SERMON

The Power of Words

Luke 4: 21-30

Fred Mollon, Elder January 31, 2016 Skyline Presbyterian Church

This passage is the end of the story from which Robyn was preaching last week. Jesus has returned home to Nazareth. Luke’s gospel seems to indicate that He is on a preaching tour of some sort and ends up in His home town. All of the gospels indicate that He has made His headquarters in Capernaum where He has been teaching and miracles have taken place. No doubt the proverbial grapevine has taken this news to Nazareth and has gained a little hometown fame. So being back at home they are probably a little curious about this guy; a little proud of Him. Now we find Him in the synagogue on the Sabbath. As a welcome guest, or returning “son” He is offered to read the scripture for that week. Just like we do, they too have lectionary which would list out the Torah or scripture passage to read and as we are told, it just happens to be Isaiah 61:1-2a. Jesus stops, sits down and they are waiting for Him to expound on it, and He says, “Today is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing.”

Let’s look at Jesus words:

“Today” – in Greek; the aorist tense. Means…now; at this moment in time. When Jesus makes any declaration about the kingdom, it is always in the sense that He makes it so. He makes the kingdom here and now.

“Has been fulfilled” – often when Jesus says this something has been fulfilled, or “I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it” means “to rightly interpret.” All of these scriptures about the Messiah have been explained by the rabbis and teachers who have explained them in one way or another but I am here to give you the correct interpretation.

“In your hearing” – you are now witnesses. You may not believe it, you may reject it, but you can’t deny it.

Then in Luke 4:22 we have an interesting response from the people which can be reasonably translated in one of two ways:

The first is to take it at face value just as translated. Nice and gentle words/comments about Jesus and it’s not until later, in vs. 28, that they become angry. They start out being “ok” with what He says, maybe a little surprised. It’s not until He implies that they are like Israel of old, such as in the story of Elijah going to Zaraphath, in Sidon, and helps the Phoenician woman, not the Hebrew women; or in the second story of Elisha who heals the Syrian general, not the Israelite lepers. This sets them off in a rage and they want Him gone and drive Him out of the city.

The other way of translating this verse is that right from the start His words are very off putting and set them on edge – “all were speaking against Him, they were shocked at His disgraceful words and said “is this not Joseph’s son?” They immediately got His point; He senses their rejection, and then relates the stories of Elijah and Elisha to let them know, “Ok, if you don’t want God’s blessings then He will take it to people who will receive it.”

Either way, it is words that are at the heart of the incident here. Words can be cruel or a means to show love and grace.

Words. Actions are very important. As James says, “show me your faith without works and I’ll show you my faith by my works;” but the works are only what give us entrance into someone’s life. Then, we are able to share, to speak, to use words to fully explain our reasons for what we do. Our PB&J ministry is one of those tools. Every week, to share a peanut butter and jam sandwich with someone for no other reason than that’s what God has asked us to do. Then, after a time someone may ask, why do you do this? Because we have been there, because we have been faithful, we have the entrance to share the words of God’s love to them, to be a guide for them into the Kingdom of God. This is what allowed us to be successful when I worked among Muslim young people in Bethlehem. Because we stood with them in good times and bad, offering friendship and at times a real shelter in the storm, this gave us legitimacy and the opening to share with them the fullness of God and Jesus and they would listen. But to do that we need to have three things in our lives.

The first is to recognize our own need for change. Let’s turn to Isaiah 6:4-8. Isaiah has been translated to the throne room of Heaven. God is on the throne, the altar is glowing and incense ascending, the heavenly court is assembled. God is speaking, the very foundations are trembling, and suddenly Isaiah cries out, “I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, living among people of unclean lips.” Then we are told that a seraph brings a coal from the altar and touches his lips to cleanse him and take away his sin. Why the mouth? The mouth in ancient times was a holy organ of the body. It is through the mouth, our words, that we reveal ourselves: our personhood, our character. To defile the mouth was to defile the person. So Isaiah recognizes his need; he declares his need to be cleansed; to be changed; to be transformed, and God responds. Read Isaiah and see the ministry he had among the Israelites, declaring God’s word to them, to change and to repent.

Secondly, we need to be filled; to realize that we have nothing to say in our own right. Jeremiah saw this need. In Jeremiah 1:4-10 we find Jeremiah also transported to the heavens and standing before God. God is declaring that he is to be a prophet to the nations and that he will speak forth the words of God. Jeremiah says, “…but I’m too young.” God says, DON’T SAY YOU’RE TOO YOUNG. I am sending you. Jeremiah says, “I don’t know what to say.” Then God reaches out and touches his lips and puts His words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Read Jeremiah and listen to him faithfully declaring God’s word to them even during their captivity.

Finally, we need love. As Paul says in I Corinthians 13:1-13, “though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am nothing but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Paul is referring to the constant noise of these instruments at pagan temples as they tried to bring the gods closer and show devotion to them. But it is love – God’s love, that makes our words, and our actions mean something in the lives of people.

We have only to look to Jesus, author and finisher of our faith. Raised in Nazareth as many others, but when it’s time, He goes down to the river to participate in John’s baptism of repentance. Then, as He comes up out of the water the Spirit descends upon Him, filling Him. And then love – no one loved more or greater than Jesus. He loved so deeply, that even though He cried out three times, in the garden, “Please Father, if there is any other way than the cross…but not as I will, but as You will” and from there went to the cross. Even from the cross, He loved and again, it was His words….to John, “take care of her as if she’s your own mother.” “Mary, he’ll be your son and take care of you.” He cried out amidst the screams of hatred and mocking, “Father, forgive them…they don’t know what they are doing.” He loved as no other. And this is the thing to which God calls us as His disciples: To so live among people, to act as God would act, to speak as God would speak, that the light of Christ shines clearly, showing the pathway to God through Christ.

May we always seek to be transformed by His Spirit; to be empowered and filled with His words, that in our lives through words and deeds, we are living examples of the love of God to those around us. Amen.