe with all of my heart, really with every fiber of my being, that my dad has already overcome the disease that has hold of his physical body, for healing is and always has been a spiritual matter. For physical illness, like sin, is an expression of our mortality…and our mortality...that is our captivity to death…has already been utterly defeated through Jesus Christ our Lord…just as Jesus made known at the inauguration of his ministry in that synagogue in Nazareth. So, we pray for a cure…because we want more time with him…because his life on this side of glory matters and makes a difference…and there is always more good to be done and more love to share. But, our hope that death is more gate than grave…our hope that this life is but chapter one in the never-ending “book of life” that just gets better with each passing chapter…our hope that my dad’s life, that each of our lives, shall exist from forever to forever held tight by God’s everlasting arms of love…well friends…that is sure and certain…for in Jesus, God has fulfilled the promise of our release…our freedom from captivity to sin and death…and God will never let us go. This is no mere crutch…this is life-transforming hope
Today, [following this service/just before this service…we will have/had] our annual parish meeting. In addition to elections and budgets, this meeting provides the opportunity to recommit to another year of being St. Julian’s together, which is nothing less and nothing more than being a living expression of the hope fulfilled in Jesus. And, at the heart of the life we share, is the opportunity and challenge to participate in the very ministry Jesus inaugurated in that synagogue in Nazareth and completed at Easter. For Jesus’ defeat of sin and death is not only a forward-looking hope…something that only will fully happen at the end of time. Instead, the past, meaning the ministry of loving and healing that Jesus offered in time and space and that found its completion in Jesus glorious resurrection some two-thousand years ago…and the future, meaning when in the fullness of time God will be all in all and love alone will be the end for all that God has made, including, each of us…that past and that future…both point to the present…they are leaning into the present with power and great might. The unstoppable force of God’s never-ending love inaugurated and fulfilled in Jesus…is present…in the present. And, I for one can feel its weight…the past and future heavily…and hopefully…leaning into the present…the weight of God’s own glory fulfilled in Jesus…in our very midst. And, that glory is empowering the life we share together even now…that we, St. Julian’s, might participate, transformatively so, in Jesus’ work of redemption and release…even now.
May we remember that Jesus said today…not yesterday or tomorrow…but today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Today, empowered by our own sure and certain hope of our release from sin and death in Jesus, may we courageously participate in alleviating the fears that beset so many around us…may we hold the hands, as God’s own hands, of those who are experiencing hardship, travail and loss…may we commit to pray for the release of those held captive to illness and addiction…may we build meaningful friendships with those who look, love, live and believe differently than we do, that love may overcome estrangement…may we work together to end the oppression of those who suffer…far more than we…by the injustices deeply embedded in the systems that control our politics and economy…I am thinking very particularly about our immigrant and LGBTQ siblings on this day…and may we bring people to this place, to this family of faith, those who need us so very much, to discover the love we have already found here. God’s own love, fulfilled in Jesus, that sets us all free. Amen.