

You never know what you’ll hear during worship. I think about that day in the synagogue in Nazareth. Folks probably hadn’t been expecting anything special. Just another sabbath in a subjugated corner of the Roman Empire.
But it was Jesus’s turn to read from Holy Scripture. He’d done it before. He was on the rota. They had an assignment calendar at the synagogue the same way Fr. John and Fr. René do here at St. Athanasius.
So Jesus stood up. They handed him the scroll opened to Isaiah, chapter 61. Now remember, this is early in his ministry. These words bear the heavy weight of the mantle of justice prophecy that he had assumed from the shoulders of John the Baptist, whom a trivial, weak king had killed. This is foundational, so we had better listen closely. These are words that will help get Jesus killed, too, so we had better listen with respect.
Jesus reads, “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…” And he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
We came along with rules about who could speak in church and what kind of hats and clerical vestments we were supposed to wear. We told people whom they could marry and what words they should use for prayer. I am by no means critical of the church’s traditions and practices. We honor them as best we can. But the living foundation stone stood up that day in the synagogue in Nazareth, the prophet of prophets, the king of kings and lord of lords, and he told us in his own words the vocation that he had taken on. He said, “I have been anointed by the Spirit of God to bring good news to the poor, the captives, the ailing, and the oppressed.” Jesus couldn’t possibly have been more clear. We may not all put the social gospel at the core of our practice or piety. But we do not have permission to ignore it.
Yet when the bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, proclaimed it in Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, when she spoke orthodox gospel truth to power, power was profoundly offended and aggrieved. In her sermon, Bishop Budde preached in Jesus Christ’s name on behalf of our neighbors who are most frightened today – immigrant workers and trans folk. The poor. Captives. The oppressed. And power’s tender feelings were hurt. It was as though power had never heard such things before.
Proclaiming good news to the poor wasn’t new with Jesus. He was quoting Isaiah. And yet it was if no one had heard it before. The congregants were so enraged that they threatened to kill him, and of course, Roman power eventually did.
Nor was it new with Mariann. She was quoting Jesus. The mobs are filled with anger at her as well. All she did was stand in the pulpit, because it was her turn to preach. As she told a reporter this week, she’s said it many times before. But Tuesday, with power at her feet, it was she on the rota. So she took the scroll and proclaimed the living Word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I also thought of her witness as we heard from 1st Corinthians this morning, Paul’s urgent invitation to the church to overcome its differences and seek the unity of Christ. We may yearn that global Christendom will heal from being chopped into a thousand denominations and sects. If it does, it had better coalesce around foundational gospel values such as those Mariann articulated. As we number the members of the body of Christ, she was our heart and throat on Tuesday.
Paraphrasing Paul, as she is honored for her witness, let us rejoice together in it, and as she endures a barrage of unofficial and state-sponsored suffering, let us be prepared to suffer with her.
[A portion of my sermon today at St. Athanasius Episcopal Church, Echo Park, where I presided at a bilingual mass for nearly 90. The Rev. John Watson is priest in charge, assisted by the Rev. Rene Alfredo Barraza. Attorney Marissa Minnick is the devoted bishop’s warden. Our magnificent blended music featured Roberto Salazar on guitar, Charissa Harjo on organ, and cantor Rachel Labovich. The Holy Spirit received Eric Stolz, a former Roman Catholic deacon and a gifted preacher, into The Episcopal Church. A festive lunch of tostadas and a Bishop John-themed flat cake capped our festive, rainy celebration of the Lord’s day.]









