Jesus had Fame but He seems to push popularity aside, while declaring his destiny and calling to serve the outcasts (and ultimately becoming the King of Outcasts as well as of the Jews and Gentiles). He tells us of a mission . . . of a calling that is so Focused that we are called to follow Him if we are to be part of God’s Fulfillment in Isaiah’s prophesy . . . if we are have the Spirit of the Lord on us.
There went out a Fame of Him, says verse 14. What is Fame? The sociologists say that fame is based on wealth, prestige, or power. Some rather liberal scholars suggest that Jesus must have been wealthy with money. They rationalize that the miracle at the wedding in Cana that resulted in producing maybe 180 gallons of wine was so enormous that the shear number of people suggests a wealth and prestigious kind of fame (John 2.1-11). They might even try to deny or minimize feeding of 5,000 by implying how so many people were almost hypnotized by charisma and political power.
Jesus returns home with after becoming famous. That’s what wets our appetite about someone. We have ears only for someone who is popular or famous.
PSALM 72:1-17 prepares us for the royal son – the Messiah. Listen to how closely the song of praise and adoration tracks Isaiah’s prophecy.
Give the king your justice, O God, And your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, And your poor with justice! . . . May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, Give deliverance to the needy, And crush the oppressor! May he live while the sun endures, And as long as the moon, throughout all generations! May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, Like showers that water the earth! In his days may righteousness flourish, And peace abound, till the moon be no more! May he have dominion from sea to sea, And from the river to the ends of the earth! . . . May all kings fall down before him, All nations serve him! For he delivers the needy when they call, The poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, And saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; And precious is their blood in his sight. . . . May prayer be made for him continually, And blessings invoked for him all the day! . . . May his name endure for ever, His fame continue as long as the sun! May people bless themselves by him, All nations call him blessed!
Focus - All great stories have a topical focus or theme about the main character or characters. Take the epics of the ancient world for example, like the ancient Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, The Greek saga of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey, the Old English adventures of Beowulf.
Jesus has a Focus that is unlike any grand hero of some epic story. He declares Himself to be “anointed” which translates as the “promised Messiah.” But He is not to preach to the rich and famous, but to the poor and marginalized. He is not to enjoy fame for chumming it up with the prestigious and powerful stars of His day or of ours for that matter. He is called to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind. He sets at liberty them that are bruised – that is Adam’s children (you and me) with the bruised heal from the garden, because He is fully man and fully God . . . able to stand outside our bruised iniquity so as to set us all free from the damnation for our sin and wickedness.
He’s more than a prophet who foretells the time the future or explains the eternal significance of a past event. The God-man prepares us to listen to his message as the current and vital truth of what is always now, what is truly eternal in our spiritual existence.
Jesus doesn’t just resolve to complete God’s pre-ordained plan. With Jesus you are not called to merely recreate "reality" – Jesus is God’s reality invading the world. His message doesn’t have to “ring true" for my idea about what God ought to do or what I want God to do in this world. Jesus is preveniently with those who don’t know who He is as well as those who believe they know and experience Him (then and now). He is the experience, the dramatic purpose, the Alpha and Omega of a non-fictional story. His is "in the moment" with you right now.
Let’s compare this with the opening page of Melville’s fictional novel Moby Dick.
"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the sphleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; when it is a dram, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand on me that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to the sea as soon as I can."
Jesus is the Master’s Story, not just a master storyteller with a tremendous ability to tell a fictional story in a particular moment. Jesus invites you to be a part of His story – you become the dramatic character in movement and development with Him. Instead of a person filled with a “drizzly November of your soul,” you are invited away from the coffin warehouses and funerals . . . the hypodermic and pill laden medicated existence. You are called to a sober yet joyful life of obedient service that is defended from temptation of literally or figuratively knocking your hat or anyone else’s hat off. If you become part of Jesus and His story, then your “high time” is to get out to the journey with Him and not life’s wild restless sea.
You’re no longer some generic everyman or everywoman, feeling a restlessness of the soul that beckons you out to life’s wild restless see. Your quest is not to sooth an ultimately lonely soul lust with nothing more than coffins, death and funerals to expect. Jesus is the Lord of the Dance whose dance goes on into eternity beyond the dreary November of the soul. You also avoid becoming a Captain Ahab with epic rebellion and anger toward God and nature who might otherwise take a number of others down with him. The sin sick soul is bad enough, but when it runs rampant and runs in it’s own way without God’s direction, then evil and blatant wickedness controls. You are called to be a child of God not of Satan.
Jesus calls you; day by day his sweet voice soundeth, saying, "Christian, follow me!" As of old the apostles heard it by the Galilean lake, and they turned from home and toil and kindred, leaving all for Jesus' sake. Jesus still calls us from the worship of this vain world's golden store, from each idol that would keep us, saying, "Christian, love me more!" In your joys and in your sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease, still He calls, in cares and pleasures, "Christian, love me more than these!" Jesus calls us! By thy mercies, Savior, may we hear thy call, give our hearts to thine obedience, serve and love thee best of all. (UMH 398). Won’t you pray with me individually right now. Talk with your heavenly Father as I lead us:
Dear Heavenly Father, this is the acceptable year of the Lord. Our revival service made us more obedient to Your call. Your Holy Spirit speaks to me beyond merely dedicating or rededicating my life to Jesus Christ. My Baptism is not the end station. It’s just the beginning of the great story with Jesus that started me on this path of salvation. You purify me and lead me to Your perfect and holy life. Your rod and staff they comfort me. Your Word is fulfilled in my ears just like that day in Nazareth. Father, I hear and obey You. Help me to stop making up my own reality with lies while ignoring Your truth, Lord. Father, forgive me for I want to love You more than the cares and pleasures of the world – but the flesh is so weak sometimes . . . Please heal me Lord – Heal us all, Take my life . . . our lives and let it be pure and consecrated Lord to thee. By the tender mercies of Your Royal Son Jesus I hear Your call and give my heart to Your obedience. Please accept my service and love. You are the best of all and I love You the most Lord. In the famously blessed name of Jesus Christ, who promises to keep me focused and fulfilled forever according to His Living Word, Amen.
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