When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.  He stood up to read,  and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:  "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' favor."

          And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.  The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 

          Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

          In the story of Jesus, His visit to the synagogue of Nazareth comes after His temptation in the wilderness and His baptism.  It’s the jumping off point - so to speak - of His public ministry.  He has been tested in the wilderness of temptation.  The spirit of God descended on Him like a dove  - anointing Him at His baptism.  It is time to begin.

          Makes sense that He’d begin His ministry in His hometown where He was known and accepted.  Following Jesus’ example, most candidates for ordination are ordained in their home church where people know them and have supported their call and movement toward ministry.  Delancy was ordained here, I was ordained at University Christian.    But Jesus isn’t being ordained.  He is explaining - through scripture - what His mission will entail in the months and years to come. 

          “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' favor."

          That’s a pretty ambitious agenda for someone just entering the ministry.  But obviously Jesus isn’t just someone.  He has the actual ability to do all those things - at the least.

          This declaration in Nazareth is as much a challenge as a proclamation.  "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."  That is the challenge - “I am the Lord’s anointed.  This is who I am and what I do and I expect you to understand and follow me.”

          His proclamation - from Isaiah  - is probably one of the most watered down, spiritualized, ignored, and wrongly interpreted of Jesus’ words evading or emptying this first statement of His agenda.

          Jesus came to turn things upside down.   Bring good news to the poor?  That would be some trick.  Release the captives?  That would be treason against some government or other - He wasn’t a lawyer after all.  Recover sight for the blind - a true miracle.  We shall see.  Let the oppressed go free - all - the politically and economically, spiritually and emotionally oppressed.

That’s some challenge He set Himself.  BUT - that’s not some challenge He set for Himself.  It’s a challenge to the people of the world - especially those who - like us - are not even close to the marginal situations of poverty, captivity, blindness, or oppression. 

          The challenge for us to follow in like manner is threatening to every thing we hold dear.  Not the least of which is our personal status quo.  While Jesus says, “Rock the boat.” too often our reply is, “Don’t rock the boat baby.” but we need the moral courage to listen to God’s intention for humanity as Jesus proclaims it. 

          Here’s what happened in that synagogue -

          Carefully unrolling the scroll, Jesus turned to the passage of Scripture we now know as Isaiah 61:1-2a - “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.”

          These were familiar words, a rallying cry for a Messiah, an announcement as fraught with emotion as “I’ll be back” or “Go ahead, make my day.”  Heads were nodding, eyes closed dreaming of a new future where the oppressed would indeed be free of the Roman legions patrolling their streets, soaking up their finances and monitoring their every move.

          Then it happened.  Luke makes a big deal of saying that Jesus abruptly stopped reading, rolled up the scroll, handed it to the attendant and sat down.  And as if to add an exclamation point, Jesus says, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

          Eyes popped open, and faraway looks turned to puzzled stares.  He had stopped reading.  Where was the rest?  After all, wasn’t that sentence supposed to end with “ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God”?

          Jesus was proclaiming Justice - not Vengeance toward injustice.  Just when the assembly was ready to go out and demonstrate - if you will - against the Romans - the wind leaves their sails.  Aw man, that’s just not right.  He’s messing with scripture!  Jesus was talking to them about their responsibilities - not the Roman oppression.

          It is quite popular in our culture to lift up and clarify one’s purpose in this life and how to find the ways and means of acheiving that purpose.  Business, politics, sports, relationships - religion - all have best selling “how to” books on the subject.

          The most popular - and the bestest seller in recent years has been Rick Warren’s The Purposeful Life. You may have read it.  I did.  There are more scriptural citations in there than in any non- academic work I’ve read.

          It is surprising - and I must say troubling - that Luke 4: 18-19 is never quoted -  “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.”

          Seems to me that a Christian’s understanding of their purpose  - and the church’s understanding of its purpose and mission - should be informed by Jesus understanding of His purpose and mission.  Kinda a no-brainer.

          So what do we believe and how do we put purpose into practice?

          When the Cold War was still hot and communism still had a grip on eastern Europe, Queen Elizabeth of Belgium made a state visit to Warsaw.  She was assigned a Polish protocol officer to accompany her to Mass and as they traveled to the church, she asked him, "Are you a Catholic?"

          "Believing but not practicing," he replied.

          "I see," she said. "Then you must be a Communist."

          "Practicing, your majesty," he said, "but not believing."

          Does the officer's reply strike a chord?  Do we believe things that we fail to practice?  And do we practice things we do not believe?

          The challenge of Jesus’ Nazareth Doctrine is for all of us to look outside ourselves and our personal circumstances - to imitate Christ.  It’s easy today.  Haiti pulls at our emotions and our intellect like nothing else has in quite a while - an entire nation practically destroyed.   But following in Jesus’ path is a lifelong endeavor which challenges us each and every moment in each and every decision we make.  There are no short cuts to Grandma’s house.  If you choose unwisely the wolves will take you on the road.

          In response to a question about how best to follow Him, Jesus answered, “Take all that you own and give I to the poor.”  That’s daunting and Jesus was -in fact-  given to  hyperbole. 

          Here’s a modern story with the same meaning -

          When Mother Teresa visited Australia a new recruit to the Franciscan order there was assigned to be her guide and "gofer" during her stay.  Thrilled and excited at the prospect of being so close to this great woman, he dreamed of how much he would learn from her and what they would talk about.   But during her visit, he became frustrated.  Although he was constantly near her, the friar never had the opportunity to say one word to Mother Teresa.  There were always other people for her to meet.

          Finally, her tour was over, and she was due to fly to New Guinea.  In desperation, the Franciscan friar spoke to Mother Teresa, “If I pay my own fare to New Guinea, can I sit next to you on the plane so I can talk to you and learn from you?”

          Mother Teresa looked at him.

          “You have enough money to pay airfare to New Guinea?” she asked.

          ‘Yes,’ he replied eagerly.

          “Then give that money to the poor,” she said. “You'll learn more from that than anything I can tell you.”

          If you happen to read this passage of scripture and Jesus just happens to look over your shoulder and ask, “How’s that working for you.”  I hope your individual and our collective response is, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”   Let it be so.  AMEN.