Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "It’s in the Job Description"

Text: Luke 4:1-21

that day long ago in Nazareth, in the synagogue,

when Jesus came home to preach?

To hear how the people reacted, when he came in,

and read from the ancient words of prophecy,

and then said to the congregation, in essence,

"Those words are about me." … ?!

It would be as if – [a youth in the congregation], maybe –

came back here some Sunday in 15 or 20 years as an adult,

and read to us, let’s say,

the passage from 1 Thessalonians 5,

where it says that

"the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night,"

and then said to us,

"That day is here; I’m it."

We would be startled at best,

perhaps shocked,

perhaps even angry.

And, as you would find out if you read ahead just a few more verses,

the congregation of the synagogue

wasn’t much impressed with Jesus’ audacity.

They reacted rather strongly!

… but that’s another sermon for another day.

I would love to know

the rest of what Jesus said to the congregation,

but that’s not recorded for us,

or maybe they didn’t let him finish!

But we can be fairly certain

that what he said to them

was not what they were expecting to hear.

I stress that because we, twenty centuries later,

are so accustomed to hearing those words and phrases applied to Jesus

that it may not have occurred to us

how odd and how radical they sounded, that first time.

Jesus has taken a passage of sacred scripture,

from Isaiah, one of the most revered of the prophets,

who had lived more than 600 years before,

and he says,

"those words, spoken all that time ago, are about me."

A startling claim, to say the least,

and yet, one which we as Christian people today believe and profess.

Jesus Christ is the one anointed by God’s Spirit

to do those things described in Isaiah 58 and 61.

To "preach good news to the poor,"

"proclaim release to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,"

to "set at liberty those who are oppressed,"

and to "proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

Rather challenging job description, isn’t it?

The kind of things that could get you into trouble,

as indeed, in Jesus’ case, they did.

But where this hits home,

and where it gets scary, is this:

the more I read the Bible,

and the more I talk with God about what I find there,

the more I realize that those words and phrases

are my job description, too.

And I don’t mean, me as an ordained minister,

or me as a leader in a church,

but rather, me as a baptized follower of Jesus Christ.

And therefore,

not only is it also my job description,

but it’s each of ours.

Each of us has a calling to preach good news to the poor,

and release to the captives,

and all those other good things.

We will carry out this calling in different ways,

depending on the gifts and graces

that God has given to us individually.

Our gifts are different,

but our calling is much the same.

I’mgoing to come back to that,

but let’s bracket it and put it aside for just a minute.

Because I think it’s important that we be fair to ourselves,

and acknowledge that we are living in a time

when it’s really not fashionable

to operate from this kind of job description.

We have far too many elected officials, past and present,

who have said, and who honestly believe,

that people are poor and homeless

because they choose to be.

(Which can only mean that they didn’t choose their parents carefully!)

But if people are poor by choice,

then preaching good news to them is simply interference.

And do we dare talk about proclaiming release to the captives,

when we have finally laid hold of Saddam Hussein?

We live in fearful times,

and it’s not always clear how much of our concen is real,

and how much is manufactured,

whether for political ends, or economic ends, or both.

But many are fearful about holding onto their jobs … or finding new ones …

fearful about our economic future …

fearful about personal safety,

in light of concerns about terrorism from afar,

and crime from near at hand;

fearful about the welfare of our children and grandchildren.

It is hard to sustain compassion for other people,

when we are genuinely concerned about our own future.

So I’m well aware

that this is a real obstacle in the way of

our taking on the job description

that comes to us from Isaiah, through Jesus.

So I’m not going to tell you,

"Sell all that you have and give to the poor,"

even though Jesus apparently really did tell somebody that.

For most of us,

that is not really an option,

or at least, we don’t believe it to be, so we don’t consider it.

But I do believe that there are less drastic things we can do

which are faithful to the calling that we share.

And again, these will depend on

our own particular gifts.

For example, in this business of

preaching good news to the poor …

There may be some of us who could literally do that:

who could go into a shelter and lead a Bible study,

and do a good job of it,

and leave those folks feeling that

they really had received good news.

Most of us, though, would probably be petrified at the very thought of doing such a thing!

So our act of preaching good news may happen

when we bring gifts for the Christ Child,

or volunteer at Oak Cliff Churches for Emergency Aid,

or contribute to the Caring Fund at Grace Presbyterian Village,

or take food to Hillcrest House,

or teach English to those who need to learn,

or write a letter to the editor expressing our concern,

or protest an unfair law,

or whatever your own gifts enable you to do.

There is plenty that’s wrong

just in the way that Dallas treats its own poor,

to keep us all busy full-time, if we so chose.

That, at least, is one of the less controversial pieces of our job description …

But what about this business of proclaiming release to the captives?

I seriously doubt that any of us is ready

to unlock the prison doors and let everyone out!

But again, each of us can in our own way

proclaim God’s good news to those in prison.

One of my seminary classmates – Wayne G. –

knew from the very beginning that he wanted to go into prison chaplaincy.

Wayne was pushy; he was foul-mouthed; he was unbelievably sexist …

In fact, here’s the kind of person Wayne was:

One day, about a month into our first year of study,

he came over to the lunch table

where I was sitting with several other people,

plopped himself down in the chair next to me,

and said, "I’ve figured out why there are so many women in seminary."

Well, I knew he was going to say something outrageous,

but I didn’t know what, so I asked him,

"Tell me, Wayne, why are there so many women in seminary?"

"You’re all looking for husbands," said Wayne.

And God must have put the words in my mouth,

because without missing a beat, I said,

"Give us some credit would you?

If we were in the market for husbands,

don’t you think we’d be hanging about

med school or law school,

where at least we could be sure they would make some money

once they graduated?"

Wayne didn’t bother me much after that.

And I can’t say that I disliked him,

but I really didn’t like to be with him.

And yet,

Wayne was the most amazing prison chaplain I’ve ever seen.

He could swear like a sailor,

dish it out as well as take it;

he understood those men, and why they were the way they were,

but then he could show them, in ways they could understand,

why that wasn’t good enough.

He knew when to be tough and when to be gentle.

And he was very good at his work.

Again, most of us are probably not cut out to be

full-time chaplains in maximum-security prisons.

But there are other options.

We might want to get involved in prison reform …

Some of the things that go on in Texas prisons

would make your hair stand on end.

We might ask questions about the whole notion

of prisons being operated for a profit

by corporations on contract with the state.

Did you know that the Presbyterian Church (USA)

has gone on record in opposition to private, for-profit prisons?

We might ask questions about people who have been imprisoned

because their legal status has come under question …

There are people who have been in U.S. prisons for more than 20 years,

not charged with any crime,

but trapped between a country that doesn’t want them,

and a home country to which they cannot return.

Or, on a much simpler level,

there are prisoners who have become Christians since they were imprisoned,

some of whom would very much like

to correspond with Christian people "on the outside"

and find out what it’s like to "live a clean life."

Maybe they would like to hear from you.

I can give you names.

Whatever your gifts, whatever your abilities,

God can use you.

And wants to use you.

It’s important for us to respond

because it is our calling, our job description.

And it’s important because

the poor are waiting for good news,

the captives are waiting,

the blind and the oppressed are waiting.

Waiting for us,

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

It is the work of Christ,

and it is our work,

May God give us strength for this work,

and joy in doing it.

Amen.

© 2004 Julie Adkins (e-mail: DrJAdkins@trinitypresdallas.org)