God is here and now
Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, year C
Bible reading: Luke 4:21-30
A man decided to write a book about famous churches around the world. He started in the USA. On his first day he was inside a church taking photos when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read, ‘$10,000 per call’
. Being intrigued he asked the priest what the telephone was used for.
The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God. The man thanked the priest and went on his way. Next stop in the USA was a very large cathedral. There was the same golden phone, and he was once again told that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God. All over USA he found the same golden telephone with the same ‘10,000 per call’
,sign under it.
Finally the man decided to travel to Australia to see if the same phone was found in churches there. In the first church in Australia, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read, ‘50 cents per call’
. He told the local priest how he had seen these same telephones in churches all over the USA and the price for a direct line to heaven was always $10,000. Why is it so cheap here? The priest replied: ‘You’re in Australia now, mate – it’s a local call.’
God is local. God is right here. God comes to us and stands right in our midst. You don’t have to go up to heaven to find him, or to the ends of the earth. God comes to this earth in Jesus Christ, and God comes to us right where we are.
This is a great privilege and a great opportunity. This is Good News. No wonder the Gospels begin with words like Jesus came proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come, he said. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.
It is good news that God is here in our midst in Jesus Christ, and the call is to turn away from everything else that it is bad news and welcome Jesus and follow him. In fact, if we don’t understand what repent and believe the good news
means, Jesus follows it up with his call follow me
. The presence of Jesus and the kingdom of God in our midst is the best news, and nothing can be better than believing in Jesus and following him.
The greatest joy of being a pastor is the privilege of proclaiming this good news of Jesus Christ to people. As a teenager I had this burning desire in my heart to tell people about Jesus. I wanted everybody to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. The call became so strong, that though I really wanted to be a farmer, I finally knew that God was calling me to be a pastor – a pastor who seeks to tell everybody I can the good news of how God loves people so much he sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die to save us all from our sins.
In Auckland, almost from day one, I met people who wanted to hear about Jesus and his love, and I saw their joy as they discovered how good and gracious God is. In Flaxmere I saw it as I knocked on neighbourhood doors, and people asked for their children to be baptised and on many occasions it led to whole families becoming Christian. In Perth a family came asking me to conduct a tragic funeral, and as a result seven members of the family had their sorrow turned into joy as they believed in Jesus and were baptised. In Bethlehem many times I have seen people weep for joy as they have heard how good God is, how much he loves them, how he reaches out to forgive them and give them new life.
God is local. He is right in our midst, loving, forgiving, giving eternal life. God comes to us in Jesus Christ right where we are. This is a great privilege.
This is also a great danger. It is possible for God to come so near, and yet for us to reject him – to not recognise him, and reject him; to not like his claims, and reject him; to put him off to another day, and to reject him.
Jesus was in the world… but the world did not recognise him. He came to his own home, and his own people did not receive him.
He came so close, yet people rejected him. Jesus came to his hometown… and they took offense at him… And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
He came to Nazareth, the town he spent the best part of 30 years in, and he preached in the family synagogue, saying: The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…to set the prisoners free…
And for a moment they were impressed. But then they turned against him.
They demanded he perform impressive signs or they’d reject him. And when Jesus reminded them that God loves the whole world, and if people reject him in one place he will move on to the next, they were furious. When Jesus spoke of God reaching out to save the Gentiles, reaching out in mission to save the enemies of Israel, the people in the synagogue were furious
: they drove him out of the synagogue; they drove him out of town and took him to the brow of the hill… in order to throw him down the cliff.
Not a good reception to his first sermon, in which he said God had come to save them all, including all the lost people of their land, and every land!
I’m a bit anxious today. For the last two Sundays the Bethlehem chairman has thrown me out of church after worship so he could talk to you behind my back. Where is this leading? One thing is sure. I won’t be here next Sunday.
God will be here next Sunday, as he is this Sunday.
- God will be as local as Jesus Christ in bread and wine, as words being read and preached, as water being splashed over a baby.
- God will be as present with you as the Christian person sitting next to you in the pew.
- God will be within earshot of each prayer you prayer, and as close as the cry of a poor or distressed person seeking your help.
- God will be as close to you as the heart beating within your chest, and the thoughts welling up in your minds.
God is local through Jesus Christ, and he will always be coming to you in love and peace. Don’t reject him.
You may not always be happy with his messenger. You may feel let down by the pastor, or by the church. You may feel like stoning the pastor or throwing him over the cliff. The pastor is human, and it is easy to find fault with humans. But though God became human, and vulnerable, it is a frightening thing to find fault with him. He walks through the furious crowd, and continues his journey of love to the cross, for his friends and his foes. The rejection he experienced from those he came to love, led to his death, which brings salvation to us all. What Good News!
I am going, but Jesus will keep coming to you. He is the God of the here and now. He is the God who brings good news to you here and now, and invites you believe and come with him on a journey of faith and love, which never ends. And don’t be offended that he has others he wants to save – lost ones, in this city, in other lands. Catch the passion of his heart to reach out to them all, and bring them all home. God is love. God is Good News. God is here, and the time is now. Welcome him. Welcome his love and his forgiveness. Celebrate his love. Share his love; here and now. Amen.