NEHEMIAH 8:2-10

PSALM 113

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-27

LUKE 4:14-21

Sermon – 1/25/04

We have three wonderful sentences of Scripture to take into our heads, into our hearts and into our actions this morning – and they are oh, so appropriate to hear on the day of our Annual Meeting, on the day we reflect on “The State of the Parish 2004.”

The first great sentence is from Ezra, the priest and scribe, who led a great revival of faith and worship among the people of Israel after they had returned to the Holy Land from exile in Babylon. Today’s Old Testament reading tells us how all the adults and “all who could hear with understanding” listened “from early morning until mid-day” as Ezra read from the Holy Law (the Torah, what we call the first five books of the Old Testament) and interpreted the Scripture for the people. It was a day of great celebration, for the people had endured exile, hardship and suffering and now were home in Jerusalem worshipping God freely and hearing God’s word without oppression or persecution. And Ezra concluded by giving this great sentence which both explained how they had endured and gave them insight into how they could continue to persevere. He told them, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Not money or social position or military power or even education was their strength. No, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Those words are just as true today as then, and for us as for the returned Israelites.

The second great word of Scripture today is from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ. To set the stage, let me mention that today’s Gospel reading – describing Jesus speaking in his home synagogue in Nazareth – is written on a large plaque behind the altar in Christ Church, Nazareth. It is written in English and in Arabic, the language of the congregation. Ten years ago I worshipped in Christ Church, Nazareth as part of a study group whose members came from America, Canada, Britain, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, the Philippines, Japan and Australia. Our first hymn was “The Church’s one foundation” – just as we sing here today. We sang it to the same tune as we did here, our international group singing in English and the regular congregation singing in Arabic. And when we sang the second verse together “elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth” – then I really got it. This is the Church universal, this five continent sampling in one church, here in Jesus’ hometown, brought here by the love of him.

And, in that place and here in this, I could and can then start to focus on Jesus’ one sentence sermon, which followed his reading from Isaiah 61 and 58 about the coming of the Messiah meaning healing, liberation and joy. Jesus’ one sentence sermon was this: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Today, he said, the deepest and most poignant hopes and dreams of all years began to be realized in him and in his ministry. Now is the time of fulfillment. That was his “inaugural address” as the Savior: liberation, joy, healing.

That is still what Jesus is about: life in its fullness, life and love conquering death, sin, pain, and oppression.

But Jesus is no longer physically, tangibly in the world as he was that morning in the synagogue in Nazareth, and he won’t be in the world physically until he comes again with power and great glory to judge the living and the dead. How can the message and dawning reality of liberation, healing and joy come alive here and now?

Ah, that’s where the third great word of Scripture comes in, from St. Paul, who says to the Corinthian Church – and to us, “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

Christ has no hands in the world now but ours. If there is to be good news brought to the poor, we must do it. If Christ’s healing touch is to be brought to those who need it, his power must flow through our hands. If people who are the captives of addiction are to be reached with the life-saving news of God’s eagerness to be their Higher Power and restore them to sanity, we are called to do the reaching out. If those who are oppressed in any way are to find allies to support their liberation, we must be those allies. We are the body of Christ – all of us together – and each of us individually are members of that body.

Just as every part of the body is essential for the body to work, Paul says, then every ministry that Christians do is essential for the body of Christ to work in the world. Some ministries may be more glamorous than others, but glamour doesn’t matter: serving others while praising God matters.

Let me tell you of a magical moment in this church – and of the supporting cast which made it possible. We have Vacation Bible School every year and I teach every year, but one year was especially meaningful to me because of the girls from the Homeless Shelter we had in VBS. The VBS program was five days of basic Christianity: Creation, Sin, Redemption, Resurrection, New Life.

On Monday, I talked about how the creation story tells us that all people are made in the image of God, and one thing that means is that each of us and all of us are priceless.

I don’t think some of the kids had ever been told they were priceless before.

The listened. They liked it.

We developed a “patter” on this theme we repeated every day. I’d walk around the class and say, “How much are you worth? 49 cents?” And they’d say “No.” I’d say, “Oh, are you up to 98 cents now?” And they’d giggle and say “No.” And I’d say, “So how much are you worth?” And one of the Shelter kids piped up and said, “I’m priceless.” I’d say, “Who told you that?” and she’d say, “God did.” And I’d say, “That’s right! And don’t let anybody every tell you different.”

“To let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Part of liberation comes from raising one’s own expectations for oneself, and part of that comes from knowing how special one is to the Almighty God – that even if you are homeless and living in a shelter, you’re priceless to the one whose opinion matters most.

For that wonderful moment to happen, it took dozens of people to volunteer so that we could have VBS – including the people who drove those kids to and from the shelter in Edison each day. It took craft volunteers, teachers, snack volunteers, music volunteers, preparation and set-up and clean-up volunteers, it took people to order and organize the curriculum and train the new volunteers, people to do administration, publicity, registration, make copies, iron T-shirts, give money to buy all the stuff for a total of 100 kids to have an awesome week.

And it took years of generous giving of time, talent and money for there to be a church community and building which could be a launch pad for ministry. Without a gathered, giving community, none of that would have happened.

The joy of the Lord is our strength. Now is the time of fulfillment. We are the body of Christ.

Whatever opportunities and challenges we face as a church community this year – and we will have many of both – let us remember these three great words from today: the joy of the Lord is our strength. Now is the time of fulfillment. We are the body of Christ. And there are dozens upon dozens of ways people can serve as part of Christ’s body in this place, making the Good News of Jesus Christ real in peoples’ lives, and being strengthened by the joy of the Lord.

(The Rev.) Francis. A. Hubbard

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church