Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21 Psalm 19

For those of us who anticipated 2022 as a year of restarts – freedom from the pandemic with its constant threats of illness, freedom to visit and worship in-person with friends and loved ones, freedom from economic concerns and supply line inconveniences – our wait continues, and our patience is thin.   The new year has not brought many of those hoped-for pleasantries while the well-being of parishioners and staff members remains of heightened constant concern, particularly for those who are critically ill and grieving.

Earlier this month, the diocese issued a suspension of in-person worship due to the astronomical rise in cases of the now familiar Omicron variant.  Fortunately, our bishop allowed for the application of an exemption for those who felt they could provide a safe worship environment.  The Church of the Advent applied for an exception and was granted the privilege of in-person worship with conscientious attention to restrictions.  Even so, each day has brought its new questions, new concerns, new directions requiring on-the-spot decisions that feel more like shooting in the dark.

Now, as I write, I gaze out on 8 inches of snow, the melting of which will produce treacherous icy roads in early mornings for the next several days.  Once again, we are not able to come together in person for worship.

All in all, January has been a slugfest for our parish and for the Church throughout the world.  Week after week, we assess how the church is doing?  How will we ever get back to normal.  When will we ever feel free to exchange the peace and love of Christ as we have been accustomed to doing?  We are tempted to say that the devil just keeps piling on obstacles to the future of the Church.

Our Gospel lesson for this Third Sunday after the Epiphany calls us back to the understanding that the Church has faced obstacles since its very beginning.  From this very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Christianity has been a slugfest with constant assaults to overcome.

Luke describes the scene in the synagogue in Nazareth as Jesus is reading from the scroll containing the prophecy of Isaiah.  His audience is made up of those who have watched him grow up as the son of the local carpenter – Joseph and Mary’s boy.   In the verses that follow those assigned for today we learn that Jesus was not received by these listeners in his hometown as he was never to be received by many of his own faith tradition.  In fact, his listeners were outraged by his declaration.  These words from Isaiah were specific to the One who was to come – the Messiah for whom generations had been waiting.  Jesus had just identified himself as the fulfillment of that scripture.  And the slugfest had begun.

So, you see it has never been easy to be the Church.

Yet, Luke begins this passage with the important message that Jesus was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  In the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus remained focused on his mission to reveal God to all who would listen.  We continue that mission.

Surely, we struggle and worry over how our church is doing, how we will survive the slugfest.  Yet, amidst the struggle, the power of the Holy Spirit comes to remind us that the true question is:  As the Church, how are we fulfilling our call to reveal God to the world?  What are we doing for God?

We cannot wait until the time when the obstacles will cease to assault us.  That time will never come.  We are filled with the Holy Spirit now, today.  The author Walter Burghardt speaks these words of the Holy Spirit: “Child of God, live this day as if it were your first day, as if it were your last day, as if it were your only day.”[1]

Come Holy Spirit, Come.