Sermon: January 26, 2025
Reading: Luke 4:14-21
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus quotes a passage from the prophet Isaiah to describe who he is and what he represents. This passage serves as a mission statement for his ministry. Jesus never wavered from his mission or from following the Spirit, who led him into the wilderness and prompted him to boldly proclaim his ministry before his hometown and even to the most powerful people in the land. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to follow his example.
Two weeks ago, we celebrated the baptism of our Lord. During worship, we renewed our Baptismal Covenant. This covenant contains three questions that directly hold us, Jesus’ followers, accountable for living out the essence of his ministry. We are asked: “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?” “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” and “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”
These three questions outline principles that guide our lives, enabling us to embrace and enact Jesus’s ministry. We don’t have the option to draw lines or divisions. We do not show love, compassion, and mercy only to those who look like us, act like us, think like us, or live on the right side of a line drawn on a map. All of humanity are children of God. When we say “All people,” we mean all people, and when we say to respect the dignity of every human being, it means we respect the dignity of every human being.
By following the guidance of these questions, we fulfill the mission statement of Jesus’ ministry. And just like Jesus in today’s Gospel, who courageously proclaimed his ministry to the people of his hometown, we are called to act and speak up not only when it is easy but especially when it is difficult and challenging.
Bishop Mariann Budde exemplified the mission of Christ and our baptismal covenant when she asked the president to have mercy on society's most vulnerable, including immigrants, documented or not, as well as those who are gay, lesbian, or transgender. She asked for compassion to be shown to those who are frightened and live in fear. Those that Bishop Budde mentioned are part of “all people” and “every human being.” She pointed out that "Our God teaches us to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land."
Bishop Budde concluded by saying, "May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world."
Bishop Budde’s words were not political; they were biblical, and her plea not only embodied Jesus’ mission and our baptismal covenant but also the season after Epiphany. To those who listened, her words revealed the divine nature and the manifestation of God’s love, compassion, and mercy shown in and through Jesus Christ for all of His creation.
As we saw in today’s gospel, there was an Epiphany: the revealing of God’s love in and through Jesus Christ as He read from scripture, announcing to the people in His hometown that today, before their eyes, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled. He proclaimed who He is, what His ministry entails, and what His church will be and do.
This Epiphany also reminds us that, as disciples of Christ and children of God, we have the responsibility to reveal and manifest God’s love for others through our words and actions. The question left to us is: how will we embody and enact Jesus’ words of love, compassion, and mercy?
