3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 23, 2022

What is Jesus’ mission statement? What is yours?

Luke 1:4; 4:14–21

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Music Meditations

• “Blest Are They” --Marty Haugen
• “The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor” --John Michael Talbot
• “Canticle of the Turning” --Rory Cooney
• “Shepherd Me O God” --Marty Haugen
• “THE DEER’S CRY” -- Lisa Kelly ( St Patrick)

Companions for the Journey

This is a short writing from one of the Christian or non-Christian witnesses of our tradition--a person who embodies the theme of the gospel we are studying today:

I want to talk with you today about politics. When I say politics I’m including not only elected officials and the governmental process, I’m also including you and me, the opinions we hold, the decisions we make, and the ways we relate to one another. Let me give you some context and examples of what I am thinking about.

I’m thinking about racism, prejudice, and the Black Lives Matter movement. I’m thinking about Syrian refugees, immigration, and radical Islam. I’m thinking about economic systems that create and promote income inequality. I’m thinking about strength and peace that are sought through superior fire power. I’m thinking about the tragedy of gun violence in America. I’m thinking about those who go to bed hungry and wake up wondering if and what they will eat that day. I’m thinking about violence and discrimination against women. I’m thinking about our presidential election. I’m thinking about the conflicts in our own church. I’m thinking about the struggles and challenges of living together in this parish, in our marriages and families, in our friendships and relationships.

While politics may not be an appropriate topic for polite conversation, I don’t think it can be avoided in a faithful conversation. Here’s why. Regardless of what politics might mean today and regardless of how it’s practiced today, it’s most basic concern is about the ordering of relationships. It’s about the way we live together and how we get along. It’s about people. Those concerns are central to the practice of Christianity. We believe that God has something to say about how we live and the way we relate to one another. We open ourselves to God’s ordering of our lives and relationships. In that regard the incarnation, the embodiment of God in humanity, is a deeply profound political statement. The life of Christ is a political statement, one that reorders our relationships with God and each other. It teaches and shows a way of being.

So let me be clear about where I’m headed. I don’t want to talk about your politics or my politics. I’m not interested in Democratic, Republican, or American politics. I want us to hear and focus on Jesus’ politics. I want us to be open to letting the politics of Jesus challenge, critique, and even change our personal politics. Jesus’ politics has implications for our lives and all those examples I gave at the beginning of this reflect ion. The politics of Jesus is different from the kind of politics most of us see, experience, and probably even practice. His politics is driven, led, anointed, and filled by the Spirit, the life of God.

In today’s gospel (Luke 14:14-21) Jesus comes to Nazareth, the town where he grew up, to the synagogue where he worshipped, and to people who know him. He reads from the Prophet Isaiah, and those words describe the politics of Jesus. Good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and declaring God’s favor are the building blocks of Jesus’ politics, his political platform. They are not campaign promises but a present reality, a reality made present in Jesus. “Today,” Jesus says, “this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Those words from Isaiah and Jesus’ comment on them are the first recorded words of Jesus’ public ministry. The words Jesus read from Isaiah are not an exact quotation of Isaiah. John ( the author of today’s gospel about Jesus’ life and message) has intentionally and purposefully chosen and arranged particular portions of Isiah’s text to create a specific message. This message is often described as his inaugural address. Jesus is outlining his politics. He is describing the character of his ministry. He is establishing his priorities and the direction of his work. He is casting his vision for the reordering of relationships – good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, declaring God’s favor. From here on out everything Jesus does will be grounded in a politics of good news, release, sight, freedom, and divine favor. His politics is revealed in healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sins, feeding the hungry, raising the dead. His politics stands at the center of and is the content of his crucifixion and resurrection. At the heart of Jesus’ politics is an unspoken and yet ever present question: Where does it hurt? That’s the question that drives and directs Jesus’ life and ministry. As Jesus will later say, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 5:31). Where does it hurt?

Look at the world, read the news, reflect on your life and it’s not hard to see how much we need a new politics, a Jesus kind of politics... Jesus’ politics is large and all encompassing. No one gets left out. Jesus does not put conditions or qualifiers on his politics. The divine favor knows no boundaries and has no favorites. That’s what will upset and anger the hometown crowd in next week’s gospel (Luke 4:21-30). Jesus’ political agenda is not determined or influenced by who is good or bad, or an insider or outsider. It doesn’t seem to matter to Jesus who you are, what you have done or left undone, or what your life is like. It’s really pretty simple. Are you poor? Good news to you. Are you a captive? Release for you. Are you blind? Sight to you. Are you oppressed? Go in freedom. Divine favor is not given to the poor, the captive, the blind, or the oppressed because they are good or righteous but because God is good and righteous.

So let me ask you this. How does the politics of Jesus compare with your own? Good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, declaring God’s favor. If that’s the politics of Jesus and we claim to be disciples, followers, lovers of Jesus, doesn’t it need to be our politics?

What if we adopted Jesus’ political platform as our own? What if we began our political thinking and conversations by asking, “Where does it hurt?” What if we entered those difficult and divisive situations with that question? What if we let that question establish our priorities and guide our decisions? Presence with and compassion for another human being would replace resolving issues, fixing problems, and winning votes. We would listen more than we speak. Power would look like cooperation and collaboration. We would have to have the courage and will to stand with another in his or her pain, and the vulnerability to risk letting another stand with us in our pain. We would open rather than close places, people, and ourselves to the divine favor. We would know the fulfillment of “this scripture” here, today, right now. That’s the kind of politics I want to support and be a part of. How about you?

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Let’s not let “this scripture” go in one ear and out the other.

—Adapted from Rev. Michael K. Marsh

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• What boundaries limit your thinking about how God wants the world to work? How inclusive is God, do you think? How inclusive are you? What do you think is God's dream for the world? How are we doing? What is your place in God's dream? (from a blog by a First Lutheran Church)
• Do we see our Church fulfilling Jesus' mission?
• Where have I brought good news to the poor? What is the "good news" we are supposed to bring to the poor? Is it money?
• Who are the truly captive in our world? Who are the blind? Who are the oppressed?
• The evangelist John has Christ in this passage quoting fragments from Isaiah, which the evangelist Luke had Mary do when she visited Elizabeth. (You might want to read the Magnificat--Luke 1:46-55) What do you think Jesus might have learned from his mother about his mission?
• Did what Christ read in the temple border on political commentary? What do politicians usually promise? Where do politics and religion meet, if at all?
• How hard would it be to extend compassion to someone who has hurt you?
• How many of us have the same mission as Christ? How many of us have at least a part of that mission in our lives? Have you ever been in situation where you extended compassion to another? Have you ever needed compassion from another? Was that person present to you? Did you call on God and was God present to you?
• Where is the spirit of the Lord in my life, in my actions, in my loves? (From Father Michael K Marsh, a priest of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in west Texas)
• Kurt Vonnegut said: “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.” If someone were to ask you why you were put on earth, what would be your answer?
• Who are the brokenhearted in my life? What can I do for them, or with them?
• What do I need to be liberated from?
• IN 10 words, describe what you think is the mission of all Christians
• “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Has it been fulfilled?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Jesus comes home. He goes to his home worshipping community, as he must have done countless times as a young one. He’s handed the scroll. He opens the scroll to just the right place. He reads. He hands it back to the attendant. He sits down.

Everyone stares at him waiting for what is to come next.

There’s an intensity here, even beyond the words from Isaiah.

Jesus is on a mission, but the people of his hometown are also expecting something.

Who knows what they were expecting? He hadn’t done a whole lot yet—we’re still only in the fourth chapter of Luke. He’s been baptized, he’s gone into the wilderness, and he’s just begun his ministry. We’re told in the paragraph just prior to this story that “report about him spread through all the surrounding country,” but we aren’t told what that report consisted of.

My guess is that the people were expecting something, but they had no idea what that something was.

In this sense, is the congregation in Nazareth all that different from our own congregations? Don’t we all go to church expecting something? But, do any of us really take the time to articulate what that something is? Some, I suppose, expect to hear a good sermon. Not too long, not too short. Some expect to sing a nice (I.e. familiar) hymn or song. Some expect to be welcomed, and to see people we know. We expect when it’s all over that we’ll have a cup of coffee.

But, how many of us go to church really expecting the Spirit of God to actually show up? Do we expect news so good that it might shatter the despair of the poor? Do we expect release, recovery, and the ending of oppression?

And, do we really want all of that to begin with—and would we rather just receive a little comfort, a little encouragement, and nothing that will rock the boat?

In any case, the people of Nazareth weren’t ready for the anointing presence of the Holy Spirit to come in with their small-town-boy-made-good when they got up that morning for synagogue. After he makes his little declaration that the prophesy of Isaiah had come to fulfillment in their presence—think about that!—they got angry and sent him packing.

It does make you wonder about the phenomenon of expectation, and what it means in the life of faith. Do we go to church looking to fulfill our own (oftentimes paltry, self-centered) expectations?

Or, do we come ready and open to see God’s expectations manifest themselves before our very eyes?

—Copyright © 2019 Rick Morley. Follower of Jesus, father of two, husband of one, Episcopal priest, with one book down, one blog up...surrounded by empty jars of Nutella...

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Read Psalm 103:

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,  And His righteousness to children’s children, To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion;  Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Pick out the phrases that resonate most with you and write a letter to God affirming what you believe God to be like, transposing the words of the psalm into the first and second person… (for example: Just as a father has compassion on his children, so, Lord, you have compassion an all who fear you)

Then write your own personal psalm relating the times you have called upon God and the times God has been there for you, to comfort you, to strengthen you, or just to love you…

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

This meditation was published in this week’s issue of “First Impressions” a service of the Southern Dominican Province, and was furnished to them by Salt and Light Ministries:

NEWSPAPER PRAYER

Look through a print or online newspaper to find a news article about an  issue that affects your community or the world. Cut out (or print out)  the article and bring it with you to a quiet place where you can pray.  Think about how human dignity is affected by the issue or situation.  Pray for God’s healing and transformation for all people impacted,  lawmakers, and others. Ask God how he is asking you to respond to this  issue.

Poetic Reflection:

How does this poem (from To Keep From Singing) by Ed Ingebretsen, S.J. illustrate that Jesus’ mission was also His Father’s mission?

“From Narrow Places”

From narrow places
the strength of our voice
rises:

our every breath
is prayer,
the great poem of need,
a constant scattering
of praise.

Early
we reach to God
in the claim of our hearts,
while he,
our father,
mothers us
in his

Poetic Reflection:

This prose-poem has a bleak take on how we have listened to Jesus in this gospel:

“We Are Saviors”

We have saved the world from political systems or economic systems or social systems of which we do not approve. We call it “our national honor”.

We have saved the world From oppression by people we do not like by giving our young people guns and allowing them to commit unspeakable atrocities on ordinary, everyday people in the name of liberation. We call it “collateral damage”.

We have saved the world From evil regimes in country after country, from Flanders fields to Vietnam, from Ancient Palestine to Iraq, and left each place worse than when we found it. We call it “the price of freedom”.

We have saved the world from sin and error from age to age, from the Spain of the Inquisition to the ovens of Auschwitz, and purified the world by taking people out of it. We call it “doing God’s work”.

At the end, we have saved nobody not this current generation not the children of the future not even ourselves, who have become what we have hated in others. We never learn.