“Grace, Not Fix-it Yourself” 2013

Isaiah 61:1-4, 10-11 Luke 4:14-21

Isaiah 61:1-4, 10-11

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Luke 4:14-21

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.”

Twenty-three years ago, on January 28, 1986,

the space shuttle Challenger blew up soon after lift-off.

It was a shocking and terrible accident,

and a commission was formed that held hearings for months

to explore what happened and try to explain why,

so that such a thing would never happen again.

It makes sense when something goes wrong

to try and figure out why, and what could have been done

that might have avoided or prevented the problem.

When the nation of Israel fell to the Babylonian armies,

amid that defeat and exile, all the suffering and loss,

the religious leaders and teachers all tried

to figure out and explain what had gone so wrong

and what might have avoided or prevented it.

Why had God withdrawn protection and allow that disaster?,

and what could they do or change,

so that such a thing would never happen again?

It was decided that because they had not been

obedient and faithful to God’s Law and commandments,

the Lord had abandoned them to exile in Babylon.

They hadn’t followed the rules and religious rituals well enough,

and so God’s justice demanded their punishment of defeat.

That led to a change in the religious practices of Judaism,

toward a much greater focus on external rules and rituals,

and trying harder to do better

by excluding & separating from sinners & outcasts…

* … so that God would respond and bring them home from exile.

** But the religious authorities has missed the point.

God’s call wasn’t to perfect obedience, to rules & rituals,

as much as it always had been about God’s gracious love

and responding to the Lord’s gifts and blessings.

The nation’s release and return from exile in Babylon

wasn’t their own doing and had nothing to do with achievement.

It was not a reward for obeying the rules and rituals …

… but was all grace – entirely a gift from God.

When the armies of the Persians and Medes defeated Babylon,

and their king Cyrus encouraged the Jewish people in exile,

to return to Israel and rebuild their homes and nation…

… it was all grace – entirely a gift from God…

… just as the Isaiah passage explains, it was all God, vs. 1-3, 11

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, … They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory… so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

It was all God – not their hard work, religious rules or rituals-

- these are words of promise about what the Spirit of the Lord

would graciously accomplish among the people of God.

* These words were meant to describe God’s grace toward Israel,

and call to the nation to be a light before the world

as a sign of hope, and to reveal God’s gracious glory.

By that grace, the nation would be and become, vs. 3b, 11

the planting of the Lord, to display his glory… so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

God would act graciously toward Israel,

and they were to reveal that grace to the world.

* It was never to be about external religion or ritual,

but that the love and grace they had received,

they were to splash over, and out into the world.

* But the religious leaders missed the point…

… they assumed God wanted rigid rules and ritual purity,

and separation from those they rejected as unclean.

When Jesus came, He opposed their misunderstanding of grace.

In Luke 4, Jesus returned to his hometown synagogue,

and read part of this same passage of Isaiah… vs. 16-19

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day … He stood up to read … 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.”

~ What Isaiah had initially written about Israel the nation,

would now be fulfilled by the life and ministry of Jesus.

The author of Luke is very deliberate in describing,

that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism,

and then the Holy Spirit lead Jesus out

into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan…

… which leads to vs. 14

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, …

… all of which is intended to fit Isaiah’s declaration, vs. 1

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, …

The prophet Isaiah was writing about the nation of Israel,

which did not fulfill that calling from God.

While in contrast,

Jesus was faithful and did fulfill God’s purpose and call.

This passage, that comes very early in Luke’s Gospel, is framed

to announce who Jesus is and what God sent him to accomplish,

as had been promised through the Old Testament prophets…

… leading to the declaration of vs. 20-21

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.”

How had the Isaiah scripture been fulfilled that day?

It was fulfilled by Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit

and sent to accomplish the gracious purpose of the Lord.

If we consider, what was the life, ministry and message of Jesus?,

it was most definitely not, try harder & do better at religion.

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of God’s Kingdom,

where it’s all grace, and God does all the heavy lifting

by reaching down to us, unworthy sinners and outcasts

all of us, who can’t seem to get it right on our own.

The theology and perspective of the religious authorities,

described an angry God of justice and vengeance, demanding…

… that we try harder and do better, or face the consequences.

But the Good News that Jesus proclaims

is not about self-help, nor a self-improvement program ----

- but it’s all grace, our God who seeks the lost,

who races out to greet and kiss the prodigal son,

who eats with sinners, outcasts and failures,

and promises eternal life to a thief while dying on a cross.

The message from Jesus is whatever our sin, failure or disaster,

God’s gracious love is always way bigger and greater –

- the focus is God’s love, and not the justice we deserve.

God’s grace reminds me of a story about a teenage daughter,

who was given a new car for graduation by her dad.

When she was away at college, she got into an accident.

There was a lot of damage, and it was clearly her fault.

She was terrified knowing how angry her father would be.

But when she got

the insurance packet out from the glove compartment,

she found a little note from her father inside:

“I assume that if you are reading this,

it’s because you are involved in an accident.

I hope you’re not hurt, and I want you to know

that I love you way more than I care about the car.

Love you always, Dad.”

Our Heavenly Father truly loves each one of us,

way more than he cares about or wants to punish our mistakes,

or even our most willful sins and worst failures.

The faithful and fruitful Christian life

is not about walking a life of constant perfection,

nor is it a self-improvement program of trying harder.

It is a life of learning to live out God’s grace & blessings,

of trusting God’s love to mold and gradually reshape us,

to become the loved and blessed children of God

that the Lord, who knows us best,

intends and wants to help us to be.

But sometimes we get God’s gracious love wrong.

We settle in, content with trying to act religious and holy

while we wait for Jesus to return or call us home.

I think that sometimes we may work too hard at being religious,

at trying to earn or deserve God's favor,

thereby driving ourselves crazy and frantic ---

as if somehow it depends on us more than God's love.

Actually, God just wants us to know him – to enjoy and love him --

for us to bask in the wonder of God's glory and grace

and then to reflect that reality back out into the world.

There is a huge difference between trying to be religious,

and walking in faithfulness with the God who loves us,

so that grace overflows – spilling out onto others,

and so we become a blessing to our world in need.

Our call and our challenge

is that as those whose lives have been touched by Jesus

for us to be the encouraging and joyful people of God;

living as signs by inviting others, everyone we can,

to the same healing and wholeness that we have received.

* So why do we struggle with accepting and living out God’s grace?

I think it’s because in our world,

for all our lives from our earliest youth onward,

there has always been the pressure to perform,

to accomplish, to prove our worth and competence.

God's grace goes against everything we’ve learned of the world,

so no wonder we lose focus

and feel insecure and uncomfortable with grace.

No wonder we struggle to fully accept

the unlimited and unfathomable strength of God’s love.

How often do we feel ashamed for not measuring up?,

and when we fail, we promise God to try harder,

that we will clean up our act, and do better next time?

Instead of focusing on the free gift of God’s grace through Jesus,

we become preoccupied with trying to live a Christian life,

to follow religiously our rituals and holy traditions…

… and so our focus shifts away from enjoying God and God’s grace.

Our call is not to placate God’s wrath and judgment,

but to simply to live in the wonder of God’s grace,

to accept & respond by seeking to know & walk with our God,

in a growing and living relationship of loving trust.

I used to use a little computer, a palm Pilot,

that had a little hole, where I could stick a paper clip;

which would reset the whole thing,

back to how it first came out from the factory…

… and I think God’s grace works something like that…

…that God embraces us in our brokenness, our failures & weakness

in order to restore us, release us and set us free

so that it may go well with us, walking with the Lord…

… so that now, having received God’s grace,

we can let it naturally spill out and over into the world …

… and so we become signs revealing God’s love,

signs of grace – healing and hope for others.

By grace our lives have been empowered to express and proclaim

the grace and hospitality that we have received from God,

and so like road signs pointing the way toward Christ.

The spirit of the Lord God is upon us, because the Lord has anointed us; he has sent us to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

You will be called oaks of righteousness, and be the planting of the Lord, to display his glory… so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.