Provoked by Jesus – Jan 31, 2010 Sermon
January 31, 2010
Scripture: Luke 4:14-30
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Sermon: Provoked by Jesus by Rev. Doreen Oughton
A few weeks ago we heard the story from the gospel of John of Jesus’s first act of ministry, turning water into wine. Today we hear from Luke about one of Jesus’ early preaching episodes. Now I’m cheating a little bit and including the gospel reading from last week, which ended after Jesus read the Isaiah scripture and sat down. We are told “the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.” And so this week we get to hear him preach, and at his home synagogue no less. He tells them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” We hear that the congregation is impressed by his gracious words. They are so proud of Joseph’s son, how well he reads, how he believes the time is now, the year of the Lord’s favor. It inspires hope, doesn’t it? Good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed. And he even left out that unpleasant phrase that usually ends that verse, about the Lord’s day of vengeance. Yes, the year of favor is much nicer to hear about.
And then Jesus says more, and what he says angers the people of the synagogue so much that they not only drive him out of town, but attempt to kill him by throwing him off a cliff! And these are people who believe they are God’s chosen! What is it he has said that gets people so worked up? The words certainly don’t have the same kind of impact on hearers today. Maybe you can pick up a little bit of provocation when he says, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.” They had just been sitting there admiring him. Why say that? Imagine coming up to me after the sermon to say how much you liked it, and I scoff and say something like, “Oh, you’ll never get it. My message will never be really understood here.” Insulting, isn’t it? He goes on to talk about widows, and prophets of ages past, the heavens being shut up for three years, and the cleansing of lepers. What are we to make of this? What did the Jewish people from Nazareth make of it? What was Jesus saying to them, to us?
Now it seemed to me that he was either reading minds or putting words in people’s mouths when he says that they will quote him a proverb and ask him to do miracles like the ones they heard he did in Capernaum. But he has a clue as to what they might be thinking in the comment “Is not this Joseph’s son?” For with this statement they are pointing out to him that he is obligated to this community. They are his people. In this culture, it was understood that family and village received preferential treatment. It’s like returning from a trip and your child asks, “So what did you bring me?” So Jesus’ comment is less a provocation and more of a reaction, a correction of their assumptions that he, and God, will show them preference, will bring more and do more for them than he did anywhere else. To stress this message to them that they will receive no particular favor, that God’s mercy and favor range beyond their imaginations, he reminds them of two stories from the Hebrew scriptures. In one, Elijah was sent by God to confront an Israeli king who was allowing the worship of foreign gods and building temples to them. When the king did not stop at Elijah’s warning of a severe drought brought on by God if things continued as such, God tells Elijah to flee Israel for the next few years of drought. God eventually sends him to a non-Jewish widow, who feeds him despite her own great poverty. She is rewarded by God with abundant food and drink, and even the resurrection of her son. She is given everything that was promised to the Hebrews, while they suffered severe famine and drought. Likewise the prophet Elisha brought God’s blessing on the Syrian suffering leprosy while many Hebrews were not cured.
So Jesus seems to be saying, “Look, don’t expect any special treatment from me. In fact, lot’s of villages in Galilee and beyond will get even more than you do.” Why he believes they won’t accept him I’m not sure, but it certainly does seem to be the pattern – that the Israelites ignore or persecute the prophets who tell them they must change, that God is not pleased. So did Jesus tell them to change? Is there something about the Nazarenes that God is displeased with? I’d guess what it might be based on their reaction to what Jesus says. When he tells them that others may be favored more than they, they try to kill him. They so want this favor for themselves, or perhaps even more to keep God’s blessings only for themselves, away from others, perhaps to be able to rub it in on others, the favored of the favored. This is what Jesus is challenging.
Now there is an interesting thing that happens to me and many others when we read or hear bible stories. We feel judgmental of people in it. What’s the matter with these crazy Nazarene yahoos trying to throw Jesus off a cliff?! And what’s this about Joseph’s son? Don’t these fools know he is God’s son, God’s beloved. My New Testament professor called in the Jeopardy effect. You know when you are sitting at home watching Jeopardy, on a roll with all the answers before the contestants can press the button. I should go on that show, you might think. I’d win, I’m smarter than all those people. And so we read about the blindness, ineptness, foolishness of the people around Jesus and think, “if I’d have been there, I’d recognize who Jesus was, I’d know he was God’s son, and that he was here for everyone. I’d certainly never try to kill him, I’d never betray him, never even doubt him.”
But I’ve heard that those Jeopardy buzzers are pretty tricky, and sometimes those categories are really, really tough, and you know, you might not win so easily. And I tell you, if you were there with Jesus, you likely would doubt him and betray him. You likely do even now. And if you don’t see it, you have blinders on. If you read the bible and reflect on it and never feel convicted by it, you are reading through filters, you are distorting the message. Because it is hard to follow Jesus, to stand with Jesus, to love as Jesus would have us love.
I’m trying to think of analogies today that might help us get a sense of the rage of the Nazarenes. Maybe when Jesus says he comes to proclaim the release of the captives, he is talking about Bernie Madoff or Charles Manson. Or maybe when he proclaims freedom from oppression, he is talking about the oppression of the Iraqis by foreign invaders, or the oppression of the suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. What if Jesus is telling us that the day of God’s favor has come to them even more abundantly than it has come to us? What if our being Christians as we understand it brings us no closer to God’s favor than people of any other faith or none? We may not try to throw anyone off a cliff, but we would probably be grumbling and resentful, trying to pull others down.
I’m reminded of this story that a client told me. She lived in public housing, and she started to get resentful at a neighbor who drove a very nice car and always dressed with style, had her hair and nails done all the time, and generally pampered herself. She convinced herself that this woman was lying to public officials to qualify for the public housing and other assistance. She became determined to find evidence and turn her in, hoping she’d not only be kicked out of housing, but maybe have charges pressed and have to pay big fines. It would only be fair, she convinced herself. She was friendly to this woman on the surface, and managed to swipe a key from her apartment and make a copy. She watched and waited for the woman to leave, then let herself into the apartment and started rummaging around for evidence of other income. In the midst of all this, she was seized by terrible abdominal pain and an urge to go.., and rushed into the woman’s bathroom. And as she was in there, she heard the woman return to the apartment and cry out, “Ew, what’s that smell?!” My client emerged from the bathroom, mortified, and making up stories about walking by the apartment and seeing the door ajar just as the stomach problems started up. She says she got the message from her Higher Power to back off and focus on her own issues, but she still stewed from time to time about what this other woman had. It’s hard sometimes to be happy about another’s blessings, even if we have enough of them ourselves.
I encourage you, when you read or hear scripture, to try to squash that Jeopardy effect. I encourage you to find the places where you stand convicted; where you are like the mob, angry at Jesus; where you expect more for yourself and wish for less for others; where you are more concerned with what God should do for you than what you can do for God. I don’t say this because I want to insult you or judge you, or because I want you to be hard on yourself, or walk around feeling guilty all the time. Jesus didn’t say this just to provoke the people, these people who had known him all his life, into anger. Jesus said it so that they could see it and change. Because Jesus knows the blessing of living in true community. Jesus knows what it is to be one with others, with the father and the Holy Spirit. We may never attain that level of community, but Jesus wants us to get closer to it than we are. And how can we do that if we never even see how far from it we are? How can we change what we are not aware of? And so we can welcome it when we feel provoked by Jesus’ words, or God’s message that may come in the form of a stomach spasm or something else. It is a good thing when we can see that we are off track. Let the awareness work it’s way through you. Stay in conversation with God or Jesus or someone you trust with a spiritual focus. Let yourself be convicted, and rejoice at the chance to change. And even if its hard to change, even if you keep making the same mistake, finding resentment brewing, rejoice in the knowledge that God loves you and accepts you just as you are, though hopes for so, so much more for you.
Forgiveness for your mistakes is promised, and you are always given more chances. But when you remain stuck, you delay your own entry into this new community, the one Paul describes to the Corinthians, grounded in love, permeated with patience and kindness, rejoicing in truth. These beautiful words so often read at weddings to celebrate a couple’s commitment were written to a church, to inspire their commitment to Christ and to one another. Can they inspire this church? We’re not there yet, we haven’t fully let go of irritability and resentment, let go of insisting on our own way. We are not always patient or kind, and we sometimes do things out of obligation or hope of recognition rather than out of love. But neither have I seen any signs of Jesus being run out of town or thrown off a cliff, so perhaps we are on the way. Let us rejoice in truth, even when it hurts. Let us welcome the growing pains, and support one another through them. May it be so.
