Luke 4:14-21

We’re continuing our “kind of a Baptismal Vows Series” this week, so you can go ahead and bookmark page 36 in the hymnal now if you like!  36 not 34, it’s so exciting, we’ve turned the page! 

 The first week we read the story of the Baptism of Jesus alongside our Baptismal Vows and noticed how there was real risk, for John the Baptist, in accepting the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.  With freedom and power comes risk and responsibility.  Maybe we’re uncomfortable with risk, but we trust God enough to accept the risk.

Then, we visited the uncomfortable verses about evil doers from Psalm 36, revisited the English translation of the Apostle’s Creed, watched a little Star Wars, and pulled this all together to say that Resistance is about saying Yes to Love.

Last week we did our annual, Book of Discipline Mandated review of our Safe Sanctuary Policy, because our Congregational Vow to the Baptised includes our promise to provide a community where they may grow in their trust of God.

And I reviewed with you how to report a clergy person who does harm.  Look up the Oregon Idaho UMC webpage and use the staff page to find the Bishop and District Superintendent’s contact info. 

Today, we are turning the page in our hymnal to p36 in Baptismal Covenant 1, Thanksgiving Over The Water.  So go ahead and get out your hymnals and turn to page 36.

If you are a theology nerd like me, you might notice that the Thanksgiving Over The Water is very similar to The Great Thanksgiving in our Communion Liturgy,  if you’re curious, there is an example of a Great Thanksgiving on page 9 of the hymnal, if you would like to bookmark that as well.

You may have noticed that I seldom use a printed Communion Liturgy, or a printed Thanksgiving Over The Water, not because I don’t have respect for our liturgy, but because I have such deep respect for Christian liturgy that I have internalized its form.

You see, both of these Thanksgivings fall under the category of what us theology nerds call, a Salvation History.  That is, a summary of the story of God’s mercy towards humanity from creation through resurrection.  

Both of these Salvation Histories 

• begin with creation,
•  then mention how God continued to love us when humanity sinned
• Then mention the exodus story as an example of God delivering us
• Then the story shifts to the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.
• And finally into the birth of the Church.

Many clergy write their own Thanksgiving, following this format of a Salvation History.  I just don’t write mine down, because I was taught that it’s easier to listen to someone when they aren’t reading at you.

If you look at page 9, the bottom of page 9, you will find the part of today’s reading where Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1-2, has been used by the author of this particular Great Thanksgiving as a summary of the ministry of Jesus.

“Your Spirit anointed him
to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the captivesand recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
and to announce that the time had come
when you would save your people”????

Saving people is the intent of proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor, but the Year of the Lord’s Favor, also known as the Jubilee Year, means more than a ticket to heaven.

So first of all, let me say clearly that I believe in an afterlife where as Paul wrote, *and we do think that this was the original Paul,* who wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12, that “we will see God face-to-face and know and be known completely.” (paraphrased)

I believe that salvation includes an afterlife where we are with God.

I also know that the Greek word Sozo, that Jesus commonly used, means more than just admission to heaven.  Sozo also means, safety, deliverance, and just general well-being:  physically, emotionally, mentally, economically, socially, and spiritually, well.

The Salvation that Jesus talked about was for us to be safe and whole in this life and the next.

The Year of the Lord’s Favor – the Jubilee Year is described in Leviticus chapter 25, verses 8-55.  Every 50th year, all debts are canceled, all bound laborers set free,  and there will be a year of Sabbath for everyone, where we only do what is necessary to support life.

So between the deeper meaning of the word sozo and the full economic Sabbath of the year of Jubilee,  you can see that Jesus’ call to ministry is a *challenge* to the way the world currently is.  

Because, if you open your bulletin to look at Luke 4:18-19 you will see Jesus proclaiming:

• Good news to the poor, which may not feel like good news to the rich
• Release of prisoners, which can be controversial
• Recovery of sight to the blind that can be interpreted 2 ways
  • Physical healing, which is challenging for those who profit off of illness… not challenging for healthcare professionals who want to help people heal, but the for-profit healthcare industry and the peddlers of useless “wellness” products
  • Or recovery of sight can mean, opening our eyes to the truth – waking up to see the injustice around us — what is commonly called “being Woke.”  Wokeness is a challenge to evildoers.
• Liberation of the oppressed, which will deprive the oppressors of their profits, because, remember, evil is rarely done for evil’s sake, oppressing people with low wages, denial of health care, lack of civil rights,  unsafe conditions and so on, is profitable!
• And The Year of the Lord’s Favor – the Jubilee year…. Honestly, Jubilee is so different from what we have now that I can’t even imagine how that would work!?  But it is definitely a challenge to our current economic system!

It’s time to read the second half of our scripture.

(Luke 4:22-30)

Here in this second part of the reading is where Jesus does what Bishop Mariann Budde did.  

At first they’re fine with Jesus reading scripture and proclaiming good news FOR THEM.

They’re expecting their hometown boy to make life better for them in Nazareth, and Jesus calls them out!

Starting in verse 23, let’s take this apart. Scripture is in your bulletin!

When Jesus says, 

“Undoubtedly, you will quote this saying to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we’ve heard you did in Capernaum.’” 

Jesus is saying what they’re thinking.  They want their hometown boy to take care of his own people.  Jesus has healed people in the Roman city of Capernaum, and they are a little offended that a prophet of God (because they thought Jesus was a prophet), a Prophet of Israel has healed non-Jews!  They felt that Jesus should take care of his fellow Jews, not go around healing non-Jewish people.  We still hear this kind of thinking today, don’t we?  I hear people saying things like, “we need to take care of Americans first.”  But Jesus disagrees.

Look at verses 25 – 27.  

You see, the city of Zarephath in the region of Sidon, is the modern city of As-Sarafand in southern Lebanon, which in the time of Elijah was a Phoenician city.  The Phoenicians were a loose confederation of city states who developed out of the old Canaanite civilization – one of the historic enemies of Israel.

Naaman the Syrian was a general in the army of the king of Syria who suffered from leprosy.  While Naaman was leading the attack against Israel, the prophet Elisha healed him.

Jesus, by citing the stories of Elisha and Naaman and Elijah and the widow of Sidon, is telling them that God does not agree with their Israel-first point of view.  God sent two of the greatest prophets EVER to heal non-Jewish people, so God must be OK with Jesus healing people in Capernaum.

Jesus was telling them that God is the God of All Peoples, All Nations, All of us.

The God of Elijah and Elisha.
The God who is Creator, Christ and Spirit has mercy for all people and calls us to have mercy for all people.

This is the gospel truth.

I think Bishop Budde said it well,

All of us, including, and perhaps especially, our leaders, are called to have mercy.

Here’s what she said, that made our President so mad.

Play video Starting at 12:15 to the end. 1.21.25 Sermon by The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwwaEuDeqM8 

28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger. 

“I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet’s hometown.”

When I have the great privilege to baptize someone, I lay my hand upon their head I speak this baptismal blessing from the top of page 37:

The Holy Spirit is at work within you, 

And yes, I edit that, because our Wesleyan understanding of Prevenient Grace proclaims that God is at work in us before we come to know God!

The Holy Spirit is at work within you,
that being born through water and Spirit,
you may be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.

Friends, the Spirit of God is at work within you, whether you are baptized or not.

The Spirit of God is upon you.
Calling you to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.

Sending us all to

preach good news to the poor,
    to proclaim release to the prisoners
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to liberate the oppressed,
19 and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Will you accept the Spirit’s call?

I invite you to say, the Spirit is upon me, 3 times and let the truth of these words sink in.