THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR
Prayers
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Text: Luke 4:16-21
Jesus read…. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God!
One of the hardest things to do as a pastor is to return and preach and teach at the congregation that you grew up in as a boy. That experience, happened to me a few times. Returning to Trinity Lutheran Church in Tema to preach and to serve was great experience. During my vicarage I did not get the opportunity to serve amongst them likewise haven’t been ordained. But one day the opportunity came and I was the quest preacher in the very church I was confirmed some 28yrs ago. I knew very well the members still had special memories of me being in church serving in the youth fellowship, the Men Fellowship and finally as the Treasurer of the council.
Rev. How was the feeling like?
Well, similar to my experience in Trinity Lutheran Congregation is exactly what Jesus faced in our text today. Jesus is preaching His first sermon in His home synagogue in Nazareth. Imagine what people were thinking and saying.
They might have been thinking, “This is Jesus we know, Mary’s little boy.
He and the father Joseph built the furniture in our home. When did He become a Rabbi? We even hear He has performed miracles, and many like thoughts would have run thought the mind of the people.
Interesting Rev. so in Trinity they might possibly be thinking, the Redeemer we know; when did he go to the Seminary and completed? We hear he is the speaker on Intouch broadcasted on Uniiq Fm 95.7 Mhz. I see!
Your imagination is as good as mine. So during the service on that day, Jesus was handed the scroll to read the Scripture for the day. Jesus clearly read the text from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, and I quote “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim God’s Good News to the poor….to proclaim liberty to the captives…..sight to the blind….to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Unquote!
The people in the synagogue listening should probably be familiar with the text and perhaps be thinking that these words were limited to Isaiah’s time alone. Indeed Isaiah wrote all that when the people of Israel were really in captivity, Israel at that time were in bondage, they were slaves in Assyria, and slaves in Babylon.
The people of Jesus’ day thought the passage wasn’t for them; they knew they weren’t in prison, neither were they in slavery
Not to cut you short Rev. Maybe they wanted more freedom
Well, freedom is something that everybody wishes for. On that note I guess Jesus; audience were probably not ready at all for what Jesus was about to say.
My dear listeners. On this day; 1st January, 2022. Today being the 1st day of the year, are you ready to hear what Jesus has to say to you and me and all humanity?
Its good to remind you that: “Jesus’ message is just as relevant today and now as it was then and there in the Synagogue over 2,000 years ago.” In the mist of the New Year preparation and celebration please pay close attention because you will be mesmerized with what Jesus said.
One significant thing that Jesus did was to reads the words from Isaiah emphatically, saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News”
Rev. By that Jesus claims that the Prophet Isaiah is talking about Him.
Definitely! Jesus claims that He has the very authority to preach and to proclaim God’s Word and God’s freedom to all creation. Jesus clearly meant He is the very chosen, long-awaited Messiah of God ordained to bring the good news of liberation for the people of Israel; and by extension liberation for the whole world.
Dear listener: by means of this New Year Day message; Jesus brings real freedom which cannot be obtained in any other place or in any other way to you.
I can assure you that; the trembling message that Jesus brought then in the Synagogue and now is a unique freedom which can only be received from no other person but Him only. Real freedom lasts and rests only with Jesus. Jesus says that real freedom follows Him in all things. The people then were shaken. Does that statement of Jesus shake the world today? Yes it does shake us up.
Really the world is shaken by the words of Jesus even till today. Rev. please can you share your thought on that?
Thanks for the opportunity, I will gladly do. The kind of freedom Jesus brings to the world, many people today think they don’t need it. Truly many don’t feel they want it, and many more others have false hope feeling they can take care of their own freedom themselves.
Mr. Kyei we are just like the people in the synagogue that day, isn’t it!
Yeah; like today, almost everyone think they know what’s important in life.
Excellent, we think we have got it all figured out and all we have to do is to try harder. To think smarter, or spend more money and using our wisdom to overcome the problems of the day.
Sadly enough, because of our sin and arrogance, we can’t even see our own foolishness when it is so plain to anyone who is willing to look. Surprisingly, when it comes to freedom, we often miss it big thing. We really mess up when it comes to freedom though that is the very thing we really-really need.
For many of you listening today; granted you were in the shoes of the people in the Synagogue would you have dismissed Jesus too? Till today people think they know the freedom they needed, even though they remained in cages of their own spiritual captivity and poverty.
Poverty here doesn’t describe the ordinary poor who had little money; it describes those who are destitute, I mean those who have nothing. Dear listener; when we really examine our so called “riches,” we soon see that such “destitution” explains perfectly the spiritual condition of every one of us.
That reminds me Rev. Ecclesiastes 7:20 states “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins”
As if Ecclesiastics 7:20 is not enough the prophet Isaiah compounds that by telling us in (Is. 64:6) that “All our righteousness is as filthy rags”.
Wow what a New Year message!
The truth is all the resolutions we might have drawn are all vanity upon vanity. Spiritually, we are beggars in one corner with our hands on our heads begging for God’s favor.
Rev. you mean our spiritual poverty is unlike an act of false piety or false humility.
Our spiritual poverty is real. We are miserable, we are even slaves to our own possessions. We are disturbed and worried thieves will steal our possessions. All these are enough indication of our own spiritual destitution. Lord have mercy. Only Jesus has freedom for people in such captivity.
Hear this clearly: failure to see our needs, failure to see our destitution without Jesus, eventually results in rejecting the real freedom that Jesus alone can give.
The Good News of Jesus is not that we will hit the jackpot whilst on earth, or in some way we are going to be made materially wealthy because of faith in Him. No! Rather, in spite of who we are, realizing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, Jesus has placed in our beggar’s cup the full price for our salvation.
Thanks be to God! Rev. When and how is that full price given to us by Jesus?
A week today we remembered the birth of Jesus. Through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross and His ascension into heaven. Jesus stands in heaven as a beggar in our place before the Father interceding for us. Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world, won for us all eternal life. This gift of Jesus’ which is freedom from death is credited by faith to only those who believes in Him and His name.
Rev. its good to hear that in Jesus, we are free and nothing in this world can take that from us as God’s people.
Nothing indeed! The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Hallelujah!
Amen!
By this New-Year message; Jesus claims to release the prisoners too. However, I have to add that the depth of Jesus freedom goes beyond prison bars. The Bible declares greater bondage. Bondage to the temptations of Satan, a bondage even to our own shattered dreams and desires.
The Bible declares greater bondage, bondage to our sin, bondage to the temptations of Satan, even bondage to our own shattered dreams and desires. Rev over to you.
Thank you, I am sure we are all conversant with these feelings. I am talking about Times when you know what you are supposed to do, but fail to act accordingly. There are times you know what you shouldn’t do, yet we however do it anyway. The wickedness, the fear, the anger that we create or receive daily is as a result of the world we have built. We have entangled ourselves into much bondage. Honestly, we all know that. We feel it. We sense the bondage, the hardship and suffering all are going through, at the hands of our oppressor. Mind you, we are not fighting against flesh and blood.
The Apostle Paul describes it in (Eph 6:11-12).: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places”
In spite of all the suffering; Jesus justifiably claims freedom for all who believes. Friends; That is what the cross and the resurrection of Jesus are all about.
Jesus was talking about a freedom that every human being needs, a bondage that every human being feels, and a victory that only He- Jesus can provide, on His terms alone! If you are willing to hear, Christmas is about freedom from spiritual bondage!
Hallelujah
Mr. Kyei and beloved, friends and cherished listeners: Today is the day of God’s favor for you in Jesus. Jesus by this message is coming for you with a hope that you can have even if all things looks helpless and hopeless.
Jesus is there for you even when this world says you are not worthy.
Jesus is even for you if it seems you have everything, yet in reality you have nothing.
Be assured that Jesus is there for you when all you have is poverty. When bondage, blindness, and oppression in this world and in your heart occupies your life, look nowhere but to Jesus alone for freedom.
Rev. You said this message isn’t about the kind of freedom from temporal poverty, temporal captivity, blindness, and oppression? Why tell this story right now that the world is seeking after physical things?
Ok I share your concern. Nevertheless hear me clearly so that you can hear Jesus Himself even more clearly….I never said “either/or” and neither did Jesus. In preaching, there are times when we try bring a glimpse of that unique freedom which comes in Jesus alone into our world and into our communities and families. Notwithstanding the real freedom of Jesus is deeper, stronger and eternal. Nothing in this world can match it, or imitate it completely. Jesus doesn’t want His followers to settle for mere temporary- worldly relief. No matter how good that might feel at a moment in time, is not what Jesus has for the world.
As you rightly stated: people want physical things. The people got mad at Jesus that day. Mr. Kyei people do get mad at our messages too, even more today being a New year..
I must add that, there is a big difference between Jesus’ teaching that day and then from my work here and now as a pastor.
You see, Jesus in the text states, He is the Solution for all these issues on His terms alone. Jesus’ death on the cross is the sign of our true destitution; On the cross, our true freedom was won. By this message, Jesus has the authority to speak that truth to you. In fact, I need that truth badly as you.
Mr. Kyei, friends and cherished listeners: My duty as a preacher is to shares Jesus and His victory for me and for all who believe. When I went to my home church Trinity in Tema…the people knew, I was there to share with them Jesus; and they knew our poverty in ourselves and our true riches in Jesus alone; and I want you to know that today too.
To all listening, put your faith in no other but Jesus alone, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Be empowered by His Word. Put your trust in Him alone because Jesus, this year is declaring God’s favor for you. Amen.
Amen!
The Lord bless you and keep you through-out the Year 2022 and beyond
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious onto you and open doors of opportunities before you this year
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His everlasting peace which surpasses all human understanding
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen!
Amen!