Fourth Wednesday after the Epiphany

Last week our board of deacons met and following the opening devotion and prayer, the first order of business was to get approval for the agenda of the meeting.

At times, we may get off tract, but our faithful congregational president always brings us back to our agenda. This is how we stay focused on what we are about and what we are doing.

Jesus, too, had an agenda for his life and ministry. It is a Divine Agenda, and as early as age 12 he told his mother, “I have to be about my Father’s business.”

Agenda’s are essential. They keep us focused. You and I have been charged with proclaiming the kingdom of God to the world, beginning here in Chippewa Falls. That is our mission. And because the gospel of Jesus Christ is the center of all Scripture, it will always be the center of what we preach and teach.

So today we will be admonished to stay focused on Christ’s Divine Agenda, by Not Focusing on What We Want, because Christ Agenda is what Sets us Free.

Stay Focused on Christ’s Divine Agenda

The Goal: To direct the hearer to stay focused on the Agenda Christ has given us. We have been changed by the proclamation of the Good News and the distribution of his gifts. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the center of all Scripture, therefore it is the center of our teaching.

After being driven from His hometown of Nazareth, we pick-up Jesus in Capernaum.

As was His custom, he attended worship in the local synagogue on the Sabbath.

And as in Nazareth, Jesus was asked to speak, and the people were amazed at his teaching—literally, they were dumbfounded. What Jesus taught reached the conscience and the heart with directness, and the will of God was clear in their hearing.

What’s different this Sabbath, is a man with an unclean spirit is present.

From Mark’s gospel we gather that this demoniac spirit did not sit in the audience until Jesus was through teaching but burst into the synagogue with his yelling.

He cried out with a loud voice, “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!” (Lk 4:34).

The sense is: “Get out and let us alone!” The plural identifies this spirit with others of his kind, and he is trying to get rid of Jesus for all his other demons.

This is a confrontation between powers. The wild, fearsome forces of chaos rush at Jesus, but to their violent destruction, like moths to the flame.

Whenever demons have any contact with Jesus, their reaction is always immediate and severe. They recognize him for who he is and realize that cosmic war has now come to them.

They also recognize a superior force and must fight for their very place in this world. So this scene is one of spiritual warfare from beginning to end.

The demon “cried out at the top of his voice,” as if the volume of his cry is a weapon to be used against Jesus. Lenski, an old trusted theologian, commented that the strong voice of demon’s cry was like a “yelling,” which “rang through the building.”

At this Jesus simply rebukes: “Be silent, and come out of him” (Lk 4:35), to which Luke records, “The demon threw him down in front of them and came out of him without harming him.”

This reminds us of another rebuking: When they were on the sea in a storm

They went to Jesus and woke him, saying, “Master, master, we’re going to die!” He woke up, rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they stopped. Then it was calm” (Luke 8:24).

Jesus is here to bring order out of chaos.

Following the synagogue service, Jesus goes to Simon Peter’s house.

Upon arrival, Jesus learns that Simon’s mother-in-law is very sick with a high fever.

So, Jesus stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them” Luke 4:39

The miracle was done. He spoke to the fever as he did to the wind and to the waves on the storm-tossed sea and it instantly obeyed.

The will of Jesus is instantly done. Peter’s mother-in-law showed no sigh of weakness or fatigue, as is often the case when a fever subsides, for “at once” (παραχρῆμα) she went on to serve them.

This verb suggests that the mother-in-law got up and prepared the evening meal.

The sun had set indicating the Sabbath was over, and by this time reports of what Jesus had done in the synagogue and for Simon’s mother-in-law had circulated all over the community.

All the sudden many sick and disease laden were brought to Jesus for healing, and Jesus healed every last one of them.

Demons also came out of many people crying out, “You are the Son of God,” as He rebuked every last one.

Early the next morning Jesus went off by himself to pray and the crowds came looking for him; no doubt, for additional healings

He told his disciples, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is why I was sent” (v. 43).

Jesus’ mission is a Divine imperative. Jesus made it clear that he had a different agenda. Rather than being drawn into the popularity he had found in Capernaum, he said, I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to other towns also

We have heard Jesus express this divine agenda before, and we will hear him express it again. The same Jesus who knew what was on his agenda already at age 12, still knew it here and would never forget it on His way to the cross.

Friends, the Divine Agenda of Jesus Christ is about the kingdom of God — about giving sight to the spiritually blind, to set free those who are bound by sin, death, and the devil. It is through the work of Christ that the kingdom of God is made a reality. God reigns in the hearts of those who have confessed Christ as their Redeemer and have forgiveness of sins in His atonement. Thus it is only through faith in Christ that one becomes a citizen in the kingdom of God.

Last week we saw Jesus walk through the crowd that wanted to throw him from a cliff. It's perhaps even more remarkable to see Jesus walk through the crowd that wants to hang on to him forever, thus preventing His mission from continuing.

However, he does; in fact, he must.

Therefore dear Christian,

Don’t Focus on What You Want

The Malady: Even believers try to make God into what they want him to be. Jesus did not fit the Jewish stereotype of the Messiah. Modern people are no different. Rather than making the gospel proclamation the central focus, we are often tempted to focus more on those aspects of the Christian life that people are interested in. After all, experience tells us that doing so can draw a crowd.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the center of all Scripture, therefore it is the center of everything we do. Unfortunately, so many people want their ears tickled. They want to hear what they want to hear, and if they don’t get what they want they often go somewhere else.

It is so easy to focus upon what we and others want.

Noble ideas, perhaps. But does what we want keep the gospel at the center of everything we do?

In a congregational setting, we tend to get bogged down in catering to the whims and wishes of attenders. But, are these things keeping the gospel front and center?

The modern American Church has made “gathering a crowd” as their main focus.

Many books and seminars are available on “how to grow your church.”

One of the first things they advocate is altering the Divine Service to make it more palatable for the non-Christian.

Using gimmicks to grab peoples attention is common.

They appeal to the “felt-needs” of people, rather than what they really need — a Savior who has atoned for their sin.

And once in the pew, many of the sermons are instructional: “The 10 most effective ways to affair-proof your marriage.” Or, “How to raise godly kids in a godless world.” — These topics are fine in and of themselves, but is this what Jesus came to do, and what He sent his disciples to do?

Next we have our sinful flesh, where we Christians are constantly tempted to make God into what we want Him to be, through the sin of Innovation!

For example, many want Him to be a god who is not judgmental and will look the other way when it comes to our lifestyle.

In society homosexuality at one time to be referred to as a “preference”. But now in the era of political correctness it is now an “orientation”.

Instead of being honest about their desires, they claim that God made them this way.

Scripture warns us: Romans 1:25 “Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator.”

In the age of a pandemic, we take liberties in changing the blessed Sacrament of our Lord’s body and blood.

The world says we must stay away from gathering with other believers. But what about the sacrament? Innovate!

Some TV preacher said that I can get bread and wine out of the refrigerator and serve ourselves communion, which is happening now in many circles.

Two immediate problems with this innovation: (1). This is the exact opposite of what Jesus instituted and taught; and (2). People serving themselves with what is in the refrigerator is not the Lord’s Supper and therefore, God’s promise of forgiveness of sins is not present.

Like in the Garden of Eden, Christians are being deceived of the subtle influence of the devil.

Scripture provides a stern warning: 1 Cor 11:27 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the Lord’s body and blood.” And, 1 Cor 11:29-30 “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eat and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many of you are weak and sick, and some have died.”

As Christ Jesus was, we are in a battle called spiritual warfare. As Jesus encountered evil, nasty, vulgar spirits in his ministry — all in an effort to distract Him from his Divine Agenda, so is the devil constantly doing the same with us. In a very subtle way, using the very same tactic he used with Adam and Eve, he diverts our attention to focus on what we think and want

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

1 Peter 5:8-9 “Have sound judgment. Be alert. Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him by being firm in the faith. You know that the same kinds of sufferings are being laid on your brotherhood all over the world.”

Friends, if we have fallen headlong into those temptations— or others like it—we must repent. The devil is constantly twisting and corrupting well-intentioned Christians with his lies and deception. But Jesus came for the purpose, of setting right what the devil has twisted and corrupted, as we heard in last Sunday’s gospel reading:

To proclaim good news to the poor.

To proclaim liberation to the captives.

To give recovery of sight to the blind.

To set at liberty those who are oppressed.

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what He came to do. And this is what He has sent me and you to declare.

Christ Jesus, His mission, and the means He has given us must be our central focus. This is God’s plan for us in Christ, because

Christ’s Divine Agenda Sets Us Free

The Means: The means is God’s Word of promise. His Word is sure. His forgiveness is sure. This forgiveness, earned on the cross, is distributed through the Word and Sacraments. We are comforted by the fact that Christ himself carried out His divine agenda perfectly. Had he been interested only in drawing a crowd, he could have done so by doing what people wanted him to do and telling them what they wanted to hear.

God be praised, for Jesus carried out His Divine Agenda perfectly.

He wasn’t interested in drawing a crowd

He wasn’t interested in doing what people wanted Him to do

He was about His Fathers business, from the very beginning.

Jesus demonstrated His authority over demons and illnesses of all kinds, including death.

Yet, this is only part of his broader authority:

His message, his teaching, and his mission for coming to earth. This continued with His Apostles, and it must continue with us. This is what must be our focus.

It was Jesus’ authoritative teaching that first caught the attention of those in Capernaum: “They were amazed by his teaching, because his message had authority.” Luke 4:32.

Jesus, the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14), is the cure for all that ails us.

He came into our broken world to help us, whether we are troubled by demons, or in fear of death, AIDS, cancer, pandemics, finances, tornados, or fire.

The Holy One of God came into our sin-filled world to bear the sin of us all on the cross—in fact, He became our substitute and died in your place.

Now He gives Good News to you of personal forgiveness and new life forever with him in heaven.

Now we are proclaiming Good News in Chippewa Country and far beyond. By what authority? It is by the authority of Jesus, who said,

Matthew 28:18-20 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”

From the start of His ministry he showed that his agenda was to proclaim what must be said, not what people wanted to hear. And we, His Church, follow in his steps. The agenda for Christ Church is set.

As your pastor, I am authorized by God to assure repentant sinners of his Good News: “I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

And we are all authorized and encouraged to tell our hurting neighbors and forlorn family members that in the name of Jesus, there is hope and pardon and life for them, despite what is going on around them! This is God’s Divine Agenda!