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Today’s
Gospel passage is my favorite Scripture passage, Matthew 25 notwithstanding,
which is my second most favored passage. I’ll get to that one in a minute.
This passage from Luke has always been my favorite passage, but not always for
the right reasons. I’ll get to that in a minute, too. The incident recounted
in Luke took place in his hometown at the very beginning of Jesus’ public
ministry. And what better place to begin than right at home? As human beings,
let alone as Christians, the first people we tend to care about are those in our
family, among our friends and neighbors. After
his retreat in the desert where he came to grips with what his ministry was to
be all about, Luke tell us that Jesus came home. On his first Sabbath at home,
he went to the synagogue, as was his custom. And as was the custom in the local
synagogues, lay men were allowed to stand up and read from Scripture. But it was
a particular piece of Scripture Jesus read. He just did not unroll the scroll
and read anything. He knew the passage he wanted to read; found it; read it;
then sat down. Jesus
read a few short but very powerful verses from Isaiah. I believe Jesus chose
those verses because they were a summary of what his life and ministry was to be
all about. He said as much after he sat down. He said, "Today, this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." What He really said was,
"I am the one Isaiah is talking about. I am the one who will
bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to captives, give sight to the
blind, set the oppressed free. I am that person. That is my
mission and my ministry" Looking
back to when I was first ordained, this passage was also my favorite passage,
although I did not realize it at that time; but it was my favorite passage for
all the wrong reasons. In fact, I dare say, it is probably the favorite passage
of all newly ordained clergy; again, for all the wrong reasons. When
I was first ordained a priest almost 35 years ago, I had all the answers. I knew
I had all the answers. All anyone had to do was ask me. Although I did not do
it, I could have stood in the pulpit every Sunday and said to the congregation
gathered in front of me: "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 captives and recovery of sight to the blind," and so
forth. I may not have said that, but I know I believed it. And, reflecting back,
I know I often acted that way. I thought I was hot stuff. Thankfully,
the congregation I served put up with my arrogance. They knew I was a young
priest; and like all young priests, I thought I had all the answers. They knew I
would learn, that I would come down off my pedestal, that harsh reality would
hit home, and soon. And it did. I think I’ve grown up and matured over the
years. And over the years I have become convinced that this passage was not only
the basis for Jesus’ ministry, it is also truly the basis for my ministry, and
for all the right reasons. But, more importantly, it is the basis for your
ministry as well. This passage is the theological basis for the ministry of all
Christians, of all the baptized. It is the basis, the reason why we do what we
do as Christians. It is the basis of our Baptismal Covenant. Maybe
it is somewhat providential that we read and hear again this passage from Luke
on this Sunday of our Annual Meeting. For this is the time when we gather to
review what we have been about as a community of baptized Christians for this
past year. It is a time when we look forward to what we are to be about in the
coming year. Everything we do this morning, from passing a budget to electing
Vestry members to discussing ministry is all about fulfilling our baptismal
covenant. And
fulfilling our baptismal covenant is all about living out in our daily lives
this passage from Luke. It is also about "Matthew 25…and all that
jazz!" Let me explain what I mean. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus,
but the Spirit is also upon you and me, on every baptized person. Like the five
wise bridesmaids in the first parable in the 25th Chapter of
Matthew’s Gospel, we must always be ready and willing to live out our faith,
to fulfill our mission and ministry, whenever and wherever we are called to live
it. Our
mission and ministry comes from God. And, as such, we have each been given gifts
to fulfill that ministry. What we are to do, you and I, is to discover just what
those gifts are. Not only has God given us gifts for ministry like Jesus, like
Jesus he has anointed us, chosen us, to use those gifts, as the second parable
in Matthew 25 reminds. A gift given is given to be used. And when we use our
gifts, whatever those gifts are, we teach others that they, too, are gifted and
are to discover and use their own gifts. As our teachers taught us, so we teach
others. As the baptismal covenant reminds us, we are to continue in the
apostles’ teaching and fellowship, with God’s help. And,
we, too, like Jesus, are to "preach good news to the poor," or, as the
Baptismal Covenant says, "by word and example proclaim the good news of God
in Christ." Everything we say, everything we do, is a proclamation of our
faith -- for better or for worse. Others come to know who Jesus is by the way
we, with God’s help, live our lives. Like
Jesus, we are sent to "proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight
to the blind." Or, as the baptismal covenant says, we are to "seek and
serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves" with
God’s help. There are so many people, beginning with our family, friends,
relatives, neighbors -- who are captive to what they believe are forces beyond
their control. Those forces may be an addiction, a bad habit, depression,
whatever. There are so many who are blind not only to the needs of others but
blind to their own needs as well. But
there are so many more, as the third parable in Matthew 25 reminds us: the poor,
the sick, the imprisoned, the lonely – the last and least and lost of society
– who need us to reach out to them in love and service. Through our baptism,
through our faith, we are called to help all these people, help set them free
from whatever is holding them back from living out their lives, their faith, as
fully as possible. Like Jesus, we, too, are called upon "to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor," by striving for justice and peace among all
people and respecting the dignity of every human being, no matter who they are
or where we encounter them, with God’s help. And,
finally, we are to "let the oppressed go free." In so many ways we are
all oppressed. We are overburdened, weighed down by our past, by our sins, by
the inability sometimes to move forward. How do we as Christians get free
ourselves? The answer, again as the baptismal covenant reminds us, is by
continuing in "the breaking of the bread and in the prayers", and by
"repenting and returning to the Lord" with God’s help. In other
words, we come here as a community of faith to proclaim our faith, to confess
our sins, and to be fed by the Eucharist to be strengthened to live out that
faith in our daily lives…and all that jazz. All
of that is what we are called to do as Christians, with God’s help. Each one
of us could stand up here in front of the congregation and say with all
confidence and all humility, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He
has anointed me. He has sent me." Frightening thought,
isn’t it? But it’s the truth and it is the reason why we are here today.
Like Jesus, you and I have been called, anointed and sent, with God’s help. But
we do all this not just with God’s help, although God’s help, God’s grace
and strength are absolutely essential in living out our faith as we should. As
Paul reminds us in today’s Epistle, we are all members of one Body, the
church. We need one another: one another’s gifts, one another’s talents, one
another’s ministry…and all that jazz. It is a reminder that each and every
one of us is vital to the life and ministry of Christ Church. Whenever we hold
back on the giving of our time or our talent or our treasure, we hurt ourselves,
we hurt the people of this parish and most importantly we hurt those people in
our community who need us most. The
passage from Luke reminds us of our baptismal covenant and responsibilities. It
tells us what we are to do. The passage from Matthew 25 tells us how we are to
do it; it reminds us that we must always be prepared to live out our faith as
best we can wherever we are, with God’s help. And all that jazz: those words
remind us that we live out our faith like a jazz ensemble, individually and as a
community – not either/or but both/and – both individually and as a
community. My
prayer for each of us is that during this year of 2004 we may grow into both a
better understanding our the calling, anointing and sending and a better living
out of that reality in our individual lives and the life of Christ Episcopal
Church. With God’s help let this year be for us a year of living out Matthew
25…and all that jazz! |
