I often wonder what it would be like if I were to return to my "home" congregation as a guest preacher.

For a little bit of background, I'll say what I can without trying to boast, because I don't want to boast about it. My grandparents were long-time residents in the Tampa area. My grandmother, in fact, other than spending some time in Virginia after marrying my grandfather, has only ever lived in the Tampa area. They lived there at at time when there was only one Missouri Synod congregation in town. Through the 80s, just about every Missouri Synod congregation since had its origins in my grandparents' house. To say that the Wagner name is known among the Tampa churches claiming to be Lutheran is an understatement.

That's why I often wonder what it would be like if I were to return to my "home" congregation in Carrollwood (a Tampa suburb) and be about a task of ministry there. They know Geoffrey there. They've seen him when his family would drive down from Ft. Gordon in Georgia for a holiday break; and so, they've seen him grow up, if only in bits and pieces. They've certainly heard the stories relayed through his grandparents, allowing them to fill in at least some gaps. Many were even there to witness his becoming a member of the congregation shortly after he left home for college. Some of them were even there to witness his ordination, celebrated there so his grandfather could witness it. Yes, I'm quite confident that Messiah Lutheran Church knows Geoffrey; they are familiar with him.

So, when I wonder and imagine what my return there would be like, I am confident I would be met with contempt and resistance. For one, to say that the people there are solidly catechized would be a gross exaggeration (certainly, there are a few that know the faith through solid instruction, even better than I do, I would say); so, for a confessional, conservative preacher to make some rounds teaching and preaching there would certainly be met with resistance and complaint. "That's not what we've known," or, "That's not how we do it," would be the standard mantra. Then, imagine that the confessional, conservative preacher were a man that they are familiar with. "How dare you presume to teach us this?" and "How can you be like that?" would be added to the regular litany of complaints.

"Familiarity breeds contempt," we learn from Aesop. Even so, Aesop was not the only one to say it. In today's Gospel, Jesus taught something similar: "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country."

Jesus grew up in the little town of Nazareth. The people there knew Him as Joseph and Mary's son. They watched Him grow up and learn to care for His family, as any good Jewish boy was supposed to. He learned His step-father's trade, and so the people knew of His craft (and probably had some of His creations in their homes). They knew that He left town and went into the wilderness around Jordan and was baptized by His cousin (though His whereabouts for the forty days after that were a little sketchy, I'm sure, but we know that He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan). After His time with Satan, "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all."

In such a short time, Jesus had acquired a reputation outside of Nazareth: He had quickly developed into a glorious teacher. In fact, He had even already begun casting out demons and healing diseases, as we learn from St. Mark's gospel. Certainly, news of this spread to His hometown. Then, one day, He returns home. On the Sabbath Day, He went into the synagogue, as was His custom (a good custom for us to learn as well, to gather in the assembly with the forgiven saints of God). While there, He took the position to read; He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and found the 61st chapter and began to read:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.

When He finished, He handed the scroll back and sat down. To us, that sounds like such a simple act, but in the synagogues in Jesus' day, the teacher sat down to teach. And so we can imagine that when "the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him," they were so in amazement, eyes wide open, mouths to match. "What was Jesus going to say?" "What is this little carpenter going to do?"

"Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." "Today, as I read from Isaiah, I am proclaiming to you that I am He whom Isaiah was writing about. I was the One who gave Isaiah the words to proclaim and write, and I am the One who those words are talking about. I, Jesus of Nazareth, am here to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to give sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed. Truly, truly, I say to you that in Me is the acceptable year of the LORD."

The people marveled at this: "These are gracious words indeed. It is a time to rejoice if now is the time of God's favor." But, there was an air of contempt about them: "Wait a moment, isn't this Jospeh's son? Isn't this the same man we knew as a little boy who we saw grow up? The same boy whose tears we wiped when he scraped his knees? The same boy who played with our children? The same boy who caused his parents grief by staying behind in Jerusalem when we were traveling back home? How can He, of all people, say this? There's no way this same boy could be the Messiah God promised!"

So, knowing their minds and hearts, Jesus continues his sermon: "You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'" In other words, "Prove yourself! We've heard the stories of you being a glorious teacher. We get that; we saw and heard that today. But, we've also heard the stories of your miracles in places not here. Do something here, too, so that we may see and believe."

And Jesus continued:

Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.

The people expected miracles, so Jesus brings up two miracles from the past, performed by two of the greatest prophets in Israel's history. But, notice to whom these miracles were performed. During a time of great famine in the region, many in Israel were suffering, but to none of them was relief given, only to a widow in Zeraphath, a gentile!. Israel's history is replete with lepers; none of them were miraculously cleansed by Elisha, but he did, by God's Word, cleanse Naaman, a Syrian—a gentile (and enemy of Israel, to boot)!

What's the moral of all of this? Miracles are not meant to prove God's credentials to those who already have His Word. Jesus was in the synagogue and read from the Isaiah scroll to the people of God assembled in that place. He preached the Word of God to them. They had no need of miracles; they had God's Word on it. Also, it was a reminder that God was the Creator and Redeemer of all, Israel and gentile alike, and that Israel was supposed to bring the good news of salvation to the nations. It is a lesson that fills the book of Isaiah, who wrote passages like

Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
"I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house..."

Now, I'm not claiming to be the second coming of Christ. For one thing, I didn't come as He left, a sure and certain sign that I am not He. But, the message I am given to proclaim is the same as His. Now is the acceptable year of the LORD. The words you heard from Isaiah 61 are fulfilled in the life of Christ and in your own lives. Jesus of Nazareth has done all of those things Isaiah spoke and wrote, and you, dear people of God, are the recipients of that fulfillment.

• "To preach the gospel to the poor." To you poor, miserable sinners is proclaimed the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
• "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted." To you who are weighed down by the cares and worries of this world is declared that Jesus has borne all of your cares and burdens, and He promises you eternal rest in life everlasting. You have His Word on that, a Word that is sealed to you in your baptism.
• "To proclaim liberty to the captives." You who were captive to sin have been set free; the burden of your sin was taken from you by the Christ and crucified with Him. "[O]ur old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin."
• "And recovery of sight to the blind." That blindness that prevented you from seeing God in Christ has been healed. Through the waters of Holy Baptism, you have been given the eyes of faith that can look with confidence upon your God and recognize in Him your Creator and Redeemer.
• "To set at liberty those who are oppressed." Once you were at odds with God and children of the devil, oppressed by Him and His deceit that you are no beloved creation. But now Christ has come and defeated the devil, crushed his head by His death on the cross, and freed you, His most cherished creation, from Satan's power and deceitful oppression.

Yes, dear hearers, now is the acceptable year of the LORD. You have His word on it. Do not be like the Nazarenes who looked for God's favor and power in miracles. You know Jesus by His Word, because "faith comes by hearing." That does not mean that He leaves us without miracles; we have in simple means of water, bread, and wine—combined with the Word of God—the greatest miracle of all: forgiveness, life, and salvation. God's promise to those who believe is not for miracles for this life; on the contrary, God's promise for those who believe is resurrection from the dead and the life of the world to come, just as we confess.

Yes, dear baptized, now is the acceptable year of the LORD. Let us joyfully proclaim that Word of God to the nations! For, just as Elijah and Elisha were sent to gentiles in Israel's day—even to the enemy of Israel—we, too, are being sent to the gentiles of our day, in our every day lives, to proclaim that in Christ there is forgiveness and life and salvation. Just as Israel had the Word of God in Isaiah that they were called in righteousness to be a light to the gentiles, so we also have the Word of God in Matthew that tells us to go and make disciples of all nations—of all people—baptizing and teaching them. What a joyous task to be about, to share the good news of salvation that we have been given—to share the words of Christ:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.

Yes, dear friends in Christ, now is the acceptable year of the LORD. Our Gospel lesson ends with the people of Nazareth rising up against Jesus and attempting to throw him over a cliff. It is tempting to do something similar; that when we don't get our way with God—when He doesn't answer our petitions in a manner timely to us or in the way we wanted—we want to throw Him over the cliff of our lives. Dear hearers, let us not put God in our little boxes; the point is not to have our way with God, but that God has His way with us. Because, when God has His way with us, it is most certainly the acceptable year of the LORD—for that is when we confess our sinfulness, and once again hear that precious gospel, have our broken hearts healed, be released from captivity, recover our sight, and are set free from oppression.

And so it is my joy and privilege to proclaim to you who are here and receive His Word, that God has had His way with you and does have His way with you, and so you are forgiven for all of your sins!