Third Sunday after Epiphany

Luke 4:14-21

There’s a Gospel song from the 1970’s called, “God said it , I believe it, that settles it.” Hearing Jesus’ words here in Luke’s gospel reminded me of those words, which more recently have migrated onto t-shirts and bumper stickers. Unfortunately, sometimes those words are used to set God’s actions and Jesus’ teaching firmly in the past as historical events, limited to their original time and place, with no demands on us today 

But in his inaugural sermon in Luke’s gospel, in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and reads,

 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.”

And then he sits down, saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Doesn’t that sounds like, “God said, it, I believe it and that settles it.”?

Except, it’s a trick question.

The Greek verb that translates as “has been fulfilled” is in the perfect tense, not the aorist tense. The grammar changes the meaning because aorist verbs mean the action is complete and over while perfect verbs indicate action that is ongoing or keeps happening.

So Jesus is saying that God’s Word has been fulfilled already and continues to be fulfilled in our hearing it spoken or proclaimed.

For Jesus, what is settled is that God’s Word places an ongoing call on our lives, that comes to us in our hearing and in our believing.

We must not relegate God’s actions or the demands of God’s Word to the past.

Karoline Lewis, one of my seminary preaching professors, tells a story about traveling to the Holy Land and visiting

“the chapel that is built around the rock where Jesus hosted his last meal for his disciples (John 21) [Outside the chapel there is a plaque and its] inscription is based on Luke 5:5, the calling of the first disciples in Luke, “Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” And so the plaque reads, “The deeds and miracles of Jesus are not actions of the past. Jesus is waiting for those still prepared to take risks at his word because they trust his power utterly.”[i]

Jesus’ teachings ask something of us here and now.

So what will the fulfillment of this Scripture look like in our lives?

Can we acknowledge that we live in a world

where there are captives to release?

there are ways that we are blind and need to have our eyes opened?

and there are oppressed people yearning for freedom?

Paul’s words to the church in Corinth echo the ones Jesus spoke. Paul writes in his letter, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member rejoices, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26-27)

Paul’s letters are always in response to something that he knows is happening in the local church, and in this letter he admonishes the church that we rise and fall together. There cannot be an “us” and a “them” in the body of Christ. So, when Jesus speaks of the captive, the blind and the oppressed, we must not hear that as though he’s speaking about people who aren’t in our lives.

Truly I tell you, we don’t have to look very far to find people who are suffering in the ways that Jesus names:

People in our community who are working full-time jobs but cannot afford basic shelter, food and clothing, let alone medical care.

We suffer blindness when our experiences and education shape our worldview one way, and we cannot see the truth of another person’s perspective.

And, every one of us is both saint and sinner, afflicted by the oppression and brokenness of sin that turns us in on ourselves and away from God.

In all Scripture, there is both Law and Gospel; the Law identifies our chains, and the Gospel sets us free.[ii]

When Jesus declares that today this Word has been fulfilled, he tells us that we do not have to wait any longer for our freedom. We have received God’s grace and we are set free to practice our faith in our words and actions, to participate in God’s kingdom here and now.

The fulfillment of God’s favor or grace on the world can be seen all around us if we will open our eyes and our hearts. It is seen in that one person who provides transportation to someone who cannot drive themselves any longer or when you call the person who usually sits in the pew in front of you but you haven’t seen recently; it is seen in the volunteers who hang the greenery before Christmas and shovel the snow when winter weather shows up so that we can worship together; and it is seen when we reach out into our community and recognize and respond to the needs of those around us.

With this inaugural sermon, Jesus calls us into an ongoing life with God, for the sake of the world.

Let us pray…

Liberating God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus who has come to break the chains of sin and evil in our lives and set us free.

Give us courage to see the poor, the captive and the blind, knowing we cannot be free until we are all free.

Continue to fulfill your Word in our lives that we would continue sharing the Good News of your abundant grace and love with our neighbors, community and world.

We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

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[i] Karoline Lewis, “Preaching Nazareth”, Dear Working Preacher, workingpreacher.org.

[ii] “Strangely Warmed” podcast for Epiphany 3C