“As Was His Custom”
Luke 4:14-21
I’m sure you’ve heard it said, or it may have come from your lips, “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it.” I have seen some things in my lifetime that I wanted to see, that I relished seeing; and I’ve seen some things I wished I never experienced. I made two trips to New Orleans in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, the first as soon as they were allowing teams in for recovery; it was an experience that there really are no words for. I was in Haiti in 2010 just weeks after the devastating earthquake to deliver food and supplies to an orphanage. At the end of the day after we thought we had given away all of our food we discovered one lone loaf of bread which caused a riot as people fought over that loaf of bread. I’ve been on two other mission trips outside of the United States: one to Honduras and the other to Kenya to bless the Warwick Methodist Church’s fresh water well [12 years ago last week]—we take for granted how good we have it in this country
With my eyes I have witnessed people who have been given grim news by their doctor and then go on to live a long and productive life. With these eyes I have watched little children forced to say goodbye to their Daddy’s in a prison visitation room. With these eyes I have watched, more than once, my own child walking before a judge in shackles, talk about something that tugs at your heart.
I may have told y’all this but early in my ministry I developed a bad habit of knocking on hospital room doors as I walked in. The last time I did [very early in my ministry] I saw something that I wished I never would have seen. I now knock and wait till someone says, “Come in.”
On the flip side of that I have witnessed some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the ocean. I have marveled at God’s creation at some wonderful parks—ponds—and lakes. I was in the delivery area of hospitals when a newborn was placed in Daddy’s hands. And I have been at the bedside when many of God’s saints have taken their last breath on this side and crossed over to be with their Lord.
If you hunt or play any kind of sport, you know the importance of being able to see the ball or your target. You golfers especially know this. You can have the best clubs, the right clothes, the proper shoes, and the best lessons; but if you don’t keep your head down and your eyes on the ball you can forget it. Am I right?
In the scripture I just read for you Luke writes about Jesus and His trip to His hometown of Nazareth, of Him standing up to read in the synagogue, and how “The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him.”
Jesus has been on a mission. He has fasted for forty days and been able to defeat the devil and all his temptations. How did He do that? By the
Word of God, “It is written.”
Have any of you ever fasted? It’s something that I used to do and probably should do again. I don’t think I could ever fast for forty days, though I probablypossess enough fat to live off for that amount of time. Experts say you can survive four minutes without oxygen, four days without water, and forty days without food. It made me wonder if they have come up with that number because Jesus was able to go forty days in the desert without food. Something I believe we need to keep in perspective is that one can fast from many things other than food. Television—listening to the radio while driving—playing games—anything we can give up in exchange for spending more time with or thinking about God. Putting away our “idols” and focusing on God.
After leaving the devil Jesus went to Galilee, don’t know why, our text says, “He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him.” We do know He was filled with the Spirit! Don’t we all get pumped up when we start a new adventure? I start every day by thanking God for a new day, a new beginning; for the new opportunities offered to be in ministry and service to Him. Are you one who says: “Good morning, Lord,” or “Good Lord, its morning!” Jesus was beginning His ministry, and He was excited about it!
Today His mission takes Him to Nazareth, His hometown. Once again, we don’t know exactly why. We do know that while there He goes to the synagogue as the text says, “As was His custom.”
Synagogues were very important in Jewish religious life. During the Exile, when the Jews no longer had the temple, synagogues were established as places of worship on the Sabbath and were used as schools for the young boys during the week. Even after the temple was rebuilt synagogues continued to exist. A synagogue could be established in any town with at least ten Jewish men.
The synagogues of Jesus’ day didn’t usually have paid or appointed preachers and teachers. Any adult male might be called upon to preach or teach on any particular Sabbath. Imagine if our modern-day churches operated like this? It would either call for some intense Bible study or Sunday mornings with only women in attendance. In the synagogues, itinerant Rabbis would be invited to come and read from the Scriptures and to teach, like Jesus is doing in our lesson this morning.
Jesus went to the synagogue that morning because that’s what He did. Even when He was out of town, He found a place to worship. Even though He was the perfect Son of God and His local synagogue, like any other community, wouldn’t have been without problems, He attended worship. His example makes our excuses for not attending church sound weak and self-serving. We need to make worship a part of our life. It needs to be our custom as well!
Imagine being present that morning in Nazareth, someone you know is teaching, somebody you may have played with as a child is proclaiming that He is the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. Jesus’ message wasn’t a long one. The text says that He was handed the scroll and asked to preach on it. He didn’t have to flip around for a while to find what He wanted. He went straight to Isaiah 61, a Messianic passage of great importance to the Hebrew people, and read these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” and then, when Jesus was sure He had everyone’s attention, He closed the scroll, sat down, and announced very simply and to the point: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
SURPRISE! You can say that again. The Prophet Isaiah had been inspired to write the words that Jesus used in the synagogue that morning more than 700 years earlier. For seven centuries, preachers and teachers of the Holy Word had preached about a soon-coming Messiah who would turn the world’s systems upside-down. He would lift up the hurting—the oppressed—the blind. The Hebrew people knew only too well what it was to suffer—to be held captive. They had waited hundreds of years for the fulfillment of this prophecy and were prepared to wait hundreds more if necessary. And this poor, no-name carpenter whom they all witnessed growing up claims to be that Messiah who would “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Imagine being in the crowd that day. How would you have reacted?
Jesus said He came to bring good news to the poor. Can’t we all use a little good news from time to time? When people think of Jesus something happens to their sadness. He came to release the captives. What is it that holds you captive? He can help you with it.
Jesus came to bring sight to the blind. Even though we see evidence in the scriptures of Him restoring sight, or of physical healing, I think He is referring here to spiritual blindness. When you see someone in need or know of something that needs to be done and you say, “Oh, someone else will take care of that.” Isn’t that a form of spiritual blindness?
He came to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This isn’t a calendar year but the period when salvation would be proclaimed—the Messianic age. This quote from Isaiah points to the Year of Jubilee from Leviticus 25 when once every 50 years slaves were freed, debts were canceled, and ancestral property was returned to the original family. Isaiah predicted the liberation of Israel from the future Babylonian captivity, but Jesus is proclaiming liberation from sin and all its consequences.
Luke writes, “The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him.” I’ve got a little secret for you this morning. One that you may already know and one I have shared with you before. There are some eyes fastened on you as well. Eyes that are watching because we claim to be Christians and the eyes that are fastened on us belong to those whose lives stink and they’re looking for something better. And they are looking at us. They are looking for good news for the poor—freedom to prisoners—recovery of sight for the blind—and release of the oppressed. They looked toward Jesus and now they’re looking toward us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.” The church is the lengthened shadow of Jesus Christ. My prayers almost every morning include asking for sanctification, that leads to transformation, that leads to being a demonstration. A demonstration, or an extension of Jesus. We owe it to ourselves and to the world to resurrect this message that Jesus proclaimed to His home folks!
Remember what I said last week about us carrying on the mission of Jesus: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12 NIV).
We came here to church today for several reasons. We came because it’s good to bring praise to God. Some came because we enjoy seeing old friends. Some came because we hope to hear a Word from the Lord for our lives. Some came because we believe the Bible is the living voice of God to us and we hope that we will hear a sermon that won’t bore us to death. Some of us came to church today because we want the Word of God to touch our hearts and lives.
Jesus went to the synagogue in His hometown that morning because it was His custom. When the book is closed on us what will others say was our custom when it concerned the church?
Eastman First Methodist Church 