The First Sermon

Let me set the scene. 

It was 7:30am on a Tuesday morning. Our Seminary classroom was in the basement. It was the only room without windows.  But what it lacked in light, it made up for in warmth. 

Dim, cozy, & early. 

Sounds like the perfect place to preach a sermon right? 
 
I started speaking. “Umm…uh…this is about…Jesus.” (My Professor, who had one of those moustaches that screamed “I’m a scholar” slowly shifted his pen and began scribbling into his notebook in back.)

I started sweating. I took a deep breath I continued.  

Thirty some minutes later I was, thankfully, done. All in all…I wouldn’t say my first sermon was very memorable. The only thing that was memorable about it was the AMEN (which woke up a few classmates from their slumber.)

Today we’re taking a look at Jesus’ first recorded sermon. In contrast to my work, his first sermon is very memorable.

I. Jesus Preached In Church

Take a look at Luke 4:14-15. It says, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.”

Since we left Jesus last time, his ministry has kicked off. After changing water into wine, he went to be baptized by John the Baptist and as he did so the heavens opened up, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and God the Father’s voice said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
 
Would you be interested in hearing from the one who changed water into wine AND about whom a booming voice from heaven spoke in person?

Me too.

It worked exactly how God wanted. These signs perked people’s interest so that they would come to see Jesus. And did they ever come. Scripture says that people came to see Jesus in all kinds of places. At the beach. On a hillside. In the streets.

But there was one place that seemed tailor made for listening to Jesus teach: THE SYNAGOGUE.

The synagogue was the Ancient Jewish version of church. People would gather together daily to read and discuss God’s Word. They would hear God’s law and they would discuss theological things. It was the place to be if you were in any way interested in learning about God.

But there was one synagogue Jesus hadn't been invited to just yet. It was one that was near and dear to his heart. 

Take a look at verse 16: Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been brought up. This was his home synagogue. It was where he went to Sunday School. (To be fair, Jews worshipped on Saturdays, so Saturday School would have been more like it.) His neighbors went there. His relatives went there. He had sung in the choir there. 

But it's not as if they even had specially requested Jesus to come and speak. Look at it again. Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. Zero in on that last phrase. “As was his custom.” Think about that. Jesus wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary when he went to this church.

It was his custom. It’s what he did.

Have you seen those new GEICO Commercials? They’ve got one where everything is going wrong in the peanut butter factory. Jars on the ground; wrappers flying through the area; peanut butter mushed everywhere. When the manager asks, “Who’s responsible for this?” the workers point at the goat.

The scapegoat.

The ad says, “If you’re a scapegoat, you get blamed for things. It’s what you do. If you want to save money, you switch to GEICO. It’s what you do.”

If you’re God’s Son, you go to God’s house. It’s what you do.

By faith in Jesus, we’re God’s children, too. Isn’t it a little strange then that we don’t take invitations to our Father’s house quite as seriously?
 
·          I believe. I just don’t go to church. I don’t need to. Church is unnecessary.
·          My church? It’s in the field on Sunday morning.
·          I can go to church online. That should be good enough.

Think about this: the Divine, Universe creating, God’s Word sending, author of life itself – Jesus Christ--- went to church! As God, he already knew all there was to know about the Scriptures (He inspired them after all) yet he went to church.

You? Are you better than Jesus?

If you aren't, perhaps you should be going to church. 

In fact, Scripture calls it a necessity. A necessity for salvation? No. Necessity for strengthening faith, connecting to God, rebuking your sins, reminding of salvation, encouraging with prayers and serving others? Absolutely.

Granted. Church can happen at times other than Sunday morning at 10:30am. It happens during midweek Bible studies. It happens at Chick-fil-A with the Young Adult Group. It happens down at Elmcroft Retirement home for a Bible study. Jesus said, “Where two or three come together in my mind, there I am with them.” That’s church, too. Gathering together with Christians to hear God’s Word – that’s church.

BOTTOM LINE: If you’re a Christian, you do church. However you do church, you do church, because you are the church. It’s what you do.

II. Jesus Preached From Scripture

But one thing you might not have to do is to get up and give a sermon. Can you imagine if that became our practice? "If you are sitting in Pew 7 seat B, come up front—it’s your turn to do the sermon."

That’s exactly what happened with Jesus. Scriptures says, "He stood up and read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it was written." 
 
Did you notice something very interesting? Jesus is the Son of God. He knows all things.

Yet – he didn’t just speak off the cuff. He read from the Bible. 

Granted back then the Bible looked a bit different. Instead of books, they had scrolls. Generally, these were long pieces of parchment that had been rolled up. As you scrolled, you would roll the ends of it to get to the next page and the next words. There also wasn’t any New Testament yet. Jesus was busy living the New Testament.

Still, there's something to learn here. Jesus had a deep respect for the Old Testament. He had a love for the Bible.  His sermon was based on God's Word.

Take this away from this section: Good sermons are based on God's Word. 

This is key.  Preachers should preach on God’s Word.

Not on last night’s debate.
Not on their political parties' latest agenda. 
Not on the latest article in Time Magazine.
Not on some Facebook post.

Preaching, good preaching, is Biblical. It is based on the Bible.

Pastor, what does this have to do with me? 

True. You might not be asked to preach in front of a congregation of people in a church building anytime soon. But that doesn't mean you won't preach.

You might get a chance to talk to your kids about some moral issue.
You might get to tell your coworkers about what you believe.
You might get to show your spouse how important Jesus is by going to church. 

When you preach, use God's Word. Don't base your words and actions on what you want or what you feel. Base them on God's Word. 

III. Jesus Preached About the Messiah

Now take a look at what part of the Bible that Jesus read from, it’s Isaiah 61. He read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
 
Sounds awesome right? Most of the people knew who this Scripture was talking about. It was talking about the Messiah. The Anointed One. The One promised by God to save them.
 
Think again about what the Messiah had to offer them AND has to offer you:

Good News for the Poor. If you receive bad news after bad news. Late fee after late bill after late fee. The power just got turned off because you’re too far behind. You don’t have enough money for gas to get your kids to school – and they’ll be expelled because you can’t get them there.

The Messiah is good news. The golden studded, eternal riches of God.

Healing for the Brokenhearted. If you’re brokenhearted. If the man you loved cheated on you. Broke your heart. Left you behind. Dumped you…alone, by yourself, with nothing but pain. “Why did I give so much of myself to him?”

The Messiah is good news. He will be faithful and will not leave you.

Freedom to the Captives.  If you’ve been to jail. If you’ve been behind bars. If you’re now behind the bars of your own guilt and shame – unable to escape what you’ve done. Reminded of it at every job interview and every government application...

The Messiah is good news. He frees you from guilt. He releases you from your chains.
 
Recovery of sight to the Blind. If you are losing your sight…if you’ve lost your way. If you remember God, but you can’t see how he is in your life. If you can’t see the right path and everything looks…dark.

The Messiah is good news. He is the Light. He is the Way.

Deliverance for the Oppressed. If you are oppressed by your own thoughts. If the devil tells you that you are worthless, that God hates you, that God wants nothing to do with you, that you can never be saved - and these thoughts filter through your brain throughout the day. Each day. Especially in the quiet moments --- revealing a tumult inside your soul.

The Messiah is good news. He says, “You’re mine. I love you. I died for you.”

The congregation of people smiled. It was nice to be reminded of what the Messiah would do. Here in this Roman dominated culture, they felt oppressed and poor. They couldn’t wait for a Messiah to lead them back to glory.

I imagine that as Jesus closed the scroll, the people nodded with approval. Ms. Mertz who he used to help carry groceries in winked at him. Uncle Karl gave him a big thumbs up. They knew what was coming next. “The Messiah will come. Israel will be restored to glory.” It would be nice to hear this young man who had grown up from their own congregation preaching that same message.

Jesus returned to the center of the front. He looked at them. He sighed. He spoke.

Their jaws dropped. 

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
 
Do you understand what Jesus was saying? His sermon theme and parts were simple.

PART ONE: You need a Messiah.
PART TWO: I am the Messiah.

He was saying that the portion from Isaiah that he read was talking about Him! Listen to Jesus: 

I AM good news for the poor.
I AM healing for the broken-hearted.
I AM freedom for the captives.
I AM recovery of sight.
I AM Deliverance from oppression.
I AM the Messiah.

This wasn’t political either. This wasn’t his version of Trump’s “Make America great again.”

Nope.

This was spiritual. It was eternal. He would be the Savior from Sin.

And…that’s it. He doesn’t say anymore. It’s short. (Even our fast paced, YouTube generation minds can pay attention that long). Jesus wants you to have one simple YET incredible takeaway.

HE IS YOUR SAVIOR.

Brothers and sisters, that’s still the main point today. Jesus is your Savior. If you never got anything out of sermons than that, so be it! That’s all that matters. YOU NEED A SAVIOR and JESUS IS THE SAVIOR!

As a church, this needs to be the central point too. When you new members come up here in a bit, that’s what you’ll confess…faith in Jesus as your Savior. After that we’ll have the Lord’s Supper, where we receive the true body and blood of Jesus our Savior. At the Voter’s assembly, we’ll talk about what the church is up to…keeping in mind our main reason for existing: PREACHING JESUS AS THE SAVIOR!

May it be the same in your life too. As you preach your sermons, make Jesus the center. Make him the center of your relationships, your church life, your quiet mornings, your work day, your conversation with friends, brushing your teeth, saying your prayers and going to bed. 

In short, make Jesus the center of your life. It's all about Him. He is...the Savior. Amen.