Sermon for 3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Because It Matters
By The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer -
“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 the recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus is beginning his public ministry, teaching in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth and quoting from the prophet Isaiah.
And then Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Today. When Jesus had finished reading, rolled up the scroll and given it back to the attendant, and sat down to preach, he did not simply say, “This Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” or “This Scripture will be fulfilled in your hearing,” but rather, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Today. What in the world did Jesus mean by that? By all appearances, on that day it probably would not have seemed to anyone in attendance that the things Isaiah had proclaimed had just come about.
Perhaps it is simply that Jesus is announcing that in his very person, in Jesus himself, Isaiah’s message to share God’s word of liberty and grace and healing with all – and especially with those who are most vulnerable and in need – that all of Isaiah’s words are now made real in Jesus.
Or, perhaps this speech is about Jesus himself, the living Word of God who had come to dwell with us, to be God-with-us, a living and breathing fulfillment of God’s promise to rescue and redeem all, especially those standing in the shadows and on the margins.
Or, maybe “today” is not a static term, but rather is far more dynamic and active, as in “today is just the beginning.” Jesus is kind of saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled and will keep being fulfilled and therefore will keep needing to be fulfilled in your presence.”
This strikes me as an important word for us to hear, yes, today. It is important because, by all outward appearances, Isaiah’s promises are not particularly or obviously fulfilled in our world right now. Jesus’ words push us in new directions. They are declaration, promise and invitation:
- Declaration – In Jesus, God acts on behalf of those in need.
- Promise – God will continue to take the side of the vulnerable.
- Invitation – We are called to this same work of embodying, manifesting, and fulfilling God’s declaration and promise.
Declaration, promise, invitation.
I think you and I probably do better with declaration and promise than invitation. We realize that God is doing God’s part. Our part, the invitation part, is more difficult.
So, perhaps our challenge today (there’s that word again!) is to be more explicitly invitational. As in “you are invited to be part of God’s fulfillment of God’s promises. Today. Tomorrow. And the next day.”
Admittedly, such an invitation can be daunting, leading to a variety of self-doubting questions: You mean me, you mean us, really? Have you been paying attention? The problems of the world are just too big for me to make a difference, for us to make a difference!
But, the invitation can also be empowering: You mean me, us, really? We can make a difference? You mean the small things we do really do matter? You mean that God is at work in our lives and relationships for the sake of the world? That is wonderful!
If you do not know the name Howard Thurman, you should, and I would invite you to look him up later today. Thurman was a key Civil Rights leader in our nation early in the 20th century. Thurman’s work on non-violent civil disobedience had a profound influence on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among many others. I had the privilege of touring his study when I visited Morehouse College in Atlanta some years ago.
Thurman has a wonderfully challenging and equally empowering poem, a poem called “The Work of Christmas,” that so well fits today’s theme. And, today, almost exactly one month beyond our celebration of Jesus’ birth, as we continue in this season to understand the implications of God’s invasion of humanity through the Word made flesh, this Sunday seems like just the right time to hear this poem again or for the first time.
Thurman’s poem is challenging, as it calls us to something that, if taken seriously, can be daunting. But it is also simultaneously empowering, calling us to something worthwhile and also giving us the confidence that we can do it. Which is the way, when you think about it, the Gospel of Jesus Christ pretty much always works also.
Here is Howard Thurman’s poem, “The Work of Christmas:”
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
God is at work in Jesus and through us today. Each day. Every day. For good. Because it matters. Today.
Amen.
(With thanks to the Rev. Dr. David Lose).
The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer
Senior Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Sunday, January 26 & 27, 2019
