Scripture text: Luke 4:14-21
It was one of those moments that sticks with you forever. When I was in seminary, there were three professors who stood above all others (in a solid field) as the best preachers: Wengert, Robinson, and Lathrop. Dr. Lathrop was my faculty advisor and a world-renowned expert on liturgy and worship. He had the stereotypical look of a college professor: white hair, beard, soft-spoken voice. But you knew when he got in that pulpit that you were going to be challenged. You were going to be edified. You were going to learn something and you were going to be inspired. Everything that a sermon is meant to do he could pull off in droves.
Dr. Lathrop and I at my seminary graduation.
And this was his day in chapel. He stood up. Walked with great solemn dignity to the pulpit. He read the Gospel lesson. We said our responses. “Glory to you, O Lord” and all that. And then, he began to preach. He said one sentence...and sat down.
Now having built up this tale, I am now embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember what his one sentence was. I don’t think anyone who was there that day remembers exactly what he said, because we were all so astounded. How do you preach a sermon that’s only one sentence long?
Well, regardless, Dr. Lathrop is in good company. Because the one sentence sermon seems to be something Jesus himself invented. It’s precisely what he does in our Gospel lesson today. He gets up into whatever-the-first-century-synagogue-used-in-lieu-of-a-pulpit and reads from the Scriptures. And then he says one sentence, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” and sits down.
Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Mic drop. Thud.
There’s something hilarious about this, but it is also the truth! This passage from Isaiah chapter 61 reads like a mission statement. Here is what I have come to do! I am here to bind up the broken-hearted. I am here to proclaim freedom to those in captivity. I am here to give sight to the blind. Make the lame to walk. I am here to save the world and IT HAS BEGUN!
Mic drop. Nothing more needs be said.
Because what does Jesus do but go from this synagogue out into the world and do precisely what that Isaiah text says. He goes into the villages and heals the sick. He casts out demons. He goes out into the plains and the hills and preaches good news, tells people about what God is doing. About how he loves them all.
You know, we’ve made this religion thing way too complicated. This is what it’s really about. It’s about what Jesus does. It’s about what Jesus says. And what it all means for us. Sometimes we’re the captive and we need set free. Sometimes we’re the blind and we need our sight. Sometimes we’re the broken-hearted and we need comfort.
But also at other times, it’s the person next to us who is in captivity and we must liberate them. Sometimes it’s the person next to us who is lame and we must help them walk. Sometimes it’s they who are broken-hearted and we must offer our shoulder for them to cry upon.
That’s all this really is. That’s the life of faith in a nutshell. That’s Jesus in a nutshell. That’s us as his disciples.
You don’t need much more than a single sentence. “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” It still is, because God is still at work doing these things. And so too are we.
What else needs be said? God is at work, saving the world through Christ. He calls us to help him, to be his hands, his voice, his ear. That’s why we’re here. That’s who we are. That’s what we’re about. Amen.
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