Tough Words

Tough Words
Luke 4:14-21

As some of you may know, I made a rushed trip to East Texas this weekend. I had received word that my grandmother was in the hospital in Linden and my mom was sick from the medications after her surgery so, I left Friday morning to go check on them. I found that everyone is doing better, still sick, but better, and I spend the night with mom. When I left Saturday morning I took a detour back through my home town and had some interesting realizations.
I drove into town remembering who had lived where and what had once been on the road where I was driving. I turned on the road where I once lived and went up the hill. The woods I played in as a child were still on the right, but the woods on the left, where I got hurt once, are gone. I continued up the street and saw the house I grew up in. The trees and bushes dad planted were still there and growing. It looked the same, yet something was different. The toys in the back yard were different. The shed in the back was falling down. The yard looked different. It was the same, but different.
From there I drove through the neighborhood and then across town to the old city park were I learned to swim. It had a new pier around the swimming area and a new boat ramp, but the swings and merri-go-rounds were the same. I drove on to one of my old fishing spots. It was the same old rocky point, but they had repaired an area that had washed out and made a walking trail next to the lake. It was the same, but different.
I left there and drove through the neighborhoods where my friends had lived. I was amazed at how little the houses had changed, even some of the cars were the same. I could tell where the Guerreros lived, The McCords still had the same VW Rabbit, and the Tilley’s still had the same old brown 1987 F-150. As I drove around I couldn’t believe that some of the same political figures from my childhood were still running for office, then as I looked closer at the political yard signs I realized – it’s not the same people, it’s their children and grandchildren running for office now. Everything was the same, but different.
I had driven to town with the expectation of progress but I left with the realization that, while things seem different, little changes unless something drastic happens.
I wonder if that isn’t what Jesus felt as he returned to his hometown to preach. I wonder if that isn’t what the people felt when they saw him. Their own home town boy, raised there in Nazareth by their home town boy Joseph, the carpenter.
Jesus has come back home. The people had heard rumors of how well he was doing. They had heard that he was a great teacher of the Scriptures and finally they could see for themselves. He came to the synagogue and took his place among the teachers. Others read, and then it was his turn. He rose from his seat, accepted the scroll that was handed to him, and then did something out of the ordinary. Rather than read what was rolled to on the scroll, he begins rolling through the scroll until he finds what he wanted to read. From the Isaiah scroll, he reads, “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.” “Ahhh, he reads so well” they think. As he sits down to begin teaching them they are spell-bound. “He is good” they think, “someone to truly be proud of, and someone that understands us. Look at the passage he read, he does understands us. God is restoring us.”
But something was different. It was the same, but different. Though he seemed the same, at least physically, he was different spiritually. Something had changed. It changed when he was born of the Spirit. It changed when the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove in the River with John. It changed when he opened his mouth and began to speak. “Is this not Joseph’s Son? Is he not the Carpenter? He spoke so well, as though he had authority.”
He was saying the words they thought they wanted to hear. We’ll get into the words that changed all that next week, but in the midst of his reading and explaining, they thought he was telling them God was setting them free, that God was healing them and their land. What they didn’t realize was that Jesus was describing the ministry that was to follow in his life – a ministry to the least, the last, the lost - A ministry of spoken words and actions that bring hope to the hopeless.
What Jesus was describing was the work of the ministry that he was beginning and would be continued by the Body of Christ. That is you and me. In the passage read and the explanation given, Jesus is describing the ministry that you and I are to be about – a ministry to the least, the last, and the lost – a ministry of spoken words and actions that bring hope to the hopeless. What does that translate into in today’s world?
Helping out in times of natural disaster – Going to or supporting those who go to offer aid to those in need. Our neighbors in the Canton, Sulphur Springs, and Athens areas are struggling to clean up after all the storms. Not to mention the devastation in Haiti that we continue to learn about. Few of us can give our presence in situations like this but we can give our prayers, gifts, and our service by creating health kits and flood buckets.
Healing the sick and visiting those who are isolated – We can go see those who are sick. We can call those who are shut in. We can offer love and grace to those who needed it in tough times. In doing this we are bringing hope to the hopeless. We are bringing grace to those who need it.
Tell others about what God has done for us – I know, you think this is where the sermon title came from. We have this misconception that it’s hard to talk about God. The truth is we talk about anything that is important to us. We get excited and tell others when HEB has a good special on their Meal Deal – like right, if you buy 2 lbs of ground meat; you get all the fixin’s for a taco meal. I know you have had conversations about the loss of the Cowboys last week. And I sure know some of you got excited about the win the week before. We get excited about these things, why can’t we get excited about what God has done for us? Why can’t we tell people about what the church has done for us? I think we can. I think, if you put your mind to it, you can get past the tough words, get past your fears, and tell others about church, about God, about what Jesus did for you some 2000 years ago and what he still does for you today as you receive the grace and mercy of God fresh and new in your life.
I want to challenge you today to do three things this week. I want you to write this down too. Take out your bulletin, get the pencil in the pew-jacket in front to you, and write on the lines in the back of your bulletin these 3 challenges.
1) Find a way to help out with Haiti or the tornado damage in North East Texas.
2) Visit someone that is lonely – a shut-in, someone recovering from illness or surgery, someone in prison or jail. Visit someone that is lonely.
3) Tell someone about what God has done for you and invite them to your church.

I expect you to do these things.
You know something else about the words that Jesus spoke to his home town crowd that day…
They were not words just for them. They are words for a world that needs to hear them. AND
These were not words just for you. They are words for a world that needs to hear them.
You’re job is to take the words out into that world and spread God’s love and grace in a world that needs to know God’s mercy. So Go, pass it on. Make a difference.