Today's Sermon - Spreading - January 27, 2019

Spreading

(based on Luke 4:14-21)

          It is from Sherman Hesselgrave, pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Toronto, that I read about this passage from Luke as a song.  It’s a song similar to the one Mary sang in the beginning of Luke, often called the Magnificat.  And ultimately, together, they make up the key to understanding all of the gospel according to Luke as a song of empire breaking.  If you want to put it into a musical definition, these passages are the “key” in which we should sing the rest of Luke’s gospel.

          The text that Jesus reads from in the synagogue on this day, occur over and over in the ancient manuscripts retelling Israel’s history.  You can hear passages from Isaiah, from Jeremiah, from Nehemiah.  All the exile prophets, quoting God’s words to the Israelites, say that a new day has dawned and a change is required.  It is the song of freedom after struggle; a song of triumph and release after deep suffering and sorrow.

          Hesselgrave says that in this passage Jesus is like a Jazz singer, who singing along in an ancient anti-empire ballad, throws in a few notes from another anti-empire tune, this one about religious imperialism.  And he does so right in the heart of the synagogue.  Did they even recognize what Jesus was singing?  Because his words were very clear, “I am here to disrupt empire – social, political, and religious – are you with me?”  It is a song of great social change, directed not just at political empire but religious authority, as well.  And all of Luke follows suit.  Everything that Luke tells us is about Jesus breaking free from social, political, and religious piety.

          Jesus announces his ministry with this inauguration song and it defines his ministry here among us.  It is this song that highlights who he chooses to have as his disciples.  It is this song that highlights the lessons he teaches from this point onward.  It is this song that highlights the struggles he will encounter with the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Scribes.  And it is this song, that ultimately gets him in trouble with King Herod, Pilate, and eventually with all of the people that turn against him.

          But in Jesus’s beginning ministry, it is this song that defines him.  And he sings this song in the synagogue for all of them to hear.  Jesus wants to make clear that it will be this message that should be spread about why he came, why he is here, and why he will do everything that follows.

          Sticking with the song theme, there is a current song sung by Taylor Swift called Fight Song,

“Like a small boat

On the ocean

Sending big waves

Into motion

Like how a single word

Can make a heart open

I might only have one match

But I can make an explosion.”

Jesus made a tsunami wave occur when he entered the scene, stood up, opened the scriptures and read in the synagogue that day.  He made a public stand upon which his entire ministry would be founded.  And that drop in the bucket, sent ripples that have spread throughout the world over the last 2000 years.

But today, we have a problem.  Just like the drop of water that causes ripples upon the water to spread out, the rings and the area that it encompasses growing larger and larger, the central drop that started it all eventually fades away until you can’t see it anymore.  That central ring eventually returns to the status quo of calm water.  That’s the problem we face today.

The revolutionary theme song against empire and piety of the righteous that Jesus was so against, has quieted to an acceptance of it again.  We’ve gone back to the status quo, we’ve gotten complacent, we’ve justified our empire building, even within the church.

Jesus began his ministry quoting the prophets that good news should be brought to the poor, to proclaim release to the captive, the recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free.   And at the very end of his ministry, right before he ascended into heaven, he said nearly the same thing.  He told his disciples to go and make disciples, teaching them everything that they had been taught, and that repentance and the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations.

My purpose this morning is to remind you what we are here for.  My purpose this morning is for you to recognize that we’ve allowed the drop of water in the ocean that Jesus started has been allowed to return to status quo of calm water.  So calm, in fact, that we don’t recognize any ripple at all.  It’s time to change that.

God has placed YOU and ME – this congregation – on this plot of land, in this building, at this address, in this very time in history, for a very specific reason.

We are here to be Christ to our community.

We are to make disciples.  We are to teach repentance and forgiveness.  We are to sing our own song of triumph and victory over oppression and hatred.  We are to break the bonds of empiricism, to share good news to the poor, release to the captive, recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free.

We are to reflect God’s light and love to those around us.

So, who wants to sing a new song and start a new ripple with me?