Upside Down. Luke 4

Introduction

It is a joy to be with you this week. Susan is in South Carolina preaching to their annual conference gathering and I am encouraged in the way God is calling FMC to be an influence even beyond our church. I heard great things from her this weekend. TWHCC has been a vision for me for years even before I knew it would be here and in Willis, I have been praying and seeking God’s direction so that I can participate in church planting and reaching people for the Kingdom. I am so grateful for all of you and everyone that God is bringing on board.

Today, I have the privilege of launching you into a new series called Disruptive Witness. And so we begin with Jesus and the disruptive witness of the Gospel. Jesus came to turn the broken world upside down. His coming was a cataclysmic, comprehensive, and ultimate reversal of power/authority/ and life as they new it. Luke’s gospel has the best presentation of that in my opinion.

Pray.

Logan introduction.....

I love going to prison. The Leblanc unit now in Beaumont, before that it was Clemens Unit in Lake Jackson, before that the Walls Unit in Huntsville, before that it was a county jail. My brother is the one that I love to visit. One of the hardest journey of my life and definitely my families is down the road of addiction and battle with Logan that eventually led to him serving a 18 year prison sentence for conviction of violent crime.

(Show Logan Picture)

He now has his first chance of parole. We are waiting for the decision. It has been 10 years.

The hard part is sometimes I run out of things to say. I dont know what to do. There is only so much encouragement and hang in there’s. What is our message for our people and for others that we encounter? What hope do we have to offer.

That’s what today’s message is about: The hope that rescues and brings freedom.

Background of Luke

Luke’s gospel spends the first three chapters describing the historical and miraculous birth of John the Baptist, “the one who would go before the Lord (1:17),” and then the virgin birth of Jesus—the story of Christmas, the story of the incarnation.

Then, when it was time for Jesus to begin his earthly ministry the Father opens up the heavens and the “Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased (3:22).’”

Jesus is immediately led by the Spirit into the wilderness to face temptation at the hands of the devil. Upon, the completion of his trial in the wilderness Jesus returns “in the power of the Spirit (4:1)” and enters the synagogue in Nazareth.

By now Jesus has created quite the stir in his hometown and many eyes would be watching every move. On the Sabbath, with an anticipating large crowd, Jesus stands to read from the scroll of Isaiah. He turns to a well-known text anticipating a time when God would return peace to the land and reads:

Text to begin with is Luke 4:14.

The text that was read earlier is this scroll.

Context for Jubilee

The text that Jesus reads in the synagogue is from Isaiah 61:1-2 and is referring to the return from exile from Babylon. The prophet Isaiah likens this to what is known to the Israelites as the “year of jubilee.” From the law found in Leviticus chapter 25 God institutes this practice of the Jubilee to be a time of liberty. During this year, Israelites:

· Release of slaves

· Cancellation of debts

· Cease of farming to allow land to rest

· The return of land to original owners[i]

Plainly, Jubilee was a return of economic and social balance in the land. However, over time and specifically during the exile this Jubilee became a hopeful metaphor for the deliverance of God.[ii] For Isaiah, Jubilee meant the freedom of oppression from the Babylonians and by the time Jesus is walking into this synagogue they were still hoping for a greater Jubilee when God would truly deliver his people with the expected messiah. It is in this context that Luke records the cataclysmic proclamation of Jesus to be the institution of the awaited Jubilee or the “year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus states that the new Jubilee will include good news for the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight, and the end of oppression. I think it is no coincidence that Jesus faces down the father of darkness in the wilderness and then claims freedom for all that are chained.

Rest assured the tension would be palpable. I hope you can feel the tension of this. Think again about what is happening. He is walking into a synagogue in his home town....the pastor asks him to read scripture. The scripture is one of the more important in their history but it is almost pie-in-the-sky-utopian-metaphor by this point. It is like that scripture you have as wall art to encourage you but your not sure if you really believe it at this point. He reads it aloud with more power than you have ever heard. It sounds personal to him, emotional.

Jesus calmly rolls up the scroll, hands it back to the attendant and sits down. Scripture pointedly clarifies, “the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him” (4:20). I can picture a few excruciating seconds of pause that would drag by for an eternity and then Jesus says “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21).

Mic drop.

And here is the thing....he didn’t just say it. He lived it. This hope from their past is now walking around in the flesh manifesting the promise.

Good News to the Poor

Jesus has come to proclaim the good news to the poor. Now, the word here for poor is not about the economically unfortunate, though that group is a large percentage. This phrase used by Luke here is about the people that know they need the good news. It is those that are yearning for something more, their hearts are wondering in the wilderness knowing fully that this is not how things are supposed to be. These individuals are the marginalized and the destitute, but this can be the spouse in a abusive marriage as much as the homeless on the streets.

That is why Jesus says in Luke 6

Luke 6:20 NIV

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

And this is why Jesus included children at every turn. In a culture that says children are basically worthless until a certain age…thankfully things have progressed slightly since then in that department.... Jesus spent time with them, Luke in chapter 9:

Luke 9:48 NIV

Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

Let me be blunt here.

Someone hearing this might be as broke as imaginable, and you will still not receive this word. Maybe even more acutely, many that may hear this word today could be too rich to know they are poor and will not receive this good news fully.

Jesus came for the poor.

Proclaim freedom for the prisoner

Luke 23, Jesus is hanging on the cross and there are two criminals hanging on either side.

One is not poor enough to know that the good news is hanging with him....

goodness, side note. Sometimes in our hurt and pain and indignation…we miss the presence of the suffering Jesus in our pain…and the good news that comes with that truth

The other criminal knows that Jesus is his only hope.

Will you remember me? A Criminal, one who deserves this, when you enter into your kingdom.

Luke 23:43 NIV

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

παράδεισος.... this word can be translated garden. Hahaha…check this is out for the freedom and restoring hope of Jesus. Today you will be in that place where you are free and where you were always supposed to be. The place where God’s children are in intimate harmony with their Father.

Jesus has come to proclaim freedom for the prisoner

Recovery of Sight for the Blind

In Luke 18, Jesus is walking outside Jericho and a blind man sitting on the side of the road begins to cry out to him....like someone who is poor, remember. I love this scene....Jesus goes to him and asks:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

He replies,

“I want to see”

Jesus says this man’s faith has healed him.

In so many ways God is inviting us to understand our plight. To simply be aware and to ask.

Jesus has come to bring sight to the blind.

To Set the Oppressed Free

Luke 13, Jesus heals a woman that has been crippled by an evil Spirit. Modern translators get uncomfortable with the demonic so they make it sound like Jesus just helped out with a bad back like some super-Chriopractor, but dont be mistaken. He later says that this woman has suffered at the hands of Satan for 18 years.

Some day when we know each other better....maybe we can dive into this a little…but for now, Jesus has come to defeat the dominion of darkness. He has come to rescue the girl trapped in human trafficking, the lost son stuck in evil addiction, and any that is victim to the power of evil.

It is interesting that in Luke 13 there is no mention of this woman’s faith to be healed like the blind man....it is simply a story of Jesus power and authority over evil.

Jesus has come to set the oppressed free

This is the year of the Lord’s favor, of Jubilee.

and check this our. One more place we need to go:

We are Anointed for this Mission

In Luke 24, right at the end of the gospel. Jesus has come back and he is spending time with the disciples one last time. This is what he tells them:

Luke 24:46–49 NIV

He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

You are the witnesses....not just people that saw it, but the ones that will continue the work. When the power comes, when the Spirit is upon you, you will be the ones that preach and proclaim.

What if we saw Luke 4 in a different light then, what if we were now the ones reading from the scroll:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Here is what is critical though, we have to see ourselves in the as the object of Jesus mission before we can fully be participants.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Church, my brother and I grew up in the same home. We had same loving parents, same schools, same teachers, same friends…heck I think it was some of my friends that Logan got in trouble with. Same sports, same everything. The line between him and I is razor thin. But even then, I know I may not have ever been a prisoner in the same way that he is, but I was so blind. And I was so poor, and Jesus rescued me.

A few Closing thoughts here:

if you are not experiencing the presence of Jesus and the power of the anointing....chances are you are far from his people. The poor, the prisoner, the blind, the oppressed. We get so caught up in first-world problems and inconveniences that we are like a prison guard with keys to the cell oblivious to the power within us and our surroundings. Truth is, Jesus is usually hanging out at state prisons more than blue-collar suburbia.

If the world is not turned upside down in your life then I think you could be missing it. Like the person that puts on color glasses for the first time.

Why is this important? Well it is the gospel. And Jesus kingdom is for Logan. We have been sent to bring this good news

(Show picture).

But you do not need to know someone is a prison to be close to these people. In our world they are hidden in plain sight. They are in your family, your neighbors, and your co-workers. We have lost our missional zeal. Let’s find it again.

My wife, Lauren started teaching here.

Let’s remember daily, that we are the object of Jesus mission. The living hope that has helped us to endure, that has healed us and restored us, is calling us deeper into Him, and is sending us out into the world. Let’s remember the anointing and the power of the Spirit at work in the world.