1 FGBC: Hospitality & Justice: Manifesto Luke 4:14-30 February 17, 2019 Dan Hoffman I want to start with a statement today. Here it is: People inside and outside the church think Christianity is about being nice, but it’s actually about disruptively flipping the world on its head and challenging the status quo. … We are starting a new series today called Hospitality & Justice. We are going to look at one of the central themes in Scripture which involves the call for Jesus followers to make the world we live in a better place. I’ve said it before, but the fact is Palestine 2000 years ago was a better place because Jesus showed up. People were having their physical bodies healed, their financial situations healed, their emotional problems healed, and their relational difficulties healed. And on top of all of this people were getting right with their Creator and as a result found themselves living the abundant life God designed us to enjoy – All this happened because Jesus was walking around. And then Jesus told us to “Go out and do likewise.” Jesus was the Saviour and yet He tells us “You guys are the light of the world.” So Jesus followers, Christians, are people who give themselves to using the abilities we’ve been given to point humanity towards God’s gift of abundant life. And one of the main ways we do this is by bringing all the abundant life we can into the situation we find ourselves in. Tim Hortons should be a better place because you work there or drink coffee there.. UNBC should be a better place because you attend there or teach there. Prince George should be a better place because we live here. … Now I’m excited about this series, but I’m also a bit nervous. And that’s because while everyone wants to make the world a better place, not all humanity agrees on what this means. And one of the biggest ways injustice breaks into a society is through blindness. All humanity from all time has been culturally indoctrinated to be blind to our own injustice. So I just finished reading a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was a passionate Jesus follower that lived during World War 2. And most of the book is about the difficult struggle to convince genuine Christians that racism against Jews doesn’t line up with what Jesus taught. Most people in the church thought this was totally fine. Or if you look at the life of William Wilberforce who opposed the slave trade in England in the 19th century and was a passionate Jesus lover. His main fight was against other Christians who couldn’t see the problem with owning slaves. 2 Now both these issues are blatantly wrong to us, but only an ignorant person would say they were bad people and we’re better. The fact is everyone is blind to their own brokenness. And so throughout this series we are going to work to bring out topics that are going to make us uncomfortable – I anticipate being uncomfortable, and I suspect you will be as well. But if we are going to not just listen to the words of Jesus, but actually do them, we have to allow His hard words to pierce our hearts and change our behaviour. … So if you’ve got a Bible on your phone or see one in the pew in front of you grab it and open it up to Luke chapter 4. We are going to start this series were Jesus started His ministry. Luke chapter 4, starting in verse 14. [Read Luke 4:14-15] So at this point in the story Jesus is about 30 years old. Up until now He has been working as a carpenter, first under His assumed dad Joseph. But then after Joseph’s death He would have been using this trade to take care of His mom and siblings. And then all of a sudden something changes. John the Baptist shows up and starts calling Israel to repent. And this is Jesus’ cue, it’s the fulfillment of prophecy He was waiting for, to switch from “carpenter Jesus” to “Savior Jesus.” And so Jesus goes out to John and gets baptized. And while He is in the water a dove descends from Heaven and a voice speaks “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased.” Let me tell you that has never happened to any baptism I’ve been part of so that’s a big deal. And then the Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the desert where He spends 40 days fasting, being tempted, and overcoming Satan. And then we get our text today. So this is the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus comes out of the desert and heads back to Nazareth which was His home town, not as a carpenter, but as a rabbi, a guru. And everyone praised Him. Look at verse 16: [Read Luke 4:16-22] Now if you are a 21st century Canadian then everything Jesus says here sounds nice. And at first everyone in the synagogue that day assumed Jesus was speaking nice too. That’s what we get in verse 22 – “everyone spoke well of Him.” But Jesus isn’t working to expand His fan base here. He is defining everything His ministry is going to be about, and it’s nothing like anyone expected. What He gives here is an offensive truth claim and radical battle cry against injustice. So let’s unpack this a little. In verses 18 and 19 Jesus is quoting the Old Testament book of Isaiah – chapter 61. And this is one of the big Messianic prophecies. God is going to send someone to save His people. 3 And so when Jesus puts the scroll down and says, verse 21, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” What He is saying is “The Messiah is here and I’m Him.” … Now this is big, but it wouldn’t have hit His first listeners as big as it hits us. Interestingly there were several people running around in Jesus’ day claiming to be the Messiah, or at least one of God’s messiahs. And the Jews loved these guys. And that’s because Israel was under the control of Rome and so all sorts of terrible things were going on in society. So Rome was employing Jewish tax collectors to get money out of the Jews. And they were being encouraged to gouge their brothers to get rich – this was injustice. And Rome set up kings like Herod who were essentially Jewish, but were used by Rome to keep Israel in line. And so they ruled for their own benefit instead of the people’s – this was injustice. And when people pushed back against this kind of rule Rome would come in and shut them down. Whole cities of men, women and children would get crucified because of a little uprising – this was injustice. And so under this kind of oppression the people were longing for someone to organize them and fight back. So about 160 years before Jesus a guy named Mattathias Maccabees and his son Judah temporarily fought off the Seleucids who were forcing the Jews worship other gods. These guys were heroes. And there was a guy named Judas of Galilee, who right around the time Jesus was born, incited the Jews not to register with the Romans and pay tax – he was pretty popular too. A little later another guy named Theudas led a similar revolt. And the Jews loved these guys because they were fighting injustice. And now all of a sudden Jesus comes on the scene. And He’s brilliant and godly, everyone can tell that. And He starts speaking about justice and so the people are excited. But they are a little nervous too because when these revolts go bad people pay. And so, verse 22, they all spoke well of Him, but at the same time they were wondering – isn’t this Joseph’s boy the carpenter? It’s like the Canadian Tire employee turned Messiah. “Hey Fred, didn’t Jesus make that dining room set you bought a couple years ago? And now He’s going to fight off the Romans… with His hammer?” But they listen because Jesus starts out saying all the things they think they want to hear. So in verse 18 Jesus comes out of the gate proclaiming good news for the poor. And everyone likes someone to take care of the poor especially if you consider yourself to be close to this side of the spectrum. 4 So if I asked for a show of hands of everyone who feels the financial crunch and wishes they had a bit more money I’d probably get some hands. Right? But this was even more the case in 1st century Rome because there was no middle class. So about 5% of the population was incredibly wealthy, and everyone else was dirt poor. So proclaiming good news to the poor is like walking into CNC and offering free food for students. Everyone’s interested! And then Jesus says He’s come to proclaim freedom for prisoners. Now Jesus isn’t talking about jail break here. That might be good news for some people, but most of us would not be happy about that. What Jesus promises here is freedom for captives or slaves. And again in Jesus’ day this was huge. If you weren’t part of the Roman elite you were a part of the working peasant class which lived essentially as indentured servants.