The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me

January 26, 2019 Luke 4:1-21 The Spirit of the Lord Upon Me Year C Third Sunday of Epiphany Children’s time…… Luke 4:21-30, v. 23 And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country.' " Object: A newspaper. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have read the newspaper that was delivered to your house yesterday? (Let them answer.) Tell me what you have read. (Let them answer.) You read the funnies and what else? (Let them answer.) Most of you do not read the rest of the paper yet, but before long you will. When you do you will read about some very interesting people and the things that they have done. You also will read some interesting things about people who live in other towns and cities. When someone does something that is very interesting in another city, the newspaper prints it in our town and we read about the things that person has done. (Read such an article in the newspaper that you brought with you.) This is the way that it was with Jesus. When Jesus came into a town, the people had already heard about the things that he had done in other places. They wanted him to do the same things for them. The news traveled fast. But Jesus was not just doing things so that people could write about him in the newspaper, or talk about him to friends and neighbors. That was not the reason. Jesus did what he wanted to do for people who were ill because they were ill, and because they believed in the power of God to make them well. Jesus called that kind of belief "faith." When Jesus came to his home town, the people did not believe that he was the Son of God. Instead, they thought that he was just like all of the other boys who had grown up there, but with some special magic. They knew him as the son of Mary and Joseph, and not as the Son of God. They did not have faith or believe that God wanted to make them well. Because the people did not believe Jesus, he could not cure them. He could not cure someone who did not believe that it was God who was doing the healing. We have read a lot about Jesus and talked a lot about Jesus. You can find something in your newspaper almost every day about him. If you do not believe that his power comes from God, then Jesus is not something special to you. Reading about him, or talking about him, doesn't make him the Savior. Believing in him does, and that is what the people of Nazareth did not do. We want to believe in Jesus and believe that he can do what he says, so we must have faith that Jesus is the Son of God with great power. When you read about him in your newspaper, then you can say that you also know him in your heart. God bless You. C.S.S. Publishing Company, CALL in the CLOWNS, by Wesley T. Runk Luke 4:14-21 Common English Bible (CEB) Jesus announces good news to the poor 14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. 17 The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, 19 and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[a] 20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. 21 He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” Footnotes: a. Luke 4:19 Isa 61:1-2; 58:6 Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible This is one of my favorite stories about Jesus. If you look at the picture on the bulletin, it is Jesus’ turn to be the liturgist at the temple. Jesus is reading the scripture for the day. This story is told in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Matthew and Mark put it a little later in his ministry. But for Luke, this is an important part of Jesus call to be the messiah. After Jesus is baptized by John, he goes in the wilderness for a few weeks and comes to understand God’s call on his life. when he returns home, the first thing he does is go to worship with his family and friends. He wants to tell everyone about his call. SO he is excited when he is not only asked to read the scripture, but he is the preacher for the day as well. His text, Isaiah 58 and 61 – where the prophet tells what God has called him to do. Free the captives, let the blind see and to proclaim the Day of the Lord! Give the good news to all of those who are struggling. All would agree, it was a wonderful message. There is only one problem – Jesus is not the messiah. He has not been anointed. Jesus the anointed one The messiah was definitely not Jesus. Jesus was a layperson, not a priest, not a prophet, and he was a carpenter,not a king. Jesus was never anointed with God’s special oil. As a matter of fact, when Jesus begins his ministry, he does not use oil – he says that it is the spirit that anoints him to heal the sick, feed the hungry, free the captives, and to preach the good news of salvation. We call our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus is his name, Christ is his title. Now we have always been told that the Jewish word messiah and the greek word Christ mean the same thing – the anointed one. Well I did a little research and discovered that is not true. Messiah is a special person, give a special task anointed with a special oil. Oil that was literally poured over the persons head. Christos does not mean anointed one- it means smeared with ointment. Jesus the common messiah Last week when we went to the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas – Leonard Sweet was the keynote speaker. And he gave an inspiring sermon on the anointing of Jesus. Now according to him – I couldn’t find this anywhere else – but he says that Christos was the name of a common grease that you would keep around the house. It was cheap and easy to come by. In modern times we have become afraid of any type of grease or oil. Never mind the fact that our bodies need to have oil in order to function. Our brain needs it, our hearts need it, our joints need it – but health experts are constantly telling us that greasy stuff is bad for you. It all depends on what kind of grease you use. Christ who can take the heat About 14 years about – I went on this health kick and decided that I would only use healthy ingrediants in my kitchen. I got rid of all of my butter, Crisco, corn oil. I decided that I would only use olive oil in the kitchen. A few years ago I decided being healthy was nice, but being practical made more sense. You see, you cant heat olive oil. Heat makes olive oil break down and disintegrate. So recently I had to make the decision that if I couldn’t use olive oil to fry chicken, then there was really no need to have it in my kitchen. I don’t saute a lot of vegetables. Now mind you, I only fry a about two or three times a year, but my point is that when I do fry, I need something that can take the heat. So common everyday cooking oil came back into my kitchen, along with my butter and other greasy things. Now if olive oil is the high grade oil of today – what is the common everyday oil that used to be in every household kitchen in America – Crisco. They took transfat out of Crisco in 2004 – but I still don’t use it, so if someone wants it they can have it after service, if not I will put it in the food pantry. But I wanted us to think about Crisco – because there is a lesson in this can for us today. Jesus is the Christ of the common person. He is the practical messiah that can be used by the common person. He intentionally didnt want to be anointed with the good stuff – olive oil – he wanted to be anointed with every day Crisco. Paul was the first to call Jesus Christo. Christo was a joke at the time. The jews would have been scratching their head when they heard Jesus Christ. They would be thinking –if he is not a priest, a prophet or a king. Of he has not been ordained – then how is he the anointed one – themessiah. The greeks would have been scratching their heads - Christos means the smeared one. They would be wondering why would you smear a man with Crisco? Why would you smear a man with Crisco? Because we the common people live in a world full of troubles and concerns. I need a Lord and Savior who can take the heat. An olive oil messiah wont do me no good. A messiah smeared in Crisco, prepared to deal with the realities of life is what we need. Christos. Jesus Christ. Who is it that needs to hear the good news today? Who is it most likely to be prisoner of their circumstances, thinking that sin is the only way that they can survive? Who is it that is most likely so caught up in their everyday routine, that they cant see there is a better way to live. Our neighbors, and friends, and the common people of the world. What do we do about it? Why we are Christians We are to follow Christ into his anointing. That is why they started calling his followers Christians. We are Christians, not resurectionists, or Easter people, or Jesusonians. Christ means the anointed one – Christians are those who take on his anointing in their own life. 1 Peter says that we are the priesthood of all believers. 1 John 27 says that the anointing that you have received of him lives in you. Christ intentionally chose to be the messiah of the common person. He choose to remain a layperson. And he chose to give us his power, his anointing so we can continue his work in our everyday lives. There was a certain old recluse who lived deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, distant relatives came from the city to collect his valuables. Upon arriving, all they saw was an old shack with an outhouse beside it. Inside the shack, next to the rock fireplace, was an old cooking pot and his mining equipment. A cracked table with a three-legged chair stood guard by a tiny window, and a kerosene lamp served as the centerpiece for the table. In a dark corner of the little room was a dilapidated cot with a threadbare bedroll on it. They picked up some of the old relics and started to leave. As they were driving away, an old friend of the recluse, on his mule, flagged them down. “Do you mind if I help myself to what’s left in my friend’s cabin?” he asked. “Go right ahead,” they replied. After all, they thought, what inside that shack could be worth anything? The old friend entered the shack and walked directly over the table. He reached under it and lifted one of the floor boards. He then proceeded to take out all the gold his friend had discovered over the past 53 years – enough to have built a palace. The recluse died with only his friend knowing his true worth. As the friend looked out of the little window and watched the cloud of dust behind the relative’s car disappear, he said, “They should have got to know him better. Jesus words are gold for us – if we understand that they are more than just words. They are the gift of life for us. Next week, I wont preach on part 2 of this story – but it is just as interesting. After Jesus preaches his test sermon, not only do they kick him out of the temple, they kick him out of town. He is not the messiah – he has not been anointed with olive oil. But that is good news, because Jesus never goes to worship again, he goes out in the streets, healing and teaching the people. Being Christ – the people’s messiah. And those of us who know his story are called to do the same. Let us pray…. Additional illustrations…… Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free quickly and easily. Always he kep his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him. He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible. He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For 30 minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for 2 hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all! But in his mind it was locked and that was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking out of the jail cell. Sometimes, our thoughts and understandings of life can be like a prison. They keep us stuck where we are. The chains that we imagine to be on our lives, is all in our head and out thinking. We don’t know that we are free. Sometimes the past can be like a prison, and the freedom of Christ is at our doorstep. In the story of Jesus ministry – he does everything that he says – he heals those who are blind, he heals those who have illnesses that have held them back, he preaches the good news, and he encourages us to give to the poor. But his most important healing still comes in our lives. As he frees us, heals us, and helps us to understand the gift of life as we listen to his word.