January 29 Sermon

January 27, 2019

Luke 4:14-21

Many years ago—at a congregation I once served—a member told me the following story. A temporary pastor had been very involved in helping to fix up an old retreat center that the church owned. After spending an entire week there, he arrived at church for Sunday worship. When it came time for the sermon, he stepped into the pulpit and proclaimed: “God loves you! Amen!” That was it. Many people thought he hadn’t given himself any time to prepare for the message. A few believed that that was the best sermon any of them had ever heard! What do you think? Might you sometimes enjoy that short of a Sunday message here in our congregation?

Well, Jesus once preached such a sermon, so to speak. In fact, it was the very first one he ever gave. In today’s Gospel, after reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, he sat down, which was customary in that culture, and then declared: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Amen.” Short and sweet.

Yet the passage he chose from Isaiah, while also brief, is anything but short in terms of its impact. In other words, it has a lot of substance, a lot of meat to it. And so, I’d like to read it again:

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…

Some have interpreted these verses in a rather broad, symbolic way, that is, that by “the poor” Jesus means those who understand their spiritual poverty and their need to be made right with God. As we read in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” Likewise, the same about the part “…proclaim release to the captives.” For, in the original language the word “release” also means forgiveness. With that understanding, we can think of ourselves as captive to sin and our constant need for God’s forgiveness.

How about “recovering of sight to the blind?” That one may be more clearly interpreted in a literal way—especially since Jesus performs so many miracles of healing.

And “let the oppressed go free?” Again, we may think of ourselves along with other believers as those held against our will to the power of evil—as we do before the beginning of worship: “…we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.”

At the same time, a broad interpretation of today’s passage tends to take the edge off of it, tends to water it down. So for the most part, these verses need to be taken in a literal way, because of all the Gospels, Luke portrays Jesus as having a special place in his heart for the down and out, for those who live on the margins of society, for those who miss out on much of life.

For example, while in Matthew Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” in Luke he simply says, “Blessed are you who are poor.” Period. It’s the same in other parts of this Gospel. For instance, when Mary’s cousin Elizabeth confirms to Mary she is to give birth to the Christ Child and, in praise, Mary sings out how God has “lifted up the lowly [and] has filled the hungry with good things…” So, to be faithful to today’s text, we need to take more literally the words of Isaiah as Jesus understands them.  

What, then, to say about “good news to the poor?” Before the government shutdown ended on Friday, I was so upset to see the stories about furloughed workers having to turn to food banks and other charities in an attempt to get by. We often think of the poor as people who are unable to work or, as some claim, simply don’t want to. But these past two months we’ve been reminded that many working people live from paycheck to paycheck. They don’t get paid enough to save very much, if anything. They may not have any other resources to rely on—like family members who can help. At the same time, I have felt heartened to also see stories about those reaching out to such persons: 

• The famous chef, Jose Andres, who has been feeding federal employees in our nation’s capital.

• An autistic youth who in a contest won—of all things—a lifetime supply of peanut butter and has donated it to furloughed workers.

While such caring people are not necessarily Christians, I’m sure a number of them are. They’re expressing their love for those in need. There also are other ways to show that concern. Although a very small thing, the other week I sent letters to our two U.S. senators and U.S. representative to find a way to bring an end to the shutdown. After all, one of the essentials

of their job, of their responsibilities, is to keep the government up and running. 

For us here—on a local level—we also do what we can to help people avoid hunger.

• Some of us provide monthly meals that are then delivered to the ministry known as Daily Bread.

• Others donate canned goods for the food pantry at a nearby church.

• A few of us prepare the Manna Bags, some of which we give to people holding signs at intersections or in strip malls. We also distribute them from right here at church.

• Some prepare snacks for children who attend the Tutoring Program held weekly in the parish hall.

• Also in the parish hall, a number of people prepare and serve food at the monthly community meals, while others deliver frozen entrees from those meals to several 

of our homebound people.

Many of you donate other kinds of items, like last month’s Christmas gifts for needy children.

And some of you have been involved in similar efforts with organizations beyond this congregation, for instance, collecting food at local schools.

When we do such things, we are bringing good news to the poor. Of course, there are many other things that are needed:

• Affordable housing.

• Reliable transportation to and from work.

• More resources to help youth get the education they need to compete in a high-tech, service economy. For example, maybe more affordable college tuition. For me, back in the day, going to a public university was dirt cheap. It really was. Why not again?

What might we do—as Christans?

Something else Jesus mentions, that he proclaims is “recovery of sight to the blind.” In other words, he has come that people may be healed—spiritually, emotionally, and physically. It goes without saying that there are still a lot of people in the world who suffer from terrible sickness and disease—some that are life-threatening. Many of us here have faced—or continue to face—serious illnesses. Yet for many, good health care remains beyond reach. Just think about the extremely high costs of some prescription drugs. Many of us know about that, don’t we?

What might we do—as Christians?

Jesus also proclaims “release to [those who are] captives” and to “let the oppressed go free.” Although not knowing the details, I have seen that our government recently passed legislation to reform some of our criminal justice system. There also remain ongoing efforts to identify persons who have been wrongly incarcerated, that their names might be cleared, that they might return to a productive life outside of prison.

What might we do—as Christians?

Soon after starting here, I was approached about visiting persons at the county jail—undocumented refugees, who were separated hundreds of miles from family members while awaiting hearings with immigration judges. 

I was told some of them just needed another person to sit with them from time to time. But with a language barrier preventing direct communication, I didn’t see what comfort, if any, I could give such persons. Besides, I didn’t really have the time. 

Yet, as a Christian, might there have been something I could have done? Or still could?

Some commentators mention that Jesus’ use of the Isaiah passage in today’s Gospel is his mission or vision statement for the ministry he was beginning.  After reading that, I thought about the mission and vision statements of this church, the second one being this: “To be a vibrant congregation in the heart of York, praising God, connecting people to Christ, and serving the people of York and the world.

This statement having been written before my time, I don’t know who was responsible for developing it. But for me, it’s right on the mark It serves as a simple, direct message expressing the very reasons why this place, why this congregation exists.

Another simple, direct message is the one I mentioned at the beginning. I want to repeat it now, just in case you think I’ve thrown too much at you and me in the way of expectations, in the way of our responsibilities to others as Christians. Sometimes what I preach can feel overwhelming, maybe even legalistic or judgmental. So I want to remind you as that one pastor did so many years ago to some church people: “God loves you! God loves you! Amen!”