Fulfilled in Your Hearing - Third Sunday after Epiphany
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
January 26, 2025
It was near the end of
July 2022, and my sabbatical month in the north of England was rapidly coming
to a close. My family and I had enjoyed visiting
a vast number of old Anglo Saxon and medieval English churches in that
region. But we were now reaching our
capacity for old stone buildings. They
were all starting to blend together, and the repetition was growing
monotonous. So when our local friend
Mick took us on another long day of touring throughout County Durham, our
spirits sagged when he said, “I have one more stop you have to see. It’s an old church!”
It was late in the day
when we finally pulled into the village, called “Croft-on-Tees.” Mick could hardly restrain his enthusiasm for
what was to come, and leaped out of his car. But as my family and I realized we were heading into yet another old
stone church building with a sagging roof and a musty interior, we dragged
ourselves out of the car with hesitation and deep weariness. We had little expectation that anything
meaningful or memorable was about to happen.
As we heard in our
Gospel lesson today, the congregation gathered at the local synagogue in
Nazareth probably felt much the same. It
was just another ordinary day of worship in that small, insignificant little
Galilean town. But Jesus was there! Wasn’t that a big deal? No; it appears that no one really noticed or
even cared that he had come to worship. Why would they? It was nothing
newsworthy; as Luke himself explained, Jesus was a local boy who had been
brought up in Nazareth. He was no
stranger to the synagogue either. Luke
says that it was Jesus’s custom to attend worship.
There in Nazareth,
Jesus wasn’t the great and mysterious wonderworker or the Messiah who would at
long last eject the Romans and bring independence to his people. He was just Joseph and Mary’s son. It was no big deal as he stood up to read,
and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. Isaiah was of course one of the most
well-known and important Old Testament prophets; his words were regularly read
and heard there in the synagogue. So a
reading from Isaiah by a local boy was about as mundane an event as you could
imagine. Truly, there was no expectation
that anything important was about to happen.
But life is full of
unexpected surprises, isn’t it? That’s
what we discovered that day in that little village in the north of
England. Because no matter how ordinary
something might appear at first glance, when you can see it through the eyes of
someone who really knows, suddenly the ordinary can become extraordinary. As we walked into the old church, we were
warmly greeted by the church organist, who was there totally by chance that
day. He was surprisingly eager to share
the building’s stories and secrets with this family of clueless Americans.
We quickly learned that
this church had a unique history. One of
its pastors was named Charles Dodgson. He had died in 1868 and was buried near the church. Though he was a respected and accomplished
priest within the Church of England, what made Reverend Dodgson most memorable
was that he was the father of a son named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. You know the son better via his pen name,
Lewis Carroll.
Lewis Carroll was of
course the author of “Alice in Wonderland.” What we discovered from the church organist is that the author grew up
there in that church, and many of its features inspired his stories. Suddenly that ancient church came vibrantly
alive for us. The fading old stone
carving of a cat’s face near the communion rail took on new meaning as we saw
it now as the basis for the Cheshire Cat in the Alice books. And as we looked at two massive medieval
tombs on each side of the church interior, representing two rival, feuding
families who patronized the church, we learned that they inspired Tweedle Dee
and Tweedle Dum. That day and that visit
to the church in Croft-on-Tees became one of our favorite and most memorable
days of our entire time in England, all because someone was able to open our
eyes to the hidden blessing before us.
A similar thing
happened in that synagogue in Nazareth. After Jesus finished reading Isaiah’s words, he did something no other
reader in that synagogue had ever done before or since. He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the
attendant, sat down, and with every eye fixed on him, declared, “Today this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
It sent shock waves
through the assembly. Jesus was claiming
that he was the one Isaiah had prophesied, hundreds and hundreds of
years before. The ancient promise of a
messiah who would bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the
captives, free the oppressed, and usher in a new age of restitution,
restoration, renewal, reconciliation, and forgiveness had been heard so many
times and for so many years that the people had become numb to it. Perhaps they even doubted if it could ever be
fulfilled, given the realities of the oppression they knew as their everyday
companion. And yet here was
someone who didn’t just believe this promise would come true. He was telling them that it had come
true that day, because he was God’s fulfillment of that
promise. And after that day, nothing
would ever be the same again for them or for Jesus.
But now let’s leave
first century Nazareth and 19th century England and return here, to this place and this time. Because I
know that Jesus has been moving in your life for quite some time now. You’ve felt that stirring, that restlessness,
that hunger for something more, and it brought you here today. But Jesus didn’t draw you here merely so
you’d learn a history lesson about his hometown, or hear something that might
make you interested in reading Alice in Wonderland.
You came here probably
not expecting much. Same old church
sanctuary. Familiar people reading
lessons from the Bible you’ve heard before. In all likelihood, you didn’t anticipate that anything meaningful or
memorable would happen here in worship today. So please hear this as directly and personally as possible. In today’s Gospel lesson, through these familiar
old words that may seem mundanely ordinary, Jesus is speaking extraordinary
words of promise directly to you.
You see, Jesus is the
one who has come to free you and release you from captivity. “Pastor, you mean that Jesus makes it
possible for me to go to heaven?” Yes, and
that’s a priceless gift beyond our comprehension. But sometimes that gift can seem so distant
and so unfathomable in its breadth that it can lose its meaning for us amidst
the daily grind. And so it’s vital for
us to hear that these promises from Jesus aren’t solely confined to some day in
the future, when we die. His promise of
release from captivity and freedom from oppression are also for this life,
for now.
Look, we’re all captive
to something. Maybe it’s a sin, or some
attitude that’s holding us back. And
we’re all oppressed by something. Maybe
it’s a shame we can’t escape, or an experience that continues to haunt us. Jesus is here to liberate you. He’s calling you to open your eyes to the
hidden blessing before you. He’s urging
you to take his hand, surrender to his love, and walk with him. Because in his holy Word, in his life-giving
body and blood, this day, he wants to give you a new beginning, a fresh
start, freedom to hope and to love again; freedom to believe in the future once
more. Freedom to be the person he
created you to be. His promise is
real. It is dependable. And it is for you. Today, by the grace of Jesus Christ,
our Gospel lesson has been fulfilled in your hearing. Amen.
Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2025 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
Gospel Text: Luke 4:14-21
14 Then Jesus, filled
with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him
spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to
teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 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, 17 and
the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and
found the place where it was written:
18 “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,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 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. 21 Then
he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.”
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