Service 03: Prioritise the Poor
Orientate
When Jesus started preaching in the back blocks of Israel at 30, he was an instant hit. He was a fresh face. He had some new things to say. He healed a lot of people. And he was a local boy. Not some city slicker looking for headlines, but a good, old-fashioned, country boy. Galilee often missed out on these sorts of shows. He was a bit of a celebrity. So when he came home to Nazareth, people were understandably excited. Here was the local boy making good. Naturally he got an invite to speak in their synagogue. But at the end of his sermon, they tried to throw him off a cliff. What on earth did he say? Read on.
Explore: Luke 4:16-30
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
Journal
Journal for a few minutes on the following questions:
1. What is God saying to me? Which verse is most significant?
2. What do I want to discuss/explore further?
3. What do I need to do?
4. What made Jesus’ home town so mad?
Reflect
I’ve had some interesting reactions to sermons. A guy stormed out in the middle of my sermon one Sunday morning and on the Monday attacked his previous pastor with an axe. Fortunately, the pastor was not injured. I’m not sure what I said, but it obviously stirred something awful up. However, I’ve never had the whole church wanting to kill me after I preached. Not that I know of anyway. Not like Jesus here.
The congregation reacted so violently because Jesus made two things very clear about his ministry. First, he was going to prioritise the poor and needy and struggling. He hadn’t come to tell religious people how to be more godly, but to set free the poor and imprisoned and blind and oppressed. These people were his target. He was mainly speaking figuratively – he had good news for the spiritually destitute. But these people were mostly found among the poor and disadvantaged so it applied both literally and figuratively. His old neighbours seemed to take that okay. I guess they figured that they were included, being from the country and all.
But what really got their goat was that Jesus went on to say that there would be no favourites. Not God’s special Jewish people, not even his home towners. This good news was for everyone and the more desperate and distant you were, the better. Well they weren’t putting up with that rubbish. “Off with his head.”
In the next reading, we will focus on God’s call to serve our church family, but we mustn’t forget Jesus’ priority here. We are especially called to serve the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed, the refugee, whether that’s physically or spiritually. We serve those that offer us nothing in return. Those that are desperate. Those that have little hope apart from God and his serving people.
Pray
You have such a beautiful heart Lord Jesus and I’ve been the beneficiary of your care. You have no personal agenda but to serve your Father and serve us. My heart goes out to those who are struggling and desperate and imprisoned and rejected and racked with pain. Please give me the love and strength to serve those who need to see your care and can’t help themselves.
Respond
There will be opportunities to serve today. Prioritise the poor or those who can give you nothing in return if you can.
