Sermon for 3 Epiphany, Year C
Based on Lk. 4:14-21
By Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson
“Jesus
The Liberator”
Today’s gospel is a rather loaded one! In many respects, it fits in well with the themes of this Epiphany
season, in which we emphasize God’s Good News of Grace Incarnate reaching out
to all peoples, regardless of sex, age, colour, creed or social status.
Moreover, this gospel is an excellent brief summary of Jesus’ ministry, as well
as A Perfect
Model of
ministry for each one of us today. This gospel is a loaded one because it
has immense, revolutionary implications for everyone—as Jesus tells his
synagogue audience that he is fulfilling the words of Isaiah 58:6 and 61:1-2.
These words are nothing short of revolutionary, since they advocate radical
changes of liberation, involving everyone, but primarily for The Poor.
In
human history, we use the term “revolutionary” to describe new discoveries,
which change us and the ways that we see our world. For example, before the
days of Nicholas Copernicus, the Polish astronomer (1473-1543), most—if not
all—human beings believed that all of the planets in our solar system,
including the sun traveled around the earth. Copernicus changed all of that by
the revolutionary discovery that the planets, including earth, travel around
the sun.
Today in the Christian Church, we are in the midst of a change, which is
“revolutionary,” because of a biblical discovery, changing the ways that we see
our world. This discovery is however not new, it was there all along. Several biblical prophets and poets
boldly proclaimed it. Jesus himself believed that it was integral to his
messianic mission and ministry.
This “revolutionary” biblical discovery in the Christian Church today is
spelled out in its clearest form in the world’s poorest nations. What is this
“revolutionary” biblical discovery anyway? In the words of the Latin American
church, during a conference at Puebla, Mexico back in 1979, it was formulated
by their bishops and other leaders this way: “God’s preferential option for the poor.” It is GOD’S preferential
option because without God, the poor can do nothing. As the father of
Liberation Theology, Gustavo Gutierrez was fond of saying: God needs to prefer
the poor because no one else does—that’s precisely why they are poor. Without
God, the
poor remain powerless, voiceless, hopeless, and forsaken. It is PREFERENTIAL because:
The very word “preference” denies all
exclusiveness and seeks rather to call attention to those who are the
first—though not the only ones—with whom we should be in solidarity. (It is
preferential because it is God’s grace and love) for those on the lowest rung
of the ladder of history.1
It is God’s PREFERENCE because
for centuries the world—and sadly, even the church—has not made the poor their
preference. (It is an OPTION because
it endeavours:)
to emphasize the freedom and commitment
expressed in a decision. The commitment to the poor is not “optional” in the
sense that a Christian is free to make or not make this option, or commitment,
to the poor, just as the love we owe to all human beings without exception is
not “optional.” (The emphasis on freedom and commitment means that it is not
only God’s freedom and commitment or those who are not poor who are free and
committed—although they are—rather the emphasis is:) “that the poor too have an
obligation to make this option.”2
In other words, this “revolutionary” biblical discovery means that God
gives the poor number one priority. Spanish theologian, Alfredo Fierro, in his book, The Militant Gospel: A
Critical Introduction To Political Theologies, put it this way: “It is the notion that
evangelical love is on the side of the oppressed and that this partisanship
gives it an impact and effectiveness that is socially subversive.” (p. 190) As Jesus said: “the last shall be FIRST.”
For many of the poor in the church today, the entire Bible is read and
interpreted with this viewpoint of God and the poor. That is one of the reasons
why this way of reading and interpreting the Bible is called Liberation
Theology. For, in God’s eyes, the poor are FIRST and
NUMBER ONE
PRIORITY, God
liberates them; God comes to give them life in all of its fullness. They are no
longer powerless, voiceless, hopeless and forsaken.
This leads us into the word liberation and its meaning—which, all too
often has been misunderstood. When the poor in the church today speak of
liberation, they refer to at least three things.
Liberation
involves changing social and economic structures that allow the rich to grow
richer and the poor to become poorer. In our scripture passage from Luke today, we see this happening. Jesus
comes to liberate by REVERSING the
present social and economic structures. The poor, we are promised, receive good
news, prisoners are released, the blind see, the oppressed go free. Jesus
Christ comes to liberate by changing the rules of the game, working in solidarity with and
for the poor.
Jesus comes to reverse the
present economic and political structures of the world bank and the IMF—which
favour rich nations by refusing to cancel completely the astronomical debts of
the world’s 50 poorest nations, as the Christian Churches’ Jubilee 2000
movement has been advocating them to do, in accordance with the biblical
principles of the Jubilee year found in Leviticus chapter twenty-five. A true
jubilee would completely forgive all debts, paving the way for a more just
society, honouring the equality and dignity of every nation, every human being.
Jesus The Liberator comes to reverse the
present situation, in which: “Every day two (or more) families leave farms in
the prairie provinces. (And) Grain prices are below the cost of production.”3
In God’s realm,
the rich no longer make up the rules of the game and “call the shots.” The
coming of God’s realm involves changing social and economic structures, which
ensure equality and justice for all—especially the poor, who happen to comprise
the majority of the world’s population.
However, it is not good enough to enjoy ONLY social
and economic liberation. Liberation also involves PERSONAL CHANGES. Jesus The Liberator
liberates us on a personal level—giving us an inner freedom as we experience
every kind of slavery. Even
in the worst-case
scenario, or
the most evil
oppression Jesus
liberates people with an inner freedom, which can never be destroyed.
That
is precisely why the Communists could never eliminate Christianity in Eastern
Europe, the Soviet Union or anywhere else in the world. That is why Christians
in Latin America, Africa, and Asia today who continue to suffer from horrendous
violations of human rights are often more hopeful about life than a lot of people in Western Europe or
Canada. That
is also why—more closer to home—many prairie farm families have the strength,
creativity, and resources to cope and even thrive in these troublesome times.
Personal change is liberating because Jesus Christ gives us an inner
freedom to: keep our faith and grow in it when we face even the greatest
obstacles; to remain full of hope even in the most hopeless situations; to love
more deeply even the most unloving people—even the enemy.
And yet, liberation doesn’t stop
there. Liberation is more than social, economic and personal—it is also LIBERATION FROM
SIN. Liberation from sin gets at the deepest roots of ALL FORMS OF SLAVERY. All forms of slavery are sinful human
walls that divide and separate humans from each other and from God. Our
Saviour’s suffering and death on the cross has restored our broken relationships. We are reconciled with each other and with God, thanks to Christ’s saving
work on the cross.
Liberation from sin means that as God’s restored and reconciled people, we are called to live each day in light of this fact. Our ministry is to reconcile family
members, church members, friends, yes, even enemies with one another. We are
called to break down all forms of slavery by continuing Christ’s ministry.
That is an endless, and all-too-often neglected ministry. However, we
are confident that Jesus Christ is with us every step of the way. Thanks be to
God for that!