In name of God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Whether it’s a politician’s stump speech, a lawyer’s opening argument, a movie’s opening scene, or a teacher’s introductory lecture, we know the importance of setting the stage. This morning’s passage from Luke is doing just that – it is Luke’s summary of the Gospel. In this liturgical year, which began in Advent and will run through November, Luke’s Gospel is the one we’ll have read on most Sundays, so having a firm grasp on this passage will be a keystone in our understanding.
Thus far in Luke, Jesus’ birth has been foretold, we’ve had the nativity, the Baptism, and the Temptation in the wilderness. The fourth chapter of Luke is where Jesus’ ministry begins. And remember that the Book of Acts is written by the same author as Luke; Acts is volume two of Luke. So this morning’s passage is the opening argument for both Luke and Acts.
A good opening scene not only draws the audience in, but it also introduces themes that will run throughout the of the work. The identity of Jesus that Luke wants us to have is grounded in this passage. And I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about issues of identity.
For one, the question of identity is at the heart of the sabbatical that I am planning for 2020. In planning to visit England, Ireland, and Jerusalem, I will be going to the places where my family and faith are rooted. As I’ve been working on a grant application to cover the costs of the sabbatical, I’ve been thinking a lot about the identity that I am wanting to go deeper into. The sabbatical though isn’t just for me, but the entire St. Luke’s community will have the opportunity to think about what it means to have our identity as being rooted in Christ.
Secondly, I’ve been thinking about the identity of St. Luke’s. Our identity as a parish was a focus of last weekend’s Vestry retreat, and I’ll have more to say about that in my sermons in the season of Lent. But I’ve also been thinking about our identity as a parish because of the willow oak that came down. All week, as the tree was coming down, many people stopped by to watch and share their memories of that tree. And while it was wonderful to hear about how our church grounds have been a refuge to so many people in this community – I couldn’t help but wonder, are we known for having a big tree more than we are for our work in the community, or our proclamation of the Gospel, or our rich liturgy? To be clear, I don’t think any of us would define ourselves as the “church that had the big tree,” but seeing all of the attention given to the tree made me wonder what else we’ve invited people to come and see at St. Luke’s.
And the third reason why I’ve been thinking about identity is that I’ve known this passage from Luke was coming up. If someone asks you “What is the Gospel,” it’s likely that many different answers will be given. And that’s not a bad thing – the Gospel is manifest in different ways in different situations. What we have in this passage is Luke’s answer to that question about Jesus’ identity and the identity of the Gospel.
The first thing to say about this identity is that it is firmly rooted in Judaism and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. While other gospel accounts record a story about Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth, Luke is the only one that puts this story at the core of Jesus’ identity and Luke is the only one to record the details of his sermon. Central to Jesus’ identity is his connection to his Jewish roots. The passage that he paraphrases comes Isaiah 61.
In citing this passage as the core of his identity, Jesus makes it clear that his mission is one of liberation and restoration – he’s announcing good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and the Lord’s favor to all. It’s a rather ambitious opening statement too, as it includes economic, medical, and political reforms. But Israel had been waiting for the Messiah for a long time, so no one was going to argue with a Messiah who promised to do more than they had even hoped for.
But then Jesus says something rather strange. After quoting this passage from Isaiah, we’d expect him to say something like “And if you join me, we will achieve all of these goals” or “Once we have defeated Rome, all of this will become possible.” But that’s not what Jesus says. Instead, he says “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Now, Jesus wasn’t ignorant – he knew that Rome as still an oppressor, he knew that people were still blind, he knew that that the poor were still downtrodden. It’s as if someone announced they were running for political office by saying “We will have criminal justice reform, and we will eliminate unemployment, and college will be affordable for all, and we will fix all of our infrastructure. And not only that, just as I’ve said it, this has all been accomplished.” We’d look around and say “I don’t think so.”
One way to address this apparent dissonance is with a bit of grammatical insight. It’s not that the verb “fulfilled” is in the aorist tense, which describes a completed action such as “Jesus preached on Isaiah.” And it’s not that the verb is in the imperfect tense, which describes an unfolding past event such as “Jesus was preaching.” Instead, this fulfillment is in the perfect tense, describing a past event that still has present implications, “Jesus has risen.” The action is rooted in the past, but is just as true in this moment as it was when it occurred.
And that grammatical explanation might help us to understand that this salvation is rooted in the past and still active in the present, but we still might question just how present this salvation really is, as we still know about poverty, blindness, and oppression. When we look around the world, we can find all sorts of reasons to question whether or not this salvation has been fulfilled.
I’m not sure though that Jesus intended us to look at others to see if we can find these signs of salvation. What would happen if we read this as a passage that isn’t about what God is doing for those other people, but what God might be doing for us? We resist that reading though because it would mean that we have to admit that we are poor, blind, captive, and oppressed. We’d much rather believe that we have our lives put together and that salvation is something that those other people need, but we’ve got a good grasp on life, thank you very much.
While we may or may not be financially poor, we can still be stuck in poverty. Living in a society that has people that live in homelessness and children that live in hunger makes us all poor, as it robs us of living in a just society. We can also experience poverty in joy, poverty in imagination, poverty in spirit. But Jesus brings us good news – that he is always with us.
We are captive to things like our egos, procrastination, addiction, depression, racism, fear of having enough. But Jesus brings us the good news, his way of love is the way of release from all of these things which hold us captive. Though our eyes may function as intended, we are still blind to so many things – blind to ways in which our decisions impact other people and the environment, blind to the grace of God that is all around us. And we are oppressed by a capitalistic economy that extracts our time and energy, oppressed by a toxic political climate, oppressed by our vision of what success looks like. We desperately need liberation, and that is exactly what Jesus gives us.
When Jesus speaks of “the year of the Lord’s favor,” he’s referring to the Biblical concept of Jubilee – the event of liberation that is supposed to happen every fifty years. In the fiftieth year, all slaves are to be released, all debts are forgiven, all land is restored to the original owner. It’s a Biblical “reset” button to correct for the fact that sin builds upon sin and if the slates are not wiped clean every few generations, society will begin to crumble under the weight of inequality and oppression. And Jesus is claiming that his identity is this Jubilee – that our sins are forgiven, that our failure to live up to the law is put aside, that our relationship with God is restored.
Now, if you still struggle with things like depression, or addiction, or doubt, or anxiety it is not that Jesus has left you out of this promise for fulfillment, rather it might be that we have not heard this message of liberation. Jesus notes that the Scripture has been fulfilled “in your hearing.” But if we have drowned out this message of liberation with the sounds of our ego and culture, then it might be that we miss out on this salvation. Or it might be there we forget that this salvation comes in the passive mood – “this Scripture has been fulfilled.” It is not that we have to fulfill it; rather, Jesus has accomplished this liberation. We do not need to earn our salvation, we do not need to struggle to restore our vision, rather we simply receive what God has given us.
There’s an Episcopal Church in New York City called Calvary-St. George’s where the Alcoholics Anonymous movement really gained its spiritual roots, and the slogan on their church sign reads “Enjoy your forgiveness.” This is the good news that Jesus is proclaiming to us – enjoy your forgiveness, enjoy your liberation, enjoy your sight, enjoy your salvation. It’s not about earning your salvation or using it properly, but enjoying it. Jesus said that he came that we might have abundant life, and that’s what this liberation is all about. The door of our captivity has been opened, but we have to choose to walk out of that cell and into abundant life.
The message of the Gospel is not “get your act together” or “do better,” but it is the good news that Jesus has come and has proclaimed release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and God’s favor to all. Jesus proclaims this salvation, and so it is not our job to make it true, but rather to live as if it is true. And notice when Jesus proclaims this message: Today. Now Jesus didn’t mean today only back then, that “today” is just as true now as it was then. So often though we remain captive to the past – what we did or didn’t do yesterday. But this “today” saves us from thinking that salvation was offered in the past and we’ve lost our chance to claim it. “Today” means that “yesterday” has no power over us. Nor do we have to wait in anxiety for God’s salvation to show up “someday,” because salvation is here, today.
Today, this message of salvation is yours. And there are ways for you to enter into this grace of God more fully – you can pray, you can read Scripture, you can be a part of a community of faith, you can participate in the Sacraments, you can share this good news with others. And you do these things not to earn your salvation, but rather by using your salvation you actually experience it. The liberation that God gives to you isn’t intended to be like the special china that you might use one day, rather it is the daily bread that sustains you each day.
Luke is showing us that Jesus’ identity is that, today, he is the fulfillment of God’s promises. He frees us from all that distances us from the love of God. He gives us sight to see the grace of God all around us. He proclaims God’s favor to us all. And in knowing this about Jesus’ identity, we are given our own identity – we are loved, we are forgiven, we are empowered by his liberating Spirit. So, today, enjoy your forgiveness.
