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Covenant Presbyterian Church

The Installation of Rev. Rick Olson
Dr. Sandy Winter, preaching
Luke 4:14-21

Introduction. It was almost exactly nine years ago that I preached in this pulpit.
This was the so-called “neutral pulpit” where the Pastor Nominating Committee of
University Church came to hear me preach so they could decide whether or not
they wanted to call me as their pastor. (I was really nervous!) Covenant
Presbyterian Church began for me as only a “neutral pulpit” and soon grew in my
understanding to be a sister church, a sister church to UPC, with whom we’ve
shared worship services, meals, book studies, mission projects – - joys and
sorrows; No longer a “neutral pulpit” but a sister church, a wonderful community
of believers. I am very happy to be a part of your celebration today, the joy of
installing your new pastor!

Neutral. Have you ever thought about how strange the term “neutral pulpit” is?
Of course, good Presbyterians know exactly what we mean when we use the
term --- but think about the term “neutral pulpit.”
The dictionary says that neutral is “a position of disengagement, (like neutral
gear); of not being engaged on either side…. not decided….even indifferent.”

I think of neutral as (kind of) like oatmeal!

A pulpit is where the spirit of God is with us as the gospel is read and preached
and heard! Good news is not neutral!
There is really nothing neutral about celebrating the good news of God.

Transition. When the assistant took down the scroll of Isaiah and handed it to
Jesus on the Sabbath at the synagogue in his home town, the village of
Nazareth:…that pulpit was not neutral.
When Jesus ‘found the place where it was written’ and stood up to read from the
prophet Isaiah, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, and has anointed me bring
good news to the poor.”…that pulpit was not neutral.
When every eye in the synagogue was fixed on the young teacher…
When he spoke his introductory words, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing”…the pulpit was anything but neutral! The pulpit was electric.
In case you still think it might have been neutral, just read the rest of the fourth
chapter of Luke. Before coffee hour was over, the congregation had turned into
a lynch mob. Because he explained the meaning of the words from Isaiah a little
more clearly and a lot more explicitly than he had done in the sermon,
they drove Jesus out of town and tried to throw him off the cliff!
(Rick, I trust you got through your first sermon at Covenant with a little less
drama than that!)
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The Middle. The Context. The poor. The blind. The captive.
Although I may refer to this text as Jesus’ first sermon, in one way that is not
accurate.
When Jesus came to Nazareth, he was already well known - huge crowds had
come to hear him in Galilee and Capernaum; his reputation as a teacher and
healer was already widespread when he came to the synagogue in his home
town. The gospels of Matthew and Mark place this event later in his ministry.
Luke makes it appear to be Jesus’ inaugural sermon.
You might say that Luke sacrifices chronology for theology.
The event in Nazareth is a keynote for Luke – it announces who Jesus is, and
what his work will be.
In beginning with the words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” Luke connects
this event with Jesus’ baptism. You remember , at his baptism, the holy spirit
descends upon Jesus like a dove and a voice from heaven speaks, “You are my
son, the Beloved.” By beginning with “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me”
Luke is telling us that Jesus is God’s son, the Beloved.
For Luke the reading and teaching in Nazareth is foundational for knowing what
Jesus’ ministry will be.

So what do we learn from it about Jesus’ ministry and mission?

First of all, Jesus’ ministry will be “good news to the poor.”

These words echo the song his mother sings before Jesus is born:
“He has lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry with good things, sent the rich away
empty.”
Jesus’ ministry of “good news to the poor” is reflected in blessing of the poor and
the hungry in Luke’s the ‘Sermon on the Plain.’
“Blessed are you who are poor- yours is the kingdom; blessed are you who are
hungry – you will be filled.”

If you don’t want to be confronted with the mandate of ministry among the poor,
don’t read Luke!
Conversely, if you long to learn about and participate in a ministry of spirit, and
liberation for the lowly, start with this text; start today, with the keynote sermon
of Jesus; then look back at Mary’s song, and look ahead to Jesus blessing the
poor -- and pour over entire Gospel of Luke.

Second, Jesus’ ministry is about release, freedom, liberation from bondage:

forgiveness of sin is surely a form of release from bondage;
healing is release from physical bondage;
releasing those who are condemned is release from political bondage;
good news for the poor and hungry is about release from social and economic
bondage.
The young teacher and healer from Nazareth reads from Isaiah:
“The spirit of the Lord sent me to proclaim release to the captives, to let the
oppressed go free.”
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And Jesus’ ministry is about restoring sight to the blind. Don’t think just because
we have 20/20 vision (with our bifocals on) we don’t need Jesus to restore our
sight. Jesus opened the eyes of the blind – both literally and figuratively.
Restoring sight to the blind is also restoring vision to the people – something we
desperately need. We need to see a hopeful future; We need vision to see the
kingdom in our midst; We need a strong enough vision to be a light for others as
Jesus is our light. Jesus restores vision because Jesus is the light of the world!

Today. (the day to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.)

Do you remember what the first word of Jesus’ sermon was? “Today.”
The first public word of preaching from Jesus is the word “today”? “Today the
scripture is being fulfilled in your presence.” The Spirit sent me to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor, beginning today. Today is the day of Jubilee. Today
the kingdom of God is among you.

Towards a conclusion. The scripture that Jesus reads is really a description

what the Kingdom of God is like.
Fred Craddock says, “When understood literally, the passage says the Christ is
God’s servant who will bring to reality the longing and hope of the poor, the
oppressed and the imprisoned. The Christ will also usher in the restoration
associated with the proclamation of the year of jubilee.”

We tend to skip over the line about “proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor”
because we don’t know what it means.
“The Year of the Lord’s Favor” refers to the Year of the Jubilee. Leviticus 25
explains that after a year of Sabbaths, or 7 weeks of years – (I never can quite
get that straight) but the idea is that the 7th day is the Sabbath and the 7th day
times 7 years = 49 years – so the year after the 49th year – the 50th year is
always to be the Year of the Jubilee.

OK. So what is the year of Jubilee?

During the Year of Jubilee debts are forgiven, people get to return to their land
that was taken from them, indentured slaves are released – the 50th year is good
news for the poor and oppressed. Jubilee is a year of emancipation and
restoration. Jesus is saying, now that I’m here, every year’s gonna be like the
50th year – every year is the Jubilee – that’s what the kingdom of God is.

Conclusion. Alabama Jubilee. Presbyterian Jubliee. Yesterday I was driving

around town and listening to “Jugs, Jukes and Jazz” on pubic radio when I heard
an old hoedown, that I haven’t heard in decades: “Alabama Jubilee!”
“Hail, Hail the gang’s all here for an Alabama Jubilee.”
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One line I remember is “See Deacon Jones as he rattles his bones.” (Are there
any deacons named Jones in the congregation?) An Alabama Jubilee is a spirit-
filled celebration.

The first words from the scripture that Jesus read were,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
Jesus’ first sermon was a spirit-filled event…
as is today,
the installation of the new pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church,
the Installation of the Rev. Dr. Rick Olson is a celebrative spirit-filled event.

When I heard “The Alabama Jubilee” yesterday, I had been reading about the
Biblical Year of the Jubilee, and I thought, we in Alabama surely could use a
Jubilee Year, a real Biblical Alabama Jubilee.
I wouldn’t mind at all if Covenant Presbyterian Church along with their new pastor
and the guidance of the Spirit helped to bring about an Alabama Jubilee!

Then I began thinking about the crowd which would be gathered here today and I
thought maybe we could sing, ”Hail, Hail the gang’s all here for a Presbyterian
Jubilee.”
The Presbyterian Church needs a Jubilee –a season of liberation and restoration
almost as much as Alabama does. With guidance from the teacher from
Nazareth, let’s see what we - all of us who are gathered here today - can do to
bring in a Presbyterian Jubilee!

I imagine you’ll be relieved to know that, I decided not to ask you to sing,
“Alabama Jubilee” today. I saw that the words of the next hymn are far more
appropriate than “Alabama Jubilee” in calling for us to live the love and justice of
Christ:
Arise, your light is come! The Spirit’s call obey;
Show forth the glory of your God, which shines on you today…..
Fling wide the prison door:
Proclaim the captives’ liberty, Good tidings to the poor.
Arise your light is come. The mountains burst in song.
Rise up like eagles on the wing; God’s power will make us strong.
Amen.