WHY PREACH A RECOVERY SERIES THIS SUMMER?

It never dawned on me that someone would really wonder why a pastor would preach/teach a summer sermon series on recovery. I believed anyone in our church family would “get it”. I have built my entire ministry around reaching out to the hurting, the broken, etc. I have a Biblical belief that all have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Your sin, little as it may be and my sin, big as it may be, both were a part of nailing Jesus to the tree. We are just as helpless to free ourselves of sin as any “addict”. This is a deep biblical, theological truth. It takes just as much grace to save you and me as it does to save one who is struggling with hurts, habits or hang ups. It might take a little extra work for those who live in denial that they have hurts, habits and hang ups. So, for those who might not understand why preach and teach on recovery on a Sunday morning when we have Celebrate Recovery on Sunday night, let me try to shed some light.

First a biblical/theological reason: Preaching on recovery is what Jesus did. 

Luke 4: 14-30 is considered by most to be Jesus first public sermon…his inaugural sermon if you would. He could have chosen deep theological topics like the Sovereignty of God or an explanation of the Trinity. But…he didn’t. He chose recovery. He said the Spirit of the Lord was on him and had anointed him to preach good news. Take a look at how Jesus described that Good News: addressed to the poor; proclaimed freedom for the prisoner; and recovery of sight for the blind; to release the oppressed. Sounds to me like Jesus had a recovery sermon in mind. He had enough topics for a summer series. That was just his first sermon. Perhaps his greatest sermon is The Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5, 6 and 7 are a full out effort of recovery. To preach/teach like Jesus somehow a pastor must include recovery, the sermon topic most often chosen by our Lord.

Now, the response of the people was interesting. “The people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips” (vs 22) Interesting that the people who were hurting, neglected, marginalized, oppressed, in bondage with hurts, habits and hang-ups loved his teaching. They noticed and benefited from his gracious words. They were amazed. On the other hand, the real religious people…not so much. They wanted to run him out of town and tried to kill him. Wow…apparently they really did not like recovery sermons, seeing people recover or acknowledging their brokenness.

Jesus said, in what could be considered his life mission statement: The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Sounds like a recovery mission, doesn’t it? His first sermon a recovery sermon and his life verse a recovery statement. I am trying to choose Jesus as my model on the way I teach and the topics I preach on. I am not saying it is the only way. I am saying I think it was Jesus’ way and I want it to be my way.

See you this Sunday when I teach what the Word of God says about making changes. You can’t go deeper, you can’t be a fully devoted follower, you can’t be sound theologically without making changes. You want to be a better spouse, parent, employer, employee, disciple? Then you will love this message Sunday about making changes.

Pastor Tom