Jesus' Inaugural Address

In Luke’s Gospel Chapter 4:14-21, Jesus is launching his public ministry. After teaching in several synagogues around Galilee, he arrives in Nazareth, “where he had been brought up.” As Luke tells the story, this is the first place we hear Jesus’ teaching — it’s his inaugural address as he begins to preach and teach and heal.

And what does Jesus say to this hometown crowd?

And then Jesus sits down. “And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

In the next chapters of Luke, the people listening to this message will turn on Jesus in a rage and try to throw him off a cliff.

Jesus’ inaugural words stirred people up. This scene played out again last week in the Inauguration Day sermon by Washington Cathedral Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. Many of the reactions to the words of Bishop Budde calling for unity and justice and mercy stirred plenty of people up, including the target of her pleas for mercy – the newly inaugurated President of the United States. Many who heard those words wanted to throw Bishop Budde off a (metaphorical) cliff, just like those who didn’t like what they heard from Jesus tried to throw him off a cliff. Others applauded the Bishop’s words and googled “Episcopal Church.”

Bishop Budde got the nation’s attention. Calmly, deliberately, she quoted scripture, directly pleading with this powerful man to govern with mercy. Bishop Budde got the President’s attention. This was not an unusual “priest-in-the-pulpit” moment. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer, even Moses – all stood before political leaders to demand justice and compassion.

One of the important goals of preaching the gospel is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted.” If we are offended by the words of a sermon, maybe it’s because we know there is truth in that discomfort we feel. But if those spoken words are in line with scripture and the teachings of Jesus, which certainly mercy and loving one’s neighbor must be, then we must search our own heart. Are we following Jesus in our own actions, in our words, in our directives? Preaching a sermon involves encouraging people to confront their own behaviors and choices: how we treat others, how we use resources, how we care for our planet, the people on it, and the vulnerable in society.

Bishop Budde did just that. She delivered a thoughtful message in which she called for unity and reminded us of core Jesus principles - to respect the dignity of every human being, to welcome the stranger, to love one another, to show mercy.

Bishop Budde began her sermon speaking about unity. “Without unity, we’re building our nation’s house on sand,” she said. She spoke about honoring the inherent dignity of every human being as a child of God. Bishop Budde talked about honesty as an important piece of creating unity. We need to be honest in speaking the truth, even when speaking the truth costs us. And she spoke of speaking and acting with humility. When we line up in our silos and believe that we are absolutely right and you are absolutely wrong, there is no path to reconciliation. But we are all, every one of us, children of God and in that truth is hope for the future.

Quoting Bishop Budde again, “Unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us, in our communities and in the halls of power, to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree.”

And what gave Bishop Mariann Budde the credentials to preach in the pulpit at the Washington National Cathedral? She is the duly elected Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. An Episcopal Bishop is elected by the people in that diocese and affirmed by a majority of all bishops in the denomination. A Bishop’s church is called a Cathedral - the “seat” of a diocesan Bishop. Bishop Budde preached from her pulpit at the Cathedral of the Diocese of Washington.

This Cathedral is often referred to as the National Cathedral. However, it is not a state church because of our separation of church and state. It is an Episcopal Cathedral, while serving the nation as a "national house of prayer." The cathedral has achieved this status simply by offering itself and being accepted by religious and political leaders as playing this role. This cathedral is used for many interfaith and national events and services.

Bishop Budde spoke the truth, she spoke directly and honestly, she spoke with humility. Her inaugural address called on all of us to respect the dignity of every human being, to welcome the stranger, to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our Lord.” (Micah 6:8)

She followed the lead of our Redeemer Jesus, who at his “inaugural address” courageously stood up in his hometown synagogue and claimed that “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Jesus’ first public speech calling listeners to serve the most vulnerable is a fitting, challenging reminder for us all — and a call to each and every one of us, no matter our politics, to open our hearts in generosity, mercy and service. And to not resort to anger and threaten to throw the messenger over a cliff. Be kind one to another.