Encouragement and challenge
Luke 4:16-30
It's always difficult to know what to preach for your first sermon somewhere. What approach should you take? What subject are you going to preach on? Which passage with you choose? Should you challenge people or encourage them, or try to do both?
The answers to these questions play a big part in determining how your congregation see you, and they send a message about how you want to be portrayed. People are looking at you, trying to work out what sort of a person you are. Is your sermon going to be longer than they expect? Or shorter than they expect? Too simple, or too complicated? What kind of things are you going to focus on? Can they agree with what you're saying?
In short, just who is this new preacher?
And that was the question that was on people's minds that day in Nazareth: Just who is this person? We know that John the Baptist had been talking about him, and that something special happened when he was baptised. We know that some people say that he is a great prophet who does miracles. We know that he's just been away from the synagogue for at least six weeks, first fasting in the desert, and out on a preaching tour around Galilee. Now he's back. What's he going to do?
So they hand him the book of Isaiah the Prophet, and he finds these verses to read. Now the book would have been written in Hebrew, but most people at that time spoke a language called Aramaic. So what he does is rather like what happens at the English service; he provides a translation into the local language. And sometimes he changes it a little bit - I don't know if Junko does that as well... Let's see how he changes it.
``The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.'' This is all straight from Isaiah 61 verse 1. ``He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners'' - OK, that bit is actually from Isaiah 58. ``Recovery of sight for the blind''. This is from Isaiah 42. These three passages in Isaiah are called the ``Servant songs'', and he takes a little bit from each one. So this is the sort of ``Servant songs, Jesus remix.'' Finally, he gets back to Isaiah 61:``To set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour''. And then he sits down.
But there's something missing. He didn't finish the reading; the passage you're supposed to read in the synagogue finishes at the end of that verse in Isaiah: he was supposed to say ``to announce the day when our God will seek vengeance''. Maybe he doesn't want to preach about that part right now.
What an interesting passage to choose! Everyone listening would know that this passage is about the man who is going to rescue Israel. Everyone's been waiting for the Messiah, a man who is going to get rid of the Romans and restore Israel and punish Israel's enemies. They have had a couple of people try: one man called Theudas who said he was a prophet who could part the Red Sea; and another man called Judas the Galilean. Neither of these men got anywhere against the Romans.
But Jesus had in mind a very different kind of Messiah. First, his idea of the Messiah isn't just a man. That's why he puts in that part about ``restoring sight to the blind.'' None of the prophets ever did that; that is something that only God himself does. Psalm 146 says that it is God who releases the imprisoned and who gives sight to the blind.
Jesus' idea of the Messiah is not someone who is there to overthrow the Romans; that's why he does not announce vengeance on Israel's enemies. Jesus' idea of the Messiah is someone who is there for the poor, those in prison, the blind and the oppressed.
But Jesus' idea of the Messiah is not just about standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. It is also about God's forgiveness. The ``year of the Lord's favour'' in verse 19 is talking about the year of Jubilee mentioned in Leviticus 25. This was a tradition for Israel that God established - every fifty years, once in a lifetime, was the year of Jubilee. Everyone who had accumulated land had to give it back and go back to the traditional allocation of land owned by their family. All debts were cancelled. All slaves were freed. It was a year when everyone got to start again. Talking about ``proclaiming the year of the Lord's favour'' means that Jesus' idea of the Messiah is someone who will bring out a new start from God: the forgiveness of sins.
You see there are two mistakes we can make with Jesus. The first mistake is to see him as someone who is only interested in helping the oppressed. A good man. A moral teacher. I heard it just the other day: ``Most of what Jesus said - helping the poor, feeding the hungry, loving your neighbour - is fine.'' But Jesus isn't just there to teach. He comes to proclaim that something has changed; that forgiveness is available. That you can start again before God. He comes to save the people from their sins.
But the second mistake is to think that he only comes to save the people from their sins, and to forget what he says about the poor and the captives and the blind and the oppressed. Jesus uses his first sermon to talk about what is important to him, and he places his concern for the poor at the very start of that sermon. If we are going to be followers of Jesus, we need to have the same concern.
So Jesus has used his reading to set out what the Messiah is going to be like: someone who is both man and God, who will stand up for the helpless in society, but someone who is coming to bring about a new start between man and God. Not bad for a reading. People are really going to be on the edges of their seats wondering what he's going to say next. You don't do miracles and then talk about the Messiah unless you're planning to say something amazing.
Let's come to Jesus' sermon: ``Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'' Well, it's a short sermon. No wonder the people were very pleased with it. I'm afraid this sermon is already a lot longer than Jesus'. But what a message. He's saying ``I've told you about the Messiah. And you're looking at him.'' What a claim. He's telling the people that everything they've wished for and hoped for has come true, and that all those prophesies are actually about him.
This is such an encouragement to those who have been waiting for Messiah! But do you notice that once he has made this claim, he does nothing to demonstrate it. To accept that Jesus is the Messiah took faith then, and it takes faith now.
So that's Jesus' encouragement. He's saying ``I've come for your salvation''. But just as he encourages everyone, he follows it up with a challenge: ``Not just your salvation.'' ``No prophet is acceptable in his home town.'' The joy in the synagogue soon turns to anger. Why is this? Jesus sets out an image of the Messiah that people can rejoice in, but then he broadens that image. Israel's Messiah is not just for Israel. The widow in verse 26 and Naaman the Syrian in verse 27 were both Gentiles. They had never set foot in a synagogue in their lives. Thinking about a Messiah who comes to encourage us is safe and comfortable; but a Messiah who comes to encourage people who are not like us is a different matter. In short, Jesus is not just the savior of people inside the church. He came for those outside the church as well.
To be honest, the people in the synagogue ought to have understood that. They should have known that all nations were to be blessed through Israel. The servant songs which prophesy about the Messiah say three times ``I will make you a light to the nations.'' But Israel had forgotten its purpose. Of course they are the chosen people, but resting in the celebrated position of being the chosen people, they had forgotten what they were chosen for. They were, of course, chosen for the mission of God. The mission of God doesn't mean going overseas and spreading a religion. It means shining a light on all people and showing the glory of God to the nations. That's what Israel was chosen for. But, you know, showing God's glory to the Gentiles is a hard thing. Those Gentiles aren't like us. Mission to people like that is dirty, difficult and demanding. That's why Israel wanted to stay in the comfortable and safe position of being chosen, and ignore its own purpose. Jesus' reminding people of the purpose that they had been ignoring was obviously an unwelcome thing. That's why the people in the synagogue got angry - really, they wanted to forget Israel's work of mission.
The church is also called out for a purpose. According to the German theologian Bonhoeffer, there's only one society which exists for the benefit of its non-members; that's the church. The church is not just a meeting of the chosen people. Just like Israel, it is a tool of God's mission. That was Jesus's challenge. I think it is a challenge to the church today. Please don't throw me out of the village and try to kill me, but I honestly think so. What does the church exist for? Is it not for showing the glory of God to those outside the church? That's the sign of a healthy church.
Actually, Jesus gave a much harsher challenge than that. In the times of the prophets Elijah and Elisha there were many in Israel who needed salvation. But because Israel had ignored its purpose, they were not saved. But nevertheless the work of salvation goes on. If Israel forgets its purpose in showing the glory of God to the nations, the prophets of God have no alternative but to leave the chosen people of Israel and go out and bless the Gentiles instead. God wants to bless people. That cannot be stopped. If we choose to be a channel of that blessing, we will be blessed too. But if the church sits in the position of being chosen and does nothing, then God will bless those outside the church; the only people who end up not being blessed is us. No wonder those listening to Jesus got angry.
In Jesus' first sermon he combines encouragement and challenge. That there is salvation for the poor and oppressed is a big encouragement. That one can renew one's relationship with God is a big encouragement. That the long-awaited saviour has finally arrived is a big encouragement. But the fact that this saviour is not just for the chosen people is a big challenge. The fact that if the chosen people forget why they are chosen, God will bless others, is a big challenge.
Jesus is always like this. He always mixes challenge and encouragement. You can't take the encouragement and throw away the challenge. Because in with the challenge and the encouragement Jesus mixes in himself. You can't accept Jesus and reject his challenge. That would be to reject Jesus himself. Really, the people in that Nazarene synagogue didn't just reject Jesus' challenge. They rejected him. Please, accept Jesus' challenge. Don't forget the purpose of the church. Show the glory of God to others. If you do this, as well as accepting Jesus' challenge you will accept his encouragement. And the greatest encouragement of all is Jesus himself.