Just a Few Words B-Sides • 24 January 2016
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.” (Luke 4:14-21)
If your life was a sermon, are you confident that it could stand on it's own without a word of additional explanation, without a litany of excuses for missed opportunities, without a series of rationalizations, and without a measure of blame reserved for all the people that messed you over?
Listen
Reflect
1. If your life was a sermon would it be the shortest sermon ever preached or do you need a little time to explain?
2. What is one thing you could try in the next week to uproot a few of the contingencies that have sprung up in your life?
3. What surprises you about the way Jesus behaves in the story?
God. As we listen in for your proclamation, arrest our wandering spirits with an alarming word of good news, awake our listless souls from their self-involved slumber, attune our hearts to the sound of your voice. Then may we know where the way of Jesus will lead us. Amen.
