Can you name your heart’s deepest hope? I’m not talking about some nice wish that you’d like to have fulfilled, like hoping it’s sunny out so you can do some outdoor work or getting your taxes in early so you can get a refund, but a hope that touches the deepest fibres of your being. Maybe it’s the hope that this poor world will truly someday experience real peace. Or the hope that there be no hungry children in the world. Or the hope that the world religions might embrace one another instead of fight. Or the hope that disasters like that which happened in Haiti almost two weeks ago or similarly in El Salvador nine years ago not be compounded by what humans have done to the land and to themselves to compound the tragedy. Or, on a more personal level, that people be set free from whatever it is that holds them captive — fear, addiction, financial worries, relationship problems, hatred, or any other sign of what it means to be a fallible human being. Our hearts hold a lot of deep hopes and desires that surpass mere wishes.
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This morning’s gospel portrays Jesus speaking to his people, a people hungry for hope. I think their eyes were fixed on him after his reading from Isaiah because he spoke a truth for which their hearts yearned — they would be set free. It is not too far-fetched, either, to place our selves in that synagogue with the same concerns and hunger.
The first verses we hear this morning, vv 14 and 15 from chapter 4 of Luke, introduce Jesus’ ministry and note his popularity. They also introduce a new section in Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ Galilean ministry and the revelation of Jesus, which will run through to Chapter 9.50. A few features of this portion of the gospel are worth noting: Jesus will gather those disciples who will be his witnesses later in the Book of Acts; Jesus teaches in the synagogue about the reality of the fulfillment of God’s reign and then teaches about love in the context of grace. The section’s basic questions are: ‘Who is Jesus?’ Who can do such works and teach with such power? It also describes the awakening of the disciples’ faith and subsequent teaching about discipleship, especially about rejection and suffering. The entire flow of the section moves from the disciples’ hearing and learning about Jesus to their confessing him as their saviour. We will be hearing from this segment all the way through to the First Sunday in Lent. (Interestingly, on that Sunday, we will jump to what immediately precedes this morning’s reading, the temptation in the wilderness.)
Unfortunately, the first teaching scene is broken up by the lectionary between this and next week. I say ‘unfortunately’ because this week we hear Jesus’ teachings, and next week we hear about people’s reactions to Jesus’ teachings. Since hearing the gospel is not like watching a murder mystery film, where if I tell you what happens next I am spoiling the whole thing, let me say that after hearing what Jesus had to say, people were ready to drive him over a cliff. But that part of the story can wait for next week.
Jesus returns to his homeland, Galilee, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit plays an active and important role throughout the gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. In this case, the Spirit’s main role is to guide Jesus and equip him for teaching. The Spirit is present at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, just as the Spirit will aid the earliest church’s ministry starting in Acts 2.
Jesus opens the scroll and reads a composite from Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 58. This portion is rich in overtones recalling verses of the Hebrew Scriptures and other parts of Luke’s gospel itself. The passage is carefully chosen because Isaiah 61 is what is known as one of the Servant Songs, those songs which have been later seen in light of Jesus. The figure in Isaiah 61 brings a message of redemption and of God’s deliverance to the exiles. Jesus goes a step further by declaring that he is the one who will bring about the dawning of the new age of salvation. Jesus ties in Isaiah 58 by meeting in love the needs of those who need God, something Israel had not done. At the same time, his words recall those powerful words of the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittus.
Jesus reveals his mission of salvation as the Anointed One, the one with the message of good news. Preaching the good news is fundamental to Jesus’ ministry and to the gospel of Luke. He is light and liberator to the poor, captive and blind. He calls the community to a revolutionary way of showing God’s love for all and to offer comfort to those of God’s people who have suffered oppression. By asking the community of God to free the captive and give light to the blind, Jesus also asks the community of God to consider how it stands in relationship with people and societal structures. First most, the community is called to proclaim good news (the gospel hope) to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and proclaim a year of Jubilee, a year when all debts are erased and all are equal in God’s sight.
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As those baptised in Christ, we are also called, by the Spirit of God to do as did Jesus, to be witnesses to that amazing expression of hope. The Holy Spirit, through our baptism, does in us what it did in Jesus: it helps us bring good news to the poor, liberate captives, give sight to the blind, uplift the exploited, and proclaim God’s grace.
How does that presence of the Spirit translate into our daily lives? It means that wherever we find any human being not fully living up to her or his human dignity, that wherever we find a human being dehumanised, we should help that sister or brother be fulfilled and overturn whatever oppression holds them captive — whether it’s psychological, spiritual, physical, medical, economic, or cultural.
We see far too much degradation of the human being in our world. Sadly, there are too many poor of spirit, soul, health, material goods in our world. And it is not just ‘out there,’ it is in our midst, too. There is a stream of people who come in through our doors seeking help. I was astounded during jury selection for a case concerning a drug bust several years ago to hear that 10/35 Vermonters present in the court room had some family member affected by drugs.
How do we respond then? We should be like Christ—as far and as best as we can—helping, enlighting, uplifting. Bringing clarity to someone who does not understand God’s grace, bringing hope to someone who has lost it, pointing someone to the manifestation of God’s grace, Jesus Christ. Wherever there is someone poor in our midst—and that changes constantly from person to person, from condition to condition—we are called to respond out of compassion, out of love, and out of God’s justice and mercy. Some of us have been set on fire by the Spirit and are going to have an open door, free lunch to anyone who wants to come, known and unknown, on the 13th with the hopes that it may reach those who are hungry. We are called to bring hope to the captive and help the captive be set free. Some of us go to the jail and share God’s message of pardon and redemption.
We are God’s appointed in this tremendous task of jubilee ministry. Here, at Trinity, as small as we might feel sometimes, each one of us can make a difference. You and I are called to bring the message of God’s Jubilee (not vengeance) to Rutland and its environs, to our places of work and recreation, even to our families. It’s hard work sometimes but doing so is part of our commitment, as expressed in our baptismal vows.
Think about this charge of being a people of Jubilee as we move into our second year together. Think about how you in partnership with Trinity can be a reconciler, peace-maker, and instrument of God’s justice and favour here, now, always.
And may God who has given us the will to do these things, give us the grace and power through our baptism to perform them.
photo: our wall of gratitude... under construction!
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