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CHILDREN'S EDUCATION |
SERMONS The
Third Sunday after the Epiphany My grandfather was a gentle man. He was quiet. He was kind. And he was soft spoken. He was also a man of his word. When my grandfather said that he would do something, he meant it. There was no need for a written agreement or contract. He was in the lumber business in 1929. Like so many other businessmen in the Great Depression, his business failed, and he was left with many debts he was unable to pay off. However unlike many businessmen of the time, he didn't just walk away from those obligations. It took him several years but eventually he paid them all off. An obligation was an obligation. If he borrowed money from someone, he would pay it back. When he said he would do something, he meant it. Today's gospel relates an incident from the beginning of our Lord's public ministry. Jesus was baptized by John, and then went into the wilderness. Following his forty days there Luke tells us that he returned to Galilee and began to preach and teach. When he came to Nazareth, his hometown, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Nothing unusual about that. That's probably what he had been doing most every Sabbath day all his life. He was invited to read from the scriptures. He found a passage from the writings of Isaiah, and he read it. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon, 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." Then he rolled the scroll up, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down to preach. Nothing unusual about that. That must be about what happened every Sabbath in the synagogue. And then he spoke. "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Whoa. That's not a sermon you hear every week. "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." That's a pretty big claim. Release to captives. Recovery of sight to the blind. Freedom for the oppressed. The promise of God as given to Isaiah hundreds of years before. And today it has been fulfilled. Quite a promise. Luke goes on to say that at first they react favorably to what he has to say. But as he continues to speak, and as his claim begins to sink in, they say, "Wait a minute! We know this man. This is Joe the carpenter's son. Who does he think he is claiming that he is the fulfillment of scripture." And they run him out of town. The remainder of Luke's gospel, of course-along with the other gospels-documents the fact that Jesus was true to his word. Jesus, through the life he lived, demonstrated the truth of the words that he spoke. He did, in fact, restore sight to the blind. He healed the sick. He released humanity from captivity to sin. Through his life, death, and resurrection he ushered in the age of the Lord's favor. The claims Jesus made, he acted out in his life. We are the recipients of that good news. We have heard the news of God's favor, and we have seen it acted out in our lives. Through the waters of baptism we have been made a part of the Church, the body of Christ. We are, together, the body of Christ in the world today. As individuals we are each a member of that body. We have a message to proclaim. We are people of the Word. And we are called to be people of our words. We say to the world that God is love. We are called to show that love in our lives. We are called, each in our own unique way, to live out the love that we proclaim. To live it out by showing love to one another within the community. And to live it out by showing love to all people. If the world is to hear the good news of the love of God, it must hear it from us. And if it is to believe the God news of the love of God, it must see it acted out in our lives. This is our call. Let us be about his work. David
Christian
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Chapel
of the Cross · 674 Mannsdale Road · Madison, Mississippi
39110 · (601) 856-2593
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