A Savior, Plain and Tall

The Rev. Joseph Winston

January 28, 2007

Luke 4:14-30
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Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report
about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their
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synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was
his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given
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to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “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, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.
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The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to
them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well
of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They

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said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to
me this proverb, ’Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ’Do here also in your
hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ 24 And he said,
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“Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the
truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all
the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in
Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha,
and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard
this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of
the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that
they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and
went on his way.

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
In the 1986 Newbery Medal Award winning book, Sarah, Plain and Tall, Pa-
tricia MacLachlan captures some of the heartaches and joys of placing an adver-
tisement for a wife. A young girl named Anna narrates this fictional story, set deep
in the heartland of America. The year is near 1880. Anna lives in a small house
with her younger brother, Caleb, and their father Jacob. This family has almost
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Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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everything needed for life on a farm: good land, two horses, a plow, a buggy, a
few cows and sheep, and of course, dogs. The only thing that they lack is a mother
for Anna and Caleb and a wife for Papa.
The family has already tried a housekeeper. The children recall Hilly as an old
and slow woman who snored during her sleep like a boiling teakettle . These faults,
which annoyed the children to no end, were not her most shocking shortcoming.
In their minds, Hilly’s unforgivable sin was letting the fire go out.
Anna remembers the family’s first discussion about a mail order bride in the
following manner:

Papa leaned back in the chair. “I’ve placed an advertisement in the

newspapers. For help.”

“You mean a housekeeper?” I asked, surprised.

...

“No,” said father slowly. “Not a housekeeper.” He paused. “A wife.”

Caleb stared at Papa. “A wife? You mean a mother?”

...

“That, too,” said Papa. “Like Maggie.”

Matthew, our neighbor to the south had written to ask for a wife and
mother for his children. And Maggie had come from Tennessee. Her
hair was the color of turnips and she laughed.

Papa reached into his pocket and unfolded a letter written on white

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 paper. “And I have received an answer.” Papa read to us:

Dear Mr. Jacob Witting:

I am Sarah Wheaton from Maine as you will see from my letter. I am

answering your advertisement. I have never been married, though I
have been asked. I live with an older brother, William, who is about
to be married. His wife-to-be is young and energetic.

I have always loved to live by the sea, but at this time I feel a move is
necessary. And the truth is, the sea is as far east as I can go. My choice,
as you can see, is limited. This should not be taken as an insult. I am
strong and I work hard and I am willing to travel. But I am not mild
mannered. If you should still care to write, I would be interested in
your children and about where you live. And you.

Very truly yours,

Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton

P.S. Do you have opinions on cats? I have one.2

As requested by Sarah, everyone in Anna’s family composes a letter where

they tell Sarah a little bit about themselves. This is an important part of the
courtship ritual for her since Sarah has precious little to go on in her decision
to either stay on the coast or take the costly move and come to the prairie. In their
mail to her, they also ask Sarah to say a bit more about herself. The family wants
to know if Sarah will fill their needs for a mother and a wife.
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 Anna’s letter from Sarah was the first to arrive:

Dear Anna,

Yes, I can braid hair and I can make stew and bake bread, though I
prefer to build bookshelves and paint.

My favorite colors are the colors of the sea, blue and gray and green,
depending on the weather. My brother William is a fisherman, and he
tells me that when he is in the middle of a fog-bound sea the water is
a color for which there is no name. He catches flounder and sea bass
and bluefish. Sometimes he sees whales. And birds, too, of course. I
am enclosing a book of sea birds to you will see what William and I
see every day.

Yours very truly,

Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton3

Caleb’s letter arrived a bit later:

Dear Caleb,

My cat’s name is Seal because she is gray like the seals that swim off-
shore in Maine. She is glad that Lottie and Nick send their greetings.
She likes dogs most of the time. She says their footprints are much
larger than hers (which she is enclosing in return).
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 Your house sound lovely, even though it is far out in the country with
no close neighbors. My house is tall and the shingles are gray because
of the salt from the sea. There are roses nearby.

Yes, I do like small rooms sometimes. Yes, I can keep a fire going at
night. I do not know if I snore. Seal has never told me.

Yours very truly,

Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton4

Finally, Papa’s letter came:

Dear Jacob,

I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall.

Sarah5

As promised, Sarah leaves her home in Maine and makes her way by train,
stagecoach, and buggy to the little house on the prairie. When she finally arrives
at the farm, the children see that she accurately described herself. She is plan and
tall. Her hands are rough from the carpentry work. She does things her own way.
The rest of the story tells us of Sarah’s first thirty days with the Witting family.
Even though “Sarah, Plain and Tall” is told from the viewpoint of the young
girl Anna, you can hear some of the stress in the family as they adapt to Sarah.
Can Sarah be taught to ride a horse? Will Papa let Sarah work on the roof? The
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reverse is also true. Sarah misses her family, the sea, the colors of the coast, and
her house and she wonders if she will be accepted into the life on the farm.
Jesus fulfills the prophecies that were spoken about Him. He comes into our
world. His reason for living with us can be summed up in one single Word: love.
Jesus saw the state of our world and our lives. Because He created the world, He
knew that everything could be better. His trip here to earth showed us His love
for us because He showed us how to live and He forgave us our sin. However,
Jesus does not arrive by train, stagecoach, or even by buggy. Instead, He enters
the world just like the rest of us. Jesus is born.
After a relatively normal childhood, Jesus decides against entering His father’s
carpentry business. He feels the best way of fulfilling the great commandment to
love God with your entire existence is to bring the Good News to the poor.
The poor that Christ comes to save can be found at every level of society.
The literal definition of poor is those people who live a substandard life because
they lack the needed resources. Jesus has come for these people. In addition to
the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life, Jesus brings these individuals food and
drink. And in doing so, He answers their prayers for a Savior. The people who
cannot free themselves from damaging relationships are in bondage to another
power. They are poor since they cannot escape from the world’s powers. They are
forced to worship the gods of addictions. Jesus loves the imprisoned and brings all
who would have Him both life and freedom. He breaks the chain of addiction and
fulfils the prayers of the people. The lack of sight makes a person poor because
they cannot see what needs to be done. Jesus supplies the blind with the eyes

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that see the world as it really is. He also grants them the forgiveness of sins and
life with God. He performs all of these actions because the blind have asked to
be given their sight. The disadvantaged find themselves in their state through the
unjust use of power. They are poor because others take advantage of them. Jesus
comes to remove the injustices in the economic system. Everyone will have what
they need to live. The prayers of the oppressed have been heard by God.
The plan for this sweeping reform is not some time in the future. Jesus tells
everyone who listen to Him that change starts today.
Christ’s Words of healing for the poor of the world do not sit well with the
townsfolk. They completely reject Jesus because His actions do not fit in their
preconceived notions of Messiah-ship. In their minds, Christ’s first problem is that
Jesus gives God’s gifts to the downtrodden members of society. They think that
God should limit grace to the beautiful people. The second issue with Christ’s way
of living is that He helps the outcasts.6 The text gives us three hints of whom the
people dislike. The people of Capernaum, the widow at Zarephath, and Naaman
all are gentiles and some of these people are the outright enemies of the Jews. The
people in the synagogue want God’s graces to be reserved for Israel.
All of the men in the synagogue have forgetten the stories that Jesus quoted
from First and Second Kings about a God who helps the outsider. The men also
cannot recall the great story about Jonah who was sent to their enemy in Nineveh.
After trying to escape God and go to Tarshish on a ship, God brought Jonah back
to Nineveh in the belly of a large fish. Once Jonah was back on the land, he
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walked from one side to the other of the city preaching a Word of repentance.
Everyone in the great city, from the king down to the lowliest peasant asked God
for forgiveness. When Jonah saw that God was not going to destroy the enemy,
Jonah sat down and told God:

I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious
God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and
ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life
from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. (Jonah 4:2a-3a
NRSV)

The men in the synagogue do not want Jesus. He is not acceptable because He
acts just like His Father. They want to return Him back to His Creator.
All of us have been given a clear and accurate description of the Messiah. It is
found in the letters that God has written for our benefit: the Bible. We are the ones
who have misread the Bible. Because of our mistake, we feel that Jesus should
be our personal savior. Our blindness is why we want to send Jesus back to His
Father on the next train.
Unlike Sarah who only had a limited amount of information regarding the
family and their situation, Christ comes to us knowing full well our condition.
He saw our infighting and our lies. He realized that we had killed the prophets.
He recognized that His trip to our homes would be dangerous. In spite of this
knowledge, He came. He is here for you. He has forgiven your sin. And because
of this, you will live forever.

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 At the end of the book, Sarah goes into town for the first time. The children
are terrified that the real reason for the trip might be that Sarah is getting on the
train so that she can return back to her home on the coast. Finally, at dusk Sarah
returns home to the house. Caleb cannot stand it any more and bursts into tears.
Anna then says out loud what everyone was silently thinking to themselves:

“We thought you might be thinking of leaving us,” I told her. “Be-
cause you miss the sea.”

Sarah smiled.

“No,” she said. I will always miss my old home, but the truth of it is I
would miss you more.”7

The story of Jesus ends in the same way.

“We thought you might be thinking of leaving us,” we tell Jesus. “Be-
cause you miss heaven.”

Jesus smiles.

“No,” He says. I will always miss my old home, but the truth of it is I
would miss you more.”

“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”8

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Philippians 4:7.

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