""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." (Luke 4:18-19).

 In our Gospel reading this morning, we are presented with one of the stories of Jesus’ early ministry; a story in which Jesus reads from a scroll of the Hebrew Scriptures and makes his own the words of the prophet Isaiah. The stories of the early ministry set the stage for what is to come; they outline the form of Jesus’ later ministry and give it shape. When Jesus goes to the synagogue to worship, and takes his turn as reader, he indicates to us what his work is: why he has come into the world and to what purpose he will give his life.

The prophecy from Isaiah that Jesus reads is one of liberation and healing and forgiveness. God’s exiled People are going to be freed and to be healed; they are to have their debts forgiven in "the year of the Lord’s favor". Isaiah’s prophecy is cast in terms of the Year of Jubilee, a quite exceptional celebration in the life of ancient Israel, taking place every forty-nine years; a sabbath of sabbaths, if you will. The theme of the Year of Jubilee is renewal and restoration. Not only does the land lie fallow (which it does every seventh year anyway), but debts are forgiven and slaves are freed. Land which has become alienated is restored to the true owner: a part of jubilee not only aimed at those who oppressed others, but one also meant to underscore the truth that YHWH is the true owner of all property.

It is to this ancient custom of jubilee that Isaiah looks back as he prophesies the return of Israel from exile, a time of liberation and healing and forgiveness. It is this theme that Jesus takes up as a crucial aspect of his ministry; a theme we might distill to and describe as "the doing of justice". Justice, in this context, is the doing of God’s will, especially towards those who are oppressed or in need of healing or forgiveness.

So what does this have to do with our observance of Episcopal School Sunday? Quite a bit, I think. The mission of Episcopal Schools, including Christ Episcopal School, is a part of the mission of the Church; a mission which is, in turn, an extension of Jesus’ own mission of "doing justice". I don’t think it is inappropriate for Church schools to be places of healing and forgiveness, as well as education; in fact, quite in keeping with their mission. Christ Jesus himself, after all, is not only Teacher, but Healer, Reconciler, and Redeemer as well.

It’s interesting to me that the theme of justice has come to the surface as a part of the self-evaluation that Christ Episcopal School is going through this year, as a part of its accreditation process. This is an exciting, but also a fairly exacting process, in which some of you have been involved, but which is important to all of us. A newly articulated operating principle is "act justly and call others to do so – imitate Christ": not a bad way to sum up the theme of jubilee that Jesus points us to in our Gospel today. Our mission statement at Christ Episcopal School not only refers to "academic opportunity" but also "a warm and nurturing Christian environment", and "doing justice" is surely part of the values that Christians want to pass on to their children.

Our Gospel also gives me the opportunity to talk about the heightened sense of outreach of Christ Episcopal School over the past three years. Quite a bit of this concentrates at Christmas time, lending a sense of urgency to what is already a fairly hectic season for a Church school. You haven’t lived until you’ve attempted to balance the Lessons and Carols service against the Christmas Party at Starlight Baptist "Kiddie Kollege"; against final exams and projects and Midnight Mass and everything else!

The newly articulated operating principle gives voice to this commitment to outreach, which is nothing more nor less than commitment to "doing justice". Our work with the Caritas community in Abita Springs, with the Family Service Center and Starlight Baptist in Covington, with Head Start and Christwood, with St Tammany Hospital and the Food Bank, with Habitat and the Heifer Project, are accomplishments that have enriched the education of the children who attend Christ School. Many of these projects were undertaken in coordination and partnership with groups at Christ Church, another encouraging sign in our life together.

Our Gospel today outlines Jesus’ ministry, providing a blueprint of sorts for the Redeemer’s work of teaching and healing and reconciling. This is the work of "doing justice" in which we are privileged to share, as we carry forward the mission of Church and School.

The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church in Covington.

Return to Recent Sermons