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“Listening to Jesus; Two Case Studies - Part 2” Sherry Lohman - January 31, 2010 Luke 4:21-30 **I wish I would have given more thought to today’s title, and just left it as, “Listening to Jesus.”/ Adding, “Two Case Studies” makes it sound more like a presentation than a sermon. And I certainly don’t want to set you up thinking I’m here to deliver a presentation. I’ve got good news to share, today, and it happens to come by the way of two separate conversations Jesus has with others. We are continuing from the story we heard last week from Luke’s gospel, when Jesus makes his way back to Nazareth, his hometown, having been gone for some length of time. Remember, he is relatively new at preaching, but has already been ministering outside of his hometown, with good rapport. The folks back home may have been waiting for his eventual arrival, with some anticipation, given the glowing reports they have heard. They may have held some expectations about what their hometown son might bring back to share with their community. Maybe they believed he might even thank them for the loving environment they provided him as a youth. And so, while Jesus is home, he takes the opportunity to preach, there, in the synagogue. The scroll he read from came from the prophet, Isaiah, and Jesus chose to read this particular verse: “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 then he rolled up the scroll and sat down to begin preaching. All eyes were fixed on him and he began to speak, saying, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”// That’s where we ended last Sunday. So far, all is well. Of course, as we heard Mary Ann read, just a few minutes ago, the response to Jesus’ words, initially, was warm. Scripture says that all spoke well of him and were amazed at his gracious words. Now, if Jesus had stopped there, we’d have a different story to tell, like how, after he had finished preaching, family and friends gathered around him, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with friends and family, eager to hear where he’s been the last few years, and making small talk about how he’s grown and changed. But that didn’t happen. What happens, instead, is far from that. Jesus’ mission, there, isn’t to be met with accolades. He proceeds, with courage, and conviction, speaking the truth. He testifies: “Truly, I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown….and then expands on what he means by that: “the truth is, ….” and he goes on to address how, in the past, God and God’s ways had been rejected. And it didn’t take folks long to come around to the fact that Jesus was talking, not so subtly, about folks just-like- them.// You know the saying, “if the shoe fits, wear it.” Suddenly, the popular reaction to Jesus quickly turned to increasing hostility as the magnitude of Jesus’ message sank home./ I’ll tell you, right off the bat, what we learn in Preaching 101, and that is that shaking one’s finger at folks and telling them what they’ve done wrong, what they should/shouldn’t do or incurring guilt doesn’t preach well. So I will admit, this passage intrigued me, a little. But consider this. This isn’t a group of folks that Jesus has no interest in. He has not been appointed by the Bishop to minister to this synagogue. These are his family and friends. I ask you--if you can’t speak directly, with conviction, to your friends and family about what you believe, and how you live your life, then who are you going to tell? If you’ve got something to give, most naturally, we share it with our loved ones. It seems like a good starting place. It’s like, when you’ve found something so special, you can’t wait to share it. But in this particular case, Jesus’ words weren’t exactly complimentary to the lifestyle of the community./ So perhaps, his sharing might have come off a little closer to what it might sound like explaining to your family why you have switched to the other political party. Anybody here have that experience. It’s not exactly the conversation you want to bring it up over Thanksgiving dinner, but at some point, it’s going to come out. It’s just a matter of time, because, you believe, with your whole heart and mind, that it is the right direction to go. That’s where Jesus was—he was passionate about truth.// Think about this. If you can’t speak openly and honestly with those closest to you then maybe you need to seriously reconsider just exactly what it is you’re doing with your life. Truly, I can’t see Jesus conforming to family and friends, just because he doesn’t want to forfeit their love or acceptance. I can’t see him putting on a false front, appearing to be something he’s not….that would take a lot of energy upholding such an image. There’s too much to lose; not only for him, but for everyone he encounters. So, Jesus has exposed these truths, and they have won him no favor. In fact, he has accomplished just the opposite and disturbed the hornet’s nest. Suddenly, family and friends are angry---angry because they may have had other expectations of Jesus, angry because the truth cut too close to home, and angry because Jesus was shedding new light on ways they weren’t particularly open to hearing. It seems they would just as soon Jesus had left well enough alone. Certainly, this is not what they were expecting. But there was no turning back, for Jesus, and with authority, he held his ground, which only quickened their anger, bringing it to full blown rage; so full of rage, that like the sheriff and his posse in an old western, they lead Jesus out to the edge of town with more than a warning to “get out of town fast, and don’t ever come back.” No their intentions were to hurl Jesus off the cliff; dispose of him. Purge him from their presence. But Jesus escaped, passing through the midst of them. Put yourself in Jesus’ place. Imagine how you might feel, returning to family and friends, only to be rejected, even run out of town. Perhaps he felt an element of surprise coupled with anger. I wonder if there was some sense of failure or doubt about how he communicated—maybe not the content, but in the manner he brought it before them. Still, he did what he knew he must, speaking the truth which fell outside the boundaries of this particular group of folks who were very comfortable with the status quo. It was truth he grappled with; truth he brought before them. Truth that would set them free./ Why was he pushing and stirring up that hornet’s nest? Why was it so important to him? Why did he care? He would be leaving there. Given a little time and allowing the dust settle—life would most likely resume, as it was./ There’s more here, than meets the eye. It’s not simply a case of Jesus, running around teaching truth. Keep that in the back of your mind, because there’s another element that comes into play that lends us more insight to the reasons Jesus is so focused, here in Nazareth. To help us, we can look just a little ahead in the story. We have the advantage of doing that with scripture. We can look back, in retrospect, or jump ahead; to glimpse at what’s coming. I love this next scripture because it is so telling, and absolutely packed with relevance. (v. 31) Jesus travels down to Capernaum, and again, we find him teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. While he’s there, he is confronted by a man who, we’re told, has the spirit of an unclean demon. This man cries out, “Leave us alone. What do you have to do with us?” It sounds like strike two, doesn’t it? Except, this time, it’s just one man, not the whole congregation that Jesus is up against. The man asks, “Have you come to destroy us?” And then he adds, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” There’s a pattern, here. Everybody seems to love and accept Jesus to a certain point, and then things begin to sour and he meets with negative power/resistance. And even though Jesus has just experienced what must have felt like failure in Nazareth, he doesn’t let it prevent him from moving on. The fact is (and it’s a little frightening), that in both of these scenarios, Jesus is confronted with aggressiveness; pertaining to life and death encounters. In the first case, he was about to be thrown off the cliff. Now, it’s this man who asks, “have you come to destroy us?” Life or death hangs, precariously, in the balance. For Jesus, the truth was/is a matter of life and death. You bet Jesus was teaching and preaching as if his life depended on it, and not only his life, but others’. Because without a doubt, if Jesus couldn’t call the negative spirit (depression, anxiety, worry) to come out of the man—confront it---then most assuredly, that spirit of negativity would eat away at that man until there was nothing left of him. Indeed, Jesus came to destroy it—the death that eats away at our souls. Jesus desires this freedom for his family and friends, (who wouldn’t?!) but they don’t see it. In their narrow vision, they remain slaves to that which robs them of living fully. “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” No thank you. We’re not interested. Don’t mess with us. And this is where our part comes in. Are there times we lack vision, or can’t see or accept the truth? Do we reject the life that Jesus offers and let fear hold us captive? And by the way, Jesus doesn’t just pull the negative out and leave us there, empty if we choose to follow him in our discipleship. (no sir). Jesus teaches us how to build up community with the practices of discipleship (we call it the means of grace—drawing closer to God). We achieve that in part, by prayer, fasting, almsgiving, study, but especially, by God’s grace, in our baptism and through communion. // Our Muslim brothers and sisters, last night, spoke about Jihad—a similar striving/struggle to be the best that you can be, for Allah’s/God’s will. They, too, pray, fast and give money to the poor. Jesus wanted this for his family and friends, and he wants it for us, too. OUR lives, our living, depends upon our choice to accept and live into that truth.// It’s not certain whether or not Jesus ever returned Nazareth. Did his family and friends ever let go of their demons? We don’t know. But we do know that Jesus stuck to his claims, even if it meant parting ways with family and friends. In Matthew’s gospel (12:50) we hear Jesus assert, “…whoever does the will of my Father is my brother and sister.” This is an urgent call, because Jesus is talking about life and death, not just in the afterlife, but in the present. And it’s relevant to how we live, today. Life or death. Freedom or captivity. It’s our choice. Where and how is God calling you—to live in truth? As a church, may God bless our discernment as we are lead by God’s Spirit, and give thanks for the joy and freedom we can claim. Amen. |