Untitled Sermon (2)

Luke 4:21-30, NRSVue

21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 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.’ ” 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 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, 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 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. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

INTRO

This week, we continue our worship series Six Stone Jars:  The Economy of Jesus. Two weeks ago we began at the wedding at Cana. As we asked God to fill our houses with hoping, we named our need to hope in and share God’s abundant, extravagant love with others. Last week, we found Jesus in the temple reading from the scroll of Isaiah. As we asked God to fill our plans with purpose, we acknowledged our call to live into God’s purposes where there is no less than or more than, where all of God’s children are welcomed and embraced. This week, we continue our journey as we ask God to fill our wounds with healing.

This week, we pick right back up where we left off. As Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” the people were amazed at his words of grace. They heard the words Jesus spoke. Those which he directed at the Roman Empire, those whereby he comes to release the captive, to recover the sight of the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. They felt their Spirits being lifted. Until Jesus says, “Truly, I tell you.” This transition signals the importance of the stories from the prophets of old. 1. The idea or the presumption that salvation is the exclusive privilege of Israel. In both stories, the Israelites are “passed over” for Gentiles. 2. The poor who receive good news, that captives that are released, the blind whose sight is restored, and those who are beneficiaries of the Lord's favor are not of Jewish decent. 

As the words began to sink in, the people of Jesus' hometown grew angry. Interestingly, this is not the only instance in Luke’s gospel where tensions arise between Jesus and the religious leaders or between Jesus and his disciples. Each incident occurs as Christ challenges them to wrestle with the Scriptures. For a long time, the people have waited for the Messiah, believing he was coming to them and for them. They anticipated a mighty warrior who would free them from their Roman oppressors. Yet this boy, Joseph’s son, not only doesn’t resemble a warrior but also tells them that the Messiah comes for everyone. 

God’s favor, the echoes of grace, the whispers of mercy are heard not among those we believe ought to know the saving power of God but among those who we least expect. The narrative of God’s love unfolds in the strangest places and often outside the established communities of faith. Perhaps that has been part of the church's issue. 

We keep looking for God within the four walls, and while God is certainly at work in and through us, our salvation is not tied to how many people sit in these pews. God is not here to proclaim, “I have come to liberate the church.” God’s words echo to us our call to move out into the world. Churches that fund ministry projects for the sake of getting more people into the pews are churches that are dying. Our work here on Sunday mornings is to receive a Word from God that might sustain us for the work ahead, to be encouraged by those gathered, and to be accountable for how we are offering Christ to the world. 

Even the theology of our hymns points us to this. If we think about the hymn He Lives, we don’t sing, “I serve a risen Savior; He’s in the sanctuary today.” Right? Instead, we sing, “I serve a risen Savior. He’s in the World today!” If we believe this, our call is to continue God’s kingdom-building work outside these four walls. We must resist the temptation to think God is exclusively for those in the pews. And we must resist the temptation to think that God has abandoned us. If we are at work in the world, we, too, continue to find our salvation in God.

Ministry ought to be done not for the sake of growing the church but for the sake of offering the love of God to others. If we trust God’s call on our church's life and respond to God’s call, then God will do the growing. It might not be in numbers in the pews, but God will give the growth. Often, I have found God silently working in and through the church as it meets outside the walls rather than gathered and huddled within its doors. I have seen God as I sat in broken-down homes, the brewery, the coffee shop, laundry mats, and in these spaces where they acknowledge their hurt and their profound hope that God is doing something new. 

So often, when we reflect on the number of people here, we grow sad for those who are missing. Maybe they left during Covid because of the rules. Maybe they have moved away to be closer to family. Maybe they have gone on to glory. If we are honest, as we reflect on the movement of God in the world and the ways in which we feel excluded, it is often because of our wounds. Maybe we haven’t grieved those who have left. Maybe we feel hurt by the church or by individuals in the congregation. Whether our wounds come from being in the church or from being excluded by the church and the world, Jesus calls us to receive healing.

At the same time, we must acknowledge how the church has been a source of wounds. When we dismiss ideas simply because “we always do it this way,” we wound others. When we disregard others for being different from us, we wound others. When we fail to live in love and create divisions, we wound others. When we do not love our neighbors, we wound others. This is the place where Jesus’ hometown synagogue finds itself. As one theologian writes, “Change is a dynamic that is most unsettling and is usually resisted in preference for the old, the familiar, and the routine. Jesus’ audience opts precisely for this choice. Not only do the religiously committed resist change, but they also see their resistance to change as a protection of the divine interest.”

His hometown is so resistant to change that they push him out of the temple, push him out of the city, and try to throw him off a cliff. Not that we can blame them…Jesus prophetically tells them, “Who cares if Rome is oppressing us if we aren’t willing to lift up the least among us? Why should we be released from the yoke of the empire…when we refuse to do anything about the poverty that hangs heavily over our neighbor's necks?” This is a hard message to hear; Jesus is not being rude so much as he is calling for their healing. Healing does not mean all is made right; it means that we do not let the past or our current situations keep us from being the hands and feet of God! We are to keep doing the work of ministry! Keep loving, hoping, pushing, and longing for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Church, we are being told the same thing this morning. We are being told by Christ to “Get to work.” Feed the poor, liberate the oppressed, care for the least, the lost, and the last. God came to save all of creation. All of creation is wrapped up in salvation in Jesus Christ. There is no person, no single part of creation which God has not called good and beloved. If this is the case, our call is to open ourselves up to receive healing and wholeness. Our call is to bring healing and wholeness to those who need it. For in and through the body of Christ, Jesus continues to proclaim that all can be saved. We do not hold an exclusive pass on being saved. God wants all to be saved. God offers salvation freely as a gift to any who will claim it. 

Notice how the text ends. Jesus passes through the midst of them. God’s plan still goes on. God will continue to work for the salvation of all. God will continue to show extravagant love and work to create a world where there is no more or less. God will continue to offer healing to all who will receive it. We must ask ourselves, are we willing to be a part of the ongoing work of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit? We can say “no” as Jesus’ hometown did, but God will just pass us by and keep on going. Or we can say “yes.” For in saying yes, we offer our wounds up to God that we may be restored and maybe even find healing. We let go of what was, the ways we’ve been hurt, and embrace God’s plans for our future. For in our healing, in embracing God’s plans, we will find an even greater future, better than we could have planned. We find a world where all are freed to build up Jesus’ economy and welcome all into the kingdom of God. Bring us healing, Lord. Make us whole. 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.