Pastor Tom Johnson, January 24, 2016
My family has a favorite restaurant. They claim to have organic meats, grains, and vegetables to the extent that they can. They promise a nourishing meal. When you go to this particular place, you are greeted with a smile and the question, “What would you like?” Over time, we have gotten to know the workers there and they sometimes offer us a free meal if we go there on a birthday. But one time, my wife and I went to the other establishment that is part of the same chain. It wasn’t the same. The workers seemed to be not as happy. We recognized one of the workers from the other restaurant. We asked how she was doing. “Not good at all. The customers in this area are mean, unappreciative, and demanding. You don’t know how much nicer it is at my former location. I have already requested to be transferred back.” But that isn’t the only problem. Late last year, hundreds of people got sick with E.coli and hundreds more with the norovirus in this chain of restaurants. In a few weeks, all restaurants in this chain will close for a few hours. They will have an in-house conversation about food safety. Everybody must work together toward the same goal: safe and nourishing food. Good food is the only thing that will bring them through this difficulty. Good food will be the only thing that will lead them back to the growth they were experiencing before.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes to his hometown for an in-house conversation. The core of his activity is centered on the written Word. In this case, a passage from the book of Isaiah. He reads it aloud while the people listen with enthusiasm. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” More often than not, we as Missouri Synod Lutherans under-emphasize the social implications of this text and want to spiritualize it as quickly as possible. Certainly there is both physical and spiritual poverty, captivity, and illness. The written Word is followed by the spoken Word. Jesus preaches what must be history’s briefest sermon: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The written, spoken, and now the embodiment of the Word—the Word made flesh.
The Word of God of God is good news. It gives us hope to those who are in need—material and spiritual. God cares about those who lack financial resources, physical resources, and those caught up in the injustice of our societies. In Jesus’ day, poverty and hunger was a serious problem. Rome imposed its laws and severe consequences such as incarceration and execution often with little justice as Jesus will soon experience for himself. People were born with or developed loss of eyesight, hearing, or other health limitations and problems. Today, poverty and hunger is a serious problem. It is estimated that the top 62 billionaires in the world have more wealth than the lowest half of the rest of the world. That means 62 people are richer than 3.5 billion poor people. I am grateful for our community meals ministry and how we strive to encourage the poor. We as a society are still grappling with what it means to have a truly just judicial system. We remember many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who suffer loss, imprisonment, violence, and death because of their faith in Jesus.
We as a family never have stopped going to our favorite restaurant because we have always received what we go there for: good food. We like the welcoming and kind atmosphere, the smiling faces, and the relationship we have with that place. As I think about First Saint Paul’s, we in a similar place. The best way to continue to grow as a congregation is to be a healthy and nourishing place, to truly enjoy and care for one another, and to treasure the main thing—what we are really about—that is, the good news of Jesus Christ—the one who lived, preached, befriended, died, and rose again—to encourage, give hope, comfort, forgive, and assure us of eternal life.
“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus is on the scene. He was with the Galileans in that synagogue long ago ready to deliver good news. He is with us today in this building. He is present to bring us good news. Jesus is the embodiment of the good news. He is the good news. Today, we have the fellowship with Jesus and with the whole family of God—that’s you and I. Today, we hear the Word, preach the Word, sing the Word, and receive the Word made flesh into our mouths with the Bread and the Wine. Today, we embody the Word by becoming a people about the good news. The name of this church is out on the front sign: “First Saint Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.” Evangelical means we are a people of the good news.
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