One of the things I’ve always tried to be with you is consistent. I want who you get on Sunday to be who you get on Monday, Tuesday, the day after, and the one after that. I want what you see in and hear from me to be consistent with the gospel week after week. I want what I say to you to be consistent with the values and teaching of Jesus. 

I’m not claiming to always be consistent either within myself or with the gospel. I know there are days when I’m just not consistent. But I also know that without some level of consistency there can be no trust. It’s hard to trust someone if you never know who or what you’re going to get. 

My desire and striving to be consistent are an expression of my following Jesus and it’s why I cannot not preach this sermon. Jesus is my model of consistency. If Jesus is anything, he is consistent. It’s, at least in part, why we trust him. 

The Jesus who gave sight to the blind is the same Jesus who fed the five thousand, is the same Jesus who healed the Roman centurion’s daughter, is the same Jesus who gave living water to the Samaritan woman, is the same Jesus who set free the woman caught in adultery, is the same Jesus who forgave the thief on the cross. He doesn’t change who he is or what he is about even when he talks to the Pharisees, Governor Pontius Pilate, or King Herod. 

That doesn’t mean he always got it right or that consistency for Jesus was easier than it is for us. Just last week we heard Mary say to him, “They have no wine.” Do you remember what he said to her? “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:3-4) But then he corrected his inconsistency and water became wine. 

After calling the Canaanite woman a dog and refusing to heal her daughter Jesus reclaimed his consistency and the woman’s “daughter was healed instantly.” (Matthew 15:28) And in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus struggled with his consistency and what it would demand of him. 

The consistency of Jesus begins with today’s gospel (Luke 4:14-21). He has just come out of the wilderness where he faced and overcame temptations to be inconsistent with himself and with God. He stands up in the synagogue and declares who he is and what he is about using words from the prophet Isaiah.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
       to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
       and recovery of sight to the blind,
       to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Those are Jesus’ first public words Luke records. They are his inaugural address. He is outlining his values, the direction of his ministry, and what he will do. He is promising us to be consistent and trustworthy. 

So what do you think? Was Jesus’ life consistent with what he said in today’s gospel? Did he prove himself to be trustworthy? In what ways have you experienced his consistency? And when and in what ways have you been upset or challenged by his consistency? 

What about us? Is your life consistent with what Jesus says today? Are your values, words, and actions consistent with his? Where is there inconsistency? How far and to whom does today’s gospel extend? Is it for everyone or only a few? Those are questions I’m asking myself and they’re not easy.

Jesus’ consistency is difficult and challenging. In him we see both our consistency and inconsistency with the gospel. Are we really who we say we are as his followers? Do others see consistency or inconsistency in us? Jesus invites us to be self-reflective and self-evaluative of our lives not as a judgment or criticism but as an opportunity to rethink and realign our lives when they become inconsistent. 

I think realignment and consistency are at the heart of Bishop Mariann Budde’s sermon. By now most of you have probably heard or heard about the sermon she preached at the National Cathedral the day after President Trump’s inauguration.

She spoke about “the inherent dignity of every human being,” honesty, and humility. She spoke about people living in fear, the fear that comes with being gay, lesbian, transgender, or an immigrant. She looked at and asked President Trump “to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”

Her sermon has evoked praise and outrage, commendation and condemnation. The irony is she was preaching about national unity. If there is a question about her sermon it isn’t, “Do you approve or disapprove of her sermon?” It isn’t, “Do you agree or disagree with her?” And it isn’t, “Do you like or dislike what she said?” The question is about consistency. 

Is what she said consistent with the gospel of Christ? Is her sermon consistent with the life, values, and teaching of Jesus? Are her words consistent with the one who said twice, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”? (Matthew 9:13; 12:7)

I suspect most of us know inconsistency when we see it even if it has become comfortable, acceptable, or beneficial. Let me give you some examples. 

Can you imagine Jesus reading that passage from Isaiah and then saying, “By the way, that’s only for Episcopalians, not Baptists or atheists, and it doesn’t include women”? Or what if he had said, “I’ve come to let the oppressed go free but I’m not talking about those oppressed by racism, homophobia, or poverty”?

What would you think if you heard Jesus say to blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you, but first tell me what you’ll do for me?” Can you imagine him saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you; but it’s okay to use violence once in a while”? Would it be inconsistent if Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and life abundant but that life isn’t for migrants or refugees”? 

Those sound absurd and laughable because they are so very inconsistent with who we know Jesus to be, the way he lived, and the values he taught. Why then do we see examples of them every day?

We say we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior but here’s my question. Do you and I trust him enough to make our lives and world consistent with his gospel? Do we?

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Image Credit: By Ham II – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.