Jesus Fulfills His Mission

Luke 4:14-21

Has this ever happened to you?  You know that you have a specific job or task to accomplish on a certain day or over a specified period of time, but you get distracted and sidetracked by other things.  The time passes, and the mission you wanted or needed to fulfill only gets partially accomplished, or perhaps not even at all.  Or perhaps you are not really clear in understanding exactly what your mission is, or should be, you’re confused about where to start and what to do, so little gets done.  This was not the problem with the Lord Jesus, as we see in our Scripture today.  As we read in St. Luke’s Gospel, we see that the Lord Jesus had a clear understanding of His mission, and did not waste time in achieving His goal.

As our Scripture opens, Jesus has returned to Galilee following His baptism in the Jordan River in the territory of Judea (vs. 14).  Galilee is where He had grown up and had spent the early years of His adulthood.  Now Jesus returns here, being guided and led by the Holy Spirit, to begin His ministry.  As He traveled around the territory of Galilee He followed the practice that had developed over many years since the return from the Exile, where the men who attended the Sabbath services in the local synagogues were invited to speak and comment on the Scripture readings (vs. 15).

Making His way through Galilee, Jesus made a visit to His own hometown, Nazareth.  Jesus had lived in Nazareth from the age of a young toddler till around the age of 30 when left to be baptized by John the Baptist and commence His ministry.  He did not change His usual custom of attending worship services each week.  As we read, when the Sabbath day came, He went to the synagogue as was His custom (vs. 16).  Regular attendance in worship service was important to the Lord Jesus, and should be for us, as well.  Not only did Jesus attend, but He participated, and took an active part, being engaged with the Scripture.  He studied and knew His Bible, an example we should follow.

At the synagogue service the Lord Jesus was given the Scripture scroll that contained the Book of Isaiah, and He promptly found the passage of Isaiah 61:1-2, which He read to those assembled in attendance (vs. 17-19).  After reading the Scripture, Jesus handed the scroll back to the attendant.  Everyone was paying attention.  Many there had heard that Jesus was beginning to get a reputation as a good speaker.  Many also knew Jesus from His days of working in the family carpentry shop.  He had not been gone too long, perhaps several months.  The congregation knew Him, His mother, and family.  They wanted to hear what the local young man had to say.  Was the early reputation He was getting true?

As Jesus sat down, He proceeded to make some comments about the passage from Isaiah that He had just read aloud to the congregation.  The first thing that He told them was that this Scripture was now fulfilled, and not just fulfilled in general, but fulfilled in their hearing, in their presence (vs. 20-21).

Jesus knew His mission, the task, the job that He had to do in the next 3 ½ years.  From the passage of Scripture that He read in the synagogue of Nazareth, which He proclaimed to fulfill, His mission was to bring salvation and healing to the people.  He wasn’t confused or in doubt about what He was to be doing, nor did He get sidetracked with other issues, such as local or international politics at the time, or setting about starting a revolution.  Jesus knew His ministry was to proclaim the Gospel of salvation, heal the sick, and bring deliverance to those oppressed by Satan.

As questioned at the start, is there a job, a task, a mission that the Lord has given you to do for Him, to help spread the message of Jesus, but which you have either been sidetracked from doing, or having a difficult time in getting started?  Perhaps you are afraid to get going.  Jesus knew that He would be under attack from the devil, yet He continued.  He knew the Father had called Him, as He heard His commission at His baptism.  Jesus did not get sidetracked when many wanted to make His ministry political and Him a king.  Like Jesus, we need to know our Bibles, and find our inspiration and encouragement from its Words.  Then we can fulfill what the Lord would have us do for Him in our life.

Who's More Important?

I Corinthians 12:12-27

If you were to take a general anatomy quiz where you were to list different parts of the body, most of us could come up with at least a dozen or more.  Heart, lungs, stomach, brain, arms, legs, etc.  These are all very important parts of the body.  If someone were to make a play or movie where different body parts become animated, people might clamor for the role of the brain, the eyes, the heart.  How about the otoconia, the pineal gland, or the sphincter of Oddi?  Are these body parts you would know to put on the quiz, or body parts you would consider playing for the anatomy movie?  We might not consider them too important, but if they are not acting right, we will certainly know!  The same is true with the Body of Christ, as we shall see in our Scripture for today.

In his first letter to the early Christian Church in Corinth, Paul addressed certain problems they were having.  One issue that he dealt with was how some members were thinking that their spiritual gifts, and thus themselves, were more important than other spiritual gifts.  They were thinking that they were more important within the Body of Christ, and more important in their church.  Paul needed to speak on this issue, and to set the Corinthian believers straight.  So he used the analogy of the human body with that of the Body of Christ.

Every part of the human body serves a purpose and is important.  In that imaginary play where the body parts become “alive”, one role that might be greatly sought after might be the eyes.  They are an important body part.  Women use eye makeup to highlight and draw attention to their eyes.  We use special safety goggles at times to keep the eyes especially safe from injury.  Naturally we consider the heart important.  We have many medical tests for the heart, and we consider it the picture of love.

In a similar way, believers in Corinth were considering some spiritual gifts as more important, and thus better, than other ones.  Even though spiritual gifts are distributed by the Holy Spirit, and He decides who receives what, these believers were seeking the gifts they felt more important, more honored.  They felt the other gifts could be gotten rid of, and those who had those gifts as less important in the church.  Paul compared the spiritual gifts with that of human body parts.  The Apostle said that the hands are not more important than the feet, nor are eyes more important than ears.  Each has a specific job to do, and are equally important.  Without them the body would not function as well.

What about those body parts mentioned earlier, the otoconia, the pineal gland, and the sphincter of Oddi?  If we are thinking like some in the Corinthian Church, we might say that since we have never heard of them, and don’t ever see them, then they are not as important as the heart, the eyes, or the lungs.  Believe me, if we didn’t have these, or they weren’t acting properly, we would notice!  Otoconia are tiny rock-like crystals within our inner ear, and when they are not positioned properly we have severe vertigo.  The pineal gland is about the size of a grain of rice, and is deep within our brain.  It helps to regulate our sleep cycle.  The sphincter of Oddi is a small muscle that controls the flow of digestive juices from the liver and pancreas into the small intestine.  Each of these plays a vital role in our body.  Without them we would have trouble.

It is true that the pastor and Sunday School teachers are important, along with the musicians.  They are noticeable, like the heart or the brain.  They are needed to keep the church functioning.  However, the janitor, those who work in the church kitchen, and those who keep the church vehicles running are just as important, just like the pineal gland.  We all know how out of sorts we get if we can’t sleep properly for several days!

Every Christian plays an important role in the Body of Christ.  We may have different cultural backgrounds, different gifts, and different personalities, but we are filled with the same Spirit, and belong to the same Body of Christ.  He decides which spiritual gifts each one has, and they are all equally important for His Body, the Church, to function properly.

We should be more like the Amish in this regard.  Every so often the Amish will have a barn-raising day.  We might think that a building as big as a barn would take weeks to build.  Not with the Amish.  They get together and put one up in one day because each man, woman, and child has a specific job or task to do, and they do it, cooperating with each other.  They are able to build that barn within one, maybe two days at the most.  Each one is doing their job, and no one is thinking they are more or less important!  That is how the Body of Christ should function.

Seated With Princes

Psalm 113

Have you ever been invited to a dinner where there were many important people attending, important politicians, scientists, or entertainers?  Or perhaps you were in attendance at a very important business meeting, where influential businessmen, educators, or politicians were in attendance.  This is an honor to you.  Still, you might wonder why you were invited to attend, as perhaps you are not anyone of any seeming significance.  Someone thought enough of you to let you be seated with these important and notable dignitaries!  In our psalm for this week we read of a similar situation, where the Lord works such honors for His beloved children.  Let’s take a quick look.

Our psalm, written by an unknown author, encourages us to praise the Lord, which is something that believers should always be doing.  He says that this is something we should do from morning till night, from sun-up to sun down (vs 3).   We don’t need to always have a specific reason to praise God, but our psalm today gives us a few reasons, reasons that we might not always think of.

Our psalmist then describes how Yahweh is high above all nations and the whole universe, which He is the Creator of.  He is exalted above all, and rightly so!   So often in our world, both today and back in Biblical times, when someone holds an exalted position, they do not bother themselves with people in lowly positions.  How often does the CEO of a Fortune 500 company bother himself with the maid who cleans out the office after business hours, or with the maintenance man who keeps the building running?  How often does the King bother with the person who picks up the trash at the palace?  Not too often, if ever!   Yet our Lord is willing to humble Himself to desire to have a relationship with each of us (vs. 4-6).  Not too many people in high positions, with a lot of money and fame, would ever willingly want a relationship with lowly, poor folks.  However, not only does the Lord Jesus want a relationship with everyone, both high and low, He willingly sacrificed His life to save all who accept Him.

Not only does Yahweh want a personal relationship with everyone, including the humble and poor, but He raises us up out of our lowly position, out of both the literal and spiritual dust and ash heap we are in (vs. 7).  And what does the Lord do?  He sits us with princes!   When we have accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we are then adopted by the Father, and become part of His family.  The Lord Jesus is then our brother.  He is King of all Creation, and what are brothers of a king called?  They are princes, and as part of Jesus’ family, so are we (vs. 8).  Princes are admitted where other common folk are kept at a distance, thus we have access in prayer to God (Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 4:16).   Princes are generally wealthy, certainly more so than the general population.  As brothers to the Lord Jesus, we share His inheritance and wealth (Romans 8:32).  Princes also often have power and influence.  Believers will also one day reign with Him (Revelation 5:10).

As the psalmist closes out his psalm he brings up a group that was greatly scorned in Biblical times, scorned for no good reason, and that was women who were barren.  In olden times having children was very important, and if a woman was barren that was a terrible thing.  A husband could even easily divorce his wife if she wasn’t bearing him any children.  Today we certainly don’t scorn someone if they cannot have children, but they did back then.  Our psalmist, though, says that the Lord welcomes them (vs. 9).  People who the world looks down upon are welcomed into His family.

As we close, let us praise the Lord for not being a distant, unreachable, or uncaring God, but instead one who is willing to humble Himself and reach out to us.  Not only does He reach out to us, but we can praise Him for taking all those who accept His Son Jesus into His family, seating them among princes!  For that we can join the psalmist in saying Praise the Lord!

Filled With Joy

Nehemiah 8:1-10

There are times in some Christians lives where the guilt from past sins can be overwhelming.  No matter how repentant and contrite they are, they can’t seem to get beyond that.  Is this where the Lord would want us to remain?  In our Old Testament Scripture passage from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer for this third week following the Epiphany we will read of an occasion where this happened, and what the Lord’s response to this was.  Did He agree that the people should keep bemoaning their past sins more and more, groveling in their repentance, or did He encourage them to now move on?  Let’s see.

After the Babylonian exile, the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland.  The people set about to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, and then Nehemiah encouraged the people to rebuild the wall around the city.  Now as our passage begins, the exiles who have returned to Jerusalem have gathered in an open square in the city, and Ezra, a scribe and priest, ascended to a raised platform where he proceeded to read from the Word of God.  With him were several other Levites who helped explain the Scriptures to the people (vs. 1-8).

The people of Jerusalem stood and attentively listened to the Word of God being read and explained to them for hours. They understood that it was because of the sins of their fathers, the sins of the whole Hebrew people, the nation of Israel, that they went into exile.  Disobeying God’s Word, particularly in worshiping the false gods of the neighboring nations, had brought God’s wrath, ending in their exile.  They also knew that collectively the guilt was with all the people, including themselves.  This guilt and sorrow brought the people to mourn and weep as they heard God’s Word (vs. 9).

However, the governor of Judea, Nehemiah, urged the people to stop grieving and mourning, as this was a day to rejoice, not mourn and weep.  This was a holy day to the Lord, one to feast and enjoy, to give to those in need, and to be filled with the joy of the Lord (vs. 9-10).

Nehemiah’s admonition to the people isn’t just for those people back in that day.  It is for us today.  When we have heard the Word of God and realized our sin, whether it is at the time of our salvation, or whether it is later on, after having slipped and backslidden into sin, after we confess and repent, we should not stop and stay there.  It is true, and it is good to repent of our sin, but then we need to move on to the next step, and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.  When He forgives, God removes the sin and its stain, and we are washed clean.  We should not remain in a mournful and sad state.  Instead, Nehemiah told the people to be filled with God’s joy.  That applies to us, today, as well.

There are times in our life when we are almost overwhelmed with troubles, problems, and maybe heart-wrenching grief over things that have happened.  You feel like you could never be happy again.  Too often people confuse happiness with joy, thinking they are the same thing.  However, they are not.  Happiness is a temporary emotion which will come and go depending on our circumstances.  Joy is a deep rest and peace within our soul and mind, which comes from a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  We can have lasting joy despite any negative circumstances as we abide in His presence.

As we go through life, with all of its trials and problems, we need to make sure that our spiritual tank is filled up with joy.  Whenever someone sets out on a long road trip, before they leave they check the vehicle’s tank to make sure they have plenty of fuel.  When someone sets out for a day-long hike in the summer, they should always make sure they have plenty of water with them.  Likewise, in going through life we need to make sure our spiritual tank of joy has been refilled.  The best way to do that is to spend time in the presence of God by praying and reading His Word.  The people in our Scripture had just had a day-long Bible study, and Nehemiah said to let God’s joy be their strength.

The level of our joy will determine the level of our spiritual strength.  When we get more of Jesus, we will have less of us.  Choosing joy over giving in to despair means finding delight in knowing God.  Choosing joy is worth the effort.

Crisis At The Wedding

John 2:1-11

Weddings are usually a very special time.  Unless one elopes or has a very small ceremony with just a couple of witnesses in front of the priest or pastor, or they just have a civil ceremony in front of a judge, a lot of planning goes into preparing for the occasion.  Both families want everything to go perfectly.  Once in a while, though, a snag comes up.  Sometimes it might not be too big a deal, but other times it is.  It can be a huge embarrassment to the couple and their families, and threaten to ruin the whole day.  This is the situation we find at one wedding, which the Apostle John relates to us today.  Let’s see what happened that day.

When our Scripture opens, it is very early in Jesus’ ministry.  He had only recently been baptized by John the Baptist, and returned from spending forty days in the wilderness in prayer and fasting.  Jesus had not yet performed any miracles, whether of healing, casting out demons, or any other, and so He did not yet attract huge crowds.  The family of the bride or groom (or both) were good friends with the family of Jesus, and as we see, His mother Mary must have been a good friend and confidant to probably the mother of the bride or groom.

Jewish weddings in Biblical days were big affairs.  Unlike most weddings today, which usually last just one day with the ceremony and reception following, Jewish weddings at the time of Jesus lasted several days, often up to a week long.  Large amounts of food and drink would be consumed by all the guests during that week.  To run out of either one would be a crisis, and would also bring the family great embarrassment and shame.

This is what happened to the wedding family at the wedding that Jesus was invited to.  Probably the mother of the bride or groom, who was a close friend of the Virgin Mary, shared with her that they had run out of wine.  What were they going to do?   It’s not like they could just run out and buy multiple cases of wine.  This was very disturbing to the family, and they shared this with Mary.  Mary immediately thought of her Son, the Lord Jesus.  For thirty years He had spent His life at home with the family, and had only just recently started His ministry, and she knew His good character.  What was she expecting Him to do?  Did she think that He would perform the miracle that He did?  She might not even have known herself what He could or would do, but she knew the family was in a crisis, and she knew that Jesus was filled with love and compassion, and cared about people.

As we read, Mary came to Jesus and shared with Him that the family was facing a crisis, that they had run out of wine (vs. 3).  Jesus’ response to her might seem to some to be a bit abrupt or sharp, but it really wasn’t.  In this context, calling her “woman” was showing her proper respect as His mother, more like saying “Ma’am”.  He proceeded to tell her that His ministry had only just begun (vs. 4).  However, the Virgin Mary was not put off.  She didn’t get upset and start demanding, but neither did she just give up.  Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus said (vs. 5), and probably then went back to the family.  Now everything was in Jesus’ hands.  Mary did her part, she interceded on behalf of her friends and brought the need to the Lord.  What Jesus would do was up to Him.  Would He respond or not?  That was not Mary’s responsibility anymore.  It was up to Jesus.

Jesus does care and have compassion on people, and Mary knew that.  He told the servants to fill the large water pots with water, and then bring the pots to the host.  Those servants might have wondered about that request, as the guests were not going to want to drink water!  However they obeyed, and the water was miraculously turned into wine, and not just cheap wine, but top quality (vs 6-10).

When we are faced with a problem, we need to take that need to Jesus, like Mary did.  Frequently He involves us in the process of obtaining our miracle.  We are to do whatever God tells us to (vs 5).  He knows how to take us out of our mess and into our miracle.  Sometimes the instructions God gives us may not make sense to anyone, but we need to do whatever He tells us.

In order for God to pour His anointing into us, we must become an empty vessel, just like those six empty water pots of stone off to the side were.  We need to be ready for God’s use.  Give Jesus what we have, and He will transform us into a vessel full of His anointing.  When Mary came to Jesus, she did not know what He would do, but she knew He would do something, and she trusted and believed.  When we pray, expect God to hear and answer our prayers.  Be available for His use, and believe!

The Holy Spirit Knows Best

I Corinthians 12:1-11

If you have ever gone camping when you were younger, perhaps with some type of scouting organization, you might remember the scout leader giving assignments to each camper when they arrived at the campsite.  Some were assigned to gather sticks and branches for a campfire.  Others sent off to fill the water buckets.  Others were assigned to start putting up the tents.  A good scoutmaster would assign the tasks according to what he believes the children’s best abilities are - the stronger ones to carry the heavy water buckets, the more coordinated ones to assemble the tents, etc.  You don’t want everyone unloading the sleeping bags, but no one gathering firewood.  The same goes for having a successful sports team.  Much as they might want to be, not every player can be the pitcher on the baseball team.  A good manager assigns the players according to their skills and abilities.  The same is with the church.  In our Scripture today, the Apostle Paul speaks about spiritual gifts, and the Holy Spirit dividing them among believers.

In his first epistle to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul confronted various issues, including spiritual gifts and how they were distributed by the Holy Spirit. Common to a lot of people, many like to be in showier positions.  As mentioned, many baseball players want to be the pitcher, as the crowds always watch what they do.  In the office we frequently see some co-workers who go for the conspicuous spots.  That was no different in the Corinthian church, and even today we see some who seek out the spots that might keep them more in the spotlight.  There was also some jealousy or envy over which spiritual gifts certain people had.  Our Scripture seeks to teach about this issue.

Many in the Corinthian church were from a Gentile background, having been saved from pagan beliefs, from following false idols (vs. 1-2).  Their past pagan practices are then contrasted with the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives now (vs. 2-3).   The Apostle then continues on by teaching that there are many different kinds of gifts, services, and workings that the Holy Spirit gives to each believer.  However, it is the Lord who decides which gifts are given to which believer, not the other way around (vs. 4-6).

In the Church, whether it is the Christian Church as a whole, or in individual church congregations, there are many different ministries that are needed to keep everything running smoothly (vs. 7-10).  There are those who preach, who teach adults, youth, or children.  There are those who lead the worship with song and music, those who greet, and who take up offerings.  Then there are the “behind the scene” workers who maintain the building, who set everything up for Holy Communion, take care of landscaping, and those who work in the church offices.  There are traveling evangelists and missionaries, and many more.  The Holy Spirit needs those who have special spiritual wisdom, who have unique faith for healing or other miracles, and spiritual tongues.

Paul goes on to instruct them that it is the Holy Spirit who distributes the gifts as He sees fit.  The Lord would not want to see a church that, though they had very well-manicured grounds, there was no godly preaching or teaching going on.  Likewise if everyone was seeking to serve in the music ministry, but the actual building was being neglected, no one to change the lightbulbs or sweep and mop the floors, that would be no good, either.

Neither should one get filled with pride over what they believe their gift is, or that their particular ministry is better than others.  All of these spiritual gifts are from God, and should be used in harmony with one another.  No one is better, or more or less important than the other, and the Lord decides to distribute these gifts as He decides (vs. 11).  Every believer has been given unique gifts that contribute to the Body of Christ.  He will let you know what your special purpose in His Body is, and then you should use your gift to build up the Church, not to create division or to seek personal recognition.  We have not been given the gift or gifts we have in order to look down upon or to envy someone with a different gift.  The Lord knows best in distributing gifts.

In closing, God cares so much for His children that He gives each one a place in His plan.  Trust the Lord, that He knows best what gifts, what talents and attributes He has given each of us to carry out His purposes in His Church and in this world.

Hymn Of Praise

Psalm 96

Church services across the world and across the various denomination spectrums usually have several things in common.  One is that they will celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, in some form or another.  Some do that every week, others once a month, or just several times a year.  Another thing is that they will usually have some sort of sermon or homily.  In some churches that might only be five to ten minutes while in others that could be an hour or so.  And then most church services have some type of singing of hymns or worship songs.  They may be accompanied by a full band that rivals rock concerts, or by smaller guitar and drum groups.  The singing may be accompanied by a traditional piano or by a grand pipe organ.  Being a much more traditional person myself, I love the organ and/or piano accompaniment with the beloved old hymns, however everyone’s tastes are different, and the purpose is to sing praises to the Lord.  Our psalm for this week, Psalm 96, is a hymn of praise to the Lord, calling upon all of creation to worship Him.

Though we don’t know the author for certain, Psalm 96 is attributed to King David, some saying that he wrote it for the occasion of his bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  That would certainly have been a grand occasion, one worthy of having a new hymn or worship song being written to commemorate it.  Those who write hymns or worship songs today often do so to mark special occasions, whether in their own personal life, or that of the community. We want to proclaim God's greatness and His worthiness to be praised by everyone.

In many church services when it is time to sing a hymn or worship song, the worship leader comes to the front and helps lead the congregation in singing and following the words that are projected to the front or in the hymnal. The worship leader on that great day of bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem called on the people to sing aloud their praises to the Lord, letting the whole world know of His greatness (vs. 1-3).

As our psalm continues, some reasons for singing praises to the Lord are given (vs. 4-6).  Yahweh is above all other false gods.  Actually the false, pagan gods don’t exist.  The people who worship them are actually worshiping demons.  To let the pagans know, believers are to proclaim that Yahweh is greater than their idols of wood and stone.  For several decades the pagan Philistine nation had held the Ark of the Covenant captive, sometimes keeping it inside their heathen temples.  However, now it was back in His people’s hands, and they proclaimed that Yahweh was to be feared above the false gods.  Our worship songs today should also proclaim the glory, majesty, and power of the Lord Jesus above all false religious or philosophical beliefs.

David concluded his worship hymn to Yahweh by calling upon people of every nation to give Him praise, to worship Him, and give Him the glory due to His Name (vs. 7-9).   David also reminded us that the Lord is coming to earth again, this time to execute judgment to the world in righteousness and truth (vs. 10-13).

How is our worship time in church?  Is it a time of genuine worship to the Lord, or is it more of a time of entertainment, like a free rock concert, admiring how great a band our church managed to get.  Whether we prefer more contemporary songs and instruments, or prefer the traditional hymns and an organ, the focus should be on truly worshiping and praising the Lord, and proclaiming His glory to people everywhere, from every nation and race.  Our worship should be characterized by reverence and holiness, reflecting the splendor of God’s holiness.  As believers, those who have put their faith and trust in the saving death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we can find hope and assurance in the Lord’s righteous judgment, knowing that He will ultimately set all things right.