Sermonon Luke 4:14-21

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Our story today comes right after Jesus was baptized and spent forty days in the wilderness.

At his baptism, Jesus heard a heavenly voice saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Then, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness, where he reckoned with the things humans tend to be willing to compromise their values for: our basic bodily needs, authority and glory, and identity and reputation.

But instead of turning stones into bread, Jesus quoted scripture: “One does not live by bread alone.”

Instead of changing his allegiance in exchange for worldly power, he quoted: “Worship the Lord your God,and serve only him.”

And instead of needing to prove that he was the Son of God, Jesus simply quoted: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Jesus was secure in his identity and values. He was the Beloved and clung to that identity as he faced what so often leads us humans astray.

Then, he read scripture in the synagogue, revealing his identity and mission to the world.

I like to think of this passage from Isaiah as Jesus’ mission statement.

After Jesus was grounded in his identity and values, he came back to his community and said, “This is what I’m about. This is what I’m here to do.”

It wasn’t received well—in fact some of his audience tried to throw him off a cliff. But being grounded in his mission statement and identity in God gave Jesus the strength and courage to keep going despite opposition—even to the cross.

So what was Jesus’ mission that he found important enough to die for?

He said he was here to:

1.    Bring good news to the poor

2.    Proclaim release to the captivesand recovery of sight to the blind

3.    Set free those who are oppressed

4.    Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

I actually want to focus on the last one first: proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

We talked last year about the Year of Jubilee, a practice God gave the Israelites in the Law. Every seven times seven years, there would be a Sabbath of all Sabbaths—a whole year where property would return to its former owners, enslaved people would be freed, debts would be canceled, and the land and the people and the animals that worked it would get a year off.

As with allthe Sabbath practices, it reminded them of who they were and Whose they were. It pointed back to Creation, when God rested on the seventh day, and pointed forward to the end of time and the fulfillment of God’s shalom, or peace.

The other parts of Jesus’ mission statement fit within the year of the Lord’s favor. They’re ways to live out the justice, peace, and mercy of Jubilee.

Good news to the poor isn’t about a far-off heaven, but a full belly and roof over one’s head now.

Proclaiming release to the captives is about restoring people to freedom and community.

And while the way the Bible conflates blindness and lack of understanding has unfortunate implications for the blind and visually impaired community, many of whom do not feel the need for “healing,” we can still interpret “recovery of sight to the blind” as meaning that Jesus was there to bring understanding and healing to all kinds of people.

Setting free those who are oppressed again evokes a restoration to freedom, community, and abundance.

And that’s all part of the year of the Lord’s favor.

God became human in Jesus to usher in the year of the Lord—Jubilee, full of God’s justice, mercy, and peace.

Today, we’re having our annual congregational meeting.

We could view this as a boringtask—an obstacle to our breakfast plans.

Or, we can remember who we are and Whose we are and see this as an opportunity to live out our mission.

We are the church that feeds people body and soul.

Today,

1.    we’re electing council members to discern where God is leading us.

2.    We’re ratifying the changes to the constitution that we approved at last month’s congregational meeting. We’re refreshing policies that help us be clear in how we operate.

3.    We’re also deciding on a budget, which is a moral statement that shows what we value.

These are important decisions that help us live into our mission as the church that feeds people body and soul.

Let’s keep our focus on that mission and on Jesus, in whose example we strive to live in and in whose love we rest in now and always.