St. Luke the Evangelist

In my first years of elementary school, every Friday we had show and tell.  Show and tell was the time that was set aside for class members to share something special with the rest of the class.  Sometimes it was an object that was shared and other times it was a special event or story that had taken place.  Today we celebrate the life of St. Luke the Evangelist.  We thank God for the blessings that He has poured out through his Word, in the Gospel that he inspired Luke to write.  Luke has been attributed to have written the Gospel of Luke and the book called the Acts of the Apostles.  Why did Luke have to write his Gospel?  Well Show and tell!  Luke is telling his friend, Theophilus and us, the most beautiful story ever told.  It is the living story of Jesus Christ.  He shows us what God has promised to all people in both the Old and New testaments.  He shows us how God has fulfilled his promises in Christ. 

As we walk with St. Luke in his gospel, we walk with Christ.  We see how he has fulfilled all of Gods promises to us.   Luke tells us of Zacharias in the temple at Jerusalem as Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, announces that he will be the father of John the Baptist, who will prepare our Lords way.  Standing beside the Jordan River we see our Lord baptized.  It is the same baptism that we all share and Justin Stacey will receive when he is baptized this morning in our service. Once again we will give witness to the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of God.

What I want to do on this Feast Day of St Luke is to highlight three things that are unique to Luke’s Gospel.  First is the role of women in the life of Jesus.  Even before Jesus ministry began Luke shares with us the great statement of faith that Mary the mother of Jesus gives called the Magnificat.  Luke chapter 8 talks about the women who were traveling with Jesus and providing the resources needed for Jesus to continue his ministry. Luke 15 compares the Kingdom of God in a parable with a woman who loses a coin.  Then after Jesus dies it is the women who first come to the tomb and share the good news that Jesus has arisen from the dead.  This coming November ELCA and our Metro DC Synod will be celebrating the 50 years of women in the ministry in our church and the first women ordained Rev Beth Platz as the campus pastor for 47 years at the University of Maryland. 

Second, Luke has an emphasis of Jesus at table fellowship that is dining with friends and those who were not so friendly to him.  It was in these discussions together at table fellowship where Jesus came to hear the need for healing and reconciliation. Third, Luke shares will us some truly rich parables that are only found in his Gospel.  The parable of the Good Samaritan, the Parable of the Prodigal Son the story of Zacchaeus who was a small man and climbs a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus.  And the wonderful story of Jesus appearance to two of his friends on the road to Emmaus on Sunday night following his resurrection.

Luke, by the way, is not only the patron saint of physicians but also the patron saint of portrait artists, why, because Luke paints a picture of Jesus that allows us to dig deeper into our relationship with Him and with one another.  So that we might know Jesus more intimately, love him more deeply, and following him more closely day by day.

In verse 45 of the text today it says that Jesus opened the disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures.  How often have we tried to understand what the Bible says, or what Christ has done, relying on our own understanding?  Explicitly we see that we are not capable of doing this.  Just as the blind man’s eyes were healed when Jesus commanded them to be open, we are present at a greater miracle – the healing of the disciples' eyes, and our own. 

Now we know what God has done in Jesus Christ and we have begun to understand what he has fulfilled.  Is that all there is?  Shall we say to ourselves: my, that is a cute story?  But this this is not just a story this has been God’s plan from the time that humanity was created but then fell away from God.  God promised to redeem us, to bring us back into a right relationship with Him.   We, like the disciples, have been made witnesses to the redemption of humankind that has been purchased by Christ Jesus.  We have been baptized into Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  Through our baptism’s we have been made His witnesses to all the people of the world. 

How can we do this today?  The disciples were instructed to wait in Jerusalem until they were given power from heaven to be Christ’s witnesses.  We do not have to wait to receive the power of God as the disciples did.  The fulfillment of Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to His disciples was given to us at our baptisms.  His power has been made manifest in us through His Word and His sacraments.  This power, His power, enables us to proclaim His love and redemption that he freely gives to all people. 

As we read Luke’s Gospel it is like being in a classroom listening to the precious account of Jesus that he shares with us. We have the opportunity to go to the front of this class which is made up of our neighbors and friends.  They wait with anticipation.  Now, it is our turn to share the most precious gift we have.  A gift that we have learned about and experienced.  It is our turn to show and tell how God has kept His promises and shown His love through His Son Christ Jesus.

Nearly 600 health care workers have died of COVID-19, according to Lost on the Frontline, a project launched by The Guardian a British newspaper. Lost on the Front line aims to count, verify and memorialize every health care worker who dies during the pandemic. The tally includes doctors, nurses and paramedics, as well as crucial health care support staff such as hospital janitors, administrators and nursing home workers, who have put their own lives at risk during the pandemic to help care for others is over 600 workers.  

As we remember Luke the Evangelist today we honor all medial staff who are risking their very lives to heal those who fall ill.  One of those medical workers who gave their life was Dr. J Ronald Verrier, a surgeon at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.  He  spent the final weeks of his audacious, unfinished life tending to a torrent of patients inflicted with COVID-19. He died April 8 at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York, at age 59, after falling ill from the virus.    Verrier led the charge even as the financially strapped St. Barnabas Hospital struggled to find masks and gowns to protect its workers — many nurses continue to make cloth masks — and makeshift morgues in the parking lot held patients who had died.  He is one of over 600 medical workers who showed love and compassion in the face of death.  Lost in the Front line Project tells their stories to the world.  “He was a did a good work,” said Jeannine Sherwood, a nurse manager at St. Barnabas Hospital who worked closely with Verrier.

So today we remember with thanksgiving St Luke the physician.  And we give thanks also for all medical staff for their service and we pray for healing and restoration.  May we all strive to know Jesus more intimately, love him more deeply, and following him more closely day by day. Amen