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In her excellent sermon Sunday, (I was home with Covid, thank God for recordings!) the Reverend Stephanie Shoemaker preached about Jesus’ mission of reconciliation, healing and empowerment. Jesus said he came as God’s messiah to set the oppressed free and she told us:
“The Greek word “oppressed” can be translated “broken to bits.” In other words, Jesus’ mission was to set free those who had been broken to bits by life. And is there any one of us who has not, at some point or in some way, been broken to bits by life? in need of God’s mercy and grace?
In our Humpty Dumpty world it seems that things are flying apart and are begging to be put back together. As followers of Jesus it is our call to help to repair what has been broken to bits, stone by stone, mercy by mercy, forgiveness by forgiveness, compassion by compassion, preparing and applying love’s mortar that rebuilds lives and communities.”
Wow. “Is it possible,” she asks, “that that same kind of authority heard that day when Jesus read in Nazareth can be heard now? Can the same work be done?” She continued:
“This past week a courageous bishop in Washington spoke up for the marginalized and the suffering and for those who were living in fear among us. Speaking truth to the most powerful in our nation she called on our president to exercise the power of government with mercy and grace. Many heard her when she spoke a prophet’s words with a prophet’s faith and vision, calling for God’s vision, compassion and justice to govern our common life.”
“Many heard her,” but what, I wonder, did we hear? Did this prophet’s words encourage, or challenge or enrage us? When the congregation in Nazareth heard Jesus say God’s grace wasn’t just for them they became enraged and tried to “hurl” him off a cliff! It takes courage to preach the gospel, Saints. It takes even more courage to live it—to prepare and apply “love’s mortar” to help repair what is broken. How is Jesus calling us to be brave today?
May God be merciful to us all,
Reverend Anne
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