Atom“They Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done - Today” Luke 4:14-21
“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 the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (4:18-19)
Early in my ministry as a pastor, I had a confirmation student named Ryan. Ryan was blind from birth – too much oxygen in his eyes when as a premature birth they had put him in an oxygen tent to save his life. As a teenager, Ryan wanted to learn and grow in his faith and his Mom came and asked me if there were any resources to help him learn. I didn’t have any, nor could I produce any. But I figured there must be someone who could. So I called the synod office…and they told me of a ministry of the church called “Ephatha” – meaning, “be opened” – as in the words Jesus spoke in healing the blind and deaf – had resources for the blind and even a Braille Bible and hymnal.
I believe this ministry existed for Ryan and for the blind and deaf because of what is revealed about Jesus and followers of Jesus in this little passage from Luke before us this morning. We are in the season “revelation” – of Epiphany – in the Church Year, as in “Jesus is revealed for who he is,” God’s chosen One – Son of God, Messiah. It is the season following the Christmas. Jesus, now an adult, begins to take on the calling God has given him. He is baptized, identified with God’s people and identified as God’s chosen. As he comes up out of the water, a voice speaks: “This is my beloved, with whom I am well-pleased!” Remember? And then he gathers disciples and begins to teach and begins to attract attention: (vv. 14) “And a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.” Jesus is making a name for himself.
Today he comes home to Nazareth, to where he grew up with Mary and Joseph and his family, in the carpenter shop and in the community, worshipping and going to school in the Nazareth synagogue. And on the Sabbath – the day of rest and focus on God’s Word – he goes to Synagogue as is his family custom, to the place where the community gathers around the reading of God’s word, like we are doing here right now. And there is an immediate buzz in the congregation. Word has spread that Jesus is doing some pretty amazing things, and saying some pretty interesting things about God…and, he’s a home town boy, which makes it doubly interesting. It’s like when any of our young people have gone off into the bigger world and they’ve matured and perhaps made a name for themselves in some other area. We’re pretty excited to have them come home and share a bit of their experience and wisdom with us and along the way affirm that Detroit Lakes was a pretty good place to grow up after all!
The gathering began with the call to worship and a song or two and then came the reading of God’s Word. Now, in those days, the leader would look out over the congregation gathered and just pick someone to come up and read. Wouldn’t that be fun today? You wouldn’t want to catch the worship leader’s eye that day, would you? And then the reader would choose the lesson to be read; so it was a good idea when you came to worship to have been reflecting on some Bible reading before you came just in case you were called on.
The leader chooses Jesus. He stands, takes the scroll – the book – and opens it to Isaiah, chapter 61 and reads:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Jesus then closes the book, gives it to the leader and sits down – in a position of teaching. Here we go to the pulpit, or we stand up. In Jesus day, the preacher sat down. And Jesus spoke his sermon…just one line…don’t you wish? But what a line: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
You can probably imagine the murmurings in the group, “Nice job. He does read well – nice and clear, good emphasis on the words. Good choice of readings, too…Isaiah, one of our favorites. Yes, someday the Lord will return and restore Israel and we’ll all be free and we’ll all be healthy and whole and none of us will hunger ever again. What a day that will be…someday.”
But then the words begin to sink in. “Wait a minute. Did I hear him right? He said “today this scripture has been fulfilled.” Today? The Lord has anointed him? Isn’t this Joseph and Mary’s boy? Did you hear what he said? He is going to bring good news to the poor today? Release to the captives today? Sight to the blind today? Bring in God’s kingdom today? Who does he think he is?
Indeed. Who does he think he is? The reading goes on and when we pick it up in next weeks reading we will discover that as they thought about what Jesus said and his words that followed, it began to make them real angry – so angry that they were ready not only to throw him out of town, but off a cliff!
But they didn’t stop Jesus and these words from Isaiah became his marching orders. He left Nazareth and began to do exactly what Isaiah had promised…bringing hope to the poor and healing to the sick, release to those held captive by illness or demon and sight to the blind…and everywhere he went making it clear that God’s presence had arrived in a powerful and personal way. In the language the military adopts when battles are no longer fought from a distance with missiles or air strikes, when troops are finally in country, there were “boots on the ground” – “feet on the ground” – in the person of Jesus. The God who created the universe, spangled the heavens with stars and planets, filled the earth with plants and creatures, had come…feet on the ground. And people would begin to know the passionate, life-changing love of God through the voice and hands and presence of God’s Son – and eventually those who follow him.
You see, even as Jesus took this passage from Isaiah as his “marching orders,” as a description of how he would make God’s loving presence known to God’s people, so those who follow have taken this as marching orders for how to make God’s loving presence known to God’s people of every time and place.
Martin Luther once said it this way in his teaching on the Lord’s prayer – the prayer we pray nearly every time we gather. When we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Luther said, “We know that God’s kingdom comes, God’s will is done whether we join in and participate or not, but in this prayer we ask that God might make it happen through us.”
When I was growing up in the church, I thought this was primarily about forgiveness and the promise of heaven. Someday, God’s kingdom would come and our job as followers of Jesus was to connect others to that promise, so one day they would be in that “kingdom come” – when God would restore creation and there would no longer be hunger and sickness and dying. Just like the people in the synagogue in Nazareth…someday God will make it right. Someday heaven will come and life will be all will be well.
But then I was introduced to the story of Jesus in Luke and read this little passage and saw how passionate Jesus was about bringing God’s kingdom “today.” And I was introduced to the letter from James later in the New Testament where James says, “Whoa to you who say to the hungry or the cold, “God bless you; be filled and be warm,” and then do nothing to fill or warm.” And I realized that this is why the Church has gotten itself involved in a lot of activity besides worship and telling folks about forgiveness of sins and heavenly hope. It’s because Jesus was involved in these things and because Jesus’ marching orders became the marching orders of his followers to bring hope to the poor and release to the captives and sight to the blind. It is because of Jesus that the Church produced resources for my blind friend, Ryan.
Another friend, from Iowa, was just diagnosed with cancer of the colon and had surgery last week. When I reached her, she was at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, which has merged with Lutheran hospital in Des Moines. Do they only see Methodists or Lutherans? Of course not, just like St. Mary’s in Detroit Lakes does not see only Roman Catholics. Their names are reminders, however, that many of the hospitals in this country and worldwide began because Christians heard this call of Jesus to be about the healing of people, and making God’s kingdom and God’s will done on earth, and realizing that not every Christian had the gift of healing, they began gathering those who did into institutions called hospitals.
As they did with other care centers…care centers like Emmanuel and St. Mary’s – now Oak Crossing – or the Good Samaritan Society with facilities spread across this country to care for the elderly and infirm and those with dementia. Or like the Martin Luther Home Society, which I became acquainted with in Nebraska, which provides care for those with mental or physical disabilities from across the Midwest. There are other such ministries.
When I read the passage from Corinthians this week I was reminded of the varied gifts of God’s people and of how much we need those varied gifts to be the Church and to respond to the needs of God’s world as Jesus did – bringing in the kingdom…through our personal ministries, but also through the ministries of institutions like those I have offered to you today…so that we might be a part of Jesus promise of “good news to the poor, and release to the captives, and sight to the blind – today…now…in this place.”
I was reminded of how thankful I am for those varied gifts and for being part of a church which has such gifts as I, with you, have been overwhelmed with the need of those brothers and sisters in Haiti who have been devastated anew by earthquake. Those children of God need help…but not all of us can go directly and help…and not all of us would be the kind of help they need. They need people with medical expertise and the ability to distribute large quantities of food and clean water; they need people to plan and organize and rebuild. Thankfully we have people and organizations in the church that are regularly committed to doing just these things and were already “boots on the ground” in Haiti – even before the earthquake. They are continuing to be Christ’s presence of hope in a land desperate for hope. (Read from the Bishop’s letter here?)
Some of us may indeed in the future have opportunity to go directly and offer ourselves, but in the meantime we as the body of Christ are already there through Lutheran World Relief and the Lutheran Disaster Response which we support through our giving. (By the way, did you know that in the days and months following Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, there were only three non-governmental agencies allowed into New Orleans? The Red Cross, Catholic Charities, and the Lutheran Disaster Response. Our reputation precedes us. We are known as a church that not only tells the good news of Christ’s forgiveness and eternal life, but also lives the good news of Christ’s healing and helping presence – “feet on the ground”…today. We Lutherans are a church that wants it both ways – good news for eternity and good news for today!)
And this is why…this passage from Luke’s gospel. It is Jesus’ understanding of God’s call upon his life. It is our understanding of God’s call upon our lives. As Martin Luther reminded us: “We know that God’s kingdom comes without our prayers…but we pray that we might be a part of it.” We who share the same Holy Spirit that rested on Jesus are anointed by that same Spirit to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind - the beginnings of God’s loving reign to all to whom we are sent….today. Not tomorrow…not in the sweet by and by…but today.” God help us…let’s pray…
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