January 26, 2025 – The Third Sunday after Epiphany
Kenny Faught
In the name of God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
THE READINGS are all very appealing this morning. Nehemiah talks to us about revival. The Psalmist talks to us about revelation (what John Muir called God’s two books – nature and scriptures). 1 Corinthians talks to us about the church as a body. And Luke talks to us about . . . Jesus! So, Jesus it is!
I WOULD CONTEND that what we have in our Gospel reading today is “Jesus’ Inaugural Address.” Others have called it his “Manifesto” or “Mission Statement.” Some might argue that his inaugural address is found in Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount). With great magnanimity I concede their right to be wrong. As my friend Troy Forrester taught me I would say, “I would agree with you, but then we both would be wrong!” In Matthew 5-7 what we have is more like a Christian Constitution, telling us how to live as followers of the Christ. In Luke 4 we have something very different – Jesus at the beginning of his ministry boldly announcing his agenda.
IN JUST FOUR CHAPTERS LUKE TAKES us from the birth of Christ in Bethlehem to his presentation in the Temple in Jerusalem to his baptism in the Jordan River to his temptation in the wilderness of Judea to the beginning of His Galilean ministry, with a good deal of genealogy thrown in. The setting for our text this morning is in the Synagogue in Nazareth, His hometown. Jesus is returning home.
“HOME.” Just hearing the word can evoke a host of memories and feelings. Your geographical home (“Where are you from?”). Your physical home (“Where do you live?”) Your church home (“Where do you go?”). Your psychological and emotional home (“Where’s your happy place?”).
Robert Frost said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”
Maya Angelou said, “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
What (or Who) says “home” to you, this morning?
JESUS had already been teaching and working miracles in other places, so we are told that his “fame” preceded him. Now he’s going back to what we might call his “home church.” These folks have watched him grow-up. They’ve seen him playing with the other children. They’ve heard stories about him staying behind in the Temple as a boy. They’ve chatted with him in the carpenter’s shop. They’ve brushed shoulders with him in the streets. They know his family. Still, there’s that nagging question: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
I PREACHED MY FIRST SERMON when I was 15. Easter Sunday, 1968. It was the first of many times preaching in my “home church.” Decades later I remember two specific reactions to my preaching:
THE FIRST: Our Sunday School Superintendent, regardless of what I had inflicted upon the congregation, would ALWAYS smile and say, “Kenny, I believe you’re going to be the next Billy Graham.” His gracious encouragement had me daydreaming about the great crusades I would lead around the world! “Billy who!? A greater than Billy has arisen!” I long ago abandoned any misguided attempts to be the next Billy Graham, and still struggle, after all these years, to be the first Kenny Faught.
THE OTHER MEMORY, much more specific, comes from my Mother, who was my most ardent supporter. (That was before I met Chrissy.) It was a Sunday morning. I was preaching to a good crowd in that little Central Kentucky town (Mayberry by a different name). There was a large clock on the wall at the back of the sanctuary, strategically placed in the direct line of sight of the preacher, whomever that might be. As I was waxing eloquent (or maybe just “waxing” period), my Mother caught my eye and motioned energetically over her right shoulder – toward the clock on the wall! My own Mother! (I admit: When I was younger and knew less, I preached longer sermons!)
SO, WE HAVE THE RETURN OF JESUS to Nazareth. Luke says He was “filled with the power [the dynamite, the dynamic] of the Spirit” (cf. 4:1). When He arrived, He did what he always did: He went to church. The Synagogue. That was His custom. An example for all of us (“as we are able”). He was invited to read. He took the scroll, unrolled it, and read.
THIS IS WHAT the people heard (from Isaiah 61:1-2a):
“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.”
In just two sentences (18-19) Jesus uses words which describe Him as an Evangelist (preaching good news), as an Apostle (being sent to the people), and as a Preacher (proclaiming the Lord’s favor).
JESUS GIVES US the Christian agenda. There’s “good news” for the poor. There’s “release” for the captives. There’s “sight” for the blind. There’s “freedom” for the oppressed. To carry on the ministry of Jesus is to be motivated by the Spirit to care for the poor, the blind, the sick, the hungry, the grieving, the ones trapped in a life that denies them dignity and opportunity, and those who somehow feel that they must be outside God’s grace and favor. There’s a shadow side to all this. When Jesus spoke of judgment it was to blame people for not feeding the hungry, not giving drink to the thirsty, not welcoming the stranger, not clothing the naked, and not visiting the sick and imprisoned. No doubt you have seen the beautiful icon in our sanctuary – The Good Samaritan Icon! I have been seeing this icon over the course of about ten years. A few months ago I saw something I had never noticed. The ‘victim: to whom the Samaritan is ministering has scars in his hands, and feet, and side. It’s Jesus. What we do for others we do for him, and when we ignore others we are ignoring him!
Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said:
“Jesus began a movement, fueled by his Spirit, a movement whose purpose was and is to change the face of the earth from the nightmare it often is into the dream that God intends.”
That’s our MINISTRY. And we don’t apologize for that in The Episcopal Church. That’s why we often pray on Sunday mornings: “. . . send us out to do the work you have given us to do.”
BUT THERE’S MORE TO THIS READING than just ministry. There is, definitely, a dual application. The “poor” includes the poor in spirit. The “broken-hearted” includes those who mourn over their sins. The “captives” include those enslaved by selfish systems. The “bruised” includes those roughed-up/ persecuted by life. (Do you hear echoes of the Beatitudes here?) For all of these (and us), Jesus has “good news.”
JESUS HAS COME to proclaim God’s “favor.” NOW is the time when you can find God’s grace and acceptance. You know something? The ministry inaugurated in a Galilean synagogue continues. The offer of “good news” preached that day is still available. THAT message gives us our MISSION.
ONE MORE WORD. (There’s no clock at the back – at least not yet.) There’s a major revelation at the end. Jesus rolls-up the scroll, hands it to the minister, sits down, and with everyone looking at him says (and I love The Message Translation),
“You’ve just heard Scripture make history.
It came true – just now – in this place.”
MINISTRY AND MISSION. It was a short Scripture reading, and a brief sermon. The admiring crowds who heard him and praised him engaged him in conversation after the service, and SPOILER ALERT, (just eight verses later) tried to throw him off a cliff! So, if you’re ever asked to speak at your home church . . . be careful!
A FINAL QUESTION: How do we – you and I, Good Samaritans and Episcopalians and Christians everywhere, join this ministry of Jesus today? Here’s a suggestion just for us: Let’s just embrace today’s “red letter text,” take a look around at our community and world, and then, of all things, maybe take a closer look at our church announcement page . . . .
AMEN.