Boundless Love (February 23, 2013).

BOUNDLESS LOVE

Text: Luke 4:21 – 30

There is the story of a preacher whose preaching met with comments of affirmation praise when he spoke about certain sins, like gossip, drinking, lying, cheating, stealing. With the mention of each and every sin, there were people who were heard to say “amen preacher”. But, when the preacher mentioned smoking someone in the congregation blurted out, “Preacher you done quit preaching and gone to meddling”. There were those in the congregation of the synagogue who protested because Jesus had quit preaching and gone to meddling. Jesus’s revelation brought out their reaction. Jesus emphasized the things that needed to be resolved.

God’s love knows no bounds. The audience in the synagogue was ok hearing about God’s love so long as it met with their expectations. When Jesus talked about how God’s love reaches out to even the Gentiles, people in the synagogue got upset. Why were they upset? Jesus’ interpretation was not what they wanted to hear.

REVELATION

The status quo had already been established. . 1) As someone (Gary Carver) once said, “Vested interest has no desire to alter its entrenched position”. (David N. Mosser. ed. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2004 Edition. Gary Carver. “From Head To Heart”. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003, p. 67). 2) Jesus spoke about how God’s love needed to be relevant---love that connects rather than love that is tightly-held-tenacious and exclusive. Tenacity is a good thing unless there is misplaced energy and emphasis. It was the misplaced energy and emphasis that Jesus’s sermon was addressing.

Jesus revealed how God’s love extends to the Gentiles. 1) Does “familiarity breeds contempt”? 2) Jesus quoted a proverb to them when He said “Physician heal thyself” which means that a person needs to deal with his own affairs before giving advice to others . 3) The crowd asks Jesus to repeat the kind of miracles He had done in Capernaum. But, Jesus reminds the Nazarenes that a prophet is without honor in His own hometown. Jesus was recalling Israel’s history of both “rejecting and persecuting their own prophets” (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah and Amos who were all martyred). 4) It made them even angrier when Jesus pointed out how God showed mercy to the Gentiles in verses 26 -27. 5) In Matthew 5:46 Jesus asked how genuine is our love if we only love those who love us? Do we also seek to love only those who are most like us? Isn’t that the kind of love that shows favoritism?

REACTION

What was the crowd’s reaction? 1) They were filled with rage and wanted to throw Jesus off a cliff!!! 2) Someone else (Craig A. Evans) declared that “What makes all of this preaching so “unacceptable” is that the people of Jesus’ expected Messiah to come and destroy Israel’s enemies, not minister to them”. (Craig A, Evans. New international Biblical Commentary: Luke. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990, p. 75). 3) Someone (G. Campbell Morgan) once said, “Every criticism of Christ is a revelation, not of Christ, but of the men who make the criticism.” (G. Campbell Morgan. The Westminster Pulpit. Volume 9. 80th Edition. “Four Mistakes About Christ”. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2006,p. 59). What were these people saying about themselves by their actions? What do our actions say about us?

Did they truly have God in their hearts? “There is the story of a little four year old girl who went to her pediatrician for a check up. As the doctor looked in her ears he asked “Do you think that I’ll find Big Bird in there?” The little girl was silent. Next the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. He asked “Do you think I’ll find the Cookie Monster down there. Again, the little girl was silent. Then the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest. As he listened to her heart he asked, “Do you think I’ll find Barney in there?” “Oh, no,” the little girl replied, “Barney’s on my underpants; Jesus in my heart”. (David N. Mosser. ed. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2004 Edition. Gary Carver. “From Head To Heart”. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003, p. 69). When God looks at our hearts, what does He see?

RESOLUTION

We have to accept God’s supreme authority [sovereignty]. 1) We have to accept that God is “unpredictable, uncontrollable and unstoppable”. (Michael Duduit. ed. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 1998 Edition. Don M. Aycock. “Who Own God?”. Nashville: Abingdom Press, 1997, pp. 67 – 69). God saves sinners---all sinners who will repent. Jesus called Matthew who was a tax–collector to be a disciple. Jesus also called Simon-Peter who was a fishermen. What is significant about these two disciples? What is significant is that they were on different sides of the fence in their views. They became united as disciples. 2) How can we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength if we do not accept His supreme authority? Our belief will demonstrate both our behavior and our belief.