As the Episcopal Church, we need to live in the now and to live towards the future: continuing down the road we are traveling of radical inclusivity and hospitality, of welcoming those who need the home we can provide them; not turning back the clock to a non-existent nostalgic past where things are remembered as being perfect....That kind of sentimentality which leads to lack of action is not the continuous action Luke is calling us to. This Gospel is taking us by the shoulders and shaking us, demanding that we live into the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed on that day in Nazareth.

He was 30-something - a bit full of himself, and a tad rough around the edges. Stories about him were going around and some had preceded his arrival back in the small town where he had been brought up so obviously full of promise, like many in our own Dupont Circle neighborhood. His career path wasn't on a fast track - he'd refused to take up his father's business, or assume his cousin's clientele, and when offered all sorts of power to control his own world - and that of his family and friends - he turned down the offer.

One of the reasons, I believe, that so many mega-church pulpits are the launching pads for verbal displays of rhetorical power, is that the real Jesus of the gospels seems far less interesting than the God of Glory who promises material success as signs of spiritual accomplishment. Jesus' ministry, we recall on this first Sunday after the Epiphany, didn't begin with him grasping the reins of power from John and starting to baptize people with displays of divine omnipotence.

Today is the 7th day of Christmas - seven swans a-swimming .. Imagine a bevy of swans swimming gorgeously around the room. And the theme today is: Rejoice!

For unto us a Son is born, unto us a Child is given ..

Rejoice! for the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us," . (Eugene Peterson: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes.")