EPIPHANY 3, YEAR C

Sunday 26 January 2025

Saints Matthew and Mark, Barrington, R. I.

 

Luke 4:14-21

 

“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

In the past seventy-five years or so, certain linguistic philosophers have made a distinction between two types of human utterance that are sometimes called “descriptive speech” and “performative speech.”

 

We all know what descriptive speech is and how it works. A statement either conforms to a pre-existing reality in a verifiable way, in which case it’s true, or it does not, in which case it’s false. For example, the statement “John has three apples” is either true or false, depending on whether it accurately corresponds to the reality it purports to describe.

 

By contrast, certain types of speech are not descriptive but performative in the sense that they don’t describe existing realities but instead bring new realities into being. Of course, we need to be careful. One sign of either delusional thinking or, worse, unscrupulous manipulation is the idea that merely saying something makes it true.

But still, there are some forms of speech where merely saying something really does make it true: “I christen this ship the Queen Elizabeth;” “This court is now in session;” “This meeting is now adjourned;” “I sentence you to three years in prison.” In all these instances, the spoken words become in effect deeds that create new situations, that bring new realities into being.

 

As Christians, we know all about performative speech.  We profess faith in a God whom the Bible describes as creating the world by speaking: “‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.” Jesus, the incarnate Word, performs many of his mighty works in the Gospels simply by speaking them: “Your sins are forgiven.” “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.”

 

In the Church’s sacraments, moreover, the spoken word (combined with the prescribed actions) creates whole new worlds of spiritual meaning: “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” “I absolve you of all your sins.” “This is my Body … This is my Blood …”

 

Today’s Gospel records a wonderful instance of performative utterance. Having returned to his hometown for the first time since his fame has begun to spread, Jesus is invited to read and comment on the Scriptures during worship in the synagogue. This privilege could be extended to any Jewish adult male, so it was entirely fitting for the synagogue elders to honor Jesus in this way. The reader would first read the Torah passage appointed for the day—that is, a reading from one of the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—and then he’d read a second passage of his own choosing from the Prophets. Finally, he’d offer a brief spoken commentary relating the two readings to each other and to the life of the congregation.

 

Luke doesn’t tell us what the appointed Torah passage was, but he does recount Jesus opening the scroll, and reading verses from Isaiah describing the servant of the Lord anointed by the Spirit to proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, liberation to the oppressed, the year of the Lord’s favor. After Jesus hands the scroll back to the attendant, all fix their eyes upon him to hear what comment he will make. Assuming the posture of a teacher, he sits and announces to the congregation, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

The meaning is clear. Jesus is identifying himself as the Lord’s servant, anointed by the Spirit, in Isaiah’s prophecy. In Hebrew, the word for “the anointed one” is Messiah; in Greek it’s Christ. So, here Jesus is identifying himself as none other than the Messiah or Christ of Jewish expectation. In Luke’s Greek, his words read literally, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.”

 

And this dynamic interaction of speaking and hearing creates a whole new world of possibilities. Jesus is inviting the congregation to receive the forgiveness, healing, enlightenment, and liberation that he has come to bring. Simultaneously, he’s calling them to join him in proclaiming the good news of the year of the Lord’s favor to their neighbors and to the wider world.

 

Notice that his focus is on the present. God has done great things in the past, to be sure, and will do even greater things in the future. But Our Lord’s emphasis in the synagogue of Nazareth is on what God is doing here and now, in this congregation’s very midst. “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

This interpretation of today’s Gospel has at least three implications for our life together as a parish community.

 

First, we need to be mindful of the power of speech to build up or tear down. Negative talk, grumbling, and complaining are always destructive and demoralizing. By contrast, positive talk, words of appreciation and blessing, are creative and life-giving. Counselors and therapists often point out that in addition to identifying and naming what’s wrong with our lives and relationships, it’s even more important to be able to identify and name what’s right—for that gives us a positive foundation of hope to build on for the future. So, the question is how we can learn to accentuate the positive in ways that bring blessing to one another and our community.

 

Second, God wants us to focus on the present. In just about every parish that I’ve served in the past twenty years or so, I’ve encountered some degree of anxiety about the parish’s future, combined with what might be called nostalgia for a bygone golden age. From time to time, I still hear lamentations for the good old days, when the church was packed for multiple services, and the Sunday school was thriving with dozens and dozens of children. But I think it’s safe to say that Jesus is telling us to let go of both nostalgia for the past and anxiety for the future, and to concentrate on taking advantage of the opportunities that he’s setting before us in the present. As Saint Paul puts it, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2).

 

And third, the most important question we can ever ask about the life of our parish is not what we are doing or failing to do, but rather what God is doing in our midst. This way of thinking may be unfamiliar and perhaps a bit difficult, but it’s crucial. It requires prayer. It begins with identifying, proclaiming, and celebrating the ways in which God is blessing us here and now. How is God fulfilling the Scriptures in our hearing? For what do we want to give thanks to God in our life together? These are crucial questions to be asking ourselves as we prepare for our Annual Meeting next week, and beyond that, for moving forward into God’s future together.