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What Will it Take?
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
February 10, 2019
Luke 5:1–11 (ESV) 
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
The season of revelation for me is one of the greatest to speak of. The passages we read revolve around the discovery of the nature of Christ by those around him, and the responses to the discovery various people make. Often it reminds me of what God used to convince me. I have shared the story of my journey many times, I share it not because I think my journey of faith is better than anyone else’s, but because it is my journey. I cannot speak for anyone else. I can only share what has been revealed to me. I might be able to share the story of someone else, but only if they reveal that story to me. My journey I know, I am aware of it because I was there. It is my experiences, my emotions, and my observations. You may or may not agree with the conclusions that I have make or the reasoning that I use to determine my decisions, but it is my story. And there are not very many stories that have more power in the lives of other than your personal story, the narrative of your journey.
This is because God uses the stories, he uses the testimonies of his disciple to show the world of the continuous power available to those that trust him and entrust their loves to him. What guided your life, what encouraged you to walk the pathways of faith instead of traversing the ways of the world? Our responses will all be similar, yet each unique but for most it is a story of return a testimony where we were once wondering lost in some chaotic wilderness and we found a path that caused everything in our lives to change.
I grew up in a small rural community. I was surrounded by people of faith and prayer. When your entire lifestyle depends on nature providing just enough water, just enough light and heat, just enough anything to sustain life faith is important. The things I witnessed and heard may not have convinced others, but it convinced me to consider trusting Christ.
Car accidents that should have killed me, farm equipment accidents that I should not have survived yet walked away without a scratch or even a bruise, countless charging enraged animals who did not care if I was standing in front of them that somehow jump at just the right time. One could say they were all coincidence, nature, or even good engineering. But all I know is I am alive and there are several moments that the probably was not in my favor.
Through every farm accident, every icy slide where I went just perfectly through two trees instead of into them, everything that occurred in my life it was not until I experienced the love and joy of being a father that I began to understand. It took a child to convince me, to fully reveal to me that God created us for his pleasure and because he loves us. It took a child to show me that my life was for the same.
What did it take for God to grab ahold of your life? What caused you to turn from your life before and pursue faith, what causes you to remain?
We call this season epiphany, or revelation but it could also be called the season of testimony because it is the season of what God did among the disciples that brought them to the point where they would turn from the lives they knew to a life and lifestyle where directed and dedicated to Christ.
We meet Jesus along the shores of the sea, Luke calls it a lake, but it is just one of the names for the sea of Galilee. Those who make a living on the produce of the sea are there washing their nets after a day’s work. Crowds are coming to the clearing which is believed to be a plain just south of Capernaum. Because of the crowd and the terrain, it is difficult for Jesus to teach the people, so he goes out on a boat to get some distances for his voice to travel.
What I find interesting about this story is that Jesus is only teaching, they do not make any mention of any healings he is only teaching. We do not know what exactly he had spoken about that day. He might have had many wonderful stories to tell amazing words of encouragement, but we are not told what those words were.
I find that to be very interesting. In most instances where Jesus is found teaching a crowd was are given so e indication as to what he said. This time we do not know. Maybe it is because of who is out there on the plain. We are told that at least some fishermen are there cleaning their nets. This probably is not a gathering of the local scholars. It is likely a clearing where there is plenty of space for the common fishermen to spread out their tools of trade and relax after the long hours of labor before the move into the second part of their daily labor of selling their daily catch. They are out on this plain separating the fish into quality grades, they are eating lunch and what they need to do to store their nets and prepare for their next day. I imagine the thick heavy air. It is hot and humid. A strong smell of fish is permeating the air, mixed with the sweat of those that labor in the Sun. Men are cursing and singing common working songs, stories are being exchanged and since they were fishing, we can be sure that lies are being told. It is the joining of the working class.
You can imagine the scene. It is the break room that many of us have spent time. It is the water cooler at the office, the cafeteria, and for the farmer the local co-op where they speak about the commodity prices while sharing a doughnut and coffee.
This is a scene that could be seen every day, from the first day of the week to the sixth. It is Jesus living and interacting with them life in their daily life. We are not told why Jesus was there, maybe someone asked him to help on a boat, maybe Jesus was walking by and notice that one of the sailors was injured and decided to lend a hand with the nets, maybe he came down with Simon’s wife to bring them their lunch.
Jesus is out there with the common working man. As they finish their tasks more and more men gather and press in on Jesus to the point that he gets into a boat so they all can hear. His friend Simon is not in a particularly good mood, he had been out all day and the only thing to show for it is the muck of the sea. Jesus is speaking about life with God and the kingdom and everything and as far as Simon is concerned Jesus is a good guy, but he just does not understand reality. Jesus lives in this idealistic world, but you live in a world where you worked all day mad at the end of it you still don’t know what you will eat because your nets were empty. Then Jesus tells Simon to go out deeper and put out the nets. Here in a crowd of fishermen Jesus says let’s go fishing.
I am not a fisherman, but I know enough to know that they go out early in the day catch the fish bring them in and then sell the fish. At this part of the day it is not usually profitable to go out because the sun would drive the fish deep. Simon and the others know their trade and here a carpenter is telling them how to do their job.
Some laugh. Some scoff. Some wonder what is going on. They are ok with his ideas. They like what he has to say but can they entrust their livelihood to it? Simon says ok for you I will do this. It is like a husband telling his wife that just this once I will try it your way. They go out to the deep. They drop the nets and they are surprised.
What does it take to cause someone to turn? For me it was a child, a child that carried the genes of my family, but that child was just one of a long line of reasons. For a man named Simon it was something else entirely.
Simon was a man who made his living on the sea. He knew the sea like a farmer knows the land that bears his grain. The farmer knows where the soul is deep and where the rocks are near the surface. He knows when and how much fertilizer he can add. The farmer knows when to plant and when to wait. A man of the sea knows where and when to cast their nets. They know the courses the fish move and which side of the boat they need to cast from to capture the greatest amount. It takes a man of the sea to know these things. And Simon knew that Jesus was not a man of the sea. I am certain that everyone on that coastal plain gad known that Jesus was not an expert of the sea. It was probably a running joke during the session of teaching. He probably wanted each man there to know just how poorly he knew their trade. But when he spoke of the kingdom and entrusting their very livelihood to the teaching, he was presenting them they like all of us would have scoffed. How could he really know?
I have watched people from the city come to make it on a farm. I had watched as they try to do things and fail, only to build a house and rent out their land to those that understood the ways of the land. It takes a master of a trade to profit. It takes years of work and study under a master to gain the knowledge and the skills to survive in any trade. You do not become a profitable plumber by watching YouTube, you simply delay the expenses for a time.
Jesus looked at Simon and he told him to cast the nets. Simon looked at Jesus, knowing that if he were to cast the nets his life would change. He would either become the laughing stock of the fishmongers or he would see God provide. Simon hesitates for a moment. For a moment you can almost sense the neurons in his brain firing across the synapses. He says, “Master, we have toiled all night and have caught nothing!” The translators put in the sentence an exclamation point here. They want us to know that Simon is in a state of inner turmoil. He is struggling. What will it take to cause you to turn?
Simon is standing there on his boat. The entire crew is looking at him, and every one of his colleagues are standing on the shore. Jesus has just taught them something about the kingdom because that’s what Jesus does, and he turns to Simon and says, cast the nets. He is literally asking Simon to let go of everything he has ever known. He is asking him to forget everything he has ever learned his entire adult life. To release from his mind every concept he had perfected over the past twenty or so years. And to trust him. Simon knows the sea, he knows how the fish swim, he knows when they come to the shallows to eat and when they hide in the depths. He knows when they can cast nets and when they should just go home. He knows that it is time to go home, and he also knows that he had just spent an afternoon cleaning the nets and this guy standing in his boat wants him to unpack all the gear and make a fool of him.
But Simon also knows that there is something tugging at his heart. He knows deep in his belly that there is more to life. He knows that deep within his soul this man is causing a stir that both frightens and excites him. This man has caused his mind to wander again, he has caused his heart to race, and he has again begun to dream of something more. Could there be something more to life than he has experienced?
“Master, we have worked all night and have caught nothing!” Simon says, “But at your word I will let down the nets.” Imagine the fear and the excitement that might be going through Simons mind. Imagine the laughter that the people on the shore might be sharing, the jeers they might be hearing from the crowds. What is Simon muttering under his breath?
A few years ago, a movie came out called, “Faith like Potatoes” This movie is about a man who moves his family from Zambia to South Africa because of political unrest and he builds a farm. They struggle trying to make a living in the harsh environment. But while he struggles he begins to attend a local church and as he attends his faith grows. He was once consumed by his hardships, his fear and angers to the point of destruction but slowly he releases that and steps out in faith. The area is experiencing an unprecedented drought the experts are all telling him to plant safe crops but this man in front of thousands of people, fellow farmers like him, said he would plant potatoes and trust that God would provide. A huge risk, people laughed, and his wife was pretty upset as well. He risked everything for what?
Simon was like this guy in Africa. Their hearts were stirred, and they were called to risk it all in front of their peers. The man in the movie (Which is said to be based on a true story) plants the potatoes into the dry, dusty dirt, and Simon lets down his net. I ask again what will it take for you to turn?
All our knowledge, every ounce of our worldly wisdom might be screaming at us to stop what we are doing, yet we walk. I myself am not naturally inclined to speak. I would prefer to sit at home in silence reading or watching a movie. My idea of a perfect day would include finding a good walking stick and taking a hike with Kristy and my two sons. My wisdom tells me to run away from this place and take a hike yet here I am talking in front of people every week. What will it take to make you turn?
Simon let down his nets, even though every fiber in his being was telling him that this was the worst decision of his life, his heart was telling him do it. He was struggling with himself, yet his heart was telling him to listen to the teacher, let out the nets and trust. He threw the net, he might have even had tears in his eyes because he had toiled all night and had nothing. He had struggled in life and nothing seemed to work. Simon might have even been like some of us, wondering where the money would come from to buy enough food for their family. We know he had a family and his mother-in-law was under his care as well, and he had just spent the night working and had nothing to show. Yet this teach said go out and drop the nets again. The teacher said believe.
He let down the net and began to pull it in. The others on the shore looked at him and laughed, but then they saw something. The boat dipped under the weight and Simon’s arms were straining. He gestured quickly and some of his friends jumped in their boat to come to help. They carefully brought up the net, they filled not one but two boats to the point they were beginning to sink.
He let out his nets, and the man in the movie I mentioned planted potatoes, both stories end the same and God provided more than they could dream. And both men fell to their knees before Jesus. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Simon cries out. I am guessing that what they had just seen was something unseen before. They possibly just received a full year’s salary in one afternoon. It might have even provided enough for the entire community to live comfortably for a while. Jesus looks at Simon who is on his knees before him and he says, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
What will it take for you to turn? What will it take for you to trust? What is holding you back from living the life you can sense God is calling you to? That day Simon left his boat and followed Jesus. That day I held my son for the first time, I began a journey that changed everything in my life. What is God calling you to trust him in? And what keeps you coming to his feet?
We each have a story. Every one of us has a powerful story of how God took us from where we once where and brought us here. Maybe we have shared that story and maybe we haven’t, but I tell you those stories are the single most powerful tool that we have available to us. When we tell others that story, the story of when we told Jesus that we would do that one thing at his word and trust that he would see us through. Have we forgotten our story? Have we allowed the world to distract us from what God has called us to? Simon let down his net and it changed his world forever, yet even he got distracted for a time, and went back to the boat. Even Simon, the disciple we know as Peter, the rock and voice of the disciples struggled with his faith, yet he was reminded just as we are. What will it take to make you repent and turn back to the faith? What will cause you to let it all down and trust?
As we enter this time of holy expectancy let us think of those things. Let us remember our story, that journey through life that has brought us to this place here today. And let us consider if the God that brought us through all of that can take us one more step.
Rejection of the Unexpected
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
February 3, 2019
Luke 4:21-30 (ESV) 
And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 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 in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.
I love the study scripture. The summer I spent teaching English to students in Ukraine, my fellow teachers and I would often discuss what our dream job would be. We were all in college and nearing our graduation, so these conversations were common. But it surprised me when I spoke up. First off, it surprised me that I spoke. I was hopelessly quiet. I would rarely give one syllable answers, and a complete sentence was nearly unheard of. But that summer I fell in love. You know spending an entire summer on a beach surrounded by people with intriguing accents it is hard not to be overcome with passion. I must admit I fell in love. That summer was the first time I spent time studying scripture. It was the first time I spoke and taught others about what I had read in scripture. And that summer I fell in love with Jesus.
I fell in love, but the relationship has been strained at times. Sometimes I cannot stop talking and other times I resort back to the monosyllabic person I once was. Yet the relationship grew. I think it grew because for the first time in my life I realized and recognized that God was less concerned with our legalistic conduct and more concerned with living a holistic life of faith.
That summer I began to interact with scripture in prayer. I began to ask questions and letting my mind and spirit wait for answers. And when the question was asked of me what my dream job would be, I surprised myself when I said I would love to read and talk about scripture all day. I am certain that everyone else in the group was just as surprised. That one conversation at the end of a summer. A summer that had challenged me beyond what I thought I was capable of God spoke to me. And I spent the next few years trying to convince God that he was wrong.
I mention this because I was comfortable in my life. I was just fine being the small farm kid. I was looking forward to getting a job selling bulk chemicals or seed. I had even worked for a time at the Kansas State research station, so I was considering the possibility of joining one of the research teams, many of who help finance the trip I had taken to Ukraine. I had my life planned out, it was going to be boring and uneventful, but it was going to be exactly what I expected. But then I fell in love. God had awakened in me something I had not really known was there, and every expectation I had was turned over.
I love Jesus, I love him for many reasons. Theologically I love him because he being God came to mankind so that he could bring God to man, and him being man could bring mankind to God. I love the theological wrestling we can have with one another about Jesus. But this wrestling although extremely entertaining for some is not what I love most about Jesus. I love him most because Jesus is real. He is authentic, he speaks in a manner that is filled with compassion and truth as well as condemnation and justice. Every story I read about his life causes me to pause. It causes me to reflect on my own life as I imagine what is going on as well as what I am going through. I often leave those times filled with various emotions. At times Jesus angers me, how can he be so stupid as to say some of the things he says. And I find myself on the side of the religious leaders if his day, wanting to stone him. While at other times my eyes are filled with tears, because I know someone who might have fit into the situation he is speaking about.
I love Jesus because he is so human yet not. He is the person I want to be like. And because he calls to me and all of us to follow him, and when we do, he opens before us a life and lifestyle beyond anything this world can even imagine.
As we approach today’s passage. I want us to really consider and imagine it. Imagine you are sitting or standing in a place similar to this. A meeting place where friends and family gather together to worship and learn. A comfortable place, the person next to you has stood there for years. You know them deeply. You know when they are going to chuckle when the worship leader mispronounces words. You know his children and his spouse. I say his only because in this room in the first century only men were welcome, wives and children were in a separate room, there but not. You know the person next to you. You know their business and how well they are at it. You know their political leaning, you know how Well they grasp the concepts presented by the rabbis. You know them, you know what to expect from them and nothing really changes. And if it does it is not too crazy.
But this week the carpenter’s son come home. He has been away for a while. He went to visit the crazy preacher in the Jordan, and he had not returned for over a month. You like this man. He was always fair in his dealings, in fact, you had never once heard anyone complain about the work he did. He was always forth coming and never had surprises. You liked him, he was just the kind of man you hoped your children would grow up to be like or marry. This week, Jesus, read from the prophet. You know the passage because you like every man present that day had spent time reading the scriptures your entire life. He read a portion of scripture that all the scholars agreed was about the future Messiah. You were kind of excited about this passage. And as soon as Jesus read your heart was filled with hope. You silently prayed, soon Lord, may it soon be so and restore the kingdom.
Jesus walked up. He reverently took the scroll. He regarded it with all the ritualistic honor as everyone else has and had for generations. He read, and all waited in expectation. Yet he stopped in an unusual spot and he rerolled the scroll and again joined the worshipers. Everyone turned and looked with expectation, because they had begun to hear stories.
They knew about the ministry of John on the edge of the wilderness. They had ever heard that their own Jesus had participated in some interesting stories as well. Everyone looked and listened, then Jesus calmly said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled.”
Imagine what might be going through your mind. Imagine if the person sitting next to you announced the very thing you and everyone else had been anticipating your entire life. Imagine if this person, a person you have known for thirty years, says this with such confidence and authority, that something stirs in your spirit.
The thing about hometowns and expectations is there are some people designated as leaders and others who are not. We develop these expectations for various reasons. Maybe someone has gained favor in the eyes of the community because of past leadership or possibly because of their ability to contribute financially to various projects. Some people gain favor because of their willingness to serve and others are left to fade into the background. Some are vocal and others make the greatest contributions to causes with only few people knowing. Then there are those people who seem to have great weight in the wider community for some reason, and locally we do not know why.
We all deal with these interpersonal relationships to some degree. There are those people who seem to demand respect and others simply have it. When we look at Jesus’s interaction with his hometown community, we get a glimpse of something fascinating. He had respect, yet this respect did not hold weight. People liked Jesus, they might have even valued his opinion, but others within the community commanded more attention.
They listened to the words that Jesus spoke, they were impressed. I guess they must have thought his time abroad instilled a confidence that was not there before. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they ask. Do we understand this question? They were impressed with the confidence of Jesus, they were surprised at his authority. Isn’t this Joseph’s son? Can you hear the touch of scandal in the question? Clearly Mary and Joseph were liked, when there was a discussion about construction they might have been respected, but when it came to spiritual matters there was some hesitation. There was that question that elephant in the room as to the origin of Jesus.
Stories were beginning to circulate concerning Jesus. Maybe they were are the wedding at Cana. Maybe a relative had been at Capernaum? They had heard the stories and as Jesus spoke, they were amazed, but they just could not help their doubt. This is Jesus, Joseph’s son. A good guy yes but is he saying he is the messiah? Jesus knows their thoughts, he knows that they are unable to see past their previous experiences.
He then speaks to what is going through their heads. There were many widows in the days of Elijah, yet the prophet stayed and was fed by a gentile. There were many lepers in Israel, but it was a gentile king who was cleansed in the river. This angers them, it irritates them to the point they want to kill Jesus. Their hometown boy that everyone liked, but why? God does not do the expected. God does not always use the people we want or think he should. God just might do something unfamiliar just to make sure we realize that God is sovereign not man.
I began today speaking about how one summer changed the very direction of my life. It was unexpected and unfamiliar. There were very few people who knew me that accepted my call. Even my own mom who knew me the best doubted. But there was one person that knew even before I did. One person saw even when I was furthest from God that he loved me and was directing me into ministry. This one person endured my laughter and even my jeers. Yet within a year she prayed with me as I left for Ukraine. God does the unexpected.
We can plan, we can train and encourage we can make budgets and funds but at times God does something unexpected. Sometimes God calls the man who has a child out of wedlock to lead a Meeting. Sometimes God calls the divorced, he might even call the woman who had an abortion to speak about grace. We do not know what God will do because we cannot control the o e who created all things. We have seen him use the drug addict. We have observed him use the refugees to open the eyes of a community. We have recognized how one child in a meeting can reignite passion that was once cold
We see this all around us. We ourselves have experienced it. All of us have a past. Each of us struggle with sin in our lives. None of us are perfect. Yet each of us is loved. Each if us in some manner have rejected the ways of God, and yet He loves us to such a degree that Jesus decided from the foundations of time that he would leave heaven to be born a man, that he would live within a community and he gave his life to provide a way of redemption and reconciliation for us. This is unfamiliar and unexpected. None of us are worthy of such a gift yet he chose to do this for you.
Such grace has been given to us. So much grace, grace that we cannot even imagine renewed every single day we live. Every morning he renews the same offer to follow him and every day we chose once again to tread his path. But by eight in the morning something happens the alarm goes off and suddenly we struggle again. We repent as we dress and then we stub our toe going to the kitchen and curse the ground we walk on. We like the people of Jesus’s hometown think we are righteous but often before we interact with another human being, we have already done something that pulls our attention from God. We so easily stray, and we so often think we can judge those around us. All have sinned and fallen short. Each of us need to repent and turn back to God. And the more we repent the more we turn the more we see we need to turn and repent the easier and more gracious we become.
Jesus went home and shared the gospel with them, yet they rejected it because of who they thought he was. They could not see who he is. They turned their backs on the very God who loved them and called them his own, they attempted to throw him off a cliff, yet Jesus walked away. What did they do after that? They did what we all do, they either repented and realized that God can do amazing things even through unexpected people or they justified their own actions and continued down a path away from God.
As we join in open worship and communion in the manner of Friends, I ask us a simple question. Are we willing to see that of God in those around us? Are we willing to believe that God can use those people familiar to us to do extraordinary things? And are we willing to trust that God can use unexpected circumstances to bring hope to our community? The God we so often reject is calling each of us to return to him to turn from the ways and systems of human kind. He is calling us Each to simply trust and follow him, what is our answer?
(Thank You for taking the time to read the message presented at Willow Creek Friends Church this week. Please feel free to comment and share. If you would like to help support our ministries any assistance is appreciated.)
Returning Home
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
January 27, 2019
Luke 4:14–21 (NRSV): 
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
The past couple of weeks I have been trying to make room for us to grasp the revelation or the Epiphany of Jesus. Often, we find ourselves trapped in our own cultural perspective and are unable to grasp the truly full humanity of Christ. We look at his age and we regard Jesus as being young. And it is not as if he was old but, in his day, and culture he would have been perceived as an elder in the community. When the average life expectancy is around forty anyone that achieves the age of thirty should have respect. We also cannot grasp that Jesus worked a common and full career. For seventeen years Jesus worked within the family business. He worked with wood and stone, he built and repaired the various dwelling places around his community, some traditions even say that the family were among those that helped construct the temple. Jesus would most likely be considered a master craftsman, trained by some of the greatest craftsmen of the nation. It is sometimes difficult to consider this young adult era of Jesus’s life. But he lived and worked, ate and worshiped among friends and family within a community. He laughed and sang working songs. He measured and cut. He used tools and heard his coworkers cuss as they hit their thumbs. (Jesus was without sin, so I am certain he never missed the mark)
I want us to think about this as we consider today’s passage. Jesus went to his home. He went to worship at his hometown synagogue. Just a few weeks before he was one of them. They lived next door. They worked on the same projects. They were cousins and brothers. They were uncles and in-laws. One of them might have even had a crush on the carpenter, or a father might have been hoping to entice Jesus to consider their daughter in marriage.
There is something about a hometown. If you have ever moved away from your hometown those trips home for a weekend are lifegiving. But there is also something stressful because there is an expectation and a role you are supposed to fill and if you leave town that role is one that you have no desire to fill or are incapable to fill. I remember some of the first conversations I had with family members when I began pastoral ministry. I was asked once if we could tell the same jokes. This made me laugh because the jokes among my friends and family were not profane so I saw no problem, yet they knew that at times words even in humor can be offensive and they were concerned that I would be judgmental or offended.
Jesus went home. Imagine the smells and the feelings he might have had. The aromas of the foods that once comforted him were lofting through the air. The creaking in the house that once lulled him to sleep were once again present, and just as comforting. The same people were sitting or standing in their designated spot during worship on the sabbath. Sometimes we forget how those simple and seemingly annoying things of life ground and center us. They provide a stability and security that tells us that even when times are tough things will work out.
Jesus was home. He was with his friends and family. He was worshiping in the place he joined his family for the past thirty years. He was home yet something was different. Jesus’s baptism revealed that the old life was no longer., a new era of history was emerging.
Everyone in Israel was waiting in expectation for this day to emerge. They had discussed and imagined it for centuries. They studied the signs, they thought they knew what it was they anticipated. Yet the very one they were looking for sat right there in their synagogue for the past thirty years. For seventeen years he led worship with them. He knew them and they knew him, yet the reality was veiled in the familiarity. Everything They were waiting right there, standing before them, yet was an enigma.
How often are we just like those in the synagogue of Nazareth? We are waiting for something spectacular happen. We are anticipating God to move within our Meetings and within our communities, yet we are blinded by the familiar. We want God to work so much within our communities that we try to find spectacular speakers, we try to mimic the styles and programs of others who experienced something great. Yet the results do not seem to transpire as we anticipated. This leads us to become more frustrated, and we make attempts to explain why. Maybe we are allowing sin in our meeting and angering God, so we become more legalistic Maybe we are being too judgmental, so we loosen the reigns and become more lenient. Maybe we need to have more energy, maybe we need to be more spiritual. Maybe.
We search and we seek. We wait and we make attempts and they feel as if it is all in vain. Life becomes familiar and we become comfortable with those around us and eventually we stop and wonder why. Why are we not seeing God move? Why are people leaving or not even coming to faith? Why does it seem as if our community is drifting into darkness?
Do you think people in the first century asked similar questions? We know that John the Baptist questioned the direction of the current religious establishment. He left the path and lifestyle allotted to him by tradition, the lifestyle of a priest and instead went out into the wilderness to live and proclaim the message of repentance. He screamed out to the religious of his time to repent, to turn, to go a different direction and the people eagerly listened. Yet in the message he presented he said there is one coming who is even greater than him. One whose sandals he is not worthy to untie.
The entire culture was blinded by familiarity, they were comfortable in the highly effective system they had orchestrated. Yet there was this nagging unrest deep within, an expectation they were looking for but unable to define.
It was into this environment Jesus spoke these words, words that were spoken during a similar time.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
What is Jesus saying? What era Jesus heralding into existence? He is calling us to a life, a lifestyle, an existence with God. One where every individual can know God not because someone performed some ceremony for us, but because God had come to us. God came to us to show how to live, how to interact, how to be human. God needed to come, to become human because we had become blind to truth, we had become consumed by self-rationalization and justification. And in our comfort, we missed something important, grace.
Jesus came living a complete human life to open our eyes, and to provide the way for us to become the people we were meant to be. He taught us a holy rhythm of life, a discipline. He made it his custom to worship in the synagogue, he withdrew often to the isolated places to pray, and he ministered to the needs of those around him. We ourselves have claimed that same rhythm as our mission, as the testimony we at Willow Creek exist. “Loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with Others.”
Paul wrote about this lifestyle in his letters to the churches. He expressed it as being clothed in Christ, putting on the full armor, he said “it is no longer I who lives but Christ who live through me.”
That day in his hometown Jesus told us what our ministry and purpose is to be. Ministering to the needs of the poor, helping to free those in bondage of many kinds, providing care to victims of injury and those living in lives of illness, to bring relief for those being exploited, and to proclaim to all the love God has for them.
We live this life with others. We grow in this life as we turn toward Christ and join him in his lifestyle. We worship, we pray the best we can, and when we see a place, we can minister we joyful join and encourage those around us.
Why then do we not see what we hope? This is something that I have struggled with most of my life. I have watched as people my age have seemingly left the faith. I have watched as Meeting have been closed. I have even been on the very board that took on the rule of managing the closures. In every case, it is because those that were in those meetings were unable to live the life of Christ with those around them. They were unable to allow people to mature in their faith, but they wanted to dictate the way and manner they should grow. They were attempting to make copies of someone else’s faith instead of allowing God to form them into the person they should be.
This is difficult to say because so often I have participated in that type of ministry. It is easy to recognize growth in that manner, you have a formula you can follow. First you read the gospel maybe Mark because it’s the shortest, second you pray the sinner’s prayer, you are welcomed into the Meeting in whatever manner your tradition dictates. Third you begin to have a daily quiet time with God. If you have any questions you offer some wonderful books that tell you just how to do it. If you struggle then maybe you do not have authentic faith and you must start over, but you can skip step two.
These methods can produce authentic faith, but often it does not speak to everyone’s condition. Some people respond well to different forms of discipleship while others respond to something totally different. When we try to perfect someone else’s personal discipleship program we can become like the pharisees of ancient days. We become whitewashed tombs of dried out bones. We look nice on the outside but can often be dead on the inside. This is why friendship and encouragement are important. A friend would be able to tell you that you are faking it and encourage you to express yourself in a different way.
Personally, I am a quiet person. I am reserved emotionally. I can go to a football or hockey game and be ecstatic about what is going on around me yet sit there calmly with only a smile on my face. Very rarely do I make vocal utterances. When it comes to worship, I am also reserved, I am not a hand raiser, instead I am a foot tapper and I sway. The more music or a message moves me the quieter I become to the point I am nearly prostrate in prayer. Does this mean I am inauthentic in my worship, because I do not clap or say “Amen” when the speaker makes a good point. No. It means my personality is different than someone else. Yet, I enjoy worship among people who clap and dance. I enjoy worship among others who can just sit in silence. But most of all I enjoy worship while hiking on a trail or watching a sunset. (Not so much a sunrise because that requires waking up early but when I do, I am in awe) I find the most joy when I listen to birds sing, or see deer grazing in a clearing. I am drawn to the Friends Church because it encourages me in my personal expression of faith.
But are we being authentic? Are we encouraging people in their faith or are we encouraging them in our own? We can worship in our own manner, and still encourage people to worship in theirs. It is difficult because to do so we must become vulnerable to one another. We must open our lives and share ourselves with them in so that we can encourage them, and they too must open to us. It requires us to listen and encourage instead of providing the answers.
Yesterday during the area leadership summit, we discussed the life of prayer. During our lessons, we were encouraged to pray how we can, and not to pray in a way we can’t. We were encouraged to use scripture to direct our prayer, and to allow space for God to speak to us and not only dictate to God what we want him to do for us. I love the ways that Fil Anderson taught prayer, because it speaks to my condition, but the way we did it may not speak to everyone. Some may need to move when they pray, and others can sit. Some may need a fidget spinner, while others might need a paint brush. It is not about how we do things, it is that we do them and encourage one another to turn to God. It is not about us, but it is about taking on Jesus’s lifestyle and reflecting the light he brings to our lives to those around us. To be honest it is not about being right or wrong, it is not about living a life without sin, or being righteous or holy, it is about being who we are in Jesus.
We are each broken in some way, we all struggle. We all know others who are hurting and struggling as well. Our mission is to live faith with them. Our ministry is to show them that being broken is ok, and to point them to our hope. Our lives should be like Jesus’s, lived within a community, yet lived out for the glory of God and our community. The people at that synagogue were amazed at what Jesus had read to them, and when he sat down every eye was looking at him. And he said to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Consider that. Jesus was in his hometown, among those that knew him from childhood, who had worked with him and had known his family. Later if we continue to read it angered them, as faith often angers those around us, because light reveals something to us. It reveals that we are not always who we think we are. They thought they were being faithful, yet those words that Jesus shared said that they were not. And when he spoke, he was saying like John the Baptist, turn. Turn around because we are going the wrong way, we are trying to live a fraudulent faith and all we really need to do is be ourselves, be our true selves, the person God created us to be. Joyful musicians who can encourage someone with a song. Passionate artists who can reveal truth and encourage change through paint or clay. Contemplative souls who quietly listen and provide space for you to see a different path. Mechanics of various types who help us get through life by fixing the things that distract us while encouraging us with a smile. Our passions and our faith work together and when we live with Christ in that way, we will see the seeds that God spreads sprout all around us. Because when we live our lives in Christ, we are no longer focused on ourselves, but we are focused on the one who loves us, and we begin to love the ones he loves.
As we enter our time of holy expectancy and communion in the manner of Friends, let us consider the words of Isaiah that Jesus read, and consider how God is calling us in our own way to fulfill that in our lives today. And let us also celebrate the fact that we were once poor who received the news, we were once the captive and the broken, we were once the oppressed that was freed by the grace provided through the love that brought Jesus down from his throne in Heaven to live a complete human life with and for us. The grace that was shown by his sacrifice on the cross and the hope that was ensured by his resurrection. Let us celebrate and embrace life with him and continue to turn from a life devoted to human pursuits and return to a life devoted to the love of God.