As equipped, so are you called
January 26, 2025
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a, Luke 4:14-21
In our reading from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth we hear that all have gifts, several of which were revealed last week right after the presentation. And as Paul indicates, each one of us is tasked with seeking out how our particular gift or set of abilities might best be used in the service of the Lord. He notes that there are hands, there are feet, there are eyes and ears, as well as apostles, prophets, teachers, healers, helpers, and leaders. And because these gifts come with a call to love and kindness, God has graciously appointed a place and role for each of us individually…all according to our individual gifts and ability. We truly are one body…and it is together that we rejoice and give thanks, or suffer and lend support to one another as well.
And in our gospel reading today, Luke tells us we have been sent, ‘to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ And to do so…starting today! And in truth, that may be easier than it sounds…once we begin to fully live into it. For I have found that goodness and kindness, offered with the right motivation can be quite contagious. The well-used expression, ‘paying it forward’ is really nothing more than faithful living…as we are blessed, so are we able to bless others, just as Abram was told by God at the very start of our faith story in the book of Genesis Chapter 12 and verses 2 and 3.
Fifteen years ago I preached a sermon…I preached on who we were and on what we understood our calling to be at that time. We were blessed back then with a vibrant youth ministry who when asked, had joined in with other adult members of the congregation in praying and seeking our Lord’s guidance in a process we called our ‘Vision Quest’.
We started out promising each other that everything we thought we knew or believed, all of our understanding of what it meant to ‘be a church’ up to that point was fair game, and had to be placed on the table…on the altar of critical review so to speak. Put there either to be saved and celebrated, or potentially let go of, should our prayer and visioning ask that of us.
Together we made a covenant to meet weekly and to go before God in prayer with empty hands and open ears and hearts. We did not know if it would be an easy or difficult process, nor how long it might take, as we felt that with time and faithful, careful listening, the Spirit would lead us into agreement as to just what the Lord’s will and desires were for our little church.
As with many churches back then, we faced many challenges, and felt that continuing to do things the same way we always had before and changing nothing, was not going to allow us to carry on for very long. Our financial ‘nest egg’ from selling off the church manse in 2008 had been drawn down quite low, and we felt that our best course was to seek out a new sense or vision as to how our Lord desired our mission and ministry to move forward.
We knew the Spirit was strong in those who had gathered, and felt that fresh guidance from the Spirit, in whatever form it took, was the way we were going to best understand our calling in faith. We were not at all sure what would remain of previous understanding and practice, but we all shared a deep trust in the Spirit’s ability to mold and fashion this particular ‘wineskin of grace’ into a new vessel. One capable of both holding the enthusiasm and vibrancy of the faith of those gathered, as well as allowing space for newly enlivened faith to grow and expand outward.
And at the heart of all our prayer and listening was a sincere commitment to the idea that in fact, ‘church’ is not a place at all, but rather the gathered people of God called to active service…called together to worship our Lord with the whole of our lives. And perhaps most importantly, we felt that our ‘church’, needed to be a visible sign of hope and God’s grace right here in the heart of our community.
Our gospel passage for that Sunday was the same as today’s from Luke, where Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry and preaches from the Book of Isaiah. In what is often referred to as his ‘Inaugural Sermon’, Jesus makes the striking claim that the promises of the prophet had in fact been fulfilled right there and then…fulfilled that day, as the people heard him speak. It was a bold assertion, and one which still today seems easily disproved by those who only look at the surface of life, without eyes or hearts firmly grounded in the scriptures. For surely as we look around, it is quite obvious that the ‘captives are not yet released’, nor the ‘oppressed set free’. The ‘blind do not yet see’ nor does it seem as though ‘the year of the Lord’s favor has arrived whatsoever’. And yet, that was what Jesus said plainly and clearly.
In fact, this very claim was a large part of that which led to Jesus’ eventual rejection and crucifixion, so far did it seem from daily ‘reality’. Surely life then as now did not offer much if any ‘visible proof’ that any of those ancient promises had been fulfilled, in fact all the evidence seemed quite to the contrary.
I think one of the most profound lessons that came out of my studies at seminary was a wholly different understanding of the actual Gospel-stated intent of the ministry of Jesus…a completely new way of looking at why Jesus came to be among us and what his ministry was meant to accomplish. I came to see the gospels as teaching that our faith is meant to be lived out in and as a serving and loving community. That the gospel accounts were not simply a set of rules and proscriptions meant to guarantee a life after death, a place that was actually and finally free from captivity, oppression, and blindness of all sorts.
I came to understand my call as one to be focused not on helping others attain personal spiritual perfection or holiness, but rather to lead by following the example of Jesus in reaching out in compassionate service to those less fortunate than ourselves, those oppressed in any way, and still made to feel less worthy, those who through no fault of their own, were made to feel as though their lives counted for less, or were of little value at all. As I delved deeper into the gospels, I came to understand that it was to these poor souls that Jesus had devoted his entire ministry. It was to these, that Jesus brought the real Good News that God’s love for all was unconditional, and that his mercy and forgiveness were extended without end.
In short, I came to understand that faith centered in the will of our loving God, was a faith that imitated the ministry and purposes of our Lord Jesus, that faith lived out in truth, was faith laser-focused on serving those in need right here in our own community. I learned that faith, as demonstrated by the words and life of Jesus, was about living in community, in order to serve the community, and not just the ‘community of faith gathered’, but the whole of our surrounding community as well.
During the three years Jesus walked this earth he reached out and defended the poor, healed the sick, comforted the lonely, and fiercely sought justice for those oppressed and despised. So much so, that it made him a target for all the worldly forces of hatred, greed, and power that are so diametrically opposed to God’s love. As we see demonstrated in their unsuccessful attempt to extinguish this most profound witness to the width, height, and depth of God’s love.
And so, our Vision Quest process of seeking after the will of God through prayer and discernment formed the basis of a new understanding of our purpose and calling as a church. Personal salvation and a personal relationship with our loving God came to be understood as something that came to be, that actually was only fully formed through our commitment to and practice of serving and loving one another.
Seeking to live into the words of Jesus preached that day in Nazareth gave us not only purpose and direction, but the ability to see that these ancient promises, those promises which Jesus noted were already ‘fulfilled in their hearing’…could actually and still be realized, within the practice of compassionate community. We learned that it is still possible to carry on the work of setting the oppressed free and bringing sight to those who do not yet see among us…for the Spirit of our God blesses and sanctifies all efforts to love an other, whenever we commit to make that our sacred purpose.
Fifteen years ago we began this journey together to better understand our call and purpose as the community of our Lord. And though the work of doing so has not always been easy, we have managed to hold true to our efforts to be a force for good and a witness of God’s love and grace right here. Through trial and error and a desire to truly ‘get it right’, we found that ‘fulfilling’ the words of our gospel reading for today took hard work, a willingness to serve, and most importantly, a commitment to work together.
Where there was hunger and a lack of food, we responded with what has now become an extensive Food Pantry ministry and Soup Kitchen. Where there was a need to offer inexpensive clothing and household goods, we opened the doors of our Thrift Shop, thereby meeting the needs of so many families in our immediate neighborhood. To those who would garner hope and benefit from seeing a church community alive and active, we offered a working organic garden project, not only supplementing our food assistance programs with healthy produce, but supplying the same to those so grateful for an organic farm stand right here within our own neighborhood.
In fact, all that we now do together is part of our visible witness of hope, life, and vitality. And as for the claim that the ‘kingdom of God’ is actually within sight, each and every one of these ministries have not only provided their stated purpose, but they also have been opportunities to bear witness and to share the strength of our church community. For we are always available to stop for a moment just to chat, or to listen, to lend a hand, or to offer comfort or assistance to someone in need. In short, we have been and continue to be used by the Spirit in many, many ways, showing that the goodness and grace of which Jesus so often spoke, is right there for all to see.
We had really no idea where our prayer and intentional ‘visioning’ would lead us when we started out over 15 years ago, but with time and a lot of hard work, we have been able to craft, and then lift up a message of hope and grace to all who come looking. The words Jesus spoke that day in his home synagogue were bold and challenging, and many were caught off guard.
And they are no less challenging, and no less threatening today. For a message that seeks to lift up every soul, and to care for each one in need…a message that relies on the power of unconditional love over one grounded in might and brute strength…one grounded in giving rather than hoarding essential resources, is simply not how many prefer to live. And yet, it is the only way to realize the fullness of the promise and the blessings Jesus gave his life to teach.
By grace alone, we have been blessed to walk in these ways. By grace a small group of people vowed to seek out the Spirit and to find a way to live as if the kingdom of our Lord truly was at hand. And by grace they persisted, until there was at least enough light to take the first step. And by that same grace, we found that our Lord’s kingdom of promise and possibility, waited only on our willingness to work together in revealing it.
And so, we must carry on, for the Spirit is still hard at work in this small little church with the willingness to question pretty much everything, as well as to trust that the Spirit will lead us into all the truth found in the Word of our Lord…and give us as well the language and means to not only appear to be something that many are desperately still seeking, but to have both the substance and grit to prove that indeed a community founded in faith and committed to finding more ways to truly love one’s neighbor as oneself, can be a shining light of hope and promise right here and right now.
And that, my friends, truly is good news, and truly is something worth sharing…together
…amen
