Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist Sunday

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Today’s Prayer Book Feast Day is dedicated to focusing on and honoring the work and ministry of St. Luke the Evangelist. An evangelist is someone called by GOD to preach the full message of Christ’s salvation – the whole of the Good News of GOD – the Gospel. So confident and meticulous was Luke in his calling as an Evangelist, that he reflected on the ‘carefulness’ of his calling, in the following way, which is the opening of his Gospel account: “Now many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, like the accounts passed on to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning. So, it seemed good to me as well, because I have followed all things carefully from the beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know for a certain, the things which you were taught” (St. Luke 1. 1 & 4 – NET). 

And in his telling of GOD’s Salvation, Luke summarizes the Good News of GOD as, “JESUS Christ of Nazareth, whom [the rulers of the people and the elders of Israel] crucified, whom GOD raised from the dead … [And the urgency and gravity of this work of GOD in Christ, St. Luke tells us we must heed:] For, there is, therefore, salvation in no other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4.10 & 12). — Some theologians and historians even believe that this Gospel of St. Luke was actually the Gospel according to St. Paul. “Indeed, St. Luke is supposed to have written his Gospel when he was associated with St. Paul in his travels, and by direction from him. Further, some think that this is the brother whom Paul speaks of (cf. 2 Cor. 8:18), ‘whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the churches of Christ’; as if the meaning of it were, that he was celebrated in all the churches for writing this Gospel. And further, that St. Paul means [the Gospel of Luke] when he speaks sometimes of his Gospel – ‘in the day when GOD will judge the secrets of men by JESUS Christ, according to my gospel’ (cf. Rom. 2:16).”¹  

Another unique characteristic of St. Luke’s telling of GOD’s Good News was that he wrote it to one, Theophilus, meaning Friend of GOD. “Some think that Theophilus does not mean any particular person, but every one that is a lover and friend of GOD … And those who are truly lovers of GOD, will heartily welcome the Gospel of Christ, the design and tendency of which, as St. Luke himself says, ‘is to bring us to GOD’.² 

Perhaps one of the most charming and unique things about Luke’s telling of the life and times of JESUS the Messiah, is the way he notes the detail of JESUS’ tendency to compassionately comfort and heal people. The healing ministry of our LORD JESUS was particularly interesting to Luke, it is believed, because he was a learned Greek in the medical arts. St. Paul even calls him the ‘beloved physician’ (cf. Col. 4.14), which is made apparent by the detail he records of specific fevers, congenital disorders, paralysis, leprosy, dropsy/edema, hemorrhaging, and the like. And we cannot overlook the total contribution of text that St. Luke, by the leading of the Spirit of Christ, was responsible for. Luke not only wrote his Gospel of JESUS Christ, but also the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. — In total, St. Luke is responsible for nearly 30% (27.5% approx.) of the New Testament Canon.  

Luke is significant, not only as an individual contributor, but also because he is a Gentile. “St. Luke shows how JESUS came as the Messiah of Israel, but also moves beyond GOD’s desire to save historic, national Israel, to include the maximum number of Gentiles in GOD’s plan of salvation too.”³ This is evident in certain texts that Luke calls upon to underscore the universality of GOD’s redemption achieved in Christ JESUS. For example, the Nunc Dimittis, heralded by the prophet Simeon in chapter 2, and oft quoted in the prayer book office of Evening Prayer: “LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel” (St. Luke 2.29-32). 

Luke is also careful to note the passage from Isaiah 40, putting the prophet Isaiah’s words into the mouth of John the Baptist, thereby revealing that the redemption of the Gentiles, along with the Jews, was in the mind and heart of GOD in Christ. — Preaching at the Jordan River, John says: “Prepare the way of the LORD. Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of GOD” (St. Luke 3.4-6). – Thus, for the Gentile nations to see the ministry of Christ in Luke’s Gospel, they are to realize and to rejoice in the descriptive healing of the remnant of faithful people in Israel as their inheritance too. The inheritance of GOD’s Good News for the Gentiles alongside of the Jews was not Luke’s conception, but a theological idea also found throughout the Old Testament Canon. We read as much from the prophet Isaiah: “When the LORD brings back Zion … Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our GOD” (Isaiah 52.8b-10). 

That blessed hymnist, Herr Johann G. Olearius, a seventeenth-century Lutheran preacher and scholar, captured this theme of ‘comfort in the Gospel of Christ for all nations,’ with the following words:  

¹Comfort, comfort ye my people, 
Speak ye peace, thus saith our GOD. 
Comfort those who sit in darkness, 
Mourning neath their sorrows’ load. 
Speak ye to Jerusalem 
Of the peace that waits for them, 
Tell her that her sins I cover, 
And her warfare now is over. 

³For the herald’s voice is crying 
In the desert far and near, 
Bidding all to true repentance, 
Since the kingdom now is here. 
Oh, that warning cry obey, 
Now prepare for GOD a way; 
Let the valleys rise to meet him, 
And the hills bow down to greet him. 

⁴Make ye straight what long was crooked, 
Make the rougher places plain; 
Let your hearts be true and humble, 
As befits His holy reign; 
For the glory of the LORD 
Now o’er earth is shed abroad, 
And all flesh shall see the token 
That his Word is never broken. 

This word that is never broken, this is the Good News that we need to hear today, dear church. GOD in Christ, born of a virgin in Israel, raised under the Law, living without any sin, dying innocently the most tragic death of a sinner, yet resurrected on the third day to glory, is reconciling the world to Himself. — Dearly beloved in Christ, this is the Gospel that we are to believe, live, and extol as the Body of Christ to all nations: to our family, friends, co-workers, and strangers. For “We have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living GOD, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to GOD the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to JESUS the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12.22-24). Being now in this state in Christ, how can we stay silent? We are not to sit idly by and simply recite the words of the Psalmist: “GOD be merciful unto us, and bless us, and show us the light of your countenance, and be merciful unto us” (67.1). No, we are to reveal that Light to the nations – to all that sit in darkness, “That GOD’s ways may be known upon earth; His saving health among all nations … then shall the earth bring forth her increase; and GOD, even our own GOD, shall give us his blessing” 67.2 & 6).  

It is a deep, prayerful hope for the leadership team here at St. Mark’s to see a bountiful harvest of new growth in our parish. GOD, the Holy Spirit, has given us a vision of breaking out and taking possession of a new worship space of our own. In GOD’s infinite mind alone, it is known why, but we have yet to see that growth and answer to our prayers. Our gospel fields lie uncultivated and seemingly fallow, but that need not be the case anymore. — I wonder if this season of dormancy might be a result of too much preservation and not enough proclamation? I wonder if we have centered our hearts and actions too much on preserving the beauty of the altar, symbolized by the words of the Psalmist: ‘GOD be merciful unto us, and bless us, and show us the light of your countenance.’ Perhaps our faith needs to be stirred up, awakening in us anew, the call of our employ by the Master to proclaim, what is also said by the Psalmist. To “Tell it out among the heathen, that the LORD is King, and that it is he who hath made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved; and how that he shall judge the peoples righteously” (96.10). And if we were so to do with our faith in Christ stirred up anew, I wonder, then, by ‘making GOD’s ways known upon the earth, then perhaps, Ellis County shall bring forth her increase; and GOD, even our own GOD, shall give us his blessing.’ The blessing of a fruitful harvest of souls to worship alongside us and follow Him with us. — On second thought, I no longer wonder, I am sure that on this, the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist Sunday, we do need a fresh stirring of our faith to proclaim the Gospel of JESUS Christ! 

Thus, dear St. Mark’s, hear the words therefore, again, of St. Paul, and let us be stirred up to faith anew, in action, to make Christ known “by telling of his salvation from day to day. Declaring his honor unto the heathen, and his wonders unto all peoples” (96.2-3). — “I charge you therefore, [brothers and sisters] before GOD and the LORD JESUS Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when the world will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers [to tickle their ungodly fancies]; and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (1 St. Timothy 4.1-5). 

ALMIGHTY GOD, who didst inspire thy servant Saint Luke the Physician, to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of thy Son; Manifest in thy Church, especially here at St. Mark’s in Waxahachie, the like power and love, to the healing of our bodies and our souls, that we, being stirred up anew unto faith, might declare your works among the nations, and that our gospel fields might bring forth their increase for thy honor and glory; through the same thy Son JESUS Christ our LORD. Amen. 

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1-2 BlueLetterBible.org. “Commentary on the Gospel of Luke.” Accessed 16 October 2025. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Luk/Luk_001.cfm?a=974001.  

3 Camlin, The Rt. Rev’d, Dr. +Charles. “The Four Gospels: Luke.” Cranmer Theological House Course: NT 503 – The Four Gospels. February 2021, Dallas, Tx.