January
24th, 2016 “Mission Statements” Rev. Heather Jepsen
Luke
4:14-21
In the circles I travel in, we spend a
lot of time wondering about the question “Who is Jesus?” Brown Bag has been deep in discussion on this
matter. It doesn’t take much digging
around to find ourselves on shifting sands in the historical Jesus debate. Today’s reading though may offer us some
insight on the person and nature of Jesus Christ . . . at least so far as the
writer of the gospel of Luke envisions him.
This morning’s reading takes place
early on in Jesus’ ministry. Following
our reading from two Sundays ago, Jesus had come to the river Jordan to be
baptized with the crowds. In that moment
the Spirit descend upon him, anointing him to begin his ministry. Following his baptism, the Spirit immediately
sends Jesus out into the wilderness for a period of trial and temptation. We will look more closely at that text during
the season of Lent. It is immediately
after the devil leaves Jesus that our reading for today begins.
Once again, the first thing we notice
is the role of the Spirit. Jesus is
filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and he begins his ministry. It is interesting to note that it is a
ministry not of healing or prophecy, but rather a ministry of teaching. Remember last Sunday when John envisioned
Jesus’ first acts of ministry as that of a miracle worker. Luke takes a different approach. He describes Jesus as a teacher, regularly
teaching in the synagogues. His fame
spreads throughout the region, not due to any miracles he has performed, but
due to his skills as a teacher in Sabbath worship.
Our reading takes place in Nazareth,
Jesus’ hometown. He has stopped in there
on his travels through the countryside.
On the Sabbath he heads to the synagogue, as was his custom, and waits
to be asked to teach. When he is called
forward, he requests the scroll of Isaiah and reads from what we have come to
know as Isaiah 61. You can turn to the
passage in your pew Bibles if you are curious, it is on page 603.
Jesus reads from the scroll, and then
he just goes and sits back down among the people without any comment. It is no wonder that the people are staring
at him as he does so. Now was the time
for the teacher to expound on the lesson, much like I do every Sunday, but
Jesus simply reads the passage and sits down.
Even you would stare at me if I dared to do such a thing on Sunday
morning. After some time he speaks
again, one sentence, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.” It is a totally loaded
sentence and as we will find out next week, very problematic.
The reading that Jesus presents is
interesting both for the verses he reads from the scroll, and those he leaves
out. Jesus seems to be reading from
verse 1. You will notice from the pew
Bible that his words are a bit different, which makes sense since we have a
much later translation. The idea is
basically the same though; Jesus has come to take on these tasks: bring good
news to the poor, proclaim the release of captives, recovery of sight to the
blind, and let the oppressed go free.
It is not odd to have read this text
in worship since it was a very popular reading.
What is odd is the commentary that Jesus offers. This text was commonly thought to be about
the Messiah that was to come and save Israel.
The Messiah is the one who was anointed by God to go and do these
things. When Jesus states that the
reading is fulfilled, he is calling himself the Messiah. He is saying that he is the one who has been
anointed by God to do these things. Generally,
that’s not a claim that people are going to readily accept, and we will see
next week how this leads to great trouble for Jesus.
I mentioned also that Jesus’ reading
is interesting for what he leaves out.
We can find that in verse two.
Jesus reads the first part of the verse, “To proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favor” and leaves out the second half, “and the day of vengeance of our
God.” On the surface it doesn’t appear
to be much. Jesus is simply leaving out
a phrase. But I think there may be more
going on behind the scenes here.
You see, Jesus is claiming to be the
Messiah, and so folks are looking for him to do the things that the Messiah
would do. That is all good stuff about releasing
captives, healing blindness, and caring for the poor. No one has a problem with that. Even the year of Jubilee is good news, the
time when debts are forgiven and slaves are freed. But the Messiah was also supposed to usher in
the reign of the nation of Israel. The
Messiah was supposed to take over in a political way, using the vengeance of
the Lord, the wrath of God, as a weapon for that takeover.
Think about it a bit; try to put
yourself in the shoes of the people of Nazareth that day. You have been living under the Roman
occupation, suffering oppression through both extreme taxation and
violence. You do not dare to rise up
against the Romans for you have seen others try and be killed in the
process. Your only hope is in the
Messiah, the one who is bringing the vengeance of God, the one who is bringing
the promise to make things right. It is
only through that power of God that the people can be saved. That is the whole point of the Messiah; that
is the whole point of your hope. Good
news for the poor is OK, but you want to be freed from the oppression of the
Roman government. You want the Messiah
that was promised by the prophet Isaiah.
Jesus reads a bit of the scroll and
sits down, and the people just stare at him wondering what he is getting
at. He says that the text has been
fulfilled today, declaring himself to be the Messiah, but not the Messiah the
people have been waiting for. The
listeners are torn between joy that the Messiah has come, and he is a home town
boy; and frustration that Jesus claims to be the Messiah, but not the Messiah
people want him to be. It’s complicated,
and as we will find out next week, the people’s reaction to Jesus’ teaching is
complicated as well.
So, what does this reading hold for us
this morning? Well, to answer the
question that we have been rolling around on Tuesdays, it’s clear to the author
of Luke that Jesus thought he was the Messiah.
In fact, he thought it very early on in his ministry. It is also clear from Luke that Jesus had a
clear idea of who the Messiah was and what his job would be.
Jesus’ is on a mission to the poor and
outcast of the world. His focus will be
on good news to the poor, release of those held captive, freedom from debt and
oppression, and new vision for all people.
It will not be a ministry of violence or vengeance. It will be a ministry of healing. This focus on the poor is a prominent theme
for the author of Luke and we will find as we read from this book throughout
the year that Luke focuses a lot on the rich and the poor. In fact, many scholars have come to the
conclusion that Luke believes God gives preferential treatment to the poor. We will explore that theme later this year.
As I was studying the text this week I
was thinking that what we have here is Jesus’ mission statement. Jesus is clearly stating who he is and what
his mission is. If we are reading Luke,
and we want to find answers about Jesus, we need to go no further than this
text. This is Jesus in a nutshell.
If we are to be followers of Jesus, if
we are to mold our lives and ministry after him, then this should be our
mission statement as well. This should
be the ministry that we aspire to; forgiveness of debts, good news to the poor,
release of those held captive, and new vision for everyone.
Today we are having our annual meeting
which is one of the times we consider our ministry as a congregation. This is a great opportunity to ask ourselves
if our church’s mission and ministry are modeled after Jesus Christ or
not. We have our own mission statement,
printed in the bulletin, that clearly states who we are and who we are striving
to be. Are we currently doing a good job
of “sharing the love of God through Christ by the exploration of our faith,
through Christian education, worship, and fellowship, by community service, and
in local leadership in social justice issues”?
Is our ministry modeled after that of Jesus Christ? Are there areas where we could be improving
as a congregation? These are great
questions to ask ourselves today as we celebrate our achievements from last
year and look forward to the year ahead.
Here in the gospel of Luke, Jesus
begins his ministry by laying out his mission statement. He is the Messiah, come to bring good
news. But he is not necessarily the
Messiah the people are waiting for. He
makes bold statements in the hometown synagogue and everyone just stares. We don’t often have cliff hangers in worship
but this Sunday we certainly do, come back next week to find out what happens
to Jesus in Nazareth. And stay after
worship today, to celebrate the ministry of our church and to consider what
might be on the horizon for us. Amen.