The Response We Give

Good morning. i am glad that we can be here this morning. I wanted to open this mornings message with a Story. I would be curious how you might respond to it.

Luke worked for a local farmer. Every day he went to work faithfully and was willing to do whatever his employer asked. Day in day out without fail.

Harvest season came and it was time to hire some seasonal help to get the fields harvested. Luke worked with the new hires first thing in the morning and trained them up and had them out in the field harvesting the crops.

About noon the Farmer came out and inspected the work and it was such a good year that the work wasn’t going to get done if he didn’t hire some more workers.

He went out and found some more workers got them out to Luke and before you know it Luke had them making great progress.

A couple hours pass by and the farmer comes out again. He had a plan for where he wanted to field to get to and when he saw the productivity he decided he needed some more workers.

The end of the day came around he went to Luke and told him to pay the workers. How much are we paying them per hour.

Farmer looks at him and says “By the hour” Pay them a flat rate. $200 for the day.

Luke looked back okay $200 for the workers who were here at the beginning what about the ones you brought at noon and at 3.

Farmer confused at why Luke was asking this. He just repeated himself.

$200.

Flabbergasted Luke looked at him and said but the ones who worked all day are going to be angry if they find out they recieved the same pay as the ones who only worked a few hours.

The Farmer a little perturbed responds. It is my money and I can pay what I want. Take care of this.

The Question that follows is this...

How would you Respond?

Now. Before you think about this answer some of you might have recognized this story. This is a parable that Jesus shared with the disciples from Matthew 20.

Put that aside for a moment. I want you to be honest. If you were at work and found out that someone worked only a few hours was paid the same amount as you for the day you probably wouldn’t be happy.

When I was in management in retail I always hated when people would come to me and ask my why someone made a particular amount of money.

It was never a fun conversation and always led to frustrations. We think we are worth certain amount and that we don’t like it when we find out someone got more or the same of us when we think they shouldn’t have.

It is this view that helps us with the second half of the story that we started last week.

To refresh those who may not have been here last week let’s catch up together.

Luke 4:14–21 NIV

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “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, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus shared this great passage from Isaiah and wanted his hometown to be reminded of the good news and hope that he was about to bring, or is he...

Let’s keep reading.

Luke 4:22–30 NIV

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. 23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Do this for Us!

One of the curious things about this passage is it begins with the people of Jesus hometown asking for Jesus to show them what he did in Capernaum.

They had heard about what Jesus had done there and they wanted to experience it. I mean this was Joseph’s son after all. They watched him grow up. They needed to have proof that he could do what he said that he could.

I can’t help but wonder if there wasn’t some desire for the benefits of miracles in their own town. I mean imagine if he did those great things in Capernaum what would Jesus do for his hometown. There is an expectation that He would take care of his own people even more right?

The challenge is that they don’t honestly believe that Jesus had done these things. There was doubt amongst them and they were struggling with the idea that Jesus was able to do these things.

Jesus could give into them and prove who he is and what he could do but instead he takes a different line with them.

Luke 4:24 NIV

24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

Not only does he share with this this truth that people are always more ready to see greatness in strangers than in those they know well. He gives them a reminder from their own histories.

Luke 4:25–27 NIV

25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

Harsh Stories

Two prophets who did great things for people. Yet, what Jesus referenced was not done for the people of Israel but for the Gentiles in the area. They did great things for people outside of the people of Israel.

It was a harsh reminder that God sent his prophets not just for them but for all. Jesus was also setting the stage that he had not come just for some but for all people. HE wasn’t there just to make the people of Nazareth happy. He had come for more than that.

They were rejected that Jesus would bring up such a harsh story. To remind them that God would want to deal with the Gentiles was just too much of an offense. They grew angry and they wanted to show Jesus a thing or two. After all he is just hte son of Joseph. They took him to end his life to throw him down from the hill top and to end him.

Jesus didn’t stop them or even try to rebuke them he simply walks through the crowd. Maybe this was the miracle that they actually needed. Even if it isn’t the miracle they wanted.

Home Town Rejection

Jesus now rejected and not recognized for who he is and what he has come to do. Now Jesus shared some truth with them that there are times it is hard to recognize the truth from people we know. Why would i want to listen to you I know about who you are and what you have done?

That is the challenge that comes when it is time to be challenged by people we know when it comes to our faith. Does this mean that we aren’t supposed to listen to loved ones or acquaintances in our lives.

Absolutely not. Yet, it is difficult for us to do so.

Truth gets harder when we think we have knowledge that others don’t.

The people of Nazareth had seen Jesus grow up so they “knew” about him.

I wonder sometimes if we are in danger of becoming like the People of Nazareth.

Do we Reject Him?

This is a hard question. Have we become like the people of Nazareth that we have become so familiar with what we think our faith is supposed to be that we would be blinded by the truth of who Jesus is and what he came to do?

Are we willing to humble ourselves to recognize that we may not know as much as we would like to think and that a major component of our faith is about humbling ourselves before him and realizing that it is he who makes us what we are.

We must always be careful about demanindng or expecting God to prove himself to us. To show us why we should believe but to realize that we have the evidence in front of us and that there word of God teaches us and the Saints who have come before us testify to who he is.

How will we respond when we hear the truth. Will we not recognize him or will we bow down before him. Will we reject him or will we embrace him and humble ourselves before him?

WE are called to be his people but we must always be ready to see that if we aren’t careful we might miss him.

Let’s Pray