Scripture: Luke 4:4-21; Nehemiah 8:1-10; Psalms 19
Theme: Authentic Worship
Proposition: In preaching His first sermon, Jesus gives us this wonderful formula for creating authentic worship services; Five elements 1. Holy Scripture 2. Sacred space 3. Sacred time 4. Holy Spirit Anointing and 5. Full Salvation
INTRO:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world! Good morning!
Two of the greatest quarterbacks to play in the NFL will meet this afternoon in Denver, Colorado to help determine which AFC team will play in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, 2016. It will be the 17th time that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have faced each other as opposing quarterbacks. It may well be the last time that they suit up against one another in such an important game as both of their careers are winding down.
Who will win? I don't know, but I do know that both men are highly skilled at managing a team and understanding how to win. Manning and Brady are excellent examples of what it means to be a star quarterback. Both are winners and both men are assured of a place in Pro Football's Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio after they retire.
Most of us enjoy watching people at the top of their game, whether it's a Steve Curry in basketball, a Serena Williams in tennis, a Gordon James Ramsay in cooking or a Jennifer Lawrence in acting. There is something wonderful about seeing someone being able to perform at their best.
This morning, Luke shares with us a picture of Jesus at his best. He is taking center stage in his local synagogue. Even though it is early in Jesus' career, Luke shares with us the five elements that Jesus used to create an authentic worship service that brought glory and honor to His Heavenly Father. Let's look this morning at those five elements this morning in no particular order.
I. Jesus shows us the Primacy of Scripture
It is important for us to see what Jesus does in this service. We must understand that what Jesus says and does is inside and not outside the worship of Judaism and the traditions of his people.1 Jesus is not an opponent of his heritage. Instead, Jesus embraces the spiritual heritage of His people and that is clearly seen in the way he views and uses scripture.
Reading and understanding scripture is fundamental to Judaism. Jews believe that the Scriptures are one of the major sources of communion with the LORD. The Scriptures provide an insight into how God communicates with them as His People. It is through scripture that they believe one learns how to live a fulfilling and spiritual life. Our other two readings, Nehemiah 8 and Psalms 19 attest to this foundational belief. Listen again to the words of the Psalmist in describing God's words:
"They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb. (Psalms 19:10)
Jesus embraces this same belief. He was a man founded in scripture. By picking up the scroll and reading from it, Jesus was doing more than simply going along with local tradition. Jesus was telling all of us that the reading of God's Holy Word, the reading of scripture is an essential part of worship.
He is wanting us to understand the primacy of scripture in our services. We don't simply read Scripture out of tradition or ritual. We read scripture to hear and communicate with God. We read Scripture to understand how to life a full and spiritual life. When the WORD is read, it is a call to discontinue all activity. We are to pause whatever we are doing and make sure that we can hear and obey God's Word. To not listen to God's Word is to grieve the Holy Spirit.
Many of you may have at one time or the other received a little Gideon Bible. We thank God for the great work that the Gideon's International has done over the past 117 years. They have taken on the challenge of placing God's Word in as many places and hands as possible. Just recently, they have passed the 2 billion mark. Think about that for a moment. Over 2 Billion Bibles have been handed out by Gideon's all over the world. Praise the LORD!
Have you ever read the words that are printed in the front of their little Bibles? If you haven't, listen to the words that are printed there:
The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. CHRIST is its grand subject, our good - the design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a wine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.
This morning we are called to rejoice and listen intently as someone reads to us a portion of God's Holy Word. It is one of the highlights of our service to God. Like Jesus we are to be people of the WORD, hearing, receiving and obeying.
II. Jesus shows us the importance of sacred space
It is true that Jesus preached and taught in the fields, on the mountains and beside the shorelines. But it is also true that Jesus spoke in both the Temple and in the synagogues of Judea and Galilee. Again, Jesus does not attempt to replace these sacred spaces of worship, instead He affirms them. Jesus teaches us that they are God's Houses of Prayer and Worship.2
I love what Luke shares here in verse 16, "And as His custom was, Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day ..."
There were no doubt some Sabbath days as Jesus was traveling and preaching that the disciples found themselves not near a synagogue or the Temple. On those days, Jesus and His disciples would still pray, sing, worship and share scripture, just not in a formal setting. However, most of Jesus' life we are to understand that He made it a priority for his disciples and Himself to be worship either at the Temple or at a local synagogue.
The Temple and the synagogues were sanctified places, that is to say, everything about them had been set apart for God's holy use. There is simply something special about places that have been given over to the LORD. It is a true that a church can be simply be a building people gather or it can be God's sanctified building that provides people a much needed sacred space. It all has to do with the hearts, minds and spirits of the people who attend.
If for example, we start to believe that the church is our building and we can do with it whatever we wish, then it is no longer sacred. We have taken it away from God. However, if we have built it for God, given it to God and have allowed God to use it for His Kingdom then this place and all that it contains becomes sanctified. It becomes sacred space, what the Celtic Christians called a thin place, a place where heaven and earth meet.
We no longer approach church simply as a building constructed of brick and mortar. We see it as God's House; all of it. And do our best to discover what God wants to happen in His House. Where does God want us to worship Him, what does He want us to do with His sacred space? How does He want us to use the church for the growth of His Kingdom?
So often, we humans build and design places for our comfort and for our needs. What we must do is what Jesus did here - He considered the synagogue God's worship center and treated it as such. It is a sacred task of any congregation to ask God what to do in His place. It is sacred task for any congregation to make sure that we have provided the best environment to worship the LORD.
Years ago, I had the opportunity to visit this wonderful little church. It had an adequate sanctuary. The lighting was pretty good and the pews were not in bad shape. But it felt boxy and tight. I thought at first it was the best that the congregation could do.
But then I was given a tour of the rest of the building. Low and behold, I came across "THE SUNDAY SCHOOL ROOM." This particular Sunday School room was filled with the latest technology. It had the best seating and its walls were covered with these beautiful pictures. It was the highlight of the church.
I asked why this room looked and felt better than the sanctuary? Why was all the attention given to this room over the sacred space designed to worship God? I was quickly told that the movers and shakers of the church meet in this room. It was a priority to make them happy and so the church did everything that could to cater to their particular needs.
We must never make the fatal mistakes that congregation made. The place we create for worship must be the best of places. The place where we worship the most high God must be the place that we can meet the highest number of people for God and for His Kingdom. It must be the best that we can offer GOD and His people.
III. Jesus shows us the importance of sacred time
We know this morning, that Jesus did not replace Sabbath nor did he abolish the Sabbath. He did bring the true meaning of the Sabbath back to the forefront. The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath Jesus teaches us (Mark 2:27). And the best way to honor God and man is to use the Sabbath as a sacred time to worship, praise and bring glory to GOD.
In referring to the Sabbath, let remind ourselves what God tells us about this day: Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
In the Church of the Nazarene we believe that we are to hold God's day in reverence. Listen to the words written in our church manual in the section entitled THE COVENANT OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER:
We believe we are to avoiding evil of every kind, including: (2) Profaning of the Lord’s Day by participation in unnecessary secular activities, thereby indulging in practices that deny its sanctity (Exodus 20:8-11; Isaiah 58:13-14; Mark 2:27-28; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10).
God has given us the Sabbath day to honor Him. God has given us the Sabbath day to worship Him. God has given us the Sabbath day as a day for us to rest. God has given us Sabbath as a day for our bodies to heal. Now, it does not mean that we are to do nothing on the Sabbath and that all activities are out of question. It simply means that we are to avoid doing anything on the Sabbath day that would deny its uniqueness, its holiness; its sacredness. For God gave us the Sabbath day as a gift and as a day that we can use to honor God as Lord of our lives.
We all know of circumstances that happen outside of our control that cause us to work on the Sabbath. However, we must understand that we are still commanded to worship, honor God and rest on the Sabbath. When it happens that we have to work I believe God wants us to do three special things:
a. We should do our work to the best of our ability therefore giving God honor and praise
b. We should do our work as we quickly as we can so that we can use the remainder of the day to still worship and honor God. If possible we should join our brothers and sisters in worship and in rest.
c. We should pray for those employers that require us to work on the LORD's Day so that one day they may see and live by the light of God's Word.
IV. Jesus shows us the necessity of receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit
In verse 14, Luke tells us that ... "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit". And in verse 18, Jesus uses the words of the Prophet to voice again the necessity of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our worship services. Jesus' ministry is bathed in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus obeys the will of the Father through the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Luke reminds us that before Pentecost the Holy Spirit was active in our world. Jesus modeled for us what it means for us to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. True worship occurs when we allow the Holy Spirit to take control of us and our worship services.
For that to happen we must saturate ourselves and our places of worship with prayer, with praise and with the proclamation that Jesus is LORD. The normal synagogue service started and ended with prayer. In fact, there were at least four major prayer times involved in each service. Prayers of confession, prayers of praise, prayers of intercession and prayers for the immediate presence of God's Holy Spirit to fall down upon His people.
In writing about the need for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Pastor Jack Hayford reminds us that there are at least three great reasons we need God's anointing in our services:
1. However sincere we may be, we cannot, on our own, worship God as freely and fully as He deserves.
2. However zealous we may be, we cannot, on our own, witness for Christ as effectively as He desires.
3. However zealous we may be, we cannot, on our own, do warfare for Christ as penetratingly as He directs.3
As Jesus relied on the anointing of the Holy Spirit so too, must we rely. Before we ever enter into this place of worship, we must pray for God's Spirit to lead us and guide us. As we pray, as we sing, as we move throughout the service we continually need prayers and hearts ready to receive God's anointing. Each Sunday our services are to drip with the anointing of God's Holy Spirit.
For unless the Spirit leads all we are simply doing is getting together and attempting to have a good time. The words the angel spoke in Zechariah 4:6 ring as true today as they did some 2,500 years ago:
Zechariah 4:6 New King James Version (NKJV)
6 So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.
VI. Jesus shows us we are to preach God's Salvation.
True worship promotes God's intentions for full salvation. True worship reveals God's heart and we find God's heart this morning in verse 18
+God seeks out the broken hearted
+God seeks out the captive
+God seeks out the blind
+God seeks out the oppressed
God seeks all of them out to share with them that their day of salvation and deliverance has come. Today, the broken hearted can find healing. Today, the captive can find liberation. Today, the blind can find sight. Today, the oppressed can find true freedom.
Worship leads us to fulfill God's mission. The Body of Christ has a message to proclaim. It is that of deliverance, salvation and liberty. In each service people are invited to experience supernatural deliverance and freedom. They are to then go out and proclaim that the day of God's deliverance is here. The deliverance, salvation and liberty that we experience here we are to go and share with our families, our friends and others.
I love the way Jesus ends the reading with "TODAY this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears."
TODAY - not Tomorrow, not next week or next month. God is here today to free His People.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 6:2 that today is the day of salvation. Today is the day that God seeks to bring salvation into our hearts and lives. We do not have to wait until we get our act together. We don't have to wait until we get all things corrected, memorized and put into their right order. Our God will rescue us wherever we are this morning.
David reminds us of this fact in Psalms 40:1-2
1I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.
God seeks to save us today. God seeks to cancel our debt of sin today. God seeks to make today the day of our salvation, our liberation, our freedom and healing.
True worship invites us to put down our burdens, our problems and our worries. True worship leads us to the One who can bring healing and wholeness. True worship lifts us up.
When God spoke to Moses about how He wanted His people to worship, He instructed Moses to tell Aaron to share with His people a blessing. Listen to that blessing.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them." (Num. 6:22–27, emphasis added)
Aaron was to do that because the people had worshipped, they had been obedient and they had committed themselves to the LORD. As a result, God desired to bless them beyond measure.
This morning, that is the way we are to go from God's House. . We are never to leave with any burdens or heartaches left unattended. We are never to leave without allowing God to free us and anoint us with His Holy Spirit. We are never to leave without God touching us. We are never to leave without God being able to free us, heal us, save us and restore us into His image.
Each Sunday we open our altars for those reasons. We open them so that people can receive God's full salvation. We open them so that people can experience deliverance, freedom and liberty. We open them so that people can bow down in praise and worship. We open them for people to receive healing, anointing and blessings from God.
We should never leave a service as we came. Many times we come in God's House heavy hearted, full of burdens and at times full of regret and sorrow. We are invited to come to Jesus to be redeemed, renewed and restored. We are invited to come and allow Jesus to take away our burdens, our sorrows and our pain. We are invited to come to Jesus to receive His healing.
This morning, as we close let's listen as Rebekah sings the song - SURELY THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS IN THIS PLACE.
This morning our altars are open for any to come and receive God's salvation. They are open for any to come and lay down a burden or to receive an anointing, a healing or to receive God's favor and blessing. As Rebekah sings - obey the wooing of the Holy Spirit.
1Fred B. Craddock reminds us that ... "All of Jesus' ministry was inside, not outside, the bosom of Judaism and the traditions of his people. Here Jesus affirms by his faithfulness the sabbath, the Scriptures, and the synagogue. He is, according to Luke, a reformer and not an opponent of his heritage." - See page 88 of Preaching Through the Christian Year - YEAR C - Trinity Press International. Also see pages 61-62 - INTERPRETATION - A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching - Fred B. Craddock.
2 I. Howard Marshall in THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, A COMMENTARY ON THE GREEK TEXT shares with us that they typical synagogue worship service 1. Started with prayer before entering the synagogue. 2. Proceeded with public prayers of confession - The Shema. 3. Continued with public prayers (Including the Tephillah and the Shemoneh Esreh) 4. Followed by the reading of Scripture - from the Pentateuch and the Prophets 5. Followed by more prayer 6. The sharing of a sermon 7. Closing with the Quaddish prayer - see pages 181-182.
3Jack Hayford - Spirit Filled: The Overflowing Power of the Holy Spirit
