Sermon-Sunday-Jan 21, 2007
Luke 4:14-21
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we have our annual parish meeting. Today we have a joint worship service. Today we will gather downstairs and enjoy a pot-luck feast together. And for some of us, today we will watch football. Perhaps for others, today you will go to Williston. And today, or more accurately tonight, some of you may go to the Captive Free concert at First Lutheran in Williston. But for all of you, all of that will be in the past, once tomorrow arrives.
Captive Free will be on their way to their next church. The football games will be over and we will know who will play in the Super Bowl, and the annual parish meeting will be over. But in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus uses the word ‘today’ in a different sense when He says that ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
The word ‘today’ is an important word in Luke’s Gospel. All through Luke’s gospel, the word is used in reference to monumental moments. The angel says to the shepherds “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.” Jesus says to the thief on the cross “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus tells Zachaeus “Today salvation has come to this house.” And of course, in this morning’s lesson Jesus says to those who had gathered in the synagogue “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” For Luke, today, quite often is a moment of radical change.
Jesus announces that He has come to bring good news to the poor, that He has been sent to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. The moment where Jesus announces that His arrival, particularly that moment that marks the beginning of His ministry when He announces that the scripture He just read has been fulfilled is fairly instantaneous, but what His arrival brings is eternal.
Jesus’ arrival did not mean recovery, freedom, release, and favor just for the people who had gathered in that synagogue, but people from all nations. It wasn’t just for that generation, it was for all the generations to come, and it wasn’t just for the Jews, but for all God’s people. The good news that Jesus brings with Him to that synagogue applies just as much to Christians in North Dakota as it did to those faithful Jews in Nazareth.
When Luke uses ‘today’ it is often in conjunction with a time of change brought about through an encounter with Jesus. This is what happens when Jesus enters into the picture. When Jesus bursts onto the scene, you are changed. The change may not reveal itself in a real dramatic fashion, and for some maybe it does. But make no mistake about it, when you encounter Christ Jesus, be it through Word, Sacrament, the love of Christ being shared with you, fellowship with God’s people or whatever, you are changed.
As this Gospel narrative continues, and we will hear more about this next Sunday, we realize that for those people in the synagogue, the Word that Jesus was proclaiming was terrifying. They had heard that prophetic text that Jesus read before. They eagerly awaited the fulfillment of that prophecy. They looked forward to it. They expected it would come with great pomp and circumstance and authority.
But when Jesus, the humble son of a carpenter announces that he is the fulfillment of that expectation, they are scared. They are scared because, as usual Jesus has taken human expectations and completely flipped them upside down. There were no flashing lights or anything. It was merely the humble son of a carpenter.
And every time you encounter Jesus in the Gospel, you are also terrified. You are terrified as your sin is exposed to you, and you are brought to the startling conclusion that you can’t do this on your own. You are terrified as the law condemns and accuses you to be the sinner that you are. You are terrified as the righteousness, innocence, and purity of the one who comes to redeem you exposes you as being among the poor who are in need of good news, you are among the captive to sin who need release, you are among the oppressed who desire freedom from the law, and you are among those who need sight to be rescued from blindness to sin.
But the arrival of the one who takes your sin and frees you from your bondage, blindness, poverty, captivity, and oppression has been fulfilled. In the waters of baptism you have been claimed by Him; the one who frees you, redeems you and forgives you, the one who comes to you in His word, in the sacraments and in His people, and that is good news.
But even the good news that Jesus brings terrifies you. It terrifies you because it calls you into action today, right now. The same Spirit of the Lord who was upon Jesus is also upon you, and has been upon you since that moment when you encountered Jesus in the waters of baptism. In that moment you were changed. In that moment you began to experience what Martin Luther calls in the small catechism, the calling, gathering, and enlightening through the Gospel into faith.
Paul reminds us in today’s lesson from 1st Corinthians that the same Spirit who calls us into faith, through baptism, also brings us into one body; the body of Christ. It is in the midst of that one body that the Spirit works through us to continue the recovery of sight, the freeing of the oppressed, the release of the captives, the proclamation of the Lord’s favor and of course the bringing of good news to the poor.
Paul reminds us that not only do we all have a place in the Body of Christ but the place that we have was not chosen by us but by God, when he writes “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.” Paul then writes how the stronger members of the body are called to support and lift up the weaker members of the body. He writes that when one member suffers we all suffer.
We are the Body of Christ and that scares us. Not just because it challenges us to step outside our comfort-zone, but because it means that God is at work in our lives, as opposed to a distant God, outside of us, away from us who leaves us alone. The living Christ is present in each of us, messing with us, calling us and forgiving us.
The life-changing radical moments that Luke often pointed to by using the word ‘today’ now come through us in common, ordinary ways. We are the Body of Christ, and as such we are literally called to share Jesus with our neighbor through our words and action.
Jesus’ announcement in today’s Gospel lesson was about good news being brought to all of God’s people. In fact that was the very nature of the good news; that barriers were being broken and that all of God’s people were being freed, gathered and called together; that the one who would bring redemption and forgiveness for all of God’s people had arrived.
Now that work continues in you in whatever way the Spirit calls you to use your gifts; be it in reaching out to the oppressed around the world, or in your own country, or maybe to help the elderly, or maybe to volunteer at a soup-kitchen, or maybe to serve on church council, whatever.
Jesus has claimed, redeemed, freed and forgiven you, and until today passes into tomorrow at Jesus’ return then there are still captive, and oppressed who need to be freed and blind seeking their sight and of course, the poor who need good news, and wherever you have been placed in the Body of Christ, whatever gifts you have been blessed with, the Holy Spirit calls you into service. That in itself is good news.
Amen
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we have our annual parish meeting. Today we have a joint worship service. Today we will gather downstairs and enjoy a pot-luck feast together. And for some of us, today we will watch football. Perhaps for others, today you will go to Williston. And today, or more accurately tonight, some of you may go to the Captive Free concert at First Lutheran in Williston. But for all of you, all of that will be in the past, once tomorrow arrives.
Captive Free will be on their way to their next church. The football games will be over and we will know who will play in the Super Bowl, and the annual parish meeting will be over. But in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus uses the word ‘today’ in a different sense when He says that ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
The word ‘today’ is an important word in Luke’s Gospel. All through Luke’s gospel, the word is used in reference to monumental moments. The angel says to the shepherds “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.” Jesus says to the thief on the cross “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus tells Zachaeus “Today salvation has come to this house.” And of course, in this morning’s lesson Jesus says to those who had gathered in the synagogue “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” For Luke, today, quite often is a moment of radical change.
Jesus announces that He has come to bring good news to the poor, that He has been sent to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. The moment where Jesus announces that His arrival, particularly that moment that marks the beginning of His ministry when He announces that the scripture He just read has been fulfilled is fairly instantaneous, but what His arrival brings is eternal.
Jesus’ arrival did not mean recovery, freedom, release, and favor just for the people who had gathered in that synagogue, but people from all nations. It wasn’t just for that generation, it was for all the generations to come, and it wasn’t just for the Jews, but for all God’s people. The good news that Jesus brings with Him to that synagogue applies just as much to Christians in North Dakota as it did to those faithful Jews in Nazareth.
When Luke uses ‘today’ it is often in conjunction with a time of change brought about through an encounter with Jesus. This is what happens when Jesus enters into the picture. When Jesus bursts onto the scene, you are changed. The change may not reveal itself in a real dramatic fashion, and for some maybe it does. But make no mistake about it, when you encounter Christ Jesus, be it through Word, Sacrament, the love of Christ being shared with you, fellowship with God’s people or whatever, you are changed.
As this Gospel narrative continues, and we will hear more about this next Sunday, we realize that for those people in the synagogue, the Word that Jesus was proclaiming was terrifying. They had heard that prophetic text that Jesus read before. They eagerly awaited the fulfillment of that prophecy. They looked forward to it. They expected it would come with great pomp and circumstance and authority.
But when Jesus, the humble son of a carpenter announces that he is the fulfillment of that expectation, they are scared. They are scared because, as usual Jesus has taken human expectations and completely flipped them upside down. There were no flashing lights or anything. It was merely the humble son of a carpenter.
And every time you encounter Jesus in the Gospel, you are also terrified. You are terrified as your sin is exposed to you, and you are brought to the startling conclusion that you can’t do this on your own. You are terrified as the law condemns and accuses you to be the sinner that you are. You are terrified as the righteousness, innocence, and purity of the one who comes to redeem you exposes you as being among the poor who are in need of good news, you are among the captive to sin who need release, you are among the oppressed who desire freedom from the law, and you are among those who need sight to be rescued from blindness to sin.
But the arrival of the one who takes your sin and frees you from your bondage, blindness, poverty, captivity, and oppression has been fulfilled. In the waters of baptism you have been claimed by Him; the one who frees you, redeems you and forgives you, the one who comes to you in His word, in the sacraments and in His people, and that is good news.
But even the good news that Jesus brings terrifies you. It terrifies you because it calls you into action today, right now. The same Spirit of the Lord who was upon Jesus is also upon you, and has been upon you since that moment when you encountered Jesus in the waters of baptism. In that moment you were changed. In that moment you began to experience what Martin Luther calls in the small catechism, the calling, gathering, and enlightening through the Gospel into faith.
Paul reminds us in today’s lesson from 1st Corinthians that the same Spirit who calls us into faith, through baptism, also brings us into one body; the body of Christ. It is in the midst of that one body that the Spirit works through us to continue the recovery of sight, the freeing of the oppressed, the release of the captives, the proclamation of the Lord’s favor and of course the bringing of good news to the poor.
Paul reminds us that not only do we all have a place in the Body of Christ but the place that we have was not chosen by us but by God, when he writes “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.” Paul then writes how the stronger members of the body are called to support and lift up the weaker members of the body. He writes that when one member suffers we all suffer.
We are the Body of Christ and that scares us. Not just because it challenges us to step outside our comfort-zone, but because it means that God is at work in our lives, as opposed to a distant God, outside of us, away from us who leaves us alone. The living Christ is present in each of us, messing with us, calling us and forgiving us.
The life-changing radical moments that Luke often pointed to by using the word ‘today’ now come through us in common, ordinary ways. We are the Body of Christ, and as such we are literally called to share Jesus with our neighbor through our words and action.
Jesus’ announcement in today’s Gospel lesson was about good news being brought to all of God’s people. In fact that was the very nature of the good news; that barriers were being broken and that all of God’s people were being freed, gathered and called together; that the one who would bring redemption and forgiveness for all of God’s people had arrived.
Now that work continues in you in whatever way the Spirit calls you to use your gifts; be it in reaching out to the oppressed around the world, or in your own country, or maybe to help the elderly, or maybe to volunteer at a soup-kitchen, or maybe to serve on church council, whatever.
Jesus has claimed, redeemed, freed and forgiven you, and until today passes into tomorrow at Jesus’ return then there are still captive, and oppressed who need to be freed and blind seeking their sight and of course, the poor who need good news, and wherever you have been placed in the Body of Christ, whatever gifts you have been blessed with, the Holy Spirit calls you into service. That in itself is good news.
Amen
posted by Steve at 1:54 PM
2 Comments:
Really neat!
Oops-I wasn't done. I was going to say I liked the way you wove in what is happening in the church with the lessons. However, you didn't pick that up again at the end-try to work it in sometime, to make the connection back for them from the beginning
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