“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “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 recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But passing through their midst, he went away.” Luke 4:16-30

 “Wherever the Bible goes, people learn to love and to treasure it above all other books combined. It is the one book that people love; it is the treasure that people hold fast even at the risk of their lives. In past ages when wicked rulers tried to keep it from the people, they could not. At the peril of their lives people would have it. They underwent dangers and tortures, and shrank not from anything, that they might possess this wonderful book. It is not for what it claims to be—though it claims much—nor for what men claim for it, but for what it is to the individual himself that it is so dearly loved. There is that in the Bible which endears itself to the human heart, and no other book has that quality. Other books are enjoyed and admired and praised and valued; but the Bible, in this respect, stands in a class by itself. The educated and the ignorant, the high and the low, all races in all climes, when they learn to truly know the Bible, and when they submit themselves to the God of the Bible, learn to love it and to delight in it and are enriched and blessed by it; and because I too feel this deep love in my heart for the old Book, I believe it. I believe that, in some way, it was made for me by One who knew my needs, and that it corresponds to the very essence of my inner self; and I believe that I could not love it as I do if it were not God’s book and if it were not true.” (C.W. Naylor, “Heart Talks”, p. 27-28)

There are many places today where the bible is not welcome – and there are plenty of people who have never read the bible. I was talking to a woman the other day about a service for her deceased mother, and I asked her if they wanted a particular scripture passage read at the service. She told me she had her mother’s bible, and then she exclaimed: “The bible is really hard to read – I feel stupid reading it.” And I said, “The bible is hard to read, but that is why we need to keep on trying.”

I know the statistics say that the bible is the best selling book of all time, and yet, I find it funny how many people have never read it. People have a copy in their home, perhaps it was given to them as part of an estate sale – and yet they have not read it, cracked it open, or even tried because, like my friend listed above, they feel stupid trying to understand it. But we cannot learn to appreciate what is in the Bible by staring at it – or keeping it locked away in a drawer.

My friends, we need to become more Biblically literate so that we can help others become Biblically literate. There are so many translations and Study Bibles printed today that everyone should be able to find a copy that speaks to them – if not is understandable to them. If you are having trouble finding a version of the Bible that is helpful and understandable, just ask your pastor for some help.

Pastor Dave

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.³ Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. ⁴ See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. ⁵ See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. ⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near…” Isaiah 55:1-6

“As long as people are satisfied, they are content to remain as they are. Satisfaction is the foe to progress. As long as you are fully satisfied, you are like a sailing-vessel in a dead calm. The sea about you may be very smooth. Everything may be very peaceful and serene. But all the time this calm prevails you are getting nowhere; you are at a standstill. It is only when the wind rises and the swells begin to move the vessel up and down and the sails begin to strain that good progress begins. You may feel very comfortable in your satisfaction. It may be very delightful and dreamy, but it may be dangerous also. Those who are fully satisfied for very long may be sure that there is need for an investigation. It is only when we become dissatisfied with present conditions and attainments that we are spurred to effectual effort to make progress.” (C.W. Naylor, “Heart Talks”, p. 21)

Can our satisfaction in Jesus make us poor Christians? If we are happy in the Lord, and content with our faith, then does satisfaction mean we have no work to do here and now? No! In fact, our satisfaction in Jesus should make us bold Christians. If we are satisfied with Jesus, then by extension, we should be dissatisfied with the state of the world – for although our faith and trust in Jesus will gain us the Kingdom of Heaven, we are no where near the Kingdom as it will be one day.

If you think about it, dissatisfaction is the mother of progress. If people would have been satisfied with candles lighting our homes, or gas lanterns being the norm, then we would never have sought out the need for electricity. If people were grateful for the wagon wheel, and satisfied with horse power by real horses, then we would never have had a need for the automobile. Dissatisfaction is the mother of progress – it has always and will always be. As such, as we grow in our faith, and begin to internalize the teachings of Jesus, then we should begin to grow dissatisfied with the direction the world is heading – in terms of care for creation, in terms of how we treat the strangers among us, in terms of how we treat the elderly and the homeless, and in terms of how and whether we offer forgiveness and offer love to all people. In other words, we have to be careful not to rest comfortably in our satisfaction of unlimited Grace that comes through Jesus Christ, while there are so many in this world who will never know such satisfaction.

Pastor Dave