January 26, 2025: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard.  Amen.

Heard any good sermons this past week…or at least a snippet of one? 

I have no doubt that most, if not all, of you did. 

And today, we heard the beginning of another one, though we only got the opening sentence in what we just heard, when Jesus said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Now the setting for the gospel today is Nazareth.  Jesus has returned to his hometown, and likely the synagogue where he went as a boy.  This is not good, as any seminarian can tell you who has ever returned back to their childhood church to preach.

So back to his sermon.  At first, the folks in his hometown liked the opening, until they started thinking – hey, isn’t this Joseph’s kid?  Which is a way of saying – I knew you when you were knee high to a duck – you couldn’t possibly have anything to teach me.  And then, Jesus keeps preaching, and Lordy, they were not too crazy about what he had to say.  They were so outraged in fact, that they chased him to the edge of a cliff in order to throw him off.  We won’t get to hear that part because next week, the lectionary swaps it out for the scriptures about the presentation of Jesus at the temple – what we in the church call Candlemas.

So, it seems that this sermon of Jesus is perfectly matched with the news of that other one we heard a lot about this week, because both were centered on the same message. And both got the same response – at least by some of those who heard it.

So, let’s get back to that sermon by The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.  She was presiding and preaching in another Episcopal church – the Washington National Cathedral.  I will post a link to the full service so that you can watch it for yourself, and look at the bulletin too: https://cathedral.org/about/service-info/

But before we get to what she said, we need to remember the context: This was a service done every time a new President is sworn in.  It was not a service for the new President.  It was, as the bulletin made clear, a service of prayer for the nation.  It was also an ecumenical and interfaith service that prayed for those who serve others – the leaders of our nation, for those whom they serve – the people in need, and for all the peoples of the nation.

Bishop Budde, preaching from the text of Matthew and Deuteronomy read earlier that service, which called for us to love God, welcome the stranger, and build our faith on a strong foundation, began her sermon this way: “As a country we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a people and a nation. Not for agreement, political or otherwise. But for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division. A unity that serves the common good.” 

Drawing on the Matthew text, she spoke about a three fold foundation for this unity we pray for in our nation.  The first is “honoring the inherent dignity of every human being.” Which, by the way, comes from our own baptismal covenant.  The second one she said is “honesty in private conversation and public discourse.” And the third is “humility which we all need because we are all fallible human beings.”

That’s all good, right?  So, why the wild reactions to it?  I mean, can’t we all agree that unity, honoring the dignity of every human being, honesty, and humility are good things?  To which Jesus might say “Yeah, well I thought the text of Isaiah would be good news too.”

Well, let’s get to the part that went viral.  You see, in that service there is almost always a moment in which the preacher will directly address the president.  Think of it like an ordination service in which the preacher nearly always has the ordinand stand while a charge is given to them about what their new life in Christ will mean for them and what they will be called to do.

And Bishop Budde, in that tradition, said this, in her usual soft spoken way: “Let me make one final plea. Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country. And we’re scared now.

There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families — some who fear for their lives.

And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues … and temples.

I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.

Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being; to speak the truth to one another in love. and walk humbly with each other and our God. For the good of all people in this nation and the world.”

And for this, our President said she was a “so-called bishop,” accused her of being nasty in tone, and called for a public apology.  One congressman posted on social media calling for her deportation.  Another has sponsored a resolution, HR 59, calling for Congress to condemn her words. I suppose that sounds a little better than a crowd trying to throw you off a cliff, except that Bishop Budde also has received death threats.

Death threats!

Death threats, calls for condemnation, deportation, and an apology for what?  For daring to preach about caring for the vulnerable – the very call of Jesus.

Folks, if you are in a church, and become offended by a sermon about mercy, compassion, welcoming the stranger, and love – then perhaps you meant to be in a coffee shop, because you clearly do not understand the words of Jesus and the meaning of our faith.

Let us not forget what Jesus was preaching today – it wasn’t good news for the powerful, the wealthy, or the well connected.  It was good news for the poor – And using that passage from Isaiah, he made it clear that he was there 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.”  I should note that the last bit, the year of the Lord’s favor – commonly called a Jubilee year in the Roman Catholic church… guess when it happens again…2025. 

And sadly, if we didn’t already know it, we know it after this week – if you preach the good news, as Jesus did, as Bishop Budde did – many people are not going to be happy about it.  Now, I get it when it is someone who has never read the bible and perhaps has a lot of wealth and power.  What I fail to understand is why so many of those who are angry, calling for her death, deportation, or condemnation think of themselves as Christians!  Heck, one of them even sells bibles to make money!  Seriously.

And they also say this sermon was political!

Have they ever read the gospels?

Have they ever ready ANY part of scripture?  Any of it?

This isn’t political, it’s scriptural. 

If you can’t see that, then please, for the love of all that is Holy, go back to Genesis and read all the way through – especially read the Gospels if you claim to be a follower of Jesus. 

Heck, just start with the Magnificat – the words of Jesus’ momma Mary found in Luke 1, who when pregnant with him – with God in her womb – declared “…that the powerful and rich are sent away empty, while the hungry are filled with good things.”  You gotta think Jesus heard a lot of THAT when he was growing up.  Maybe we should all hear it a lot too.

Because the thing is, the Magnificat, the Isaiah reading Jesus gave in the gospel today, nearly all of scripture is about God’s desire to be loving in relationship with us – and for us to be in loving relationship with God and with one another.  God continually commands us through the prophets, through Jesus, to welcome the stranger, care for the poor, tend to the sick, have compassion on those less fortunate, mercy on those who need it, and love one another as God loves us.  We are even called to love those who persecute us.  And, Jesus went so far as to tell us that in these vulnerable ones, we will find him. 

And as the body of Christ in the world today – this is our life call too. Just as Jesus read in Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”  The same is true of each of us – we were anointed in baptism, and we committed (or recommitted in confirmation) to continuing the apostles teaching and fellowship, to proclaiming the good news of God in Christ, and to seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and striving for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.  These are our baptismal vows.

All of us are anointed to proclaim this good news. 

All of us are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Now, you may not be called to preach in a synagogue like Jesus, or at a massive and live streamed church service like Bishop Budde, or even at all.  But, as St. Paul made clear in his first epistle to the Corinthians, all of the body does not have the same role, but all parts are important, and all parts need the other parts.  Each of us will live into our call differently depending upon the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to each of us, and we need each other too, just as each part of the body needs another part. 

We enter a time of uncertainty, vulnerability, and fear among many of our sisters and brothers in this nation. We must be willing to stand up and be the empowered people of Christ we are, to proclaim the good news, to see the ones no one else will see, to free the captive, to bring sight to the blind.  And – we must, like Jesus, like Bishop Budde, be willing to speak truth to power, to be a voice for the voiceless, despite what may come.

We may feel we don’t have the words, or the knowledge, or the homiletical skills.  But, I want

to remind you of something someone else said from that very same pulpit Bishop Budde preached from.  It was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and as the world later found out, it would be his last Sunday sermon before being assassinated a few days later.  He has been on my heart and mind lately, and he said this about how we each have a role to play: “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Folks, you are the ones anointed in baptism to proclaim good news to the poor.  We don’t need to have a lot of money, a big title, or a national audience.  We only need “a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”  And we need to remember that Jesus turned the world’s idea about power upside down.  Power – REAL power – isn’t what you can do TO others, but what you can do FOR others. Authentic power can only be measured by the way in which it is good news for the poor, brings sight to the blind, and frees the captive.  And all of us have that power within us.

“The Spirit of God is upon you, because God has anointed you to bring good news to the poor.  God has sent you to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of God’s favor.”

Today this scripture has been fulfilled – right here – in you – in every one of us!

And so, as Bishop Budde implored, “May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being; to speak the truth to one another in love. and walk humbly with each other and our God. For the good of all people in this nation and the world.”

Amen.

For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):

Sermon Podcast

The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox

Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge

January 26, 2025

Epiphany 3 – Year C

1st Reading – Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Psalm 19

2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Gospel – Luke 4:14-21