Jer.l:4-10
Ps.71:1-6
I Cor 12:31b-13:13
Luke 4:21-30
Epiphany 4C-RCL
MP/HE 2B:10:OO
TO THE OUTSIDERS: FULFILLED IN YOUR EARS
Credits: Pulp.Resource 1/28/01, 2/1/04 (Thos.G.Long, prof. preaching, Candler) Previous: 04,07
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Just before today's Gospel passage, Jesus has returned for a preaching engagement in His hometown congregation at Nazareth. He preaches from a text in Isaiah, saying in essence that the text was not a dead letter, but that even today it is lively and active, powerfully at work in their very hearing. That was the Gospel last week.
And what was the response to Jesus's sermon? Today's passage tells the rest of the story. At first, the congregation is quite positive. They chirp about what a good preacher Jesus is, that the sermon was very meaningful, and that they were pleasantly surprised to hear such eloquent and wise words coming from the mouth of Jesus. After all, He is known as the son of Joseph the carpenter; they know His family.
But then, things begin to cloud over. If Isaiah's prophecy has really been fulfilled today, how come nothing happened? How come Jesus did not perform any of those mighty works we heard that He did in Capernaum? What does He mean, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing? Let's see Him do those mighty works. And eventually, the congregation becomes so wrought-up that they threaten to throw Jesus off a cliff! (That's never happened to me that I have been chased out after a sermon!) The change in mood is so abrupt that some scholars think that Luke has put two preaching stories together, one that went well, and one that did not.
But actually, in this synagogue scene at Nazareth, Luke is giving us a template, a master plot of the whole Gospel as he sees it.
The message of Jesus is the familiar one that God brings good news and release and freedom and healing to the people. So far, so good. But what turns out to be offensive is the discovery that the embrace of the people by God includes those left out by Israel - the poor, and women, and sinners, and above all, those awful Gentiles (like you and me). What turns the Sabbath congregation ugly in Nazareth is the reminder by Jesus that God's work on behalf of outsiders is not just a nice theory, but it is right in their Scriptures. Jesus gives two examples of God's saving work outside the borders of Israel: the ministry of the prophet Elijah to the widow woman in the Gentile town of Zarephath, when there were plenty of widows in Israel; and Elisha's healing of the Syrian leper Naaman, when there were many lepers in Israel. In the rest of the Gospel, Jesus will act out and tell parables about this commitment to outsiders again end again - for example, the Pharisee and the Publican, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and God's banquet table to which all are invited.
But there is more to it. The outrage in Nazareth is not just that God loves outsiders. But it is this: when God's people begin to resent the wideness of God's love and mercy, that resentment creates barriers between God and God's own people. It is not merely that prophets work "over there" as well as "over here". Rather, it is this: our resistance to the idea that the prophet could be "over there" blocks us from hearing the prophetic word "over here". That is, jealousy about God's mighty works to outsiders poisons the possibility of God's working for insiders. In other words, no prophet is honored in his own home town, among people who think that they have a corner on God's favor.
So that old proverb is more than a cliche. Once the people of Nazareth are reminded that prophets do not respect in-group loyalties, they demonstrate the truth of the proverb: Jesus is indeed unacceptable in His home town. In a rage, the people take Him out to hurl Him off a cliff!
So the reason that this story is a template of the whole Gospel in Luke and Acts, is that Luke wants to tell the story of a way of salvation that begins in Bethlehem and ends at Rome, in the world, in the whole universe. The congregation at Nazareth wants to get Jesus off the road, tie Him down, keep Him home. Luke is saying that the Gospel starts locally and moves out into the wider world. God's grace keeps widening the circle, putting more and more leaves into the banquet table, reaching more and more people. But the folks at Nazareth want to invert that equation, and have the Gospel move from the ends of the earth to their local world. "Enough with this ministry to all humanity, Jesus; you are a local boy so bring it on home." And Jesus responds by saying, "If you'll read your Bible, you'll see that what you want is just not the way God works. God's grace is not just a local event."
There is not time today to draw parallels between the story in today's Gospel and the several strands of agony in the Episcopal Church in the last few years. The parallels are there, and I think you can readily see them since they have been widely reported in the press. But today's Gospel can give direction to our prayers for our Church, as we perhaps wonder how this will all play out in the life of our Church. And you can also see that the story gets at divisions in local parishes, and divisions in each individual soul as well. There is plenty of opportunity for prayer, and plenty of scope for God's mercy on us all.
Hymn 470 "There's a wideness in God's mercy"
and/or Prayer for the Parish:
O God, our heavenly Father, make the door of our Parish Church wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship and a Father's care;
and narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and uncharitableness.
Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block to children, or to weak or straying feet;
but rugged and strong enough to turn back the tempter's power.
O heavenly Father, make the door of our Parish Church a gateway to thy heavenly Kingdom. Bless every member and worker in this Parish. May all we do be to your honor and glory, the upbuilding of this your parish, and the extension of your Kingdom.
May we continue to be yours for ever, and daily increase in your holy Spirit of love and service to others, through Jesus Christ Our Saviour. Amen.