This week in worship, we shared a video from our youth summer mission trip to Houston. Before the video, I offered a brief sermon on the day’s scripture readings from Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Luke 13:10-17. The trip video is embedded below.
Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Most of the sermon today is a video presentation from last month’s Luther League’s mission trip to Houston. But before we get there, I want to say a few words (and I promise it will be only a few words) about these readings.
As you’ll notice in the video and on the t-shirts, our theme for the mission trip was “Here I am, Lord.” That comes from Isaiah 6:8, when the Lord calls Isaiah to be a prophet, to go speak God’s word to the world.
At the time of the call, the Lord warns Isaiah that the message he is to proclaim will not be easy.
Today’s first reading gives a sample of that message. Through Isaiah, the Lord demands that the people “Remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, and instead offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted.”
I dare you to watch the news or listen to the public rhetoric today and then tell me those aren’t difficult commands. Imagine what the world would be like if we followed those instructions. Hopefully the Houston trip was an opportunity to live out some of what Isaiah calls us to do.
Then in the Gospel reading, Jesus makes a point against the traditional legalists who are more concerned about properly following the law than about loving and serving their neighbors. There’s lots of room for us to think about when our laws or traditions or customs get in the way of us loving our neighbors, isn’t there?
But what I want you to notice today is at the beginning of the story. A woman shows up in the crowd listening to Jesus, and she’s in need. She’s been crippled for 18 years. Now, all the people there in her synagogue are used to her. They see her every week. This is just the way things are, not anything particularly noteworthy.
But Jesus notices her. Luke tells us Jesus “sees” her. He pays attention. And Jesus doesn’t see her as just part of the scenery. He sees her as a beloved child of God, created good, and he immediately moves to help her.
What I love about mission trips is that they give us the opportunity to see people as Jesus does. Instead of ignoring people on the side of the road in need as an unfortunate part of the scenery, we tried to go and talk to them, to recognize them as people just like us. Instead of just handing people food, we also tried to greet them and talk to them as people, as children of God.
As you watch this Houston video, I invite you to think about how you see people. Look for opportunities to be like Jesus, notice people, and see them as children of God.
Without further ado, here’s our Houston presentation: