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ABCs of Ministry (Epiphany 3, Year C)

Detail of “Christ in the Synagogue” by Gustave Doré | Public domain

Jan. 26 | Epiphany 3, Year C

Neh. 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Cor. 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21

At the beginning of the season, every coach tells the players that the team will only be as successful as they are diligent about knowing and practicing the fundamentals. In the Church, to reacquaint ourselves with the ABCs of Christian ministry, we can turn to St. Luke’s brief description of Jesus’ return to his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. There we find that Jesus was anointed by the Spirit; based in the community of God; and consistent with the Word of God in his teaching — that is, he was filled with the Spirit, taught among the people of God, and proclaimed the fulfillment of Scripture.

A. Anointed

In baptism, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and being filled with the power of the Spirit, he went into the world with the message of the good news. Just before his ascension into heaven, Jesus likewise commanded his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. In the baptism liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer, the reader prays that God will fill the person being baptized with his “holy and life-giving Spirit,” and the celebrant declares that the one baptized is “sealed by the Holy Spirit.” We believe that we are baptized by water and the Spirit, and commissioned to perform Christian ministry. Our ministry is the Spirit of God working in and through us. The Spirit gives us particular gifts so that the ministry of the church can be complete.

B. Based in community

Christian ministry is never an individual enterprise. Ministry in the name of Christ is always a matter of living in community. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah and ministered from within the Jewish community. He, like St. Paul after him, taught in the synagogues that he habitually attended. He was not a disconnected, solitary, iconoclastic voice calling people to do something outrageously new. Rather, Jesus was the Jewish Messiah who came to call his people and the world back to God. Through baptism we become a part of Jesus’ body, which is composed of many interdependent members. It is in community that we learn about ministry, find out what our ministry is, and are trained as ministers. The consistent promise throughout both the Old and New Testaments is that God will be ours and we will be his people.

C. Consistent with Scripture

Simply stated, if a ministry is not consistent with God’s Word, it is not Christian ministry. In the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus describes his ministry by quoting the Prophet Isaiah and ends his description with these words: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” We know Jesus as the Word. If we are called to be the body of Christ, then we must be the community of the Word. As such, nothing we do can be in contradiction to the clear teaching of Scripture. It is imperative that we be more than familiar with the Bible. We must know what the Bible says — not just a few passages on a particular topic, but all the Bible. Such knowledge is impossible without daily and systematic study of Scripture, both individually and in a group of fellow believers. There are no substitutes.

Those are the ABCs of Jesus’ ministry and ours: Holy Spirit-anointed, community based, and biblically consistent. Jesus has shown us the way. Now he beckons us to “go and do likewise.”

Look It Up: Psalm 19:7-12

Think About It: In athletics, the muscle memory necessary to excel in the game comes from dedicated practice with teammates. What about Spirit memory in our lives?

The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.

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