On Not Being So Careful

　

　

I Peter 5:7

It is one of the most widely-spread human conditions. It is found among the affluent in Western cities and among the primitive peoples in remote jungles. I’m speaking of anxiety.

I remember listening to a radio station that primarily carries programming of interest to Christians. The station played a commercial for an at-home business opportunity which, it was claimed, could help a hard-working family earn thousands of dollars a month. What really caught my attention was a remark made by a man involved in some facet of Christian ministry. He had enrolled in the program and it greatly improved his family’s financial situation. He offered this testimonial: “Now that we are making that kind of money, we have hope for the future.”

I don’t intend to discount the role of money in our lives but I’m pretty sure the Christian’s source of hope is something else. The burden of anxiety can skew our thinking about everything.

Of course, the very fact that Peter was writing about anxiety to a band of Christians reminds us that we aren’t immune to the problem.

Arthur Roche described the impact of anxiety: “Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”

Peter’s readers were certainly susceptible to anxiety. Keep in mind that Peter was writing to a church under pressure, a church beginning to endure persecution, a church facing an uncertain future. It would have hardly been unusual if his readers had had anxieties and cares.

Anxiety Analyzed


The word translated as “anxieties” in this verse comes from a word which means “to draw in different directions.” The person who is anxious is pulled one way and the next.

Psychologists and other mental health specialists sometimes use the word “anxiety” in a specialized way. Peter is using it in a more pedestrian way; it’s roughly equivalent to worry or fear.

At the heart of anxiety, as the Bible pictures it, is its capacity to distract us, to pull us apart, to cause us to lose focus. Anxiety dissipates the energy we might otherwise direct toward problem solving. Caught up in anxiety or worry we might even miss the solution to our problem when it is right before us.

Jesus put it in vivid language when he imagined that person who was anxiously attempting to add time to his life. Such a person is simply wasting his time and energy. Worry accomplishes nothing.

Anxious worry, however, can have a very negative impact on our lives. Plutarch was warning against anxiety when he said, “Eat not thy heart.”

Anxious worry becomes a burden which weighs us down. It becomes a barrier between us and joyful appreciation of the good things in life.

Ultimately, anxious worry represents a denial, however unintentional, of God’s care and goodness. It may open the way to further spiritual problems. It’s not surprising Peter immediately warns against the danger of temptation after addressing the issue of anxiety. He says,

“Be sober!

Be on the alert!

Your adversary the Devil is

prowling around like a roaring lion,

looking for anyone he may devour.

Resist him, firm in the faith…”

American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr called anxiety “the precondition of sin.” By that he didn’t mean anxiety is sin, but that anxiety may prompt us to embrace attitudes or engage in actions that are sinful.

Niebuhr’s recognition of the danger of anxiety inspired him to compose what’s been called “the Prayer of Serenity.” You’ve heard it: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things which cannot be changed, the courage to change the things which can be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Niebuhr knew, like the Biblical writers knew, that anxiety will either draw you closer to God or lead you further from God.

This brings us to Peter’s prescription for dealing with worry and anxiety, the way by which we see…

Anxiety Annulled


How then do we deal with anxiety? Peter says, “Cast all your anxieties on God…” The idea of casting comes from a word that suggests exerting effort to hurl or fling something away. The verb form makes it a definite, once-for-all act. Consider how other versions translate the verse. I particularly like the Jerusalem Bible’s translation, “Unload all your burden on to him, since he is concerned about you.”

The Amplified Bible offers a rich translation, blending the insights of several other translations: “casting the whole of your care—all your anxieties, all your concerns, all your worries, once and for all—on Him; for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” Eugene Peterson renders the command as, “Live carefree before God, he is most careful with you.”

I think it’s interesting that Peter says, “Cast all your anxieties on Him” not “Cast your anxieties away.” Some writers and speakers neglect that fine point but I think it’s important. Had Peter simply advised his readers to discard their anxieties, he would have been saying what you’ve been so concerned about is unimportant, he would have trivialized their cares. This way he both respects their concerns and points them to a caring God.

For some in his audience that concept of God would have been surprising. Those coming into the church from outside the Jewish faith would have grown up believing the gods were indifferent to the plight of men and women. The God who sent his Son cares.

So, with the vision of this caring God in mind, Peter urges his readers to toss their greatest cares from their shaky, weak hands into God’s capable hands.

But is that as easy as it sounds?

If you’ll allow me to paraphrase a line from a Philip Marlow story: When it comes time to get rid of our anxieties we often discover that our hands have broken out in glue.

With that in mind, let me offer some suggestions for developing the ability to offload your anxieties onto God. I wish I could give you five easy steps for being rid of anxiety. I can’t. But maybe these suggestions will help.

1. Spend time reflecting on the power, wisdom, and mystery of the God who cares for us.

The Bible is your primary source for this activity. Read the Psalms or review the lives of the men and women whose faith made them models for us.

Remind yourself that God has the power to deal with what is troubling you.

Remind yourself that God may have a special purpose for the trial or trouble you face.

Remind yourself that God doesn’t always tell his secrets but he always cares.

2. Become more specific in your prayers.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians he also counseled his readers on dealing with anxiety and worry. He said, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (Phil. 4:6 HCSB) The verb Paul used for “worry” comes from the same root as the noun Peter used for anxiety and means “to have a disturbing care.”

So Paul was saying, “Don’t let a single care disturb you, instead pray.” And the words used to describe prayer suggest specific prayer, praying which mentions the precise concerns that threaten to disturb the believer’s peace.

Let me put it plainly. If you’re being threatened by a snarling dog, you wouldn’t pray, “Lord, following the fall humanity’s relationship with nature drastically changed. Please guide us toward a more harmonious relationship with our fellow creatures.” No, you’d pray something like, “Lord, that dog’s going to take my leg off. Please do something about the dog or help me run faster.”

3. Develop a strategy for dealing with the secondary effects of anxiety.

Anxiety can impact us spiritually, emotionally, and physically. What can we do to lessen its impact? In addition to following Peter’s counsel you might find the following helpful. These suggestions come from Christian psychiatrists Frank Minnirth and Paul Meier:

Learn to relax. No one can go nonstop. Sometimes even Jesus took time to escape from the crowds.

Learn to laugh. One of the proverbs says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine….” We may not know all the writer had in mind but experience shows the ability to laugh can reduce tension and anxiety. Instead of cruising the internet for proof the nation is going to pot; look for episodes of The Three Stooges.

Learn to talk. Some anxious people, especially anxious Christians, tend to clam-up. They won’t talk about what’s troubling them, perhaps because they’re afraid people will think they’re weak or lacking faith. God placed us within a community of spiritual brothers and sisters so we might be able to share our troubles and concerns with them.

Learn to exercise. This doesn’t mean we should aim to be on stage during Arnold’s next visit to Columbus. But exercise does produce chemicals which can help counteract the depression that sometimes accompanies anxiety.

4. Live one day at a time.

Jesus taught this approach in the Sermon on the Mount. He told his listeners, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This doesn’t mean we don’t plan for the future; it means we don’t let the specter of disaster rule our thinking. We need the perspective that trusts the God who cares for us and gives the grace to face each new day.

Conclusion

As you leave this morning, go away with this truth: God cares for us and enables us to deal with our anxieties, cares, and worries.

A few times in the past, I’ve led you in the following prayer. It dramatically enacts what Peter had in mind. I’ve adapted it from the Quaker tradition.

Everyone, whether you’re praying this prayer or not, should keep their head bowed and eyes closed.

Join me:

Hold your hands out, palms down, as if you were placing something in God’s hands. In your own way silently pray something like this (remember, since you’re praying silently, you can be as specific as you wish):

Caring Father,

I place all my anxieties in your hands,

My anxieties concerning my health,

My anxieties concerning my family,

My anxieties concerning my job,

My anxieties concerning my future.

Grant me the grace to leave them in your hands.

Now, hold your hands out palms up, as if you were receiving something from God, and in your own way join me in praying something like this:

Caring Father,

By faith I receive from You,

Courage and wisdom to engage in practical problem-solving,

Hope to face any uncertainty in my circumstances,

Peace which will allow me to accept that which won’t change

and to trust the future to you.

I receive the

Humility that will allow me to talk to my spiritual brothers and sisters

about my concerns and to hear their counsel.

I receive

that joy that endures every circumstance

And

I receive

that vision which will enable me to see today in the light of a glorious eternity with a God who cared enough to send his Son to die on my behalf,

In that Son’s name I pray.

Amen.

　

　

　

　


　

Through the Roof

 

Luke 5:17-26

From the beginning, those who came into contact with Jesus came away with different responses.  It is certainly true in this story so popular with Sunday school children. 

 It is a story within the story.  Forgive me but we’re familiar with the one story of how a paralytic man went through the roof to be helped by Jesus, but don’t forget the story of how some religious people also “went through the roof” that day.  Jesus’ clash with the teachers of the law is a further step in Luke’s disclosure of Jesus’ identity. 

Some of the most appealing characters in the Bible have remained anonymous.  Most people who read this story are touched by the efforts of the friends to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus.  Luke reveals something of himself in the term used for the man’s condition.  Mark used the general term “paralytic” while Luke used a more technical term that literally means “palsied.”  It is another hint that Luke is a physician as many in the early church believed.

With our imagination we can see the four friends carry their friend through the city streets to the place where Jesus was teaching and healing.  It was probably Peter’s house and it became a center of activity and a venue for God’s power to be demonstrated.  That power (dunamis) was great; in fact, we get the word dynamite from it.  The term dunamis even becomes a synonym for “miracle.”  So, Luke sees the miracles of Jesus as explosive expressions of God’s power.  This power was so remarkably present in Jesus that the hope of experiencing a miracle or witnessing one brought great crowds to Capernaum.   The excitement was understandable; for the sick it was the hope of getting better, for the onlookers, it was the hope of seeing something they would talk about for years to come.

But those very crowds threatened to undo the very plans the four friends had made.  We can sense their dismay when they found there was no way to get there friend though the crowd.  Now, imagine them huddling as they brainstormed over the problem.  Maybe one of them said, “You know, I just remembered something.  My brother has a table in his house that is too big to go through the door.  Do you know how we got it in?”  In any case, we find ourselves inwardly cheering as they carefully climbed the outside stairs walked out on the roof and began breaking through.  That done, they slowly lowered their friend down to Jesus.  (No, I don’t know where they got the ropes but, if this was Peter’s house, the fisherman may have had rope readily available.)    

It’s likely the people in the room below were aware of something going on above them for several minutes.  When the friends finally lowered the stretcher into the room and it became obvious they wanted Jesus to heal the palsied man.  Luke tells us something important.  He says, “Jesus saw their faith.”  That faith had prompted them to seek out the famous teacher and see what he could do.  They all had faith.  The helpful friends had the kind to faith that caused them to expend the effort to bring their friend; the paralyzed man had the faith that made him willing to appear completely helpless before crowds that regularly gathered around Jesus.

Having said that, I do want to focus on the man’s friends because they exhibit some characteristics we would do well to copy.  They possessed qualities we need in our churches.

They had a spirit of compassion. 

Whatever had caused their friend’s paralysis, whether it was a lifelong condition that had grown progressively worse so he could now no longer move or whether it had come on him suddenly, they cared about him.  They never said, “You must have done something to deserve this.”  No, they didn’t blame, they rolled up their sleeves (or girded their loins) and got busy helping. 

We’re not told this but we can imagine that before Jesus came on the scene they did what they could for their friend.  Perhaps they made sure there was food and water available to him.  If he had no immediate family, they may have helped with other needs.  We don’t know but the evidence is they cared.  They saw his helplessness and they cared.

As Jesus’ fame spread, no doubt the friends heard of him.  Perhaps they discussed it and thought Jesus might be able to help.  Now, remember, a blind man could grope his way to Christ.  A deaf person could use his good eyes to get to Jesus.  A leper could stand at a distance and shout at Jesus as he passed by.   But his man simply could not move.  Unless someone showed him pity, he would never reach Jesus.

All around us there are people who need to get to Jesus but they can’t.  They are paralyzed by fear because when they approached the church before they were greeted with judgment not compassion.  They are paralyzed by doubt because they have been infused with the skepticism of a secular age.  They are paralyzed by shame because they are convinced they are too far gone for even Jesus.

These folks need to meet Christians with a spirit of compassion, Christians who will invest themselves in those who seem to be such unlikely candidates for the church.

They had a spirit of cooperation.

Can you imagine the sideshow it would have been if these friends had not cooperated?  The paralytic man was on a stretcher.  One person might have been able to pull it like a travois but it would have been a bumpy ride.   Two might have been able to carry him but perhaps his weight made that difficult.  Besides with four carriers each would have had one hand free to deal with the crowds and other obstacles.   But what if those four didn’t cooperate?  Suppose three had gone one way and the fourth had gone another.  Surely the paralytic man would have been unceremoniously dumped on the ground.  Without cooperation they would have never been able to bring the poor man to Jesus.

It is equally impossible for the church to do its task without a spirit of cooperation.  Several years ago, Pat and I were driving through northern Arkansas when we came to the tiny community of Opposition.  There was a sign as we entered the town that pointed to the Opposition Church of Christ.  I thought that was amusing until I realized there was probably a First Baptist Church of Opposition.   I wonder how many churches are imbued with the spirit of opposition.

If we would reach our world with the gospel we will need to cooperate.  But I worry if we’re going to ever be able to cooperate like those four friends of the paralytic man.  When I talk with fellow pastors I still hear the reluctance to celebrate the success of non-Baptists who are reaching those we seem unable to reach.

We need to develop a spirit of cooperation.  God help us if we don’t.

They had a spirit of commitment.

We don’t know how far this paralyzed man lived from Capernaum.  It may have been his hometown; he may have lived miles away.  In any case, his four friends were committed to bring him to Jesus.  So, no matter how hot the sun or long the road, they stayed on task—bringing their friend to Jesus.

When they saw the crowd and realized they couldn’t get through, did they quit?  No, they overcame the obstacles.

We need that kind of commitment.  Yet, I fear we are tempted to quit when we face obstacles.  We want to stop when we face ridicule, criticism, and scorn.  Let’s stay committed.

They had a spirit of creativity.

When plan-A failed, it didn’t take them too long to get to plan-B.  If they couldn’t go through the door, they would go through the roof.  Sure, it would be dusty work.  They would have to repair the roof, whether their friend was helped or not.  But they would get their friend to Jesus.

If we are going to reach our culture we will need imagination and inventiveness.  What worked fifty years ago may not work now.  Some of us have a hard time accepting that.  The funny thing is what worked fifty years ago was probably new and there were people complaining, “We never did it that way.”

Some Christian leaders are blessed with imagination that sees new ways to do things.  Often, they have to move ahead amid in the face of opposition.  Paul Rader, in the 1920s, saw the potential of radio for carrying the gospel so he began preaching from a station that belonged to Moody Bible Institute.  Eventually, he became the nation’s first nationally known radio evangelist.

 Just before her death in 1944 Aimee Semple McPherson was granted a license for a television station, the first woman to receive one.  She had already been the first woman to own her own radio station.  Her goal was to reach more people.

In the mid-1940s, a young pastor in Illinois realized the name of his church was probably keeping some people from attending.  It had the word “Baptist” in the name.  So, he persuaded the board to change the name of the church so something more inviting and inclusive the Village Church.  The church began to attract more people.  That was a new idea back then, but it’s done all the time now.  By the way, the young pastor’s name was William Franklin Graham.  Most people called him Billy.

Graham would go on to make feature length films to tell the story of the gospel’s impact on the lives of real people.  It hadn’t been done before.

The church needs to become more creative in telling the old, old story… of Jesus and his love.”  But we won’t if those of us with salt and pepper hair (or cinnamon and sugar hair) won’t let our young people have a voice in our churches.

We can learn a lot from those four friends. I’d like to stop here but these four friends weren’t the only ones there that day.  Nor were they the only ones who “went through the roof.”

Luke invites us to compare these two groups.  The paralytic and his friends came filed with faith; the other group came filled with skepticism.  The paralytic and his friends had heard good things about Jesus and rejoiced; the other group had heard good things about Jesus and scoffed.  The paralytic and his friends saw Jesus as a reason for hope; the other group saw Jesus as competition.

Luke tells us that this other group consisted of “Pharisees and teachers of the law…from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.”  These were the religious elite.  What they didn’t know about Jewish faith wasn’t worth knowing.  Besides anything you claimed to know about the Jewish faith that they didn’t know was probably some new heresy anyway.  This group was there to evaluate Jesus. 

The Pharisees and the teachers were very influential in Jewish life.  Their estimate of Jesus would be very persuasive for some people, at least for those who had never actually heard Jesus. 

The Pharisees (some of whom were also teachers of the law) had earned their influence by strict living and careful study of the law.  This, was true even though some were hypocrites; some, but not all.  Still, the group had some problems. 

The Pharisees had emerged a few centuries before as a group dedicated to purifying Judaism which had become corrupt through its association with outside culture.  But, as often happens with such puritan groups, its members began to think they were a cut above the ordinary Jews.  It led to a spirit of arrogance and disdain.

When they joined cause with the teachers of the law (the scribes) other p attitudes emerged.  These attitudes are those common to all fundamentalist groups, whether they are made up of those on the right or on the left.

Their problem was not that they believed they were right, but that they believed they couldn’t be wrong.  Because they were so committed to the Scripture, they were right about many things.  Indeed, God alone can forgive sin.  The fact they were right about some things led to the conviction they were right about everything.

Let’s get back to the group of Pharisees and teachers of the law that was at Capernaum that day.  Luke carefully points out that they came from all over Galilee and Judea.  He specially mentions that some were from Jerusalem.  It was as if the locals couldn’t handle the situation so they called in the FBI or Scotland Yard.  Maybe there were representatives from Nazareth in the group and they had told the embarrassing story of how Jesus had eluded them when they had tried to be rid of him.

In any case, they were there as Jesus taught in that house. They were listening to every word, not for the improvement of their souls, but so they could pounce on him the moment he said something out of line.

That occasion came when a paralyzed man came down through a hole torn in the roof by his enthusiastic friends.

 As the paralyzed man lay on his stretcher, hoping that Jesus would heal him, he may have tried to imagine what Jesus would say.  He probably expected something like, “Get up right now, be healed.”   But that wasn’t what he heard.  No, Jesus said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.”

Just why did Jesus say that?  Was the man’s condition related to some sin?  As a Jew, the paralytic would have known he was a sinner.  Perhaps he never made it to the temple to make sacrifices but we can hope someone went on his behalf.   Still, I don’t think sin caused his condition.

Actually, I think Jesus was provoking his critics.  He knew his words would stir them up and he would have an opportunity to make a further disclosure about himself.   Sure enough behind the shocked expressions on their faces, Jesus perceived what they were thinking.  They thought he was being blasphemous, even though what he said did not technically fit the definition of blasphemy; they were incensed that he was taking on a right that was God’s alone.  A prophet or priest might say, “Because you have sacrificed or because you have repented, God has forgiven you.”  But, in their eyes at least, Jesus was no prophet or priest.  Besides that isn’t what he said.  He spoke as if he were actually doing the forgiving.

F. F. Bruce says,

It was the note of authority in Jesus’ voice as he pronounced forgiveness that gave chief offense to them: he imposed no conditions, called for no amendment of life, but spoke as though his bare word ensured the divine pardon. He was really arrogating to himself the prerogative of God, they thought.^[1]

 

What Jesus says next has always intrigued me.  Luke puts it this way, “When Jesus perceived their hostile thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you raising objections within yourselves?  Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?”  (Luke 5:23-24) 

Let’s be honest.  It’s easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven.”  You don’t have to show any tangible proof of that.  If someone objects you can point out that forgiveness occurs in the spiritual realm; it’s real but it’s not something you can actually see.  Of course, any charlatan can say, “Your sins are forgiven.”  And that charlatan can say you are unspiritual if you ask for proof. 

But, saying something like, “Stand up and walk,” to a paralyzed man is a different matter.  That’s a test.  If the man gets up, you’ve got the crowd’s attention.  If he stays on that stretcher, you’re proven to be a fraud and you’d better be ready with the ecclesiastical two-step if you’re going to avoid the tar and feathers.

Now, remember something, when Jesus asked that crucial question, the poor paralytic was still lying there.  But not for much longer.  In fact, it may have been for only what a scriptwriter might call a dramatic pause.  Again Jesus speaks:  “But now you will see that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth.”  Then speaking to the paralyzed man, he said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk home.”

Things start happening pretty quickly at this point, so the crowd might have missed the significance of what Jesus said.  You can be sure the Pharisees and teachers of the law didn’t.  Jesus had referred to himself as “the Son of Man.”  Sometimes that term was used in the Old Testament to refer to one who was a representative of humanity.  But Jesus’ critics knew it was used other ways.  They knew that term, used in Daniel and by later Jewish writers, referred to a figure with divine authority.  In fact, some believe “the Son of Man” had an unprecedented relationship with God and may have been divine.  Some believed “Son of Man” was a synonym for the Messiah.  However they defined the term, Jesus’ critics would have heard him claiming to be in the vanguard of the Messianic age.  Though the Son of Man was often thought to be the agent of God’s judgment in the Messianic age, Jesus made it clear that he also had come to forgive. 

Jesus told the man to pick up his mat and walk, and the man did just that.  That miracle may not have proven Jesus was the Messiah, but it let his critics know they couldn’t explain him away as just a very clever peasant.

And, as the former paralytic walked away, he gave praise to God.  At the same time, the crowd went wild.  Luke says, “Then astonishment seized them all, and they glorified God. They were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen incredible things today.’”  Robertson says the language suggests they were almost beside themselves. 

Notice something.  Jesus’ critics thought he had dishonored God.  In fact, he inspired the great crowd to give glory to God.  Their stubborn disbelief dishonored God.

Conclusion:  Let me end with two very obvious points.  They are both in this story.

First, Jesus forgives sin.

Second, we do those crippled by sin a great favor when we bring them to Jesus.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

---

^[1]    Kaiser, W. C., Jr., Davids, P. H., Bruce, F. F., & Brauch, M. T. (1996). Hard sayings of the Bible (409). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity.

You Can't Go Home Again

Luke 4:14-30

Countless churches have participated in this scenario.  A young person who has grown up in the church senses a call to the ministry and goes away to college and seminary.  One day this young person, whom we’ll call Michael, returns home; he’s invited to preach in his hometown church.  Sunday school teachers and former classmates who knew him as Mikey come to hear him.  Of course, Michael wants to do well so he digs out the sermon he received his highest grade on and tweaks it to better fit the people he grew up among.  Not wanting to appear too serious, he adds slightly humorous story; not wanting to appear frivolous, he adds only one.

After the pastor introduces him, mentioning the “prodigal” returning, Michael presents his sermon.  His mother and father beam as he reads the text and launches into the sermon.  Before long it is finished.  The pastor invites him to stand by the door to greet the congregation.  Everyone has words of praise.  More than one says, “Great job.”  The less-impressed who couldn’t bring themselves to say that were courteous enough to say, “May God bless you.”  His mother hugs him and his father gives him a hearty handshake, all the while thinking, “I hope I’m the only one who caught that reference to Jonah and the ark.”  Absolutely no one—not even the girl he broke-up with as he headed off to college because she wasn’t “spiritually minded”—wants to kill him.

Did you notice the movement in the story Luke tells?  The hometown crowd that heard Jesus goes from admiration to anger.  The crowd goes from saying, “He’s one of ours,” to “Let’s kill him!”

How did he inspire the admiration?  How did he inspire the anger?

Let’s give the story some background.  Returning from the wilderness where he had faced terrible temptation, Jesus began his public ministry.  That ministry included teaching and performing miracles. Some of that ministry took place at Capernaum, the prominent town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.  All the while his reputation was growing.  As Robertson suggests, “He was the wonder teacher of the time.”  This kept him busy; in fact, it may have been as long as a year before Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth.  When he did, the hometown crowd was eager to hear him.

Jesus returned to the synagogue where he had probably heard the scripture read and discussed as a boy.  The gospels present Jesus as faithful to synagogue worship; he may have even read the scriptures before but didn’t offer any comment on them.

The order of service included two scripture readings.  One was from the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses.  This passage would have been part of a Rota, designed so the entire Pentateuch would be read over three years.  The second passage always came from one of the prophets. It was chosen by the synagogue leader or by the reader.  After the passage was read, the reader would either return to h is seat or offer a few remarks on the passage.  Luke tells us that Jesus read a passage from Isaiah while standing as was the custom and then sat down in the teacher’s seat to offer his sermon.  In the first century, rabbis sat while teaching.

Good News for Some

Jesus chose a passage from the great prophet Isaiah.  Doubtless it was familiar to the congregation.  They would have associated it with the ministry of the long-promised Messiah.

18 ​​​​​​​“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
       because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
       He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
       and the regaining of sight to the blind,
       to set free those who are oppressed,

19 ​​​​​​​to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

 

Most Jews were excited when they heard about the ministry of the Messiah.  They knew he would be doing God’s work.  To a degree the character of the Messiah’s work could be summed up in those words, “to proclaim good news.”  We know how the term “good news” is used in the New Testament.  It is the literal translation of euangelion, the word for gospel.  J. Knox Chamblin explains the meaning of the term used by Isaiah. It is good news that is meant to be “proclaimed widely, spread rapidly and declared and received with joy.”  The Hebrew word, as it was used in the Old Testament, almost always refers to some great victory accomplished by the power of the sovereign God.

As the words of the prophet were read, the crowd reflected on the depth and breadth of the good news.  It touched people where they lived, it promised a better life, it promised freedom, it promised a time when God’s grace would be especially evident.  It was a promise that excited the Jewish people; at least it excited those who held on to the hope of the Messiah.

Jesus finished reading and sat down.  Then he began to open up the passage.  We don’t have a record of all he said but Luke leaves us the “big idea” of his message.  It could be summarized in a few words:  “What you have just heard me read has come true today.”

Initially the crowd was pretty impressed.  Jesus probably spoke well.  He probably demonstrated a deep knowledge of the Scripture.  He doubtless spoke in plain language all could understand.  Luke says he spoke “gracious words.”  The idea is that his words were winsome and appealing.  He was a joy to hear.

But then some began to say to themselves, “Wait a minute, did he say what I think he said?  Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?”  They caught on that Jesus wasn’t talking in general terms about the age of the Messiah dawning.  He was not saying, “God is at work right now,” a notion they could cling to; he was saying, “God is at work right now to bring this prophecy to fulfillment—at work in me.”  That they couldn’t accept.  After all, he had grown up in their streets.  He had repaired their doors and tables when they needed a carpenter’s skill.  They began to think, “If he expects us to believe that, he’d better be ready to prove it.”

Jesus, of course, knew their initial admiration was shallow.  Indeed, once they remembered he was just the carpenter’s son, their attitude did change.  Before they could even begin to demand miracles, he challenged them.

He told them they were really no better than the apostate people during the days of the great prophets Elijah and Elisha.  They wouldn’t hear and consequently did not enjoy God’s blessing.  Jesus point s specifically to a widow who lived in Zarephath in Sidon, home of Elijah’s sworn enemy Jezebel.  As the famine raged in Israel, this foreign widow ate food provided by God.   Out of the many lepers in the land during the time of Elisha, only one leper experienced healing.  That was Naaman a military commander from Syria.  It each instance, the non-Jew’s faith was blessed while the unbelieving Jews did not enjoy God’s blessing.

Suddenly, the people caught on to what Jesus was saying. 

Preachers know they preach at least two sermons on any given Sunday morning.  At a minimum, there is the sermon the preacher preaches and the sermon the people hear.  It’s possible, I suppose, the preacher sometimes preaches a sermon that is not the sermon he thinks he’s preaching.  But let’s not get into that.

This seems to have happened when Jesus visited Nazareth.

Jesus preached, There’s good news:  At long last, God’s great favor will be shown to the whole world.

The crowd heard, There’s good news:  At long last, God’s great favor will be shown to us Jews.

When they realized what Jesus was actually preaching, they were enraged.  If they had come expecting him to say, “All I am I owe to the good people of Nazareth,” it didn’t happen.  Far from flattering them, he said they were spiritually obtuse. 

In particular, they failed to see that God wanted to bless a world wider than the Jewish world.  Nazareth, according to ancient Jewish historians, was a city with a population that was 100% Jewish.  Doubtless, they were pretty happy with that situation.  Now, this carpenter’s son who had had the benefit of growing up in this pure community was suggesting the unacceptable.  You see, I think the crowd must have caught the drift of what Jesus was saying.  Jesus was saying, “God has always been a missionary-minded God and I am a missionary minded Messiah.”

Although the crowd was impressed with Jesus’ preaching, they wouldn’t accept the implications of what he said.  Miracles were okay as long as it was Jewish bodies being healed, Jewish eyes being opened.  Sermons on grace were okay, as long as it was Jews receiving the grace.  But Jesus had gone too far.  Ray Summer wrote, “They could not accept the idea of God’s favor and mercy for any except for the Jews.”

We can only imagine their thoughts as they reflected on what Jesus had in mind.  A farmer may have thought of the foul-mouthed Roman soldier who forced him to leave his plow and ox in the field so he could carry the soldier’s pack for the obligatory mile—straight through the center of the village.  Perhaps the rabbi recalled hearing a scholarly Greek traveler express strange, blasphemous ideas about God.  A woman may have remembered visiting Gentile city of Sepphoris, near Nazareth,  and hearing the lewd comments of workmen as she made her way through the streets.  How could God love such people?

With a single mind, the crowd determined to be rid of Jesus. 

 

Good News for All

Let’s go back and review just what so angered that crowd in Jesus’ hometown.  Let’s look at that “good news” in more detail.

The gospel would be good news for the poor.  It’s tempting to jump immediately to a spiritual meaning for these words.  But, since we’re trying to better understand Luke, we need to remember he presents Jesus as having special compassion for the economically poor.

The gospel of a gracious God, who invited anyone to come to him, would have truly been good news for the poor of Jesus’ day.  While the Old Testament has many warnings against oppressing the poor, negative attitudes toward the poor still arose.  The poor were considered to be the special objects of God’s displeasure.  They were poor because of their spiritual condition. 

Jesus modeled a new attitude toward the poor.  Jesus would point to the poor as possessing the attitude of complete dependence upon God that all must have.

He passed that attitude to his followers.  As a consequence, the poor often responded to the Christian message most whole-heartedly.   The “nothings” became children of God through the gospel.  In some instances, it would be the poor who first introduce the gospel to a new community.  James would insist that “How a community treats its poor is, for the Bible, the acid test of its life (Jas. 2:1–7).”[1]

The Christian church at its best has long cared for the poor.  Christian leaders would attempt to define the social dynamics that create poverty and attempt to change them.  That’s a surprise to some because we are so accustomed to living in the wake of what David Moberg calls “the great reversal.”  Formerly, evangelical Christians were active in the struggle against poverty and injustice.  Somehow, towards the beginning of the twentieth century, the situation changed.  It may have been a response to a version of the social gospel that ignored the need for conversion.

In any case, the poor were viewed with indifference.  Compassion changed to condemnation.  The poor were blamed for their condition.  They were lazy.

Then, in the late 1940s, leaders like Carl Henry began to call for a renewal of the evangelical social conscience.  It was understood that laziness was not the major factor in creating poverty.  The difficult truth was, many energetic people simply could not escape the cycle of poverty into which they were born.  Without ignoring either spiritual needs or immediate physical needs, churches began to work toward empowering people to escape the bonds of their poverty.

The gospel would be good news for the bound.   The prophet envisioned the Messiah saying, “He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives.”  The word there is used only once in the New Testament.  It does not refer to those imprisoned as criminals.  This was the word for prisoners of war; literally it means “those taken at spear point.”

The image suggests those who were taken captive by forces that overwhelmed them.  The idea may be that they were taken captive by guilt, shame, fear, sin; and, perhaps, even Satan.  To these Jesus would come as the great liberator.  Paul would later picture Christ’s work in dramatic terms when the reminded the Colossians how God “…rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.”[2]

It reminds us of how salvation, throughout the Bible, is seen as breaking out of that which keeps us confined.  Warren Wiersbe expresses the meaning of the freedom provided through the gospel.  He says, “Freedom means I have been set free to become all that God wants me to be, to achieve all that God wants me to achieve, to enjoy all that God wants me to enjoy.”  That very notion seems strange to those today who see Christianity as oppressive and opposed to freedom.  I can understand why some may see us Christians as anything but free.

It’s always been a struggle to live out the freedom Christ wants us to have.  Less than two decades after the birth of the church, Paul had to remind the Galatians that”Christ has set us free! This means we are really free.”  He wrote this as he warned them of false teachers who would enslave them.  Evangelist D. L. Moody once said, “The Spirit of God…gives liberty, and that is about the last thing we have in many of our churches.”  Maybe we need to discover the gospel before we try to proclaim it.

It we listen, we can hear the clinking of chains in our homes, the office, the schools, the streets.  We need to make sure the gospel means freedom when we proclaim it.

The gospel would be good news for the blind.  For a variety of reasons, blindness was a great problem in the ancient middle-east.  It still is today in poorer countries.  Jesus would heal some who were physically blind.  This seems to be a token of his concern for those who are spiritually blind.

We are aware of this kind of blindness all around us.  People are blind about themselves:

—they are blind to their identity as bearing the image of God, but see themselves as only so much skin and bones, the product of chance.

--they are blind to their sin, failing to see that they are in rebellion against the rightful Ruler of the Universe.

--they are blind to their inability to win God’s favor on their own.

They are also blind about God:

--they are blind to his character as one who is not remote but desires to be close to them.

--they are blind to his offer of grace that transcends their weakness.

The gospel brings light to the blind.  It allows them to see.

The gospel would be good news for the broken.  Jesus said he had come “to set free those who are oppressed.”  The word there is a powerful one.  It suggests broken or crushed.  It speaks to those who feel battered and shattered by the experiences of life.

Many around us feel broken by the experiences of life.  Though the experience transcends generations, today’s young people are often the most aware of it.  They desperately look for someone to care, to love, some sense of permanence and security.  They have tried one proffered solution after another only to find them false promises. This leads to real despair.  Listen to Adele’s Someone Like You to hear the cry of the broken-hearted and the underlying fear they might never find someone who will love them.

The great Greek scholar A. T. Robertson comments on this aspect of Jesus’ ministry.  He says, “One loves to think that Jesus felt it to be his mission to mend broken hearts like pieces of broken earthenware, real rescue-mission work. Jesus mends them and sets them free from their limitations.”

The gospel would be good news for all of us.  The Jews listening to Jesus would have known “the year of the Lord’s favor” was a reference to the Year of Jubilees.  This was the occasion that took place every fifty years in Israel.  It was an amazing time.  Debts were forgiven.  Slaves were set free.  Land confiscated for debt was returned to its original owners.  One writer explains,

The Jubilee Year had a leveling effect on Israel’s culture; it gave everyone a chance to start over, economically and socially. The Jubilee Year reminds one of God’s interest in liberty; God wants people to be free (Luke 4:18-19).[3]

 

We all need God’s grace and favor.  Jesus was saying that the gospel is the offer of that grace and favor.  The word “year” is not meant to imply that the offer was to be limited.  It meant a new age had come.

The Year of Jubilees was a time of jubilation, joyous celebration of God’s gracious character.  The gospel ought to lead us to jubilate. 

 

Responses

 

Well, the folks in Jesus’ hometown just couldn’t handle what he was saying.  It was okay for them to experience all these blessings but there had to be limits.  Talking about “good news” for the Gentiles was going too far.

Besides, Jesus seemed to be saying that they would have to come to God like ordinary sinners if they wanted salvation.

Enough was enough.  In their rage the intended to push Jesus off a cliff.  One writer suggests they may have imagined they could deny responsibility for his death.  You know, “We didn’t kill him, it was the fall.”  In any case, it didn’t happen.  Jesus walked away unharmed.  Luke doesn’t tell us how.

I wonder.  How do we respond when Jesus says something we don’t like.  Do we pray for a new attitude or do we choose to ignore it or explain it away? 

How do we respond when the Bible reminds us that God loves everyone, especially when we feel that’s just a little too broad-minded of God?

Is there anyone you’d like the gospel to exclude?  Do you want it to be good news for you but maybe not that angry atheist at the school board meeting, that gay couple down the street, that Muslim co-worker, that boorish neighbor who complains that you let your grass get too long, or maybe someone you just don’t want to put up with in heaven?

The “good” people of Nazareth missed the chance to get behind the hometown Boy and be in the vanguard of a world-changing movement.  Jesus had trampled on their prejudices and they couldn’t put up with that.  Jesus never returned to his hometown. 

When Jesus tramples on our prejudices, how do we respond?

 

 

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[1] Ferguson, S. B., & Packer, J. (2000). New dictionary of theology (electronic ed.) (523). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[2]  The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Col 1:13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

 

[3]  Hayford, J. W., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Hayford’s Bible handbook. Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; London; Vancouver: Thomas Nelson Publishers.