Where do you worship God? I’m not asking for a geographic location—latitude and longitude.

I’m asking for a place in your life where you worship God.

I’m asking for places in your life where you see and hear the Word of God in a new way—a new way that calls you to follow the Way of Jesus. Luke 4:14-30).

For the people in the hometown of Jesus, this place in their lives came when Jesus preached in their synagogue.

I’ve actually stood in the ruins of this synagogue. It has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times.The tour guide pointed out the stones in the foundation that remain from the synagogue that Jesus spoke in.

We think that stone buildings endure almost anything. But in fact, stone buildings do not last nearly as long as the words of God. On that day 2,000 years ago, Jesus read words from Isaiah written more than 2,500 years ago!

Jesus read:

   “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

      because he has anointed me

      to proclaim good news to the poor.

   He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

      and recovery of sight for the blind,

   to set the oppressed free,

      to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

           (Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21).

When you are at a place in your life—a place of worship—where you realize that Jesus fulfills this scripture, how do you respond?

I hope you respond better than the people in his hometown did that day.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

The people in the synagogue that day scoffed!

They knew this “carpenter’s son”! They knew his mother, his brothers, and his sisters. Who did Jesus think he was! How dare he presume to tell them how to live! How dare he claim to fulfill a scripture!

And so, “they took offense at him.” (Matthew 13:54-57).

Things went downhill from there.

Jesus told them “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” (Luke 4:24). As proof, he stressed that the prophets Elijah and Elisha performed some of their greatest miracles to help people who were not even Jewish! (Luke 4:24-27).

Jesus’ insolence incited deadly anger.

“All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.” (Luke 4:28-29).

Instead of rejecting Jesus, I hope you’ll accept Jesus. I hope you’ll want to follow the Way of Jesus.

How do you follow the Way of Jesus?

Be anointed by the Holy Spirit. Live the Way that produces fruit of the Holy Spirit such as love, joy and peace. (Galatians 5:22-23).

Proclaim good news to the poor. Supply their physical needs. (Matthew 25:34-40; James 2:16). Bless those (including yourself) who are poor in spirit. (Matthew 5:3). Bless those (including yourself) who hunger and thirst for righteousness. (Matthew 5:6).

Proclaim freedom for prisoners. Visit them. (Matthew 25:34-40). Help them—in prison and afterwards. (Matthew 5:38-48; 7:1-5; 18:21-35). Tell everyone (including yourself) that, if we hold to the teachings of Jesus and are really his disciples, we will know the Truth, and the Truth will set us free! (John 8:31-32).

Proclaim recovery of sight for the blind. Jesus is the light of the world. He gave physical sight to the blind. And he gave spiritual sight to those who were spiritually blind. (John 9:39-41).

What must we do to recover our sight?

End our hypocrisy.

We must not lose sight of the forest for the trees.

We must not be blinded by following religious rules. Instead, we must see clearly to follow the important matters of the Law of Moses and of the Prophets as fulfilled by Jesus—justice, mercy and faithfulness. (Matthew 5:17; 23:23-24).

We must not be blinded by cleaning the outside of the cup and dish—the hypocritical facades of our lives and of our civilizations that are actually full of greed and self-indulgence. Instead, we must see clearly to rid our lives and our civilizations of all greed and self-indulgence. (Matthew 7:3-5; 23:25-26).

We must not be blinded by how beautiful our righteousness looks on the outside—the hypocritical facades of our lives and of our civilizations that are actually full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Instead, we must see clearly to rid our lives and our civilizations of all hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 7:3-5; 23:27-28).

When we do these things, we will truly set the oppressed free. We will truly proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor—the Year of Jubilee!

How can we accomplish so many complex, interwoven tasks?

First, choose the correct answer to the multi-choice exam. And the correct answer when following the Way of Jesus is: “All of the Above”!

Instead, some people limit the application of the Way of Jesus to only one answer. He only meant the spiritually poor. He only meant the physically poor. He only meant actions by individuals. He only meant actions by civilizations.

But Jesus meant all these things. The Way of Jesus applies to the spiritually poor. The physically poor. Actions by individuals. Actions by civilizations.

This mistaken effort to limit the full application of the teachings of Jesus is as old as the story of the Good Samaritan.

Do you remember why Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan?

An expert in the Law of Moses asked him, “[W]hat must I do to inherit eternal life?” (John 10:25).

Jesus replied, “What is written in the law. . . . “How do you read it?”

The expert in the Law of Moses quoted: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (John 10:27; quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18).

Jesus said, “You have answered correctly . . . Do this and you will live.” (John 10:28).

But then the expert tried to limit the application of the Law of Moses as much as possible. He wanted a narrow application that would make it easier to satisfy the Law of Moses.

In order to justify the way he lived, he wanted an answer to the multi-choice exam that included fewer people as neighbors instead of more people as neighbors.

He asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied with the story of the Good Samaritan.

A Jewish traveler was robbed and beaten. He was lying half-dead on the side of the road. Wealthy and religious Jews passed by without helping.

But a Samaritan stopped. He “took pity on him. He . . . bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.” Then he took him to an inn to recover. The Samaritan paid all the bills for this Jewish stranger. (Luke 10:30-36).

This story was astounding because Jews and Samaritans generally hated each other. They were reluctant to interact with each other. Indeed, a short time before, a Samaritan village refused to welcome Jesus and his disciples “because he was heading for Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51-53).

James and John asked Jesus, “‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them” (Luke 9:54-55).

Now, Jesus told the story of a Good Samaritan taking pity on a Jew to teach us that we should answer “All of the above” when deciding who is our neighbor. We should treat ALL people as our neighbors!

Similarly, when we hear the words of Isaiah that Jesus read in the synagogue that day, we should apply them in ALL ways that they empower us to love ALL our neighbors—ALL people—as ourselves.

Any effort to limit the scope of these words of Isaiah must be rejected! We must help both the physically poor and the spiritually poor. We must act both as individuals and as civilizations.

In this Way of Jesus, we must “proclaim . . . the whole will of God.” (Acts 20:27).

How can we accomplish so much?  We must rely on the body of Christ. Each of us has diverse talents and gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:4-31).

Some of us are the part of the body of Christ best-suited to help the physically poor. Some of us are best-suited to help the spiritually poor. Some of us are best-suited to empower actions by individuals. Some of us are best-suited to empower actions by civilizations.

“God has placed the parts in the body, everyone of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” (1 Corinthians 12:18-20).

None of us should criticize other parts of the body of Christ that are best-suited to other tasks than we are.

Those who are best-suited to help the spiritually poor should not criticize those who are best suited to help the physically poor. Those who are best-suited to empower actions by individuals should not criticize those who are best-suited to empower actions by civilizations.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’”

When you find yourself in places in your life—in places of worship—where you see and hear the Word of God in a new way, do not waste this opportunity to follow the Way of Jesus better.

Do not waste this opportunity by criticizing people who are best-suited to follow the Way of Jesus differently than you are.

Do not waste this opportunity by reducing how many types of people you will help.

When you are in such a place of worship, wondering which ways to follow the Way of Jesus, answer: “All of the Above”!

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To read about additional places of worship, please read my blogs “Places of Worship—Rainbows”, “Places of Worship—Stone Pillows”, “Places of Worship—Crossing Streams”, “Places of Worship—Burning Bushes”, and “Places of Worship—Seeing and Hearing”.

The ideas in this blog about the story of the Good Samaritan are based on a sermon given more than thirty years ago by Dr. Gary Walsh at Pearce Memorial Free Methodist Church adjacent to the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College in North Chili, New York.

To read more about the story of the Good Samaritan, please read the chapter “The Good Samaritan” in my book Hoping in the LORD, at pages 187-191.

To read more about Jesus’ sermon in the synagogue in his hometown, please read the chapter “Jesus Preaches in his Hometown of Nazareth” in my book Hoping in the LORD, at pages 111-115.I