You are Heir to Jesus’ Mission – 31 December 2017 – First Sunday after Christmas

Preachers might begin thinking about today’s sermon by asking themselves the pointed questions put to us all by Ron Anderson:

As Mary models for us, what now does it mean to let this word “dwell in us richly”? How does it take up residence in our lives? Have we provided the word only with the “guest room” and assumed its residence is temporary rather than permanent? –– Ron Anderson

Luke 2:22-40

The Holy Family arrives at the temple for Jesus’ dedication. The prophets Samuel and Anna greet them and recognize the identity of the child. But even while rejoicing, Samuel speaks of the child’s mission to reveal to the world the truth about God’s power. The rest of Jesus’ life expresses this mission.

If by “Holy Family” we mean good old-fashioned values, such as honoring elders, not rocking the boat, and love of mother and apple pie, we are going to be disappointed. Jesus doesn't have much time for such things. He is about a greater mission—to set captives free, to liberate the oppressed. Later he will declare: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear God's word and do it” (8:21).

Jesus' family values do not focus on the preservation of the nuclear family but on the doing of justice. He spends much more time reaching out to those on the margins of his society—those who neither come from nor seek to establish a stable, two-parent home—than the decent and upright. His community is full of those who have abandoned steady livelihoods, spouses, children, even dying parents. “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Lk. 9:60). He welcomes the rejected and embraces the stranger. –– Scott Haldeman

Isaiah 61:10––62:3

The second part of this chapter, following the mission to Zion to bring hope to the exiled and oppressed, rejoices in the salvation of Zion. The confidence in God's righteousness leads to praise of the vindication of Israel with metaphors of beauty and power. –– Sara Webb Phillips

Galatians 4:4-7

The Holy Family now includes all the baptized.

Paul describes the mechanism by which we are brought into the family of God—baptism. Both those who were born into the covenant (the circumcised) and those who heard and believed (the uncircumcised) are made heirs—not servants of God but daughters and sons. Circumcision is no longer requisite for joining the church; in Paul's eyes, it is an act of obedience to the law from which we have been set free. Jew and Greek, then, are equal and equally members of the Body.

So, too, equality not hierarchy is established along other lines of social differentiation: whether one is a slave or free out in the world, here we are equal; whether one is granted greater deference out in the world because one is male, here male and female are equal.

We are to live differently than the world lives—with the confidence of those who have been adopted and so who are guaranteed a great inheritance, with the liberty of those who are no longer subject to the law but free to indulge in acts of radical service. As Paul concludes, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:13–14). –– Scott Haldeman

E. Byron [Ron] Anderson is the Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Worship and the Director of the Nellie B. Ebersole Program in Music Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

W. Scott Haldeman is associate professor of worship at Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.

Sara Webb Phillips is a United Methodist minister serving North Springs UMC in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Homily Service 40, no. 1 (2007): 73-84.