Jesus’ Inaugural Address
January 26, 2025
“If you could choose the words that might encapsulate who you are, the only words that would communicate the essence of yourself, your life, your commitments, what would they be? When it comes to Luke, these few would be the choice words for Jesus in Luke. Our gospel lesson is essentially Jesus’ life, ministry, and purpose in a nutshell. This is Jesus’ first public act in the Gospel of Luke, which is not an act at all but a sermon” (Working Preacher, Karoline Lewis). READ Luke 4:14-21.
“Every four years the new president of the United States gives his inaugural address. In it, he articulates his program or his plan of action for his term of office. See if you recognize who these inaugural address lines are from, which president said:
‘With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.’ – Abraham Lincoln, 1865.
‘This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.’ – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933.
‘And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.’ – John F Kennedy, 1960.
Today’s Scripture is Luke’s version of the opening moments of Jesus’ public ministry. We might call this his inaugural address, his inaugural sermon: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Sermons.com, Mickey Anders).
Jesus used Isaiah’s words (a conflation of Isaiah 61:1-2a and 58:6) to declare himself to be the one who will bring God’s purpose to God’s people. Three things to note in Jesus’ first sermon: Spirit of the Lord, good news to the poor, and the year of Lord’s favor. These are Jesus’ first words, but this is not the first time the Spirit is moving. The Holy Spirit overshadows Mary, and visits Elizabeth. Mary’s words in the Magnificat are Spirit filled and parallel Jesus’ stated purpose of scattering the proud and lifting up the lowly. Jesus embodies the Spirit of the Lord bringing good news to the poor. The word poor here is more than simply economic. It includes “factors that lowered one’s status in the first-century world such as gender, genealogy, education, occupation, sickness, disability, and degree of religious purity. Jesus’ mission is directed to the poor in the holistic sense of those who are relegated to the margins of society” (Working Preacher, Elisabeth Johnson). Today we might call these the immigrants, undocumented worker, who are being threatened with mass deportation. Or LGBTQ community who are feeling unsafe. Finally, the year of the Lord refers to the Year of Jubilee when “indentured servants (even resident aliens) were to be released, debts were to be forgiven, and land and property returned to families who had leased or sold them. It was to be a year of radical restoration… and a teaching of hope” (Working Preacher, Elisabeth Johnson).
For some, this week marked the end of hope. We had our own inaugural address that ushered in sweeping changes that will greatly affect our resident aliens. We are not sure how to respond. Do we engage more or simply unsubscribe to cable? Do we pray more, or do we seek to be a sanctuary congregation? This is a time when we go deep, defining the kind of person we want to be. Claiming the qualities that define us. How will our Christian identity motivate our accompaniment with the poor in the fullest sense. I hesitated to go political, but when several commentators described Jesus’ words as his inaugural address, there was no turning back. Then hearing Bishop Mariann Budde preach at the Prayer Service speaking truth to power, she reignited my hope. Not that something will change but hope in what having faith looks like. You see Trump said in his inaugural address, “We will be a nation like no other. Full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable” (Trump’s Inaugural Address, 2025). I pray for compassion, unity and courage. But also fear our angry, violent and unpredictable leader.
“Bishop Budde had the courage to look Trump in the eye urging him to show mercy. To have compassion for “the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals…The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” she said. “They pay taxes and are good neighbors.” “That kind of courage is rare. It’s one thing to grumble about injustice in private. It’s another to stand in the light, name the harm, and confront power directly. Bishop Budde did this with remarkable grace and conviction. Her words were a model for us all. She reminded us that the teachings of Jesus—love for the vulnerable, protection of the stranger, and mercy for the suffering—are non-negotiable” (Piloting Faith, Rev. Cameron Trimble).
Maybe that’s why Jesus’ words, “Good news to the poor and the “year of the Lord’s favor” would mean a redistribution of property and wealth, something that is uncomfortable for us because we do not want to give up what we have, but it is intolerable to our President and why he asked for an apology from Bishop Budde.
In Jesus’ inaugural address he reads scripture from Isaiah and then gives a one sentence sermon. “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (21). Don’t you wish I would give a one sentence sermon? Yet Jesus “boldly claims to fulfill the words of Isaiah, who speaks of the Spirit anointing him, sending him, compelling him to bring good news to every one of God’s children who is bound up, pressed down, broken in spirit, impoverished, imprisoned, and desperately hungry for good news” (Working Preacher, Elisabeth Johnson).
As we journey through the uncertain next four years, let’s take courage from Nehemiah. The people found resilience in the Law of Moses and interpreted that law. Jesus interpreted his life with the words of Isaiah. As Americans we interpret our lives through the Constitution. And as Christians we interpret our lives through the Bible. And on this day when Nehemiah was governor, the Levites taught, “Do not mourn or weep… for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (9-10). When you need encouragement, maybe write it on a post it and place it on your bathroom mirror, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” When things feel out of hand or overwhelming remember, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” When it feels like a democracy is crumbling, remember “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” When you want resilience and to act on behalf of the poor, remember “THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!” Amen.
