January 21, 2007

Epiphany 3

Pastor Lynne Lorenzen

St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church

I Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:114-21

As of yesterday Senator Hillary Clinton has officially entered the race for President of the U.S. She spoke of things that she thinks need to change including some form of national health care. Others have said that they are beginning by forming a committee to assess the possibility of launching a presidential campaign at this time. This way they do not need to state the platform that they will speak on. It gives them a little more time to see what other candidates or potential candidates are saying and to decide how they want to position themselves in relation to what has already been said. This is a much more careful tactic.

Our lesson this morning is Jesus announcement of who he is and what his platform is. For this occasion he returns to his home town, Nazareth and he goes to the synagogue there as was his custom on the Sabbath, in other words he is a good Jew. At the appointed time is the service, Jesus stands to read from the Scripture. One of the scrolls of the Book of Isaiah is handed to him and he opens it to Chapter 61 and he reads verses one and two: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, 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.”

It is worthwhile to note that this is not exactly what these verses say. They also speak of “binding up the brokenhearted,” that Luke omits here and Luke adds “to let the oppressed go free” which is in Chapter 58:6. Chapter 58 also includes, “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke.” It is clear that everyone is to be liberated from whatever keeps them from being free.

This short list is the platform the Jesus has been preaching and will continue to preach. We are told that everyone who had heard him teach in other synagogues praised him which sets us up for the text for next Sunday. Today he is in Nazareth and after reading from the scroll, he rolls it up and gives it back to the attendant and sits down. The text says that “the eyes of all in the synagogue were on him.” Now the reason everyone was looking at him was that the custom expected that the one who read would be the one who would teach or preach on that reading. Thus, Jesus delivers the shortest sermon ever. He simply says, ”Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This particular list is also identified with the servant song in Isaiah in Chapter 52. It is not a surprise that when the early followers of Jesus wanted to describe him as the Messiah that they would refer to these servant songs that speak of either an individual or of Israel as inaugurating the Messianic Age. It is at this time that remarkable things would happen – the reign of God would be made manifest and salvation would become visible. This platform tells of how salvation will come to the people. Those who are captive to whatever holds them back, gets in their way, oppresses them so that they are unable to live fully – those captives will be freed from their sin. In this case the recovery of sight to the blind is both literal, in that Jesus heals people who are blind, but it is also a metaphor for people now being able to see God working in the world and to accept God’s love and care for all people, even themselves, and God’s desire that everyone have what they need. In this place in Luke, it also seems to mean that people will be able to see that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one of God as he claimed in his sermon and to trust that his platform is God’s platform. Jesus is proclaiming that “this year is the year of the Lord’s favor.” That God is providing hospitality for everyone. Everyone is invited. Everyone is accepted. All people are desired and beloved of God.

But there is more. The reference to Chapter 58 adds the social dimension of “loosing the bonds of injustice and breaking every yoke.” The ideal of Shalom is that everyone has what they need, not more, not less. Certainly they will have shelter, clothing, food, loving relationships, and freedom from oppression. Apparently things do not change as much as we might think. “On any given day, 7,589 Minnesotans are homeless and 13, 740 are at risk of losing their housing. Children make up 43% of Minnesota’s homeless population.” A worker who earns the minimum wage of $5.10//hour must work 114 hours per week to afford a two bedroom unit at fair market rates. At this time we consider health insurance a necessity, something that Scripture does not address but that is necessary now. In Minnesota, nearly 400,000 people are uninsured at some point in any given year and about 57,000 children lack health insurance.* These statistics come from a publication of the SPASynod called Ending Poverty a 20/20 Vision. The goal of the Synod and other people is to end poverty in Minnesota by the year 2020.

This platform reaches beyond political parties or religious groups to embrace anyone who is wiling to take the challenge to help to end poverty here in the next 17 years. There are people who actually think that it is a real possibility here. We are invited to be part of this effort and we will be talking about the program more in the spring. Our Bishop has developed shared principles which he calls a Common Foundation. These principles include: “We believe it is the Creator’s intent that all people are provided those things that protect human dignity and make for healthy life: adequate food and shelter, meaningful work, safe communities, health care and education.” We are intended to live well together, seeking the common good. We are all called to work to overcome poverty using both private and public resources. We are called to make alliances with all who share this commitment. Overcoming poverty requires both direct service and advocacy to change structures. We need to call on government to make a critical commitment to overcome poverty. “Overcoming poverty is not simply a human idea but is the desire of our Creator, and that the work to create a more just and whole society will be empowered by the Creator’s presence.”

This is a much more specific program than Jesus laid out in his platform in the synagogue but it is appropriate that today the faith communities are the ones continuing to preach good news to the poor and to work to alleviate poverty. We are given in our text today both good news that the reign of God has begun to be visible in the person of Jesus and by extension in his followers. We are now part of the cloud of witness who are called to break the yoke of poverty in our community. Always by direct assistance to our food shelf, but also watch the legislature this spring so that we may support legislation that will help change the structures that keep people in poverty. Let us make it known that we support the platform of the one who was anointed by God, who came to set us all free from whatever oppresses us including poverty. Thanks be to God who gives us grace and strength to do the tasks set before us, that we may be good neighbors to all of God’s people. Amen