January 26: The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews is the vicar of St. Hilda St. Patrick. The sermon for January 26, 2025 was preached in response to Luke 4:14-21 based on the manuscript below.

From the Common English Bible,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
This passage was appointed for this Sunday
in 1994.
Two weeks ago
we heard the beginning
of Jesus’ public ministry
with his baptism
and the Spirt of God alighting on him.
Last Sunday
we heard about his first miracle
when he kept a wedding host
from being embarrassed
and made sure all the guests
had more than enough.
In this season after the Epiphany,
the short green growing season
when we focus on evangelism —
sharing the Good News of God
who revealed Godself
in the specific person of Jesus —
we’re hearing about Jesus’ ministry,
his interactions with people.
In this season after the Epiphany,
we focus on light:
God’s light shining in the darkness,
the light of Jesus the Christ
that spreads through all the world.

This week…
a new presidential administration started.
There was a flurry of executive orders
and then a flurry of news
about a sermon.
The Rt. Rev. Marianne Edger Budde
used her office as Bishop of Washington
to speak prophetic truth
to the president,
his cabinet and advisors,
and the nation.
Then there were reactions.
If you haven’t watched the whole thing
please do that.
The Daily Show
seemed to have not
based on their skeet
summarizing it.
On Wednesday
I saw people had applied a filter
that put Bishop Budde
in stained glass.
On Thursday
there were photos of her with
“I’m with her” superimposed.

Y’all
those made me cringe.
In all the gospels
John the Baptizer —
and the evangelists
who write the gospels —
make it abundantly clear
that Jesus,
not the prophet,
is where the attention should go.
Making Bishop Budde into an icon for consumption
keeps us from having to hear her words ourselves
and look at where she’s pointing:
God’s calls for mercy
and Jesus’ proclamations.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The Episcopal Church
is a big, roomy tent.
Over the entryway, though,
is a sign that says
“Followers of Jesus.”
One of you recently remarked
that you appreciate my sermons
because we may be different
but I don’t demonize.
I don’t want or need to demonize
because no head of the American Empire
is above God’s judgment.
God will sort us all out,
and Jimmy Carter spent the rest of his life
repenting.
There might be times, beloved,
that Jesus’ gospel seems partisan…
but Jesus doesn’t choose
how 21st Century American political parties
take sides.
If it’s not good news for the poor,
the imprisoned, or the oppressed,
it’s not the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus says today,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…
Today, this scripture has been fulfilled
just as you heard it.”
In this season after the Epiphany,
the short green growing season
when we focus on evangelism —
sharing the Good News of God
who revealed Godself
in the specific person of Jesus —
we’re hearing about Jesus’ ministry,
his interactions with people.
Today we hear him preach
good news to the poor.
We hear him proclaim release to prisoners
and the year of the Lord’s favor.
Those are all things that Jesus does
because of God’s great love
for the whole of creation.
None of that happens
because of what we have done
or could or should do.

In his biography of Paul
NT Wright writes,
“By the end of the second century,
Roman officials
were not particularly aware
of the nuances of Christian teaching,
but they did know what the word ‘bishop’ meant—
it meant someone who kept on agitating
about the needs of the poor.”
I don’t see any purple shirts,
pointed hats,
or shepherd’s staffs among us today.
What I see, though,
is the community of the baptized.
Bishop Budde quoted our Baptismal Covenant —
“to respect the dignity of every human being”
in her sermon
and in media appearances afterward.
Before that promise, though,
is “Will you proclaim by word and example
the Good News of God in Christ?”
That’s word and example,
not word or example.
Episcopalians like to quote St. Francis of Assisi,
“Preach the gospel at all times;
if necessary use words.”
I don’t see any bishops,
people who agitate
about the needs of the poor,
in here
and I don’t see anyone
who’s divested themselves of generational wealth
living a life of itinerant poverty
preaching to the birds either.

Whether it’s Bishop Budde or St. Francis
we can miss what they’re pointing at
when we get caught up
in their gorgeous turns of phrase
or using their office
and rare bully pulpit.
They’re pointing at Jesus.
In this season after the Epiphany,
the short green growing season
we focus on evangelism —
sharing the Good News of God
who revealed Godself
in the specific person of Jesus.
Bishop Budde gave us an example.
As we hear Jesus’ mission today
we know what our marching orders are.
If it’s not good news for the poor,
the imprisoned, or the oppressed,
it’s not the gospel of Jesus.
Having been joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection in baptism
and sealed by the Holy Spirit,
our call is to proclaim by word and example
the Good News of God in Christ.
Our call is to strive for justice and peace among all people,
and respect the dignity of every human being.
That’s our call.
The way we answer it
is by pointing to Jesus
whose grace moves us on. Amen.

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