This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 24th January 2016; St Oswalds is a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries.
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21 Psalm 19
“Please be seated, and join me in a short prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord; my rock and my redeemer. Amen. (Psalms. 19:14).
Introduction
It never fails to amaze me just how coincidental the sermon I get to write, and my thoughts well before hand, and how much they tie in, … today is no exception. Well over a month ago, for some reason, I was thinking about this very reading, and the Synagogue or temple where it took place. I was thinking for example, that the temple in question could not have been bigger than this very church, if anything it may have been smaller, yet it was very well attended; it was at the heart of the town.
The service that we read about today was probably early in the morning; in the cool of the day, and I suppose most of the congregation must have had a seat of some kind, possibly some kind of wooden benches arranged like our pews, or maybe they sat on the floor on mats or both. The congregation would have consisted of bearded men with long robes, with the wives and maybe children on the edges. The place would have been lit by low-hanging lamps, and their must have been some kind of platform for the speaker. … and I am also sure the congregation all had their place, according to the pecking order of the day.
The service would have begun as we do, to a normal established protocol, and then one of the men, (when it was his time to speak), rose from his seat as we do, and walk down the front. The man whose turn it was on this day was a local man called Yeshua ben Yusef, translated as, … Jesus son of Joseph, a carpenter who had taken his name from his step father.
The young carpenter then proceeded with the liturgy of the day, just as we do, by reciting a series of prayers or recitations, but then, … totally out with the Jewish protocol, this young man turned to a passage of his own choosing, Isaiah 61 verses 1&2, and began to read, "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 favour".
Well the congregation were certainly shocked as we later find out; had he flipped his lid? … This was a local lad, … maybe even delinquent, just or strange to some, … who had the audacity to read from a passage of his own choosing, and worse, … and worse, he implied that he was the messiah which was prophesised, that he was the son of God.
But I suppose when you think about it, Jesus had to start somewhere, and where better than is own church where everybody knew him. But unconventionally, he chose his own text, … and not only that, he also announced his mission, or his mission statement as we so like to call it.
Luke 4:18 again says, "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 favour".
Jesus was bluntly stating “I am the Messiah, and this is what I am going to do”; and as he said that, it sent a shock wave throughout the congregation; they were up in arms, because they all knew Isaiah’s prophecy, that a messiah was soon to appear, and this lad to them was no messiah.
But what is interesting here is the end of that verse which says, “to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour" or “the acceptable year of the Lord.”… Now that in itself does not sound too inspiring, but many commentaries on the bible allude this verse to Leviticus 25:9, which speaks of the “year of the Jubilee", … because it just so happened that, that very year was a Jubilee year, … so they were all living in full anticipation of the Messiah appearing, … on a Jubilee year.
Now this Jubilee year is very interesting, because the Jews had a custom ordained by God, that not only would every 7th day of the week be the Sabbath, the day of rest, but … that every 7th year would also be a sort of Sabbath year, where the land would not be farmed, it would be allowed to be fallow, and … that after every 7th Sabbath year, (that is, every 7 x 7 = 49 years), there would be what was called the “year of Jubilee”, .. and in that year, … all slaves would be set free, and those who had lost family members into slavery or imprisonment would be reunited with their loved ones; … and … and all men whose poverty had forced them to sell their lands, would be entitle to be given them back. … Now I quite like the sound of this, … and this was a jubilee year.
And do you remember what Jesus said his mission was, I will read it quickly again, Luke 4:16, "He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and, … to let the oppressed go free, … to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour, (or the Jubilee year)". This is exactly what Isaiah foretold, and this was what Jesus was about to fulfil: … to bring good news to the people, … coincident or what, and I just love it when we see these kind of strange but logical parts in the bible.
Anyway, Jesus came to open the doors of darkness; and to forgive the sinners. … He came to bring peace for those who were overburdened, and hope for the future. He also came to proclaim the year of God’s favour or God’s grace, or simply the year of Jubilee, … but not just one year in every fifty years, but in every year, and every day, … and not just for the Jews, but for everyone, … every gentile upon the earth, and for ever more.
However, (and here the tone changes), many of today’s so called Christians, or church goers, give the impression of accepting this mission, but struggle within themselves to continue with this mission. I know speaking for this church we do try our best, … with our limited resources, … we achieve far more than we could ever expect, … however we are very fortunate that we are not the “typical” church; and you know what I mean, as there are many churches who are almost tearing themselves apart with annoying petty, internal politics, … you know the juggling for position, and the points scoring at every opportunity. And it is my opinion that this is the main reason people stay away from churches in their droves, … it was certainly my reason, … , I mean why get out of bed on my day off to put up with that kind of nonsense, … no way, … anyway, rant over.
But I have said many times before, that we are very fortunate, as we do try and use the our gifts and talents of all our congregation in order to help our mission in some capacity or other, … and if we are poor at anything, it is at not being content with what we do achieve, because we are always looking to do more. Yes it is a good position to be in, but it can be frustrating. because I know that we do want to help his mission of spreading the good news, … and heal the broken hearted, … just as Jesus wants us to do.
The mission of this church therefore is two fold, it is both outward and inward focused. We need both, we need to exist for our own growth and fellowship, but we must also extend that fellowship outwards to show that our act of love is not just for ourselves, as we genuinely want to help others. And love is a strength, and as Romans 8:37 says, “in all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”; we do want to be part of Christ’s mission here on earth.
And I find this easy to say, because many of us are here to serve, and not to be served, and I have said this before, that I am truly amazed at who does what in this church, … and normally, but quietly in the background, because I for one do notice it.
And to back this up, we need to recognise that Jesus in the synagogue that day, could have selected other scripture to announce his arrival. For example he could have used Isaiah 42 verse 1, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. … He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth”; … that too is a good scripture to quote, and there are many others which I will not read, … so why choose the one that he did?
Well I believe the answer is simple, … that Jesus wanted to make it clear that people were his priority because he spoke of sharing the good news, … setting captives free, … healing those who are sick, … basically anything that brings compassion. That is the spirit we hope to capture, because God uses many ways to bring people into his kingdom; but we need to do it with his Spirit like I said in my last sermon.
And to see how this was done, we jump a couple of chapters ahead to Luke 7, verses 20-22 and you know them well, “ … John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come or look we for another? … And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. … Then Jesus answering said unto them, … Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached”.
Is this coincidence or what, because these verses tell us of the success of Jesus mission statemen:
1. he cured many of their infirmities and plagues,
2. he delivered many of evil spirits;
3. to others who were blind he gave sight,
4. to those who were lame, he cure them so they could walk,
5. and the lepers were cleansed,
6. the deaf ear could suddenly hear,
7. and the dead were raised,
8. but the one we can grasp, for now, … is that to the poor, the gospel is preached”. … The poor being the poor in spirit, not poor in wealth.
Do you see what message Jesus returned to John to Baptist, he did not say, I am the great messiah, instead he referred him to his mission statement, and what he had done, and John knew that statement backwards.
And I am sure we would all like to continue with his mission, because we want growth and outreach. Yes there are many problems along the way, but we have learned that there are also many opportunities along the way which we have previously responded. … So we need to be sensitive, to recognise problems them as opportunities, and use them to the glory of God.
Yes, this will need a commitment for us, ... but that is nothing new, … but I wonder how many lives we have impacted already. I am sure it is more than we think, … but less than we would want. …
What I was trying to do at the beginning of this sermon was to put ourselves in that Nazarene synagogue, and see how Jesus declared and started his mission that day, because … I wish I could go round the room and ask you all, what exactly would you like to do to help his mission; maybe we could do that in a “service of the word” meeting, … where everybody gets a chance to volunteer for the things they like doing.
… Yes there are many jobs nobody wants to do, but come, let us get the jobs we want to do out the way first, … let us identify our strengths before we self destruct in our weaknesses. … But what never fails to surprise me is, … what is a bad job for one person, is a joy for another, … so it makes sense we concentrate on the pleasant first.
And to identify our strength there are many questions we could ask ourselves, … and here are a few to get us going. This is not complete but it is a start, … and it should make us think:
• what are you doing with your life that you enjoy? …
• what have you found in life that truly matters? …
• are you doing anything just now that could go on forever? …
• what could you do with your gifts and talents that could help others; … now this could be something as simply as making the tea in a civilised , because the Chinese took their tea ceremonies seriously; it was the political place to be? …
• but what could we do, that would enable us to stand before God someday and say … “Yes, you wanted me to do this, and I have done my best”.
You see, I know that God has a clear and meaningful mission for all of us, … and I really want to encourage everyone here to give careful thought to our own particular missions, … but I will warn you, God like us to look back on our missions and say, I did that, rather than us saying this is what God wants me to do, why, … because in the first, we are lead by the spirit, only to see what we have done, but in the second, (I am exaggerating here of course), but the lord does not want us to say, “I am going to do it for the Lord. I, me, myself, am gonny go for it, and hell mend anybody who gets in my way or does not agree with me”. No, never, the lord wants us, but he want things done his way, in his timing for his purposes, … and we are only here to respond to his wishes, and not our own desires.
So to finish, we must humbly ask the Lord to lead us, and show us where we are meant to be, and what part we play in his kingdom; and I think we better do that just now; let us pray,
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he came to this earth declaring your mission for him, and that he carried it out in full to your glory.
Father, we too need a mission, an individual mission where you guide and teach us, … a mission where we serve you by serving others. … A mission that strikes at our very hearts, … a mission that we will fully enjoy.
We understand Father that you do not want our own selfish ambitions to get in the way, and we understand that, to accomplish that mission, we must be lead by you.
Father, reveal our true place in this world, show us our strengths and talents that you have developed in us, … talents and gifts that you intend to use to your glory. And finally father, let us recognise those doors you open for us, doors of opportunities, to advance your kingdom.
Father we ask humbly in Jesus name,
Amen.
