You Can’t Go Home Again – Fourth Sunday After Epiphany (Luke 4: 22-30)
And now for the rest of the story…
Last week we began the story of Jesus’ return to the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. He read to the congregation that day from Isaiah chapter 61, saying to them, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” When Jesus finished the text, he rolled up the scroll and declared to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” After making this bold and hopeful statement, Luke tells us that people received it well. They felt encouraged by these words from Isaiah. They may even have felt proud of the young man from their town who brought them the word that day.
“Did you hear what he said?” “Yes, thank Goodness, I can always hear what he says, he has that good preaching voice, you can hear him all the way in the back.” “I always knew he’d make something of himself.” “Joseph did a good job raising the boy.” “I don’t know, I think he should have stayed a carpenter. It’s good, steady work after all.”
Now, these congregants knew the words from Isaiah, knew them as words of hope for a broken world. And they knew Jesus, not only who he had been when he lived among them, but they had heard of who he was becoming. They had heard of the miraculous things he was doing throughout Galilee. Certainly, none of the people of Nazareth wanted to miss out on the gifts that Jesus would surely bestow on his hometown. There must have been excited conversations going on within the synagogue.
“Just think of all the miracles he can do in Nazareth.” “We won’t have to fund raise for the blind and the poor anymore. He can take care of all that.” “Wait. What’s he saying now? Is there more?”
Indeed, he had more to say. Jesus was aware of things being said around him. He was aware of the expectations the people of his hometown might have for him. However, Jesus knew that no prophet is accepted in his hometown. So, he continued. He returned to scripture and told stories of the Elijah and Elisha. Famous prophets of Israel who shared their gifts, but not only with their Jewish brothers and sisters, but they helped gentiles too. During times of drought and disease God sent Elijah to a gentile widow, and Elisha was sent to heal a man not from Israel, but from Syria. So, when Jesus declared that his ministry was for Gentile as well as Jew, this idea was not understood or well received. Suddenly the people realized they did not understand Jesus, they realized they might not always like what he had to say, and that they did not have a claim on him and his power in the way they thought they did.
“You know, I can’t understand a word he’s saying. He’s always mumbled.” “Well, I think we should help the Gentiles, too, but what about us? We have needs here in Nazareth.” “Is he trying to say I don’t like Gentiles? I have a Gentile friend!” “I’ve heard enough. I think it’s time for Jesus to go.” “Yea, right off a cliff!”
And with that decision, the people in the synagogue that day missed it. It was one of the first steps in the fulfillment of long held hope and expectation that they had been studying and praying about for years and they missed it. They missed it because all they saw was Joseph’s son, one of them, not the Son of God. They missed it because they were concerned about what was in it for them. They missed it because they were angry and afraid. Angry that Jesus came into their synagogue and used their scriptures against them. Afraid that if God had a preferential option for the Gentiles, then that might mean God did not care as much about them. So, they missed the good news. It was right there in front of them, and they missed it. It can be that easy.
But how can it be that easy for us? We who through preaching, Bible Study, and worship invite Christ into our midst on a regular basis. How do we “churched” folks so often lose the plot of what Jesus is saying about the Good News? Well, there are plenty of ways in which this happens. We miss the Good News when we don’t see Jesus when he’s right in front of us. Perhaps we just see someone else’s kid, or just see someone else’s problem that they probably brought on themselves. We miss it when we are too worried about what miracle Jesus is going to do to fix the problem in my world, right now, and get angry when it doesn’t happen the way we want it to. Then at the same time we miss it when we can’t be bothered to notice what Jesus might be doing in someone else’s life. Maybe we miss the Good News because we’re angry, angry that someone would suggest that the scriptures and the way we interpret them can cause harm to others, and that they are telling us there are things about our way of life that we must change. And this scares us, so we miss the good news. We also miss it because we are afraid that if God truly has a preferential option for the poor, the oppressed, and the outcast and the other, then that means there will be no room for us, because if these groups are no longer less than, then necessarily that must mean that we are. When this happens it can lead us to speak in false and hurtful ways, and so, some people miss the Good News because we treat them in such a way that makes “our” good news bad news for them. Which is never the case. There are so many ways in which we can miss the Good News.
Whatever the case, there is good news for us in those times when we miss the Good News. Namely, Jesus was not thrown of the cliff that day. Instead “he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” Those who rejected him and feared him and misunderstood him could not stop him. God helped him to pass through the people and continue upon the way determined for him by God. So, the good news is that the work of the Realm of God continues, and we cannot stop it. The work that Jesus started and models for us, God’s work in this world is an event that we cannot really miss, because it is always ongoing, it is always there for us to take part in, with the opportunity to do our part. So, even if we misunderstand it on a particular day because we happen to be grumpy, discouraged, or tired, or because other people are grumpy, discouraged, or tired, there is still hope that when the time comes the Holy Spirit will be upon us and God will be with us as we pass through the crowd and join Jesus on the way.
Jesus cannot be grabbed and dragged off a cliff. Jesus cannot be controlled like that. And trying to control him is one sure fire way to cut ourselves off from the Good News. People will try to grab hold of Jesus, mold him into the shape they want, take him where they want him to go, and if they get scared enough, toss him off the cliff entirely. But Jesus will not be controlled like that. Not even by his hometown, by his past.
When Jesus says no prophet will be accepted in their hometown, it is not just because the people have rejected him and what he is saying. In that moment, Jesus no longer knows himself only as Joseph’s son -which is how the synagogue knows him- he knows himself to be the Son of God. By declaring himself the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic words Jesus is acknowledging that he can’t go home again, now. He is proclaiming that he no longer has a home in the status quo. He no longer has a home in the way things were, or how they are, or the way they’ve always been. No prophet does. So, he no longer feels at home in Nazareth. And this is the question we wrestle with as Christians, as followers of Jesus. We must wrestle with the question of if we can go home again, now that we know Jesus. Can we live comfortably in the status quo, the way things are or always have been? Can we go home to a place where the poor are forgotten, at best, or persecuted, at worst? Can we go home to a place where the blind and otherwise afflicted are taken advantage of? Or where the oppressed continue to be oppressed? Are we at home in a place where jubilee, the Year of the Lord’s Favor, is looked at as pie in the sky fantasy? Can we find home there?
Unfortunately, the people of Nazareth no longer welcome Jesus home, and Jesus cannot do more for the people of Nazareth if they are not open to him. They first see him as primarily a miracle worker, who had done great things elsewhere. They expected to share in those miracles in a big way. They did not see Jesus as a prophet or the Son of God. He was just Joseph’s son, who was now saying some very upsetting things. Jesus may have felt sad or angry about the rejection from these people he grew up with. Even so, he doesn’t try and force them to understand or accept him. He didn’t take out the scrolls again and find even more places in scripture that would prove to them, beyond a doubt, that what he was saying was true. He didn’t try to change their minds that way. He didn’t argue with them, he didn’t even try and defend himself or the things he was saying. He just passed through the crowd and moved on to Capernaum. It wasn’t up to Jesus to decide what his hometown would accept; all he was concerned about was spreading this good news and preparing people -whoever might listen- for the Realm of God.
The people there that day missed the Good News because they were not open to others receiving God’s blessing. They tried to control it, gatekeep it, and so they themselves could not receive it. Human beings are instruments of God’s grace, we can take in the Gospel message and live our lives in a way that matches our understanding of it, and hopefully that means sharing it and caring for others. However, we cannot set limits on that grace. As soon as we try to do that, we begin to miss the Good News. There are no limits on who deserves God’s grace and no limits on who is worthy of God’s love. It is for all people. We can erect walls trying to keep that grace in our hometown, under our control, but all that does is cut us off from the uncontainable love and grace of God. We can try to make the message of Jesus so small and individualistic that we can feel we have control over it, but it will simply pass through us, because it is for all people. We can reject and deny Jesus and his message, so that we never have to deal with the parts that we don’t like, but it will continue to go on, whether we accept it or not.
This story that we have heard the last two Sundays sets up the paradigm of Jesus’ ministry as told throughout the Gospel of Luke, and the Acts of the Apostle’s, also by the author of Luke. Jesus (or his disciples and apostles) works miracles and speak the Good News, and at first, people are excited by this. Eventually, they begin to misunderstand Jesus, either who he is or what he is saying about the realm of God. Then he is rejected because of this, people even try to harm Jesus or those who preach his gospel. We see this pattern play out not only in the Gospel ministry of Jesus and in the history of the early church that we can read about in Acts. We also see it throughout history, even down to the present day. People hear the word, are excited by the word, moved by the word. Then they misunderstand the word, and are angered by the word, or by people who understand the word in a different way. They lash out in fear and anger, trying to regain control.
This can be demoralizing to people who try to follow Jesus. Who believe that following him means bringing Good News to the poor, the blind, the prisoner, and the oppressed. Therefore, it is important for us who want to follow in that way to continually engage with the word of God that shows us this good news. We don’t try to control the word, fence it in, or use it for our advantage. Instead, we ask questions about the word, wrestle with the word, if necessary. Treat it as a companion on the way that Jesus lays out for us.
There is a final step to this pattern. Right when people are at their angriest and most resistant to the message of Jesus, perhaps they are even ready to do harm. It is at that point that God steps in, allows Jesus to pass through and go on. There is always hope in the story. That it will go on even in those times when we overlook the Good News. There is hope that we will not be controlled by our past, or by people’s fears. There may be resistance when we seek to follow Jesus, but it cannot stop you. You can pass through it, eventually, and go on.
Amen.