LUKE 4:21-30
WHENEVER I HEAR THIS
GOSPEL I REMEMBER A LONG TIME AGO SHORTLY AFTER I HAD GRADUATED FROM
MEDICAL SCHOOL. I WAS KIND OF FULL OF MYSELF, I GUESS, AND VERY
PROUD. I HAD GONE BACK TO MONTANA FOR A BRIEF VISIT AND WAS INVITED
TO HAVE SUPPER WITH MY RELATIVES WHO LIVED AND FARMED AROUND BELT,
MONTANA. I GOT THERE A LITTLE LATE AND TOOK MY PLACE AT THE BIG FARM
TABLE. AFTER A FEW HELLOS EVERYBODY WENT BACK TO TALKING ABOUT
WHATEVER AND I FINISHED MY MEAL IN SILENCE, PRETTY MUCH IGNORED.
AFTER SUPPER IT WAS THE CUSTOM FOR THE WOMEN TO GATHER IN THE KITCHEN
WHILE EVERYTHING WAS CLEANED UP AND PUT AWAY. ON A PLEASANT EVENING
LIKE THIS ONE, THE MEN WENT OUT IN THE YARD TO HAVE A BEER OR SMOKE A
CIGAR AND OF COURSE, TALK. THE TOPIC THIS EVENING, I SOON LEARNED,
WAS THE RELATIVE MERITS OF COW MANURE AND CHICKEN MANURE WITH RESPECT
TO RAISING A VEGETABLE GARDEN. I LISTENED WITH SOME FASCINATION AS
MY COUSIN TOOK THE SIDE OF CHICKEN MANURE AND MY TWO UNCLES HELD
FORTH ABOUT COW MANURE. MY UNCLE PHIL, WHO DID NOT HAVE A FARM, BUT
HAD A VEGETABLE GARDEN THAT WAS THE ENVY OF EVERYONE, DID NOT VENTURE
AN OPINION, BUT MERELY PUFFED ON HIS PIPE. EVENTUALLY I WAS ASKED
WHAT I THOUGHT. NOT BEING ABLE TO SAY “I DON'T KNOW” I CHOSE TO
DEFEND CHICKEN MANURE FOR WHAT I THOUGHT WERE QUITE RATIONAL
SCIENTIFIC REASONS. AT THE END OF MY DEFENSE, ONE OF MY UNCLES WHO
FAVORED COW MANURE LOOKED ME IN THE EYE AND SAID, “A LOT OF GOOD
ALL THAT EDUCATION DID FOR YOU!” AND THEY ALL LAUGHED. YOU CAN
TELL I'M STILL TRAUMATIZED.
WHY DID JESUS' NEIGHBORS
GET SO UPSET? YOU REMEMBER LAST SUNDAY WHEN JESUS TOLD THEM HE WAS
THE FULFILLMENT OF ISAIAH'S PROPHECY. THE PEOPLE LIKED WHAT THEY
HEARD; AND AS THEY THOUGHT ABOUT IT, THEY REMEMBERED THAT HE WAS
JOSEPH'S BOY, THE HOME TOWN BOY WHO MADE GOOD. THEY'D HEARD ABOUT
THE MIRACLES AND THE HEALINGS, AND HERE HE WAS, READY TO DO EVEN MORE
FOR THE PEOPLE OF NAZARETH. BUT JESUS HAD ANTICIPATED THIS; HE
QUOTED TWO SAYINGS TO THEM: “PHYSICIAN, CURE YOURSELF!” AND “A
PROPHET IS NOT WITHOUT HONOR EXCEPT IN HIS OWN COUNTRY”. AND THEN
HE WENT ON TO POINT OUT THAT IN THE PAST GOD HAD PASSED OVER THE
ISRAELITES WHO WERE SUFFERING TO SHOWER HIS GRACE ON PAGANS. NOW
YOU'D HAVE TO BE A JEW OF THAT TIME TO GET THE POINT. JEWS KNEW THAT
THEY HAD A TWO-FOLD MISSION FROM GOD. IT'S ALL THROUGH THE OLD
TESTAMENT. THE FIRST MISSION WAS TO KEEP GOD'S LAW. WE HEAR A LOT
ABOUT THE 630 LAWS THEY HAD TO KEEP AND WONDER HOW ANYONE COULD DO
THIS. BUT TO THE AVERAGE JEW, THERE WERE ONLY A FEW LAWS THAT
PERTAINED TO HIM OR HER, AND WHENEVER THEY KEPT THOSE LAWS, IT WAS
LIKE A PRAYER; IT MADE THEM FEEL CLOSER TO GOD. TALK TO AN ORTHODOX
JEW TODAY ABOUT THE LAWS – THEY LOVE THOSE LAWS, THEY CAN'T WAIT TO
KEEP THEM. SO MOST JEWS NOT ONLY KEPT THE LAW, BUT THEY KEPT IT
WELL; AND WHEN THEY TRANSGRESSED, A SACRIFICE OR A RITUAL WASHING, OR
A PERIOD OF TIME AWAY FROM THE COMMUNITY WAS ENOUGH TO GET BACK IN
GOD'S GRACES.
BUT THE OTHER MISSION OF
THE JEWS WAS TO BE A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES. THEY WERE THE VANGUARD
WHOSE EXISTENCE WAS TO SHOW EVERYONE ELSE THAT GOD MOVED AMONG HIS
PEOPLE AND INVITED ALL NATIONS TO JOIN HIM. AFTER ALL, ABRAHAM HAD
BEEN PROMISED THAT IN HIS OFFSPRING ALL THE NATIONS ON EARTH WOULD BE
BLESSED. JERUSALEM, SAID THE PROPHETS, WAS TO BE A SHINING CITY ON A
HILL, WHERE EVERYONE COULD LEARN WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO KNOW. AND
IN FACT THE QUOTATION FROM ISAIAH THAT JESUS GAVE US LAST WEEK, “THE
SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME ...” IS TAKEN FROM A LONGER SECTION
WITH THIS SAME THEME THAT GOD WAS NOT JUST FOR JEWS. AND THE JEWS OF
JESUS' TIME SEEM TO HAVE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN THIS. THEY WOULDN'T
EVEN TALK TO THE SAMARITANS, LET ALONE THE GENTILES, UNLESS THEY
ABSOLUTELY HAD TO. THE MORE RELIGIOUS AMONG THEM WOULDN'T EVEN
HANDLE THINGS THAT GENTILES HAD TOUCHED. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM
LOOKED DOWN ON THE JEWS WHO HAD BEEN SCATTERED AROUND THE ROMAN
EMPIRE, BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T HELP BUT BE RITUALLY CONTAMINATED.
PERHAPS THINKING OF THIS SITUATION, IN ANOTHER PLACE JESUS SAYS “WHO
WOULD LIGHT A LAMP AND PUT IT UNDER A BUSHEL BASKET?”
THAT'S WHY THE JEWS GOT
SO MAD. THEY WERE REMINDED THAT THEY WEREN'T SPECIAL, IN FACT, THEY
HAD FAILED MISERABLY IN WHAT GOD HAD CALLED THEM TO DO. THEY COULD
LOOK AT THEMSELVES AND SEE THAT THEY KEPT THE LAW, THEY WORSHIPED IN
THE TEMPLE, THEY OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY TITHED, THEY PRAYED,
THEY NEVER MIXED MEAT WITH MILK – IF YOU LOOKED OUT OF JUST ONE
EYE, YOU COULDN'T FIND FAULT. BUT IF YOU LOOKED OUT OF THE OTHER,
THEY HADN'T EVEN BEGUN TO DO WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO DO.
AND FOR THE PEOPLE
LISTENING TO JESUS IN THAT SYNAGOGUE, THAT WAS TOO MUCH.
BUT HOW DIFFERENT ARE WE?
MOST OF US LEAD PRETTY GOOD LIVES. WE KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS, WE
PRAY, WE TRY TO DO THE RIGHT THING, WE TURN UP HERE EVERY WEEKEND TO
WORSHIP, AND WE SUPPORT THE CHURCH. BUT JESUS WANTS MORE FROM US; HE
WANTS US TO BUILD HIS KINGDOM. HE WANTS US TO MAKE A WORLD WHERE THE
BLIND SEE, THE LAME ARE HEALED, THE POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO
THEM, CAPTIVES ARE SET FREE, – HE WANTS THE POOR TO BE RAISED UP
AND THE RICH CAST DOWN, THE HUNGRY TO EAT AND THE WELL – OFF TO
GIVE UP A LITTLE; HE TOLD US THAT HOW WE TREAT OTHERS IS EXACTLY HOW
WE TREAT HIM.
AND WE FEEL PRIVILEGED
AND LOVED HERE IN OUR TOWN, HERE IN OUR BEAUTIFUL CHURCH; WE ARE
CERTAINLY FAVORED BY GOD. BUT ITS HARD TO ACCEPT THAT GOD LOVES THAT
UNPLEASANT VAGRANT DOWNTOWN IN SPRINGFIELD JUST AS MUCH AS HE LOVES
YOU OR ME, AND EXPECTS YOU AND I TO SHOW THAT PERSON THAT HE IS LOVED
AS WELL. NO WONDER THEY TRIED TO THROW JESUS OFF A CLIFF. WE
PROBABLY WOULD ALSO.
