The Fulfilment Of The Word

‘Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” Luke 4:14-21

You went back to where you grew up? You found things were no longer the same there anymore, the shops, the playground, the local Church and that local pub where Dad used to go and meet up with his friends for a nice pint or two have all disappeared and replaced with other modern buildings and flats and a new big Supermarket – what a Surprise!

However, some of the locals are still there, and like you, they still recognised the old faces but with changes of course. You left when you were young, and today you are a big man – a grown up, with a lot of a change in appearance, they knew you were coming and they looked forward to hearing your grown up voice.

This is usually the case with a lot of people when they go back to their home town. They have changed, everyone had changed, even the environment and the street furniture had changed, but the desire to hear each other’ stories always remain the same. We love to hear each other’s stories because as a people we are not only a pilgrim people, we are also a story people. Our whole life is a story on its own worthy of telling everyday.

So what’s your story today? If you went back home, the home, the town you left when you were 12 years old and now that you are considerable older and presumably wiser, what would be your story. All Christians must have a story to tell, would your story be good news?

Jesus told a lot of stories because people learn a great deal through stories. Christians must therefore learn to tell their stories, don’t keep your stories to yourselves. One of the reasons we are not so successful in making disciples for Christ today is because we are trapped in our comfort zone. A renowned psychologist felt the reasons people of all persuasions and walk of life don’t meet with a lot of success in their endeavour is because they procrastinate. He felt that they procrastinate because they have what he calls low frustration tolerance (LFT), as they feel they ‘must’ not have to go through hard and difficult experience in order to do things. They then find another job to do or an excuse not to do, or to postpone what they ought to do which they feel is difficult for what they want to do which is less tasking and brings them immediate comfort. I thought he was describing me, my family and my congregation! But all members of my congregation promised they haven’t spoken to any psychologist.

The point is Christians today are trapped in that comfort zone, we find all other jobs to do except the most important and that which we are called – to tell stories. We are into this ministry and into that ministry as we solve all social problems of immigration and divorce, yob culture, education, medicine and poverty. We are chaplains here and chaplains there, prison and hospital, college and universities and the list of good Christian endeavours and enterprise is endless. These are all good things that we must be engaged in, yes, but as we are engaged in these places, how much of our stories are we telling? And that’s the bottom line. Where ever you are, wherever you go, whatever you do, Christians must remember that they have one mission –to tell our stories and tell it’s worth. And our stories are different, but all Christian stories have the same stem. The stem of our stories is Christ in the world, bringing God to a world of darkness in the light of His word. So we have someone who can’t stop telling His story. The word of God becomes His story –His-story that is History of God is in Christ.

In our text, (Luke 4: 14-21) the people of Galilee haven’t seen Jesus for a long time since he left as a young boy, but now he returns to them a man. When he left, he was a shy carpenter’s son, but now a bold ‘son of Man’. When he left he was often on his own and led by his parents, but now he returns to them with his twelve ‘family’ and led by the spirit. When he left he had no news or little tales to tell, but now he returns to preach the good news to all. What a transformation! Our God is a God of transformation! Our God has in everyone a good news to tell, we must find the hero inside us and tell His story to others.

Jesus, now a teacher (Rabbi) entered the synagogue (where he sat as a boy) in his hometown they handed him a scroll to read. This is customary for the Synagogue leaders to hand a scroll to a Rabbi to read to them and talk to the people about the law and prophets. Jesus accepted the custom and read out from the book of Prophet Isaiah: