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January 21, 2007

Proclaimed

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Category: Biblical Scripture: Luke 4:14–4:21

Third Sunday after Epiphany
Luke 4:14-21
"Proclaimed"

It's been a long day. You get home late, tired, and hungry. It's overcast outside, and there seems to be a storm coming. All you want to do is just sit back on your couch and wind-down. Just a little spot of quiet and peace after a strenuous day. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen, because no sooner do you get home than you're bring asked to run out on an errand, or to help set the table for dinner, or to take out the trash. You attempt to explain - noticing out the window that the wind is seems picking up, tree branches blowing back and forth - but your attempt to convey your desire to just relax does not seem to be getting through. (And the couch is calling out to you!) You don't understand why such unreasonable demands would be made of you in light of the day you've just had. Then you're confronted with these words: "You're not hearing me!" The storm has arrived.

"You're not hearing me." Even when we communicate - by phone, or e-mail, or even in face-to-face conversation, we can have a hard time getting our message across. Part of the problem comes from the reality that another person does not think exactly as you do on every possible subject. Each and every one of us has his or her own perspective, shaped by our desires, experiences, and objectives: the way that I want it to be. Your perspective can prejudice the way that you respond when communicating. You can be held captive by your worldview. You might not even think that the person who's asking you to help set the dinner table has had an equally long day, taking care of children, or working at their office, and that the couch may be calling to them, too.

But another part of our communication dilemma arises in how we listen. Sometimes, "You're not hearing me," can be expressed by "You're not listening to me." Hearing - just being able to detect sound - is one thing; listening, however, is something much more involved. Listening requires that we pay attention to what we're hearing. Processing it, thinking about it. Listening requires focus. There are so many distractions that need to be shut out - like seeing tree branches blowing in the wind. It's possible (though unlikely, right?) that you will not be listening to a part of this sermon.

Even here as God's people at St. John's, we can run into a "You're not hearing me." Even as you and I work together in God's kingdom, we are both sinners who fall short, who fail to communicate in a clear and loving way, who are wrapped up in our own perspectives. Sometimes we fail to listen carefully to those in need, and sometimes we fail to see that be have been blinded by our self-centeredness. Our perspective and our limited willingness to listen can work against us.

Jesus may well have encountered both of these challenges during his ministry, especially in Nazareth, the town where he grew up. Luke's gospel account brings us in to the early days of Jesus' public ministry. After his baptism and subsequent temptation by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus is now about his work in the world: proclaiming God's good news to the people. And by the time of today's reading, he has already become a respected and renowned teacher. There are apparently even reports of miracles that he has performed in Capernaum, not too far off from Nazareth. Being a respected teacher, Jesus would have been invited into the synagogue to read from Scripture and teach. But the people of Nazareth think that they know Jesus: a local boy, Joseph's son. So when Jesus comes to them, what do they see? What do they hear?

On the Sabbath, in the synagogue, Jesus reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And, having read, he sits down to teach, as was the custom, and begins by saying that today this Scripture has been fulfilled "in your hearing." But what did the people hear? The words that Luke uses to describe their reaction are fairly neutral, depicting a kind of surprise: How did Jesus learn to teach like this? Because the words that Jesus uses are full of grace. We learn more in next week's Gospel lesson about how the people of Nazareth would ultimately respond to Jesus' sermon.

Jesus proclaimed a message of fulfillment: Isaiah's words pointed to the Messiah, to Jesus. Jesus, the Word made flesh, God incarnate, was already doing these things. In the presence of these people at Nazareth, God's Word is being proclaimed - even before this sermon, Jesus had been traveling about, proclaiming God's Word. So when Jesus now reads "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me," what does he mean? The Spirit of the Father came to Jesus in his baptism. The Father, Son, and Spirit are at work here in Nazareth. They are at work here, in Alexandria.

When Jesus proclaims that he is bringing liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, and restoration to the broken, he speaks to us, as well. We need to hear the Word proclaimed to us in our time and place, because we are poor. We are captive. We are blind. We are broken. As the storm blows in on us in our lives, things will seek to call our attention away from God and His Word. But God speaks us through His Word, calls to us. For God's proclaimed Word is like a thunderclap in the middle of the night. Although you might not be listening for it, you certainly hear it!

The message that Jesus proclaimed in Nazareth still applies to us today. In Christ's death, we are set free. In Christ, our eyes are opened: his Spirit is at work in us, turning us from an inward focus to an outward one. In Christ, we are healed and restored from our brokenness. This is the message that Jesus was fulfilling in Nazareth. This is the message that he would ultimately bring to completion on the cross. This is the message that the empty tomb proclaimed on Easter morning: death and sin no longer hold us captive. Our self-centeredness no longer imprisons us.

How does this play out in our lives and our communication with one another, with those around us? When we come home from the long day, when the storm starts to blow, and we want nothing more than to sit on that couch, when we are asked to put others before ourselves, we can. Because, in Christ, we are free. You are free! You are healed. You are restored. That is the message that Jesus proclaimed in his sermon at Nazareth. That is the message that he brings to us now. In Jesus, all this has come to pass.

In Jesus, God has proclaimed the good news.


Amen.