The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
The Rev. George Pejakovich, Assistant to the Dean
Grace Cathedral
1/24/10

Luke 4:14-21

THE WORD HAD GOTTEN AROUND GALILEE THAT THIS YOUNG RABBI NAMED JESUS WAS REALLY SOMETHING SPECIAL. WHETHER FOR GOOD OR ILL, THE PEOPLE OF NAZARETH COULD NOT YET DECIDE. THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES WERE PRAISING HIM TO THE SKY BECAUSE HIS TEACHING AND PREACHING WAS OUT OF THE ORDINARY, NOT TO MENTION THE REPORTS OF HIS HEALING THE SICK, CURING THE LAME AND CASTING OUT DEAMONS. WHEN HE RETURNED TO HIS HOME TOWN WHERE HE WAS RAISED, YOU CAN IMAGINE ALL THE GOSSIP AND TALK RUNNING THROUGH THE VILLAGE. WHEN THE SABBATH ARRIVED, AND HE, AS WAS HIS CUSTOM, HEADED TO THE SYNAGOGUE, YOU CAN BET THAT EVERYONE WHO COULD GET THERE WAS PACKED INTO THE PLACE.

THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM WAS THE PLACE WHERE THE PRIESTS OFFERED SACRIFICE ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE, AND MOST FOLK WHET UP TO THE TEMPLE ONCE A YEAR AT MOST. THE SYNAGOGUE, WHICH MEANS “GATHERING PLACE,” WAS THE PLACE IN EACH TOWN AND VILLAGE WHERE PRAYER WAS OFFERED, THE WORD OF GOD READ IN PUBLIC, AND EACH MAN OF THE VILLAGE TOOK A TURN IN GIVING A SHORT HOMILY TO EXPLAIN THE SCRIPTURE PASSAGE APPOINTED FOR THE DAY. THIS HAD BEEN THE CUSTOM SINCE THE EXILE IN BABYLON, WHEN THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WERE SCATTERED. UPON RETURN TO THE LAND OF JUDAH, AND WITH THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE, THIS REMAINED THE CUSTOM OF WEEKLY WORSHIP, AS IT DOES STILL TODAY. VISITORS, ESPECIALLY VISITING RABBIS, WERE OFFERED THE SCROLL FOR THE DAY AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO PREACH. THUS, JESUS, DISTINGUISHED SON OF THE VILLAGE, STOOD UP TO READ AND WAS HANDED THE SCROLL OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH.

WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYONE WAS INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. HIS NAME MEANS, “SALVATION IS FROM GOD,” AND HIS PROPHECIES WERE SO IMPORTANT THAT, OF ALL THE ANCIENT WRITINGS, HIS WORDS WERE THE MOST CAREFULLY PRESERVED. JESUS READ THE WORDS FROM WHAT WE KNOW AS THE 61ST CHAPTER, THE WORDS OF THE COMING SALVATION FROM GOD, AND THE COMMISSION OF THE ANNOINTED OF GOD TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS TO THE PEOPLE:   “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD GOD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE THE LORD HAS ANNOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD TIDINGS TO THE AFFLICTED, HE HAS SENT ME TO BIND UP THE BROKEN HEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, AND THE OPENING OF THE PRISON TO THOSE WHO ARE BOUND; TO PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR.”

EVERY EYE IN THE SYNAGOGUE WAS FIXED ON HIM TO HEAR WHAT HE WOULD SAY ABOUT THIS TEXT.. LUKE DOES NOT RECORD THE EXACT WORDS OF HIS HOMILY, BUT GIVES US THE GIST OF WHAT HE SAID; “TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.”

IT WAS AS IF A BOMB WENT OFF IN THE SYNAGOGUE, STUNNING EVERYONE. IT MAY HAVE TAKEN A WHILE TO REALLY SINK IN, BUT WHAT JESUS HAS JUST SAID IS THAT GOD’S SPIRIT IS UPON HIM, HE IS THE ANNOINTED ONE BRINGING THE GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION, AND, WITH HIS COMING, BEGINNING RIGHT NOW, IS THE TIME OF GOD’S GRACE AND FAVOR. THE PROMISE OF THE SALVATION OF GOD HAS BEEN, AND WILL BE, FULFILLED IN HIM.

THERE IS NO WAY THAT HE COULD HAVE BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD, NOR CAN WE, AT THE DISTANCE OF ALMOST TWO THOUSAND YEARS, MISUNDERSTAND WHAT HE ASSERTS. HERE, IN HIS FIRST PUBLIC STATEMENT, JESUS TELLS US THAT HE IS THE ONE FOR WHOM THE WORLD HAS BEEN WAITING. HE IS THE ONE WHO BRINGS THE GOOD NEWS FROM GOD. HE IS THE ONE WHO BREAKS THE CHAINS OF THOSE IN CAPTIVITY. HE IS THE ONE PROMISED BY ISAIAH; HE IS THE SALVATION FROM GOD.

THE WORDS OF JESUS IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT NAZARETH ARE AS POWERFUL AND STUNNING TODAY AS THEY WHERE WHEN HE PROCLAIMED THEM IN HIS OLD HOME TOWN. WHEN HIS WORDS SINK IN, THEY STUN US AND ROCK US TO THE CORE. WE CAN ONLY ACCEPT THEM AS THE TRUTH OR REJECT THEM AS A LIE; WE CAN NOT IGNORE THEM. EVERYTHING HE DOES, FROM THIS POINT ON IN HIS LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION IS A DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUTH OF HIS ASSERTION THAT HE IS THE SALVATION FROM GOD. TO HIS ASSERTION, WE CAN ONLY SAY “YES” AND TURN TO HIM OR “NO” AND TURN AWAY.

WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHICH TELLS US CONSTANTLY THAT TRUTH IS RELATIVE. WHAT IS “TRUE” FOR ME MAY NOT BE “TRUE” FOR YOU. OUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS TRUE IS SUPPOSEDLY AFFECTED BY OUR CULTURE, OUR HERITAGE, EVEN BY OUR EMOTIONAL WELL BEING. WE ARE TOLD THAT, IF THERE IS A GOD, THERE ARE MANY PATHWAYS TO FIND HIM OR HER AS THE CASE MAY BE. WE ARE TOLD THAT CHRISTIANITY IS JUST ONE WAY OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD AND THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT, AND THAT NO ONE WAY IS THE ONLY WAY THAT IS THE TRUTH. ALL RIVERS FLOW TO THE SEA, AND ANY WAY IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER TO GET THERE.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT, WHAT IS UNIQUE, ABOUT WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT PROMPTS US TO SAY “YES” TO WHAT JESUS ASSERTS, IS THAT OUR HEARTS AND MINDS ARE OPENED TO THE FACT THAT THE “TRUTH” COMES TO US FROM GOD. GOD COMES TO US, IN THE PERSON OF HIS ANNOINTED ONE, TO BRING SALVATION TO US. SALVATION COMES FROM GOD, AND WHAT IS THE “TRUTH” IS NO LONGER RELATIVE TO ANYTHING BUT GOD, BECAUSE GOD HIMSELF COMES TO US IN THE PERSON OF JESUS.

OVER THE PAST TWO MILLENNIA, MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED, BUT THE WORLD IS STILL FULL OF PAIN AND MISERY AND SORROW. WE STILL SUFFER FROM THE HORROR OF EARTHQUAKES AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS. THERE ARE STILL WARS AND POLITAL UNREST. WE YET HAVE MANY LIVING IN GRINDING POVERTY. SO MANY ARE STILL CHAINED BY SIN AND LOST IN BLINDLESS. THERE ARE STILL CAPTIVES TO BE FREED. IN THE MIDST OF ALL THAT SEEMS SO BAD, THERE IS THE GREAT GOOD NEWS THAT GOD HAS ACTED. HE HAS SENT HIS ANNOINTED TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR THAT THIS IS THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR. SALVATION IS FROM GOD, AND HE HAS NOT ABANDONED HIS PEOPLE. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THE SALVATION OF GOD IS AT HAND. SALVATION IS FROM GOD – AND HIS NAME IS JESUS.

IN THE MIDST OF THE DEVASTATION OF HAITI, A REPORTER FOUND A NAVY CHAPLAIN GOING AMOUNG THE DEAD AND INJURED, GIVING THE LAST RITES TO THE DYING AND COMFORTING THOSE WHO HAD LOST EVERYTHING. WHEN STOPPED FOR AN INTERVIEW, HE SAID, WITH TEARS GLINTING IN THE CORNERS OF HIS EYES, “I HAVE TO BE HERE TO TELL THE PEOPLE THAT EVEN HERE, EVEN IN THIS HORROR, GOD IS WITH THEM. HE HAS NOT ABANDONED THEM.” GOD HAS NOT ABANDONED HIS PEOPLE. THIS IS THE SHOCKING, STUNNING TRUTH OF THE SERMON AT NAZARETH. THIS IS THE SHOCKING STUNNING TRUTH WE PROCLAIM TO THE ENTIRE WORLD, THAT GOD HAS NOT ABANDONED HIS PEOPLE. GOD HAS COME TO HIS PEOPLE, AND CONTINUES TO COME TO HIS PEOPLE IN THIS TIME OF GOD’S GRACE AND FAVOR. IN THE FACE OF EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THIS WORLD, IN THE FACE OF ALL DENIALS AND REJECTIONS OF THE TRUTH, WE CAN AND MUST PROCLAIM THE GREAT GOOD NEWS THAT GOD HAS COME TO US; HIS SALVATION IS AT HAND, AND HIS NAME IS JESUS.

TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING. THANKS BE TO GOD. AMEN