Sermon Detail

Live for Kingdom…and expect push back…and stay away from cliffs.
And if you’re encountering no opposition…it isn’t because the Kingdom is any less subversive. It’s because your life does not resemble the Kingdom.

My point – there is some risk in believing in the gospel of the Kingdom.

· Or worse, You get all worked up about hunger, poverty, human trafficking you well could be marginalized as a bleeding heart liberal.

· People get compassion fatigue and if you are all up in their face about the poor they may just turn you off.

· I’m thrilled that we’ve become such activists here but it isn’t without a cost of perception.

6. Injustice abounds everywhere resulting in systems of poverty, hunger, disease and slavery among others. These systems must be confronted.

6 Kingdom beliefs that will get you in trouble:

· in three weeks we’ll examine the priority of healing in the Kingdom of God but again, you emphasize that and you might freak people out. You might be labeled a Charismatic or crazy or weird.

5. Human beings’ bodies, minds and spirits are broken. We need to emphasize healing.

6 Kingdom beliefs that will get you in trouble:

· Know what a “tree hugger” is? – derogatory term for an environmentalist. You make a stand for the care of God’s good creation and you’re apt to be dismissed and marginalized by some.

4. The physical creation is deteriorating and “groaning” because of abuse and neglect by human beings. We need to care for it.

6 Kingdom beliefs that will get you in trouble:

· And you dare to ask questions about war and you’ll be called anti-American, unpatriotic and anti-military.

· Racism is alive and well in America. You make a big deal about that you’ll find a cold shoulder in surprising places.

· You talk like this and you’ll be called a pacifist. And all the closet racists will stay away. They won’t like anybody getting up in their grill and confronting their hate mongering.

3. Human beings alienate and dehumanize each other resulting in discrimination, racism, war and genocide. We need to be peacemakers.

6 Kingdom beliefs that will get you in trouble:

· People are lonely yet never slow down enough to engage with others deeply. they won’t like it if you get too close.

· If you act on this one and invite people into relationship you won’t get into trouble but might feel distance from those who prefer to do the typical arms length suburban American shuffle.
broken place of the world due to sin ^nd · 2

2. Human beings are alone and lack loving relationships. We need to invite others into relationship.

6 Kingdom beliefs that will get you in trouble:

· Most of you have never ever acted on it. So this doesn’t get you in trouble but it should.

o if you act on this you might be labeled an intolerant fanatic
o if you believe this you will be called fundamentalist and.
· this is the first broken place of the world due to sin

1. Human beings are alienated from God and lost. People need to be invited to follow Jesus.

6 Kingdom beliefs that will get you in trouble:
Let me tell you how by showing you
· the Kingdom of God always disrupts and is subversive…
· If you don’t receive any opposition or questions about your life in any way…then it stands to reason that perhaps you are not living by the gospel of the kingdom
Jesus got in trouble for his views on the Kingdom…so will you.

So…here is the point I want us to process…
3. their very provincial world view … that the world revolved around them…that they were special … the Kingdom is universal…it is worldwide and is not exclusive to one people group.

a. care for the least among us
2. their status in God’s eyes

c. don’t farm
b. release slaves
a. give back land
1. their sense of possessiveness and comfort
What did Jesus challenge and disrupt?
The gospel of the Kingdom is subversive and disruptive. It challenges long held power and agendas.
He may have escaped this time but we all know what eventually happened a little over 2 years later. this story and the ones to follow remind us that…
But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. Luke 4:16-30³⁰ And in a head scratching climax Jesus escapes:
They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.²⁹ All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁸
Jesus audience was all strong, acceptable Jewish men and religious leaders. And he just kicked them all to the curb. Their status in God’s kingdom was now irrelevant.
§ He was a gentile
§ And he was a leper – a total outcast
o And Naaman was not jewish – he was Syrian/ a gentile

· Once owned by someone she was now a nobody in the worst sense of the word
· And she was a non-person – a woman – a piece of property
o The widow was Sidonian – non-Jewish

He reminded them of two stories from their past:
God’s Kingdom is breaking into this world and it no longer depends on Israel. It no longer is exclusive to the Jewish people. And it will include the nobodies of the world to boot.
And this is where the hummus hit the fan…
And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian."²⁷ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. ²⁶ I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. ²⁵ "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁴
· You’ve heard of some of the miracles done through me and you want me to pull a few rabbits out of my hat here too?
· Reading their minds or hearing the muttering confronts them…I’ll bet you want proof. You think I’m being cheeky…full of myself…out of my league
Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'"²³ Jesus did not help matters with his response:
· HE’S declaring a jubilee…he’s the messenger of God??
· Wait a minute! Who does he think he is?
But…it didn’t take long for it to turn condescending: "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.²² The reaction to his claims were at first kind and positive -
§ all slaves would be released
§ land would all revert back to original owners
§ farming would cease for a year
§ by law – every 50 years
§ the year of the Lords’ favor = the year of Jubilee
o It was time for a total social/cultural overhaul
o the Kingdom of God had commenced its invasion
- “fulfilled in your hearing” – this 900 year old prophecy has come true…which clearly meant he was the foretold messenger ^st o 1

· he began = he began to exposit or teach …and this is when the trouble started…
and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."²¹ And as they were spellbound…
· apparently as he was reading…the tension or expectation was rising in the room… The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,

o spoken from the point of view of a herald who would announce the advent of this time
o God’s Kingdom would come into the world – God’s reign would commence and the marginalized and broken people of the world would be rescued and healed.
o Isaiah passage = futuristic picture of a time to come when God would intervene in human history and begin to change the world
o this type of reading was the custom but Jesus obviously had an agenda in choosing it…
· Jesus apparently chose this section of Isaiah 61 to read

o synagogue – “gathering”
· so far so good…normal, typical
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.²⁰ 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, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.""¹⁸ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ¹⁷ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁶
You’ll see what I mean in: Luke 4
o this business about the Kingdom of God is about to turn divisive and deadly
· he gets in trouble…intense conflict breaks out between him, religious leaders and others.
· he starts performing powerful healings and deliverance
· he becomes increasingly intense in clarifying his mission
· he re-calls his followers into a more serious commitment
It’s clear to me that when he moves north things start heating up…
o might have been because it was the most populated area of Israel
o might have been because Galilee was such a cross roads of the middle east
o might have been a safety issue, not wanting to be associate with a criminal
· Why?
· Galilee – large north populated, fertile region of Israel
· Up to now Jesus has been primarily in central Israel but now he moves north
Which brings us to the next phase in Jesus ministry which begins with this: When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Matthew 4:12
disciples, Nicodemus and Samaritan woman)^st installment we examined the launch of Jesus ministry at age 30. (baptism, temptation, 1^nd installment of Legacy NT (Incarnation and childhood of Jesus). Then In Jan and Feb 2^st For newer folks let me back the truck up a bit. Legacy is a ongoing sermon series that stretches back to 2007 in which we have been tracing and studying the story line of the bible. In 2011 we finished the OT and in December began NT with the 1
That’s the story we’ll be studying today as we return to our Legacy series. We’ll try to discover what almost got Jesus killed and what it is that might turn people against you too!
They turned on him. Just like that, in just a few seconds an admiring crowd transformed into a seething lynch mob. One moment they are nodding in appreciation of his wisdom and the next they are bum rushing him out to a cliff to toss him onto the rocks below. They wanted Jesus dead…and fast! But, why?