Allen Jackson - When God Intervenes - Part 2
1 Kings 19. We’re stepping right into the middle of a narrative. I’m counting a bit on your knowledge of scripture. Elijah’s just had the confrontations on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal. Fire fell from heaven. He’s not really confronting the prophets of Baal, he’s confronting an ambivalent nation, a nation dithering between opinions. He says to them, «You have to decide today whom you’re going to worship: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or the Baals, the fertility gods».
You know what the people said? Nothing. Because there’s a power structure in place. And the true people of God are hiding in caves and they’re standing on a hilltop. They haven’t been hiding in caves. They’ve been living compromised lives. And now Elijah the prophet’s called them out and they’re not saying a word. Until fire falls from heaven. We have a bit of a change of heart. But this is Jezebel’s response. It’s in your notes. «Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he’d killed all the prophets with the sword. And she sent a message to Elijah, saying, 'So may the gods do to me and even more, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow at this time.' And he was afraid and he rose and ran for his life. And he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there».
He went further south than Beersheba. That’s a passage of such amazing contrast to me. Elijah just prayed and fire fell from heaven on an altar that he’d covered with water, and consumed the sacrifice. I mean, at the point of his invitation, the fire fell. First, I’m shocked. Jezebel doesn’t repent. She doesn’t hesitate. She doubles down on wicked. Imagine that, being told that Almighty God had intervened, that hundreds of people have witnessed it, that the prophets of the Baals had been slaughtered and she doesn’t relent at all. She said, «I’ll kill him by this time tomorrow».
You see, I think we have this imagination that if the power of God was made evident, that evil would retreat. Folks, we haven’t paid attention to the narrative. It’s why it’s evil. You don’t negotiate with evil. You don’t barter with evil. You don’t make concessions to evil. The only thing that evil will relent to is a power greater than itself. And that’s not you or me. It’s the power of Almighty God. We are wise when we recognize evil exists to understand we don’t stand in our strength. It’s not about we’re not gonna out-organize evil, outthink evil, outwork evil, out-plan evil. It doesn’t happen. We need a power greater than ourselves. It’s why a Church that doesn’t… by that I mean capital C. If the Church doesn’t welcome the power of God into our midst, we have no response for the needs of our generation. I like to learn.
I like to study. I’m all for you need to use your brain. Too many of us leave it at the car when we come to church. But we need to know there’s a power available to us. God prepared Elijah to confront the spirit of Jezebel. You have to think about that a little bit. God prepared Elijah to confront the spirit of Jezebel. In the same way God prepared John the Baptist to go before Jesus. And God prepared Moses to confront Pharaoh and God prepared Joshua to defeat the Canaanites, and God prepared Daniel to face the Babylonians and the Persians, and he prepared Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem. And that same God prepared Zerubbabel to build the second temple, and he prepared Peter for Pentecost, to lead the church in Jerusalem, and to take the message to Cornelius and through that to the Gentile nations.
God prepared Paul for the Roman world. And here’s the greatest step of faith. God prepared you and me for this season. Just as certainly as any of those other statements are true, that last one is true. My time is slipping away, but I want to take a few minutes and talk about some opportunities that I believe are before us. And whether we’ll gain the opportunities or we’ll forfeit them, every generation has to make this decision. See, if the church fails, tremendous suffering comes to the earth. I don’t have time in this session to take you through. There are many chapters through the history of the church where we have failed. And when we fail, tremendous suffering comes. We become carnal, we become obsessed with our own agendas, and we don’t care about the agenda of God. We abandon people to the onslaught of evil.
I want to use Luke chapter 4. It’s broken apart in several chunks in your notes, but it’s just one chapter from the 4th chapter of Luke. And we’re gonna follow Jesus, do a couple of stops. We’re gonna do it really quickly. It says: «He returned in Galilee. He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit». Do you remember what’s immediately preceded this? Of course you do. His baptism, where God affirmed him verbally, audibly from heaven. A voice said, «This is my Son, I’m pleased with him».
Depending on the Gospel you read, because each of the Gospels records it but slightly differently in who the audience was, the Spirit of God descended on Jesus and he immediately came out of the water and the Jordan River and the Bible says that he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. God’s pleased with him. And the Spirit of God led him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Can you process that? God pleased with you, leading you into a place where there’s great tension? «Well, Pastor, are there other ways to understand it»? «Jesus returns to Galilee after his temptation in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. And he taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him».
That’s the introduction to this little segment. News about him spread. There’s a dynamic that the Spirit of God is doing something that’s different. By this point, Jesus is 30 years of age. He’s lived in Nazareth. It’s a sleepy tiny little village, out-of-the-way village, 1st century Nazareth, maybe 1500 people. Small place, insignificant, not on a major road, no major water source, no Roman garrison, no reason to pay any attention to it. Little country town. Jesus has been completely anonymous. Mary maybe had some insights. Nobody else. And when he returns from his baptism and his time in the wilderness, now the news about him spreads all over the region. The Spirit of God is moving. There are miracle stories. He taught in their synagogues.
And it makes, Luke inserts this little phrase: «Everyone praised him». There’s widespread acceptance. Very next verse, verse 16: «He went to Nazareth». When he began his public ministry, he left Nazareth. He went to Capernaum. Capernaum was a significant city. It’s a fishing village on the northern end of Galilee, but it’s located on a major, major Roman road on the largest freshwater source in the entire region. So if you were traveling from the northern countries of Syria, Babylonia to Egypt, you’re gonna come that way. Jesus located himself at the center of communications. If you wanted to get a message out, Capernaum was the place to be. And he went there and began his public ministry, but now he’s going back to Nazareth, his hometown, «where he’d been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read».
They read a scripture portion in synagogues until today. «And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he unrolled it and he found the place where it is written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He’s sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.' He rolled it up, he gave it back to the attendant. Everybody’s looking at him and he began by saying, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'» That changed the dynamic. It’s not just a historical reading any longer. It’s not just a theology class. He said, «Today, something’s happening, in this space».
See, I believe our faith is intended to be linked to the conviction that today something is happening, that God is moving, that he’s called you and me. We’re not just collecting facts or studying history. We are the expression of the Spirit of God in the earth today, in spite of our weaknesses and our flaws and our inconsistencies and all the stuff that defines us. And we have an adversary who will remind us of them, and we have an adversary, if you’ll cooperate with him, he’ll make you far more aware of the weaknesses and flaws and inconsistencies of the people around you than you will be of the presence of God in their lives. We’re told repeatedly to encourage one another daily, you know why? Because we’re tempted to criticize one another momentarily.
Oh, come on. How many of you know it’s much easier to see ungodliness in other people? I mean, you and I, we’re pretty godly. Holiday weekend, a lot of holidays going on. People on the lake. How many think all the people on the lake tonight are having a worship service? How many think godliness is prevailing on the lake? Mmm. Don’t we feel good about ourselves? How many of you know there’s as much mess in us as there is on the lake? «Oh well, I don’t know about that, you know». Much, much easier. Much easier. «'Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, ' and they all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. 'Isn’t this Joseph’s boy? '»
And now Jesus is gonna mess it up. You know, for all the people that say Jesus is always about love, that he’s a unifier, he’s a bridge builder. Let’s just hug it all out and sing Kumbaya. It’s all gonna be good. Jesus, if he’d just sat down and been quiet and slipped out of the synagogue, he could have been the star at the covered dish dinner. But «Jesus said to them, 'Surely you will quote this proverb to me: „Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we’ve heard that you did in Capernaum“. I tell you the truth, '» you know by now, when you read that phrase coming from Jesus, you’re like, you’re locating the emergency exits.
«'No profit is accepted in his hometown. 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. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in another country.'» That’s difficult for us to imagine, but the Jewish people understood then and today that they were God’s chosen people, that they hold a unique place in God’s economy. And Jesus said to them, «There were a lot of widows in Israel, and God didn’t send the prophet to any of them. He sent the prophet to a foreigner». He’s saying, «You’re not so special».
You understand how offensive that is to those of us who gather? I mean, we are special, we’re not on the lake. And some of us are mad because we didn’t get invited. «And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, only the Syrian». And all the people in the synagogue said, «Thank you for reminding us of those truths». «And all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this». And you think, well, they’re having kind of a debate. They’re arguing over the tense of a Greek verb. And some got a little huffy. But that’s really not what it describes at all.
«They got up, drove him out of the town, took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff». They’re gonna kill him. I don’t think you can understand that scene fully by just rational responses to a presentation in a synagogue. There’s certainly a spiritual component to it, but it’s the presentation of the truth that stirs the spiritual response. I think amongst us, even those of us who have diminished views of spiritual influence have enough intuition to know that when you tell God’s truth, it often elicits a disproportional response, so we stay silent.
I’m a bit bemused that people who talk about Old Testament and New Testament, it’s like as if there’s some great gulf. I mean, 70 times the authors of the New Testament or the individuals in the New Testament, many times Jesus, are using the writings of the Old Testament to help you understand what is being acted out in their lives. The New Testament makes no sense apart from the Old Testament. It’s not like another God, it’s not God 2.0. Same God. Jesus said, «Today it’s fulfilled before you».
You see, every promise of God has a time and a day. And I know that makes us uncomfortable because we like to find the promises of God and think, well, there are, you know, in the New Testament every promise is yes and amen in Jesus. It is, but it doesn’t mean the timing is yes. Every promise has a time and a day, and some of you are mad about God’s timing. I have been. You know, we get in a hurry. We look at our calendars and our life plans and the circumstances we want and when we want things to happen, and God’s not paying attention. What are you doing? Our job is to be obedient to him, to be faithful to him. I want what I want when I want it. I’m really not much different than the 4-year-old version that wanted the pie before my dad got home from work. But I’m trying to grow up. Jesus said, «Today this is fulfilled».
Do you know how many times Jesus has been in that synagogue? He’s been there for many, many years. He’s got an assigned seat like some of you. But this day is different. He said, «Today, what the prophet Isaiah said is fulfilled in this space». And you can feel the stirring start. «Isn’t that Joe’s boy»? And Jesus doesn’t stop there. He said we’re not as special as we think. They wanted to kill him. It was the contemporary application of truth that moved them from the response of well-meaning affirmation to a murderous rage. Much the same happens today. We can talk about scribes and Pharisees and zealots and Essenes in the first century religious sects.
We can talk about the Bible, bring out all of the source hypothesis and biblical criticism and the criteria of historical authenticity, and we can examine Jesus and his ministry as one who established a religion, and there’s really very little, you can go to Harvard and Yale and Princeton and do that and flourish. But if you have the audacity to begin to suggest that the principles of scripture are relevant today, they present to us objective truth and that we should yield our wills to that truth, that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is still calling a people unto himself, and we should submit ourselves to his authority and his moral boundaries, something starts to stir.
And the organized church for too long has focused more on being a historical society, garnering the traditions that we preferred and the behaviors that we preferred. And God desperately needs us to extend his light and his truth to our generation. I’ll close with that next passage. It’s the very next verse. I just broke it apart because it fit my outline better. Jesus leaves Nazareth. He walks through the crowd that wanna kill him, and he goes back to Capernaum. There’s a valley that leads from Nazareth to Capernaum, you could walk it today. It really forms almost a wind tunnel. The Mediterranean winds, the winds coming off the Mediterranean Sea, come down that very valley at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. It’s what creates those storms that happen so suddenly.
But Jesus goes to Capernaum, verse 31: «He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he began to teach the people». Very similar circumstance. «And they were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority». Similar. «In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. And he cried out, 'What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God! '» The demon knows more about Jesus than anybody else in the building. That’s worth noting. Most of you think the devil’s ignorant and stupid. He’s not, you’re no match for him, neither am I. Our only chance of standing against his attacks are with the help of the Spirit of God.
«Jesus said sternly, 'Be quiet, and come out of him! ' And the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. And the people were amazed and they said to each other, 'What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out! ' And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area».
He brought a contemporary message in Capernaum as well. He gave them a demonstration of the gospel. They could have been offended. How dare you suggest that one of the good and faithful members of our synagogue has anything to do with demonic activity? I mean, very easily could be offended. It would have been far more common with our experience to have taken the demonized man out of the church and left the demon in him. Jesus did the opposite. He cast the demon out and the man got to stay. The difference in response between the synagogue in Nazareth and the synagogue in Capernaum is worth a bit of reflection.
Which will you be? Which will I choose? Will we allow the truth of God to give us the awkward discomfort of recognizing that not every chapter in our story should be celebrated? Will we allow it to suggest that there are intrusions of ungodliness in our midst and we choose the power to be free? Or will we defend with fierce determination and hatred when necessary a heritage? The Spirit of God is moving in the earth. I want to join him. I want to say yes to the God opportunities. I want to have the wisdom to recognize what God is doing.
Folks, it’s time for a new courage, it’s time for a new boldness. We have a heritage of faith. The people who made such tremendous sacrifices for you and I to know freedom and liberty and have the opportunities that we have today will wonder what it is we did. Let’s choose the Lord. Can we do that? Why don’t you stand with me? I wanna say a prayer for you. I didn’t bring you a prayer. I want to pray for you this weekend. Won’t you join somebody’s hands? If you don’t know who they are, tell them who you are. They won’t tell you their name, let go. I mean, it’s pretty, 'cause if they won’t tell you their name, they’re probably not gonna pray for you, so I’m not really, I mean that’s like, it’s okay.
Father, thank you. I thank you that we have a heritage of faith. We have a clear record of men and women who chose you. Who understood the significance you bring to our lives and the importance that it be a part of the public square and how valuable it was as we educate our children, as we make choices for government and authority over our lives, that you remain the authority over our lives. I thank you for that. Lord, you’ve brought us to this point. You have kept us and watched over us on many occasions, decade after decade, you’ve poured your Spirit out upon us and brought repentance and mercy and grace. And yet, Lord, we persist in our rebellion, in our selfishness and our ungodliness, and we pause today. Or not to excuse or justify, but to acknowledge that we’re a people in need of healing. We thank you for one another. Lord, we choose you. We choose you with our whole hearts. We want to honor you and walk uprightly before you. Holy Spirit, help us. If there’s anything in us that hinders or impedes or keeps us apart from you, give us the awareness, the understanding, to recognize it, that we might choose you without reservation. Thank you for your grace and mercy to forgive and cleanse and deliver and heal and restore. We praise you for it. And now, Holy Spirit, give us the wisdom, the courage we need, the boldness, to speak your truth with our families, with our friends, in the communities where you plant us, wherever you open the door. May the name of Jesus be exalted, may your kingdom be extended and, most of all, may you be pleased with our responses. May it bring you joy to once again pour out your blessings upon our nation. In Jesus’s name, amen. Hallelujah, God bless you. God bless America.