Jesus’ Inaugural Address
Jesus’ Inaugural Address
Luke 4: 14-21
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 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, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because she 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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
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. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
What a week it has been in our country. A week when words were spoken and written, proclaimed and rejected, in moments that were filled with hate and other moments filled with hope. I am a person who makes my living by writing and speaking, preaching and praying. Today I read the words of Luke who describes the words Jesus spoke at the beginning of his ministry. A passage that is part of the lectionary, a liturgical three-year calendar of readings, that I had planned to use today. What might we hear or overhear in this passage in the context of this week?
Let’s look back. Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday when we celebrate Dr. King’s work for racial justice, inclusivity, peace and love for all humans. I listened to one of his speeches - "Paul's Letter to American Christians" – a fictional letter from Paul to American Christians in the context of 1958. And I re-read parts of “I Have a Dream Speech” delivered on steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people (men) are created equal.’”
Monday was also Inauguration Day. The Inaugural Addresses are generally the main focus and the thing people remember. They set the tone for the incoming administration, pointing to what they hope will transpire under their leadership, while seeking to inspire the American people to follow.
President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address in the midst of the US Civil War, is consider one of the most famous - “With malice toward none; with charity for all….”
President Franklin Delano Rosevelt told a nation in the midst of the Great Depression and looming war: “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”
President Kennedy famously said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
President Barak Obama said: “We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional — what makes us American — is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago.” (That all people are created equal.)
Our Gospel reading from Luke is also about another historic, and some might say, world changing Inauguration address of sorts.
The word “inaugurate” - “to begin, start or introduce” something new. In that way, Jesus is starting something new, his ministry following his baptism and 40 days in the wilderness.
Luke tells us, he got up to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Those words are ones that Jesus not only read from scripture, but he embodied them in his relationships and teaching. His hometown is amazed by what he said. But as we will explore next week when I read the second half of this event passage, his hometown takes issue with what Jesus says about these prophetic words.
When Jesus reads from Isaiah, he begins to lay out for the people God’s unwritten vision or we might say mission or policy statement about how God’s Kin-dom will be fulfilled and enacted. Whereas, the political powers of Roman, in order to maintain control over the people, oppressed them with a strong military presence and stifling laws, Jesus proclaimed a message of liberation and freedom through compassion, justice and love.
In Jesus’ time, too often religious leaders and wealthy of Jerusalem kowtowed to Rome, out of fear or desire to be seen as loyal to the Emperor, so they could curry favor with the Empire. The local political leaders in Jerusalem enacted and supported laws, some they said were ordained by God, that pushed people to the edges of society, stripping them of a voice or their human dignity. In doing so, they were also pushing God to the margins too.
Jesus, on the other hand, welcomed and included these people in God’s Kin-dom, calling them the beloved, the beloved children of God. Lepers, Samaritans, women, children, the poor…
In reading from the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus sets forth his vision of what his ministry will be. Words that describe God’s Kin-dom that in an inner and outer reality - characterized by mercy, compassion, a hunger and thirst for justice and peace, even in the face of evil, lies, and misinformation. It was quite a sermon. People who had known Jesus his whole life had quite a bit to say. The post sermon conversation would have been intense.
These days it is exceedingly rare for a sermon preached by a clergy person in a worship service to make the news, not to mention go viral. That happened on Tuesday as you may have heard.
The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., preached the sermon. Her text was the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew 7:24-27. Budde explored what it might take for a group, a people, or a nation to have a foundation so firm that storms and floods cannot destroy it. Unity, she said, is what we as a nation need in order to be “founded on a rock.” She listed three foundations for unity:
Honoring the inherent dignity of every human being
Honesty
Humility
The sermon made news because sitting in the front pew of the National Cathedral were the newly inaugurated President of the United States and his wife. At the close of her sermon, Budde addressed the President directly, asking for mercy for those who are frightened, those who fear for their lives or their livelihood or their human dignity. She specifically listed the LGBTQ+ community, the undocumented people who work in our fields and a myriad of other jobs and who are not criminals but are good, tax-paying neighbors, and the children who fear their parents will be whisked away. Later, the new President responded in social media with anger and a rejection of her and her message.
Budde did not select as her text Luke 4:14-21, but she relied on it; she lived it. As someone who has written and preached sermons for over 35 years, I was grateful to her.
First, she was fearlessly gentle. As she spoke the truth to powerful people gathered, she did not speak through bravado. She was gentle. Humble. She embodied mercy.
Second, she was centered on and lifted up the marginalized, rather than attacking powerful people. She spotlighted those who are afraid and need to be honored and protected.
Third, the Bishop invited the new president - and all of us - to something higher than politics or winning and losing. She called us to a value that should unite us: mercy. She wasn’t arguing for a particular policy, but for a particular posture. The profoundly Christian posture of merciful compassion, especially for the poor and marginalized.
Her sermon was an invitation to look at one’s inner life and how it is connected to action. Each day we are called to look at our inner lives. How are we shaping our minds and hearts? How do we stay open to the movements of the Spirit to make us more kind, more loving, more open, more willing to see our own blind spots, more able to see our need for repenting and healing? How do we live into unity? How do I let go of my own certainty and instead lean into love and humility? And how are contemplation and action an ongoing dance?
Over the last few years and in many speeches, there has been much hate, fear mongering, demeaning, and violent rhetoric. Sometimes I hear or read speeches that use this kind of language under the guise of scripture and Christianity. Disagreeing and lively debate is productive. Hate speech and threats of violence are wrong.
What I know is that today, and every day, as God’s people, we are called commit and recommit to living and loving as Jesus calls us to do from the beginning of his ministry to his post-resurrection, and that is to bring good news to the poor, bring healing and hope to the broken, care for the most vulnerable and be people of welcome. That is part of transformation. This is our work in Kin-dom of God.
Regardless of what is said or enacted by Executive Orders or by Congress, we must continue to commit ourselves to do God’s work of justice, mercy, compassion and kindness in all we say and do as we humbly seek to follow the ways of Jesus.
Let us be a people who boldly proclaim with our words and actions the radical love of Christ -- a love that is wide enough to hold all of us, even as it calls us to something greater.
May we walk in humility, speak with grace, and act with justice, so that in all things, God’s love may be revealed. Amen.
Resources
Rev. Scott Marrese-Wheeler, sermon, January 19, 2025 (posted on facebook)
Oakland-Cambridge Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, WI
Rev. Joanne Whitt, “Jesus’ Mission Statement (and ours),” solve by walking blog 1/22/25
https://solve-by-walking.com/2025/01/22/jesus-mission-statement-and-ours/
Link to video of full sermon of The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde Jan. 21, 2025
https://youtu.be/xwwaEuDeqM8?si=t56bREIMDutYssE-