So What Brings You Here? (Reflection on Epiphany 3, Year C)

 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 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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
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.’ (Luke 4:14-21)

So what brings you to Planet Earth? Have you ever wondered why you’re here? In this week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus lays out his mission statement. He’s telling the folks why he’s here. In a nutshell, God’s Spirit has brought him into the world to proclaim the Hebrew notion of jubilee—the time when the society hits the reset button on human behavior. Historically, this would mean that land was returned to its original owners, debts were cancelled, slaves were freed, and everybody gets a new start. As Christians, we often look at this passage and imagine that the year of the Lord’s favor—that great second chance and restoration—comes when we figure out that God loves us in spite of our stupid selves. God in Christ has come to us, washed in our bath water, taken our punishment, experienced our pain and sadness, and still said, “Father, forgive them.” And every day we drown to our old sinful selves and rise anew, trying to be better, striving to be more thankful and appreciative, hoping to do right out of gratitude for God’s limitless patience with us.

Of course, we can’t all teach in parables, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, or die on a cross for the folly of humankind. But what can you do? What is your mission? Why did God put YOU here in this place and time?

I like to think that I’ve finally found my purpose after more than half a century of life. I think my job is to tell stories. Not just Gospel stories, but stories of where Christ shows up in the lives of everyday saints. You see, as one of the few full-time Protestant clerics left standing in my neighborhood, I get called on to preach at the funerals of just about every non-fellowshipping Protestant or lapsed Catholic in Northeast Philly. I see my job as pointing the way to Christ. That is, seeing Christ in the lives that I eulogize. In a way, that’s the job of all Christians: to see Christ in others and be Christ for others. That’s our spiritual path.

I think the challenge for this Third Sunday in Epiphany is to ask ourselves if we know our own purpose and if we know the purpose of our congregations. There’s a pretty cool policy guide (if you will) found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship’s liturgy for Affirmation of Baptism:

“You have made public profession of your faith. Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:

To live among God’s faithful people,

To hear the Word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper,

To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,

To serve all people following the example of Jesus,

And to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?” (ELW pg 237)

(BTW: That last part about “justice and peace” was the purpose of the “Year of the Lord’s Favor” which Jesus references in the Gospel reading.)

Now, I’m not suggesting that following the above rubrics is the only purpose of your life, but I do recommend this path as a way of finding your mission if you’ve not already done so. It’s also a way of encouraging yourself in the mission you may have already found.

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (Frederick Beuchner, Wishful Thinking)

Think about it this week, won’t you?