Inaugural Address

January 26, 2025

Rev. Mary Erickson

Hope Lutheran Church

1 Corinthians12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21

Inaugural Address

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Every four years, our country goes through a ritual on January 20. Our old presidential term ends at 12:00 p.m. and the new term begins. The occasion is marked by parades and crowds. Singers perform and poets proclaim. With one hand on a Bible, the president-elect takes the oath of office. But the highlight of the day is most certainly the inaugural address of the newly sworn in president.

Many of these speeches remain firmly embedded within the communal psyche of our nation. In 1865, our nation had endured four years of civil war. But the end was in sight when Lincoln gave his second address. His words encapsulated the hopes and dreams of a broken nation:

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

In 1933, when FDR was sworn in, the country was gripped by the fallout of The Great Depression. There was a lack of confidence in the government to achieve any constructive change. FDR addressed a nation’s fears:

Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

When John Kennedy took office in 1961, fears were rising of encroaching communism, nations falling like dominoes into oppressive states. Kennedy called on the people of our nation to step up and defend our liberty:

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.

A president’s inaugural address sets the tone and personality of that administration. It gives us an overview of the principles and goals primary to that president. Analysts scrutinize the speech like tea leaves to reveal what we can expect over the next four years.

The date of our presidential inauguration, January 20, tends to intersect with our liturgical calendar on the third Sunday of Epiphany. Now, our liturgical calendar follows a three-year cycle. And our presidential terms of office are four years in length. Which means, that every 12 years, these two things coincide. A new president is sworn in, and we hear today’s gospel text from Luke 4. Jesus preaching in his hometown of Nazareth.

Jesus’ sermon at the synagogue in Nazareth is frequently called his inaugural address. It’s his first recorded sermon in his ministry. In it we hear what will define his mission. It sets the tone for how his ministry will unfold. So let’s explore what he says.

Jesus understands his purpose as the fulfillment of the words found in Isaiah:

• First and most importantly, he is Spirit-filled and driven. His mother’s conception occurs through the Holy Spirit. From his baptism, the Spirit rested upon him. That same Spirit drove him into the wilderness to shape his discernment. Jesus remains tapped into the divine through continual prayer. First of all, he is Spirit-driven.

• Secondly, his will be a ministry of healing. This we see throughout his ministry: the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will be made whole. Even the dead are raised.

• And in his proclamation, in his preaching, he will deliver a message liberation and release. He will proclaim forgiveness and mercy; he advocates for those spurned by polite society. He frees the demon-possessed. He ministers to Gentile foreigners.

These are the core principles of Jesus’ ministry and purpose. There is no government on earth, there is no leader of state whose inaugural address would ring with the standards voiced here. These, certainly, are the priorities and goals of a kingdom not of this world.

• Spirit-filled

• healing

• liberating

How marvelous it would have been to be present in that synagogue on that day and to hear Jesus’ declaration: “today these words have been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This is the good news of Jesus Christ. And so this also describes who we are as the church of Jesus Christ. His mission, his purpose, they are ours as well. Christ’s church is Spirit-filled. It’s called to work in this world as an agent of healing. It proclaims a message of freedom in Christ.

Our second reading today detailed how our unity as a faith community and as a part of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ is found in Christ. Paul uses the image of a human body with all its parts. The body is comprised of many differing parts. But although they are different, together they form an integrated whole. All parts are essential for the whole body to function properly.