As Preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church
Almost every western movie or TV show had some kind of travel going on in vehicles known as stage coaches. Travel was very wearying and dangerous in those days. In some ways it still is. Those vehicles were called stage coaches because they traveled in a succession of stages. Travelers where happy to make it from one stage to the next.
Life is a journey, a
procession. When we look back over our lives we more clearly see the various
stages or milestones that marked our journey.
As one stage concludes another begins.
The scene described
in today's Gospel from St Luke follows Christ's baptism in the Jordan and the
temptations in the wilderness. Jesus
goes to Galilee, to his hometown in Nazareth, to launch his ministry. On the
Sabbath he went to the synagogue as usual where he is handed the scroll of the
prophecy of Isaiah. He reads a portion of that text which in today's world one might
call his mission statement. Then he tells the congregation this prophecy is
being fulfilled on their hearing. When things are fulfilled, are we done?
He is just embarking
on his mission, so, what has been
fulfilled? The first verse of the quotation tells us what is fulfilled:
"the Spirit of the Lord is on me." And yet, his mission lies ahead. The waiting for
the Messiah is over, he has come and it is Jesus. But the journey is not over.
The next stage is just beginning. The rest of the quoted prophecy is about what
Jesus will do to carry out his "anointed"
mission.
Revealed at the
Jordan, tested in the wilderness and now announced openly. He begins to proclaim the Good News outlined by Isaiah. The Lord's favor is being
bestowed on those who have been marginalized by society: the poor, prisoners,
the blind, the oppressed; now these are the favored ones. He says this to
everyone because it is a call to a revolutionary change
in the way society treats its members. Through teaching, healing, consoling,
and uplifting he does the work of his Father. He was commissioned by the Holy
Spirit at each stage of his life for this ministry. The voice at his baptism,
the Spirit leading him into the desert and now the announcement through the
prophet Isaiah.
Then comes his
passion and death. And while dying on the cross he says again that it is
fulfilled. What is fulfilled? The work of his Father that was to be done by his
son in person on earth, including his death on the cross. That is fulfilled.
But that is not the end. What comes next is the resurrection and the
commissioning of his disciples and followers, that
includes us, to continue this work in the next stage. What remains to be
fulfilled is to be fulfilled by each succeeding generation, commissioned by the
Spirit, sent by the Father, as Christ says to his disciples. Christ's resurrection is the culmination of his work, but it is the inauguration of our work. It is the proclamation of new life to all who
believe.
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.