When Home Is Not Home

Over to you.

The scripture reading comes from the book of Matthew, chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the bulletin or your own Bible.

Starting in verse 51, we read,

Have you understood all these things?

They said to him, Yes.

And he said to them,

Therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven

is like a master of a house

who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.

And when Jesus had finished these parables,

he went away from there.

And coming to his hometown,

he taught them in their synagogue

so that they were astonished and said,

Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

Is not this the carpenter's son?

Is not his mother called Mary?

And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

And are not all his sisters with us?

Where then did this man get all these things?

And they took offense at him.

But Jesus said to them,

A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown

and in his own household.

And he did not do many mighty works there

because of their unbelief.

This is the word of God.

Great. Thank you, Karen.

Good morning.

Those of you who don't know me,

my name is Chris.

I'm one of the leaders here.

And we're going to be continuing our series

looking at Matthew this morning.

Kevin is away preaching at another church,

at Faith Community Church.

And one of the things we love to do as a church

is we believe we're not just here for ourselves in the city,

but actually God has placed us here to be a blessing

and encouragement to other churches as well.

So I'd love us to just close our eyes and pray

as we begin

and ask God to just bless our time

and bless that church as well.

So Father, I just want to thank you

that we get the privilege

of gathering together this morning,

of being in your presence this morning.

Lord, none of us have any merit,

any right to come before you,

and yet you have made a way for us to come to you.

Lord, I thank you that it's pure grace that we're here.

And so I pray, Lord,

that we would not take for granted

the privilege that it is to both be your children,

but also to be able to gather this morning.

Lord, I pray that you would speak to us

because you're so gracious

and you're so generous

and you love to speak to us.

I pray that you'd open our hearts to be good soil,

that we'd be a people who are chasing after you

and willing to sell everything,

that we might buy that pearl of great price

that we looked at last week.

And I pray the same, Father,

for Faith Community Church,

where Kevin's speaking this morning.

Lord, we pray that they would be a community as well,

which has you right at the center,

that your presence would be there,

that you would encourage them,

that you would build them up,

that you would grow them

and strengthen them as a light

in the southwest of Hong Kong.

Lord, we just pray that you would bless them.

And Father, we just ask you,

even as we go on a journey as a church

in seeking your heart

and seeking your will

and seeking your ways over this next while,

we pray even for the pastor search

as we're looking for someone to come

and take my position next year.

Father, I just pray that you would provide in that.

Lord, we pray for just this process,

that you would be at the center,

that even those people who have sent in their CVs,

Lord, you give us real discernment and wisdom in that.

But we pray as a church, Lord,

open our ears to hear your voice.

Let us be those who love you with all of our hearts.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So yeah, just as I prayed,

we're continuing the pastor search process.

So we'll be giving you some updates

over the next little while,

but we've had a few CVs sent in.

And so we just encourage you to really be praying

for the pastor search committee as well

in this process.

That would be great.

So we've been looking at the book of Matthew.

And before we get into our passage,

one of the things about me is that I used to be,

in a former life, I was an English teacher.

And so this morning, what I would like you to do

is to do a little bit of a pronunciation lesson with you

so that we just test your English this morning.

Okay, are you up for that?

I need a bit of participation here.

Okay, I'm going to put some words on the screen

and I want you to pronounce them correctly.

Okay?

So, can we have the first word?

No, not that one.

This one.

Wow, you guys are good.

Okay, next one.

Okay, you guys have really got this.

Okay, let's make it a little bit harder.

Okay, let's...

You're clearly above beginner standards.

So let's make it even harder.

You.

Oh, this is good.

Okay, so let's go for the next one.

So.

Huh.

What's going on with that?

Like most of you, I can tell,

have learned English quite well

that you've actually begun to expand

some of your categories.

But actually, isn't it bizarre

that actually we have these expectations

of how things should work, right?

We have these patterns that we live with,

as this example shows you.

Things that actually are shaped,

shape our lives

and shape our expectations in life, right?

As like these words shape our expectations,

and then sometimes life just throws you a curveball.

And as many of you,

you seem to be able to incorporate

that English curveball into your vocabulary,

which has actually enriched your language.

But what happens in our lives,

it's actually, it's not just language,

it's our culture, it's our families,

it's a whole load of expectations

that we live and we're shaped by media

and by peers,

and we live with these patterns in our lives,

with these expectations

of how we think life should work, don't we?

Not just language.

Every area of our lives.

And sooner or later,

God will come

and he'll throw a curveball into your life.

And at that moment,

things won't seem to make sense.

Things will seem to be disoriented.

And you go,

what's that all about?

But that is the moment,

and what you do with that moment

will shape the entire course of your life.

It will shape whether you go,

no, words ending in E-W,

they always pronounce ooh.

Or whether actually you're willing,

and you just kind of reject that kind of,

you just say sue,

that's what it is.

You know,

and you get taken to court.

But, you know,

the thing in our lives is

you either stick with everything that you know,

or you allow your categories to expand

and to get reshaped.

And you get a richer,

deeper,

more expansive view of life.

And that's what this passage is actually all about.

You see,

this passage is about one of those categories in our lives,

and it's the category of home.

Because home is supposed to be a place of safety.

It's supposed to be a place where you're known,

where you're loved,

where you're accepted,

where you're secure.

It's supposed to be a place where you can just sit down,

take your shoes off,

put your feet up,

and take off your masks,

take off your pretenses,

and feel totally safe.

With nothing to prove.

It's supposed to be a place

where you don't have to guess

how things are going to work.

Because you know.

But if you've grown up in one place

and gone away to another place,

you will know that sometimes

our expectations,

sorry,

so for example,

if you've left home to go to university

in another place,

and then you come home

to where your parents were,

do you know,

it's never quite the same thing

as it was before.

Right?

Anyone experience that?

Because you see,

they have not experienced

what you've experienced.

They've not seen

what you've experienced,

what you've seen.

And so,

their categories are still like this.

And often what they do

is try and fit you

into their expectations.

But you're different.

You're changed.

And sometimes that can create tension.

As many of us know.

But that's a little bit like

what's actually happening

in this passage today.

Because Jesus has been

this itinerant rabbi.

He's left home.

He's been an itinerant rabbi

preaching, teaching,

performing miracles

all over Israel.

And crowds have been flocking to him.

And he's been preaching

some of the parables

that we've looked at

over the last few weeks.

You know,

the parable of the sower,

the parable of the mustard seed,

the parable of the leaven,

the parable of the weeds

and the wheat,

the parable of the pearl

of great price

and the fish.

We've seen all of these

different power,

these parables.

And he's been talking

about the kingdom of God

and how it's upside down.

It's different

from what you think it is.

And now he is going

to experience

and embody

that very principle

of what he's been teaching.

Because he comes back

to his hometown of Nazareth,

which is a bit like

the Shemshu Po

or the Shemshu of Hong Kong.

It was a place

where people looked down

on it in many ways.

There was about

three to four hundred people

lived there.

It was a poor,

peasant town.

Nothing much going on.

But everyone knew

everyone in this town.

If you worked in the village,

you married in the village,

you died in the village.

And Jesus' family

was no different.

And everyone knew

Jesus' family.

You know,

his dad was in

the construction industry.

And Jesus would have done,

would have also followed suit

and been in the same business

as a carpenter.

And the thing is,

life worked

how it had always worked.

And then one day,

Jesus comes back home

and he goes

into the synagogue

where he'd always

grown up with,

where he looks around

and sees all the familiar faces

of all the aunties

and uncles

and the kids

that he'd played with

and everyone's grown up.

And everyone's proud

that their little Jesus

has come home

and he's got himself

a respectable job

as a rabbi.

And it's wonderful.

And Luke 4,

which is a parallel passage,

shows us

that actually

Jesus gets handed

the scroll of Isaiah

for him to read

as the rabbis

would always read.

And everyone's

waiting for this nice,

friendly message

that they can all

then go home

and get on with their lives

just as it had always been.

But this day,

Jesus opens the scroll.

He opens the scroll.

And it's at Isaiah 61.

And Isaiah 61

is all about a prophecy

of the Messiah,

of the great king,

the deliverer

who's going to come.

It says this,

The spirit of this Lord

is upon me

for he has anointed me

to proclaim good news

to the poor.

He sent me

to set the captives free.

He sent me

to open the eyes

of the blind.

He sent me

to be the deliverer

who brings

the year of the Lord's favor

into Israel.

this is the passage

that everyone

has been waiting

for this figure.

And Jesus

closes the scroll

and says,

This is all about me.

I'm fulfilling this

today in your presence.

I'm here.

And it says

they were astonished.

And in the Luke passage

it says

the words were gracious.

They heard something.

Jesus is now

blowing their categories

apart

of what they were

to expect in their life.

He's disrupting

the whole way

their operating

and thinking system

worked at that moment.

You know,

the same word

astonished

is actually used

at the end

of the Sermon

of the Mount

where it says

Jesus finished teaching

and the crowds

were astonished

because he taught

as one who had

authority

not as the scribes.

In other words

they're astonished

because they can see

something in Jesus.

They can see

Jesus is different

from every other

rabbi

who has ever

come and preached

in their synagogue.

They can see

that he has

a depth of wisdom

and understanding

and he's got

this power.

They've seen

they've heard

about the miracles

that he's been doing.

They know

he's got power

over sickness

power over demons

power over nature

itself

like no one else.

He's got this authority

and they can see

it.

They're astonished

by him.

But you know

being astonished

at Jesus

is not the same

as having faith

in Jesus.

You can be

astonished at him

you can be

amazed at him

you can be

impressed by him

but not put

your faith

in him.

Because right

at this moment

is a call

to faith

and faith

in Jesus

will always

confront

your categories.

It will always

turn upside down

the way you

think life

should work.

And it's a bit

like a jigsaw

puzzle which

you know

somebody's put

in the wrong

pieces

but they think

it looks fine.

Have you ever

had that?

I've seen

that someone

and they go

look it's great

and you're

going hey

it's all wrong.

And so he

will pick up

the pieces

put them

back in the

box

shuffle them

and then

put them

back together

and say

actually no

this is the

picture that

your life

is supposed

to be

and it's

far richer

far more

beautiful

than it

ever was

before

but you

cannot know

Jesus.

You cannot

walk by

faith

without his

kingdom

reordering

your little

kingdom.

Without

you stepping

off the

throne

and allowing

him to be

on the

throne of

your life

and that's

challenging.

And so

this

at this

moment

where Jesus

says this

is about

me

these

expectations

instead of

this hometown

welcoming

and saying

Jesus

yet we want

to follow

you

that's

amazing

they turn

around to him

and they say

who do you

think you

are?

They go

where did

this man

get this

wisdom

and mighty

works?

Isn't he

the carpenter's

son?

We know

his mom

we know

his brothers

and sisters

in fact

they live

next door

in fact

my little

Ricky

played with

him when

he was a

kid

who does

he think

he is

to try

and be

somebody

when we

know

what he

is.

You know

it's like

John 1

11

says this

it says

Jesus

came to

his own

but his

own

did not

receive him.

His own

is both

Nazareth

his hometown

but it's also

us as

humanity.

He came

we are

God's

creation

and Jesus

comes down

to us

he moves

into our

neighborhood

as we

will celebrate

at Christmas

time

by becoming

human

by becoming

flesh

and blood

just like

you and

me

who wears

nappies

and all

that other

stuff that

we go

through

and he

comes to

join us

in the

very

ordinariness

of our

existence

though he

is the

creator

God

himself

at that

very

miracle

which is

mind-blowing

of every

category

that very

mind-blowing

miracle

that he

could become

like us

can be

the very

blinder

that stops

us from

seeing

who he

really is

because you

see for

the people

of Nazareth

he's just

like them

they cannot

see that

God has

come into

their midst

for them

the one

who's got

supreme

authority

the king

of God's

kingdom

doesn't

wear

nappies

he doesn't

play with

our kids

he doesn't

make

Ikea

furniture

for the

Galilee

store

so even

though they

see his

glory

they see

some power

they see

something

different

and unique

about him

the barriers

in their

minds

their

expectations

prevent

them

from

accepting

him

and seeing

him

for who

he

truly

is

you know

we've seen

this actually

before

with the

Pharisees

you know

the Pharisees

it wasn't

his familiarity

that was the

issue

it was that

he didn't

play along

with their

agenda

do you

remember

they had

all these

system

of laws

and of

ways

of

righteousness

that they

thought would

bring in

God's

kingdom

and so

when Jesus

came in

and he ate

with tax

collectors

and sinners

it was like

a godly

person would

never do

that

you see

he's breaking

their categories

and so

they rejected

him

do you see

what it's

telling us

it's telling

us that

actually

the kingdom

of God

can be so

close

and so

present

to us

and yet

we can

miss it

by the

very

expectations

and habits

and behaviors

that we have

grown up

with

that we

don't

think

Jesus

should

act

or work

in a

way

that he

really

does

so

what

happens

they see

but they

don't

see

do you know

if you are

if you are

not a

Christian

Jesus

doesn't

want

Jesus

doesn't

want to

just add

you onto

your life

have a

little bit

of Jesus

here

kind of

make

your life

a little

better

he

actually

wants

to

totally

turn

upside

down

your

categories

so that

you see

he's the

one who

calls

the shots

and you

see

actually

his way

of living

life

is way

better

than

ours

that's

what

he

wants

to do

in

your

life

that's

what

he

wants

to

do

in

my

life

and

it's

scary

it's

scary

because

here

the

people

they

see

but

they

don't

see

they

hear

but

they

don't

hear

and

it

says

they

took

offense

at

him

you

know

that's

actually

a

Greek

word

which

is

the

word

scandalon

which

is

actually

where

we

get

scandal

from

it's

actually

a

word

which

means

like

an

obstacle

something

in

your

path

in

your

way

which

leads

you

to

take

the

wrong

path

leads

you

to

go

away

from

where

you

should

be

going

it's

a

bit

like

if

you

have

some

adventurer

who

gets

lost

in

the

jungle

and

then

suddenly

afterwards

they

come

out

of

the

jungle

and

they

see

this

path

over

to

where

they

know

they

should

go

but

in

between

there's

this

rope

bridge

and

they

go

no

matter

how

much

you

say

hey

it's

safe

a

thousand

people

have

been

over

it

listen

this

is

the

pathway

you

can

trust

it

with

your

life

they

go

I

don't

do

rope

bridges

like

that

doesn't

fit

my

expectations

of how

life

should

work

okay

let me

find

an

alternative

route

that I

can

go

around

and

what

happens

is

they

go

off

and

they

try

and

find

another

route

and

they

just

stay

lost

in

the

jungle

you

see

faith

in

Christ

is

a

call

to

actually

step

onto

the

bridge

and

realize

that

he's

stronger

and

safer

and

more

secure

than

you

ever

realize

he

is

and

the

tragedy

in

this

passage

is

that

Jesus

has

come

home

you

know

the

place

where

he

should

be

most

welcome

the

place

where

he

should

be

most

accepted

is

the

place

where

he's

most

resisted

and

Luke

tells

us

they

actually

try

and

throw

him

off

a

cliff

and

he

ends

up

quoting

his

hometown

and

in

his

own

household

he's

home

but

he's

not

at

home

because

people

are

not

willing

to

see

him

for

who

he

really

is

and

you

know

that's

heartbreaking

isn't

it

if

you're

and

some

of

you

have

experienced

that

actually

you've

experienced

actually

the

pain

of

rejection

at

home

you've

experienced

the

place

where

it

should

be

the

safest

but

can

be

the

greatest

pain

you

know

sometimes

sharing

the

gospel

in

your

household

is

actually

one

of

the

hardest

places

to

share

right

and

the

thing

is

Jesus

understands

that

if

no one

else

does

Jesus

gets

that

because

he's

experienced

it

and

he

understands

you

which

is

why

he

calls

to

us

to

have

faith

in

him

and

it

says

actually

there's

a

terrifying

statement

that

comes

right

at

the

end

of

this

he

says

he

did

not

do

many

mighty

works

there

because

of

their

unbelief

just

think

think

about

God

has

turned

up

at

your

doorstep

and

the

people

of

Nazareth

turn

him

away

because

he

isn't

dressed

right

he's

not

fitting

into

their

expectation

he's

not

coming

according

to

their

schedule

or

their

way

of

operating

and

that's

the

challenge

of

this

passage

the

challenge

is

that

if

we're

to

walk

by

faith

if

we're

to

see

Jesus

and

experience

his

power

in

our

lives

we

need

to

like

we

talked

about

last

week

with

the

pearl

of

great

price

be

willing

to

lay

aside

or

allow

him

our

preconceived

notions

the

cultural

and

family

even

some

of

our

religious

expectations

of

how

we

think

God

should

work

and

begin

to

surrender

those

to

him

and

trust

him

with

our

lives

and

to

step

on

to

that

bridge

because

Jesus

will

not

come

to

us

as

we

want

him

to

be

he'll

come

to

him

as

he

really

is

and

who

he

really

is

is

better

than

we

want

him

to

be

you

see

he's

the

God

of

power

and

authority

but

he's

also

humble

ordinary

and

suffering

and

the

question

is

will

we

welcome

him

as

who

he

really

is

and

what

he's

bringing

into

our

lives

and

let

him

be

Lord

or

do

we

leave

him

on

the

doorstep

that's

the

challenge

of

this

passage

that's

the

unwelcome

homecoming

that

he

faces

but

the

second

thing

is

that

question

to

trust

or

not

to

trust

that

is

the

question

you

see

let me

just

kind of

bring

this

down

a

little

bit

to

us

and

I

think

this

is

challenging

but

also

I

think

encouraging

because

if

we

think

what

are

some

of

the

barriers

what

are

some

of

the

things

which

actually

are

like

that

rope

bridge

in

our

life

or

those

obstacles

that

we

look

at

and

go

I'm

not

sure

whether

I

can

really

trust

you

I

want

to

give

you

a

couple

for

some

of

us

it's

because

we've

grown

up

here

we've

grown

up

in

our

families

we've

grown

up

with

just

the

cultural

ways

of

doing

stuff

we

live

according

to

the

wisdom

of

Hong

Kong

not

according

to

the

wisdom

of

Christ

some

of

us

we're

too

afraid

to

step

out

and

trust

God

whether

it's

with

our

finances

whether

it's

with

our

kids

whether

it's

with

our

relationships

whatever

area

of

your

life

we're

too

afraid

to

step

out

because

it

feels

uncertain

it

feels

scary

it

feels

uncomfortable

you

know

maybe

you

read

about

in

the

Bible

about

the

miracles

of

Jesus

and

you

see

dramatic

answers

of

prayer

in

scripture

and

you

go

but

that's

not

my

experience

and

so

I'm

just

going

to

stay

in

my

little

operating

system

kind

of

safe

the

way

I

know

how

to

do

things

kind

of

self

reliant

and

trusting

in

your

own

wisdom

you

know

I

was

speaking

at a

church

last

week

in

New Long

wonderful

church

and

after the

service

this guy

comes up

to me

and he

says

do you

know

the last

time you

came

God

really

spoke

to me

and I

was like

wow

that's

great

and he

said

every

Sunday

I'm

normally

super

stressed

because

Monday

morning

I have

to give

the sales

figures

to my

boss

and

sales

are doing

terribly

at the

moment

and he

says

so

actually

the way

everyone

does

things

in

the

company

and

around

me

and

what

I've

grown

up

with

is

we

just

kind

of

try

and

massage

the

figures

to make

them

look

better

than

they

really

are

because

you

know

like

no one

wants

to come

clean

about

the

real

deal

and so

he

says

I've

spent

hours

like

stressing

every

Sunday

I'm

trying

to

find

ways

to

make

these

figures

work

so

God

is

a

God

who

actually

brings

resurrection

out of

death

God

is

a

God

who

actually

brings

life

right

when

you

think

there

is

the

hardest

situations

and

he

said

I

was

so

convicted

I

got

on

my

knees