Rust-proofing

Rust-proofing is a big thing up here.

Seriously.

I mean, it’s with good reason – Mississauga dumps a whole lotta salt on the road, even when there’s no snow or ice on the roads – they’ll do it anticipating a freeze, or something to that effect.

There are companies around – as there are in the States, I’m sure – who will sell you rust-proofing for your car.

I looked into it, being curious.

It costs somewhere around $120-150.  It might actually circumvent your vehicle’s manufactured rust-resistant system of weep holes.  And – the best part – it’s only guaranteed for a year!

For that price, I could just get my car washed once a week all winter.  How’s that sound?

Skating

Wanted to go ice skating yesterday during my day off – so I went on the Mississauga Rec website, did a search for arenas that had public skating open on Monday, and picked one arena.

My skates were in the car, so I just drove on over there…a good 10-15 minutes or so away.

Got to the place, walked in carrying my skates…hmm, hockey on that rink…hockey on that rink…and there are only two rinks here.

One of the older (well, 40’s/50’s) workers there walked up & asked, “Can I help you?”

“Yeah.  The Mississauga website said there was open skating today.”

“Oh, here?  That must be wrong.  We only have that on the wknds.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Sorry about that – hope your ride didn’t leave already!”

What, do I look 14?  Yes, my mom dropped me off.  I’m only 25.

Super Bowl

Saints won.  Way to go.  Everyone was cheering for you.

And – I got to see all the Super Bowl commercials online.  A definite bonus.  We got all Canadian commercials up here, with the exception of the Budweiser ads.

Sermon #9

Luke 5:1-11

Simon Peter: Fisherman turned fish

1. A sinking boat, a sinking feeling

2. Caught in the net of God’s grace

3. A fish forever changed

I’ve got something to admit to you today.  No, I wouldn’t say it’s something big – it’s probably pretty common.  I’d just like to admit my own ignorance.

I’m from the United States.  Being a typical American, I was somewhat ignorant of our neighbor to the north.  Before I came to Mississauga, I didn’t know much about Canada.

Oh, sure, I knew some things about Canada.  I heard about the RCMP – but half-expected to see them on horseback around here.  I heard about the incredible fishing opportunities in Canada; I thought I’d get to see a dogsled race; I thought Canadians put maple syrup on everything.

And one thing I knew about Canada was this: Polar bears live in Canada.  Now, I knew enough about polar bears to know that they don’t wander the streets of Mississauga.  But perhaps there’s something about polar bears you didn’t know.

The polar bear is one of the most dangerous animals on the face of the earth.  The polar bear is one of the few – or maybe, the only – animal that will stalk a human.  If you’re out in the far north, hunting a polar bear, you’d better watch out – that polar bear will hear you, smell you, and find a way to start hunting YOU.

If the hunter isn’t careful, he will quickly become the hunted.

Don’t worry.  There aren’t any polar bears in Mississauga, and there aren’t any polar bears in today’s Scripture lesson.  But the same sort of thing happens in today’s lesson; Simon Peter goes out fishing, but he becomes the one being fished for – a fisherman turned fish.

A sinking boat, a sinking feeling (vv. 1-10a)

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon…

Jesus has come to the Lake of Gennesaret – the same body of water that the other Gospel writers call the Sea of Galilee.

And here at this lake, Jesus preaches to the crowds – just as he had been doing for the past few days.  The crowd of people is so big that they’re almost standing on top of him – jostling one another to push closer, until Jesus is at the water’s edge.

The crowd plays right into Jesus’ plan.

Jesus sees these fishermen nearby, cleaning the weeds and small shellfish out of their nets after an exhausting and fruitless night of fishing.  The fishermen are putting their nets away for the day, and they don’t want any rodents to come and nibble at the pieces of plants caught up in their nets.

One of those fishermen was Simon Peter.  Simon is a seasoned fisherman who’s running a business at this lake.  Apparently Peter and his brother Andrew had teamed up with some other men – Zebedee, his two sons James and John, and some additional hired workers.  Seeing these fishermen and their two boats, Jesus mentally picked out Simon and stepped into his boat – Jesus was going to use it as his preaching platform.

Of course, preaching by the lake was an ideal situation.  The perfect acoustics of the lake behind him meant that Jesus’ voice would be clearly carried to each and every listener.

More importantly, Jesus has one particular listener right there in the boat with him – Simon Peter.  Simon had rowed out a little ways from shore, and he probably relaxed in the back of the boat after that fruitless night of casting their nets and catching nothing.  Perhaps Simon’s brother Andrew is also in the boat – we weren’t told that detail.

But soon enough, Jesus is done preaching – and Simon is probably starting to wonder if this young rabbi was going to reimburse him for any of the time spent in his boat.  Luke tells us, When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon Peter looks at the clear, calm water around them; maybe he looks up at the sun, squinting his eyes and shaking his head; there’s a brief moment of silence as the boat slowly rocks back & forth in the shallow water.  NOW?  Jesus wants me to go fishing NOW?

There’s one thing you’ve got to understand about this lake.  It’s an inland lake, with only the trickling Jordan River as its outlet.  There isn’t much water flowing into or out of the Sea of Galilee.  The moon doesn’t bring much, if any, movement of the tides.  The water of the Sea of Galilee would have very little silt and would be quite clear.  It would be impossible for a fisherman to sneak up on a school of fish right here in broad daylight!  The fish would see the shadow of the approaching boat, they’d see the shadow of the net as it’s let down and drawn around into a circle – Simon Peter knows that there’s NO WAY to catch fish in the broad daylight.  He says, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.  But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

This is probably a large net, with weights at the bottom and floats at the top.  Simon Peter drops the nets into the water with a splash, and starts rowing around in a circle to catch some fish.  After a full night of fishing, Peter probably doesn’t expect many fish – perhaps one or two, just enough to humor Jesus.

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Imagine the look on Peter’s face, as he closes up the circle of the net and sees nothing but a foaming, writhing mass of fish!  As the fish thrash about, the spray of water drenches his face – he’s getting sprayed with the cold water as he tries to grab the net, trying to close it around the largest catch of fish he’s ever seen.

Peter and Andrew start frantically waving their arms, overwhelmed at this huge number of fish!  Since the nets are breaking, Peter knows he’s got to start piling these fish into the boat – but his boat isn’t big enough.  As Luke says, …they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them; and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

There in the boat, with fish piled so high that the top edge of the boat is barely above the deep, clear water, Simon Peter and his companions look around in awe.  They’ve never caught this many fish before, even fishing at night – and now look at all these fish, caught in broad daylight!  Suddenly, Peter’s got a sinking feeling – and it’s not because his boat is almost under water.  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Caught in the net of grace (v. 10b)

Picture the scene.  Two boats, out in the middle of a large lake.  Both boats are filled with fish – filled to the very top, so that maybe a flopping fish or two falls back into the water.  In one boat, James and John stand there in total shock, total amazement – their eyes slowly glance back & forth between the fish in their boat, and Jesus in the other boat.

And in that other boat, Andrew might be sitting on a few fish, looking at the other boat and shaking his head.  Simon Peter is on his knees before Jesus, trembling in terror.  If there were ever a person that was sorry – sorry for what he had done, sorry for being in this situation, sorry for being out in a boat with God himself – Peter would be sorry.  “Sorry” is knowing that you die as soon as you step foot into the room where God is.  “Sorry” is terror – the terror that every sinful person feels in the presence of God.

Peter certainly felt this terror, as he kneels on a sinking boat full of fish before the person who brought all these fish together.  Simon Peter may have had the rough and calloused hands of a fisherman – but this miracle cut right to his soft heart.

Have you ever felt that sort of terror, that feeling of helplessness before our holy God?  Perhaps you can identify with Peter.  Have you ever had that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know that you’ve messed up – a feeling of guilt that told you, in no uncertain terms, that you made a big mistake?

If we understand this terror, we agree with Peter.  Your experience of those guilt feelings may not have been out on a boat – perhaps it was at work, or at school, or at home.  But seeing Peter here, trembling on his knees before Jesus Christ, we can’t help but agree: our lives are exposed before an Almighty God.  Our God can look right into our hearts and see all the sins we try to cover up: envy, jealousy, lust, coveting, anger, hatred – the list goes on.

Peter knew that same feeling of terror in his heart – the terror that God knows all he’s ever done or thought.  Simon Peter feels stranded, kneeling before God in sheer terror.

Thankfully, Jesus didn’t leave Simon Peter stranded – he didn’t leave Peter fearfully trembling on top of those fish.  Rather, Jesus does a bit of fishing himself – not for fish swimming in the lake, but for people.  Jesus doesn’t use a net made of rope, but the net of God’s grace.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

These words of Jesus are nothing to quickly pass by.  Jesus is saying far more than those three little words, “Don’t be afraid.”  Peter, trembling and fearful, kneeling before the Lord of all creation, expecting to be cast down to the very depths of hell, suddenly hears: “Never again.  Don’t be afraid of me, in any way, shape, or form.  I know your deeds – and I, God Almighty, tell you again: Don’t be afraid.  I will make you a fisher of men.”

WOW!  What mercy!  What love!  This man at the Sea of Galilee thought his life was over.  Not only has Peter been forgiven, but he now has a purpose for the rest of his life: to meet people like him, sinners, and tell them about forgiveness through Jesus.  Through this miracle, Jesus preached God’s Law to Peter – Peter knew that he deserved to die.  Now Jesus preaches the Gospel to Peter – and Jesus catches Peter in the net of God’s grace.

Where have you seen the net of God’s grace in your life?

If you’re struggling with guilt over something you’ve done – have you heard this reassurance?

Today, to each person plagued by guilt over what they’ve done, Jesus says: “Don’t be afraid – not now, not ever.  I have already paid the penalty for your sins, through my perfect life and innocent death.  Don’t be afraid any more.”

A fish forever changed (v.11)

You can probably picture the scene.  Peter slowly looks up, and rises to his feet.  His mind is spinning, as he contemplates what Jesus just said.  For his whole adult life, Peter has lived and worked near this lake.  He has caught large amounts of fish – and some nights, he barely caught anything.  But in all his years of fishing, Peter has only caught fish.  He has never caught a person.  He’s had difficulty sneaking up on those fish, even at night – what is Jesus talking about?

The word that Jesus used when he said “you will catch men” is a different word than “fisherman.”  The title of “fisherman” was very clear – you catch the fish, you drag the net up onto the shore, you sort the fish out and sell the good ones.  A fish that was caught by a fisherman was as good as dead.

Jesus isn’t talking about that sort of catching.  The term here is a term that means “to catch alive.”  Peter is going to use the net of God’s grace to catch people – people who had been caught in the devil’s trap.  By following Jesus, Peter is going to be a different sort of fisherman – not one who catches and kills fish, but one who preaches God’s Word to those trapped in sin.  Peter is to be a catcher of men, not of fish, and to catch them alive and for eternal life, not dead and for death.

That’s what Jesus was saying in verse 10: “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” After such a life-changing experience, there’s only one thing left to do: get back to shore!  Luke tells us: So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Even though Simon Peter had gone fishing that day; even though he and his co-workers had caught the most fish they’d ever seen; they weren’t the ones with the best catch.  That day, Jesus also went fishing.  By doing the miracle, Jesus showed that he was God – and that Peter was sinful.  In his words to Peter, Jesus showed God’s love and changed Peter’s life.

As a spiritual fish in God’s world, Peter was caught in the net of God’s grace, and his life was changed forever.  Peter and his co-workers left their business; they left the biggest payday they’ve ever gotten; and they walk away with Jesus.

In a different way, Jesus has called you.  By his Word, God created faith in your heart.  Here, in the Bible, you have been given the same net that Jesus used.  By telling others about Jesus, you can free people who have been caught in the devil’s traps; by telling others about Jesus, you can free people who struggle with the guilt of their sins.

Jesus doesn’t call you to leave your job or your co-workers.  Jesus isn’t asking you today to give up all that he’s blessed you with.  But today, Jesus has given you a net – and his words to Peter also apply to you: from now on, you will catch men.  You will catch women.  You will catch friends, and neighbors, and acquaintances.

And once these people have come in contact with Jesus, here in the pages of Scripture, their lives will be changed – just like yours was.

Simon Peter was a fisherman who became the fish.  After catching him, Jesus then made Peter a different kind of fisherman.  In the same way, each of you has been caught in the net of God’s grace – and Christ’s words to Peter also apply to each of us: Do not be afraid; from now on you will catch people.  That’s the opportunity and privilege you’ve got as a fish in God’s world – the opportunity to help other fish learn about and come to know our loving, gracious God.  Amen.

It’s been awhile

Things here are still busy.  We’re busy flyering neighborhoods for our March Break camp, hoping to fill at least one school bus (and preferably more!) with kids.  (Check out our website – we’ve now got registration online!  http://www.crossoflife.net/)  Our tech guy is very talented.

On top of that, there’s the usual assortment of BICs & Bible studies & catechism & meetings & sermonizing.

And – we’ll be confirming another member tomorrow!  This is a friend of one of the girls in our congregation, and I got to take her through BIC!  Awesome!

Annnnnnddd………time to finish memorizing.

Wow, cat

Hmm.  There’s a cat in a Rhode Island nursing home (that sounds a little odd) who can tell when someone is going to pass away.  Neat, a little weird, but kinda cool!

Cat story

Wisconsin day

Every now & then, you need a Wisconsin day.

So I grabbed some frozen brats outta the freezer, put them on the George Foreman; grabbed a High Life, had a piece of cheese, and sat down to lunch.

Does Wisconsin get any better, eh?  I think not.

Oh yeah – just squirt some American ketchup on the plate.  Perfecto!

Stuff

Life here is still great.  I’ve got a BIC today, a nursing home visit, a text study to finish, and our Junior High Friday Nights.  Hopefully this wknd go to Bodyworlds and finish the text study.

Yeha, life here is great.

State of the Union

Caught part of the State of the Union speech last night – yes, even here in Canada.  I had worked on my text study until 10, and then flipped on the TV – oh!  The President!

I missed most/all discussion on health care.  I heard Pres. Obama talk in a more centrist fashion, as though trying to give the impression of not being an extreme liberal…perhaps the Democrats are afraid of losing a ton of seats in November, given Sen. Brown being elected in Massachusetts.

One of my least favorite statements of his was that he wanted to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” and instead allow openly gay soldiers in our military.  I’m not one to comment on such an idea – I’ll comment on homosexuality as a sin that goes against God’s created order – but I don’t have the expertise to comment on homosexuals in the military.

However, our military leaders do have that expertise.  And when he said he’d repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” – the Fox News shot of the Joint Chiefs of Staff showed them sitting there like stones, not moving (and looking quite dour) while the left side of Congress erupted in applause.

It appears they don’t agree with our President’s idea.

As with all presidents, Mr. Obama also has some excellent speechwriters.  His delivery – eh, I could’ve done without the constant sound of him folding his hands on the lectern every time he got to the end of a sentence.  He still has that tendency to look down his nose at people, giving the impression of condescension or narcissism.  He certainly tried to re-cast himself as inspiring new hope and change, as well as giving the impression of moving toward the center a little bit.  He called out politics as normal (tearing down the other guy) and certainly won some points with the American people by criticizing both sides of the aisle…but I’m glad the Republicans are still working against that horrendous health care bill.

And those speechwriters?  You can see right through his closing paragraph, with its highfalutin language and broad literary strokes – but it still gave me chills.  That part kinda irritated me, because I knew it was just speechmaking and political games – a grand crescendo to the end of the speech.  I don’t like feeling manipulated, especially by someone whose agenda (I believe) is not in the best interest of the country.

Sermon #8

Epiphany 3

ILCW C – Luke 4.14-21: Jesus preaches at Nazareth

January 24, 2009

A first-century aha! moment

1. Expecting their remarkable rabbi

2. Amazed at their miraculous Messiah

Went pretty well.  Memorization of part 2 was kinda slow in coming.

When was the last time you had an aha! moment?  I know you’ve had at least one aha! moment – that moment when you finally understood something, when the light went on, or maybe when you slap your forehead when you finally realize how obvious the solution was.

I’ve got something to tell you this morning, and it’s one of those forehead-slapping aha! moments.  I haven’t even told my own mother yet, but it’s the sort of thing that kept me awake an extra minute or two the other night.  This event happened about ten ago – certainly when I was old enough to know better.

I was making an egg sandwich, so I beat up an egg in a small bowl and put the bowl in the microwave.  After that egg finished cooking, I looked at the fork in my hand – more precisely, I looked at the egg residue still on the fork.  Hmm…how neat would that be, to have scrambled egg already on your fork?  Good idea, right?  I just put that fork in the microwave, hit the button for thirty seconds, and waited.

I don’t know if you’ve ever put a fork in the microwave – but it’s pretty spectacular.  It’s kind of like a fireworks display inside an expensive appliance.  There was a huge spark, and the microwave turned off & on again.  I quickly stopped it, took the fork out – and then I remembered what I had been told: don’t put anything metal into the microwave.

I guess you could say this was an aha! moment.

In our lesson today, Jesus goes back to his hometown and preaches in their synagogue.  While he’s preaching, everyone in the synagogue has an aha! moment – it’s a group aha! moment, as everyone realizes what Jesus is saying.  Not exactly a fork in the microwave, but something better – a first-century aha! moment!

Expecting their remarkable Rabbi

About two months before today’s lesson, John the Baptist had baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.  The baptism of Jesus was a momentous event, a unique event – after he was baptized, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove.  God the Father spoke from heaven, saying: You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

After his baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where he fasted forty days and faced the temptations of Satan.  And now, after facing these temptations of the devil, Jesus goes back up to his home region of Galilee – Jesus starts his ministry of preaching and teaching.  In Luke’s words, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

It makes sense that Jesus would start preaching in Galilee.  Jesus had been brought up in Galilee.  But Galilee wasn’t the place where the Messiah was supposed to come from – Galilee was thought of as backwards, and Galileans were considered bumpkins.  If you made a joke about life in Palestine, Galilee would be the punchline.[1]

The people of Galilee had a distinctive accent, pronouncing the common language of Aramaic in a rather slipshod or sloppy way.  And any Galilean who learned Hebrew pronounced it so crudely that they were not called on to read the Bible in other synagogues.[2]

It appears that Jesus spoke like a Galilean.  He starts his ministry in Galilee, reading and preaching in their synagogues during their Sabbath day services.  Everyone in the region has heard of this Jesus.  Everyone thinks Jesus is some great man of God, a rabbi blessed with particular insight – and finally, Jesus comes to his hometown of Nazareth.

The people of Nazareth had probably heard that heaven opened when Jesus was baptized.  They had probably heard how John the Baptist had called Jesus the “Lamb of God.”  They had heard the reports from neighboring towns and villages about this great man of God, this great rabbi Jesus – He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

And now, after weeks of waiting, Jesus has come to his hometown of Nazareth.  Perhaps some of the people that day look wistfully at Jesus, remembering back when he was just a little boy playing in the streets.  Perhaps his mother Mary is there, thinking back to the time when they had lost Jesus for three days in Jerusalem – and that Jesus had just been at the temple, asking questions of the religious leaders.

Perhaps the people are expecting a great sermon, or maybe just a few shaky words from this young preacher.  Maybe the people wonder if Jesus is a bit nervous, reading and preaching in his home synagogue.

Luke doesn’t tell us those details – but perhaps you can picture the scene.  Luke does tell us: [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.  And he stood up to read.

It was common practice for the synagogue leader to ask any visiting teacher if they’ve got something to say about the Bible reading that day.  Jesus stands up to read.  The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Jesus knows what’s coming next – and he knows the exact verse on that scroll that he’s looking for.  Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.  Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

After reading the section of Isaiah he wanted to preach on that day, Jesus sits down to preach.  He’s not sitting down because he’s done preaching – he’s sitting down because he’s starting to preach.  Our custom is normally to stand and preach; their custom was to sit and preach.

Perhaps the older people in the congregation sit back, fold their arms, and smile – waiting for Jesus to begin preaching, and remembering when Jesus first learned how to crawl.  Maybe the younger people in the congregation remember playing games with him as a child.  The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him…

And then Jesus began to preach.  We’ve only got one sentence of the sermon Jesus preached – that may have been the whole sermon, or he may have preached quite a bit longer.  But this one sentence was all that he needed to get his point across: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Perhaps their minds start racing over all they’ve heard about this Jesus, who’s sitting in front of them.  As Jesus lets that one sentence sink in, one by one the people start to experience an aha! moment.  Aha!  Jesus is talking about himself!

Amazed at their Miraculous Messiah

There may have been some forehead slapping.  Perhaps the shock of realization slowly creeps across one face, then another, until the whole congregation sits there aghast.  But what exactly had Jesus said?

Our Old Testament lesson today was a longer reading from the same section of Scripture that Jesus preached on – Isaiah chapter 61.  Any first-century Israelite reading this section of Scripture had a definite idea of what to expect from their Messiah, once this Messiah eventually came.  This Messiah would come and rebuild the ancient ruins, restore the devastated places, and renew the ruined cities.  This Messiah would come to free the captives and release the prisoners.

In short, many of the first-century Jews were expecting a Messiah who would be a powerful king, like King David.  When the people at Nazareth heard Jesus read these verses from Isaiah, they may have been expecting that sort of message about their coming Messiah.  They may have been expecting a powerful king – not this young man whom they had seen grow up or playing in their streets.  In that one sentence, Jesus says he is the fulfillment of all the years of waiting and wishing and praying for their conquering Messiah.

No doubt, part of the confusion in that synagogue at Nazareth was what sort of freedom Jesus was talking about.  Jesus wasn’t talking about freedom from other kings or emperors – Jesus was talking about freedom from sin.  Jesus wasn’t talking about release from the oppression of the Romans – Jesus was talking about release from the oppression of the devil.

The section of Scripture that Jesus preaches on describes the Messiah’s work in people’s hearts.  Jesus preaches the good news of God’s love – the good news we know as the gospel.  Through this gospel, Jesus brings people into His kingdom of grace and blesses them with his gift of everlasting life.  Jesus wasn’t talking about a new Israelite kingdom – Jesus was talking about the growth of God’s church.

Before Jesus came into this world, all people and all things were imprisoned under sin.  The message Jesus came to preach – the declaration that every soul of all time has been declared innocent through the blood of Christ – can easily be seen as liberation.  Jesus told those people of Nazareth that he came to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, and to release the oppressed.  Through his death and resurrection, Jesus did just that!

God saw us, imprisoned in sin and oppressed by the guilt of sin.  He sent for us the exact Messiah we needed – a Saviour who would live a perfect life in our place; a Saviour who would suffer and die to pay for all of our sins; a Saviour who would rise from the dead, thereby promising us that we are free from any fear of death or the devil.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, you and I have all been declared innocent from every sin.  And sin no longer imprisons the soul that has been declared innocent – sin no longer imprisons your soul, or my soul. Thus, in naming himself the fulfillment of Isaiah 61, Jesus told his fellow Nazarenes that he had been sent by the Father “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Jesus also performed miracles while he walked on earth.  Many times in the Gospels we hear of Jesus healing someone who was blind, or someone who was lame, or curing someone’s leprosy.  Why didn’t Jesus just do a miracle that day in the synagogue, to prove he was this Messiah?  He could have done a miracle that day in the synagogue – but instead, Jesus chose simply to preach.  Jesus could have called down legions of angels – but instead, Jesus just used God’s word.  In doing so, Jesus teaches us that his words have power!

It’s through the proclamation of these words that the poor hear good news.  Here, through the pages of Scripture, prisoners are given freedom from the devil’s kingdom.  Through the hearing of these words, the spiritually blind are given sight, the oppressed are released, and we celebrate the year of the Lord’s favour!

Through the declaration Jesus made that day – Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing – Jesus said he was the person the Israelites had been waiting for.  In that one-sentence sermon, Jesus pointed to himself as the one who would proclaim freedom from sin and release from oppression.

The Spirit of the Lord rested on Jesus in a special way, through the mystery of the Trinity.  Yet the Spirit of the Lord also rests upon you and upon me – through your baptism, God created faith in your heart and anointed you with the Holy Spirit.  In a different way, the Lord has anointed you to “preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and to comfort all who mourn.”

That’s God’s purpose for your life.  You’ve been freed from the devil’s kingdom; you’ve been released from the oppressive guilt of sin and the oppressive fear of the future.  In Jesus, you and I can both rejoice that our God loves us very much, and that our God holds the entire future in his loving hands.

Part of the future – whether it’s this week or next year – will be the opportunity to share this good news.  That opportunity may be to a family member in distress or to a friend mourning the loss of a loved one.  The good news may start as simply as a shoulder for a friend to cry on, and lead to a discussion of eternal life through Jesus Christ.  The good news may start as a simple offer to help shovel snow – and lead to a discussion of how God’s love for you leads you to reflect that love to others.

And, God-willing, you might get to see another aha! moment – you might get to see that look in a person’s eye when they begin to comprehend what you’re saying to them, when they begin to understand the depth of God’s love for them.

Just as God blessed the preaching of Jesus in Nazareth that day – so also God will bless the sharing of God’s message today.  And just as those first-century Jews experienced an aha! moment, so also God’s word will create a change in the hearts of people today.

There was one other detail about the microwave story that I had left out.  I put the fork in the microwave, turned the microwave on…and there were all sorts of sparks inside.  A week or so later, Dad had to take the microwave in for service – for some unknown reason, the control panel had stopped working.  Needless to say, for the last ten years I’ve kept any sort of metal object far away from the microwave.  That’s the thing about these aha! moments – when that aha! moment hits you, it’s a lesson that lasts.

The Jews in the synagogue at Nazareth had been expecting their famous hometown hero to come and preach – but through Christ’s words that day, the people met their miraculous Messiah.  That day, Jesus said he came to bring good news and freedom and the favour of the Lord.  Their aha! moment was a bit different than a fork in the microwave – but they certainly got the point: Jesus is God’s promised Saviour.  Today, that is an aha! moment we can all share.  Amen.

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[1] Paraphrased from Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 60

[2] Ibid.