January 27, 2013 Luke 4.14-21 Year C Epiphany 3 Sermon
Scripture: Luke 4.14-21
14Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and
a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.
15He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by
everyone.16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He
stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.
He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18“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,19to
proclaim
the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat
down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21Then he began to say to them,
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Sermon
Here we have the Mission Statement of Jesus.
On Monday night, Mary Ellen Chown used this passage to illustrate
different ways that non-fundamentalists might hear and understand
scripture. Someone wondered how Jesus would have learned to read.
Jesus may not have been able to read, but he likely would have been
able to recognize some of the Hebrew characters -- and from them be
able to quote large sections of scripture.
“He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written”
If you imagine yourself back in Jesus’ day, what would you have to
remember? -- no phone numbers, SIN numbers, passwords, fewer
names of people since he was in a small town, fewer songs, no
celebrities, makes of cars, no instructions for operating the pvr, dvd, led,
tv or iphone! That great space in his brain was just full of memorized
scripture. It was his history, his biography, his poetry, his music, his
foundation, his inspiration, his rule book, his muse.
Perhaps he was a rabbi -- he seems to be recognized as one in the
synagogue in his home town. He stood up to proclaim the scripture, and
then he sat down to teach, just like the other rabbis.
And this passage was one lifted above all others by Luke to launch the
story of his ministry.
On Monday night as I listed to Mary Ellen describe different methods of
studying this scripture, I thought back to the different times I have
preached on this text.
The first time I preached it was at St. James United Church in Montreal
as part of a group of students invited to speak to the United Church
Women.
“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...”
Then it felt like a call to action -- a call to change the church.
St. James was the largest Methodist Church in Canada when it was built
over 200 years ago, but had a hard time paying the bills, which resulted
in the construction of commercial buildings right up to its entrance -stores -- grungy at that -- were built right up to its arched doorway in
1926, a year after the United Church was formed. As we walked in, I
looked up and saw carved into the stone, “The Lord is in His Holy
Temple”
But inside there was a small group of mink coated, hatted elderly ladies
scattered in this huge church.
We felt we were there to shake things up. One student had come from
studying with Saul Alinsky at the Urban Training Centre in Chicago. He
suggested that the church should be housing the poor -- ‘there should be
urine on the walls’.
“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...”
The next time I preached this text, I focussed more on who Jesus was -this was his Mission statement and he was the one to preach good news
to the poor.
That was during a time when churches like St. James were hard hit by
the exodus from Montreal. They had to give up worshipping in the
sanctuary and it stood empty. But a few hardy souls met in homes.
“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...”
This time, I realize that I am the poor in need of good news, the captive
in need of release. And recognizing that I am freed, well, it is out of the
grace of that gift, that I want to offer the news of that gift to others.
True liberation is taking up Jesus’ mission to the poor, knowing you are
the recipient and the vessel.
And what of St. James now? Transformation came as they listened to
the good news. As Jesus has liberated them, they have been freed to
live his mission. St. James is now a mission to the city. Its motto? ‘The
church in the heart of the City with the City at heart.’
A group the same size as ours is managing a huge building AND taking
care of the poor and oppressed of the city. Refugee ministries, a drop in
for the homeless psychiatric and housing resources, the formation of
many agencies that have brought release to the captives.
I am not that much different than I was when I was younger. And St.
James? They have had a long history of engagement with the
community -- for a while, they felt defeated -- but ‘we have remembered
whose we have always been and that has focussed and sustained us.’