Off the Cliff

Anticipation of Blessings

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME PREACHING?!?

What on earth has Jesus done now? Today continues the text that we had last week as Jesus was in the midst of preaching to the hometown crowd. Now… last week we got some hints that the folks he grew up with weren’t going to be 100% on board with what he had to say—but isn’t trying to throw him off a cliff a little bit severe?! I mean, what could he have said soured their hearts to such a powerful rage that they would have been inspired to commit murder?!

Let’s set the scene a little bit before we get to the meat and potatoes for today. Right after his reading from Isaiah and brief sermon which left the entire congregation not only still awake but excited about what he had to say—they ask the question, “Isn’t this Joseph’s kid?”

This person that they see standing in front of them, this Jesus, is one of their own. He knows their stories. He knows where they came from. He knows their hopes and aspirations.

I can’t say I blame them, though.

And, if indeed he is special in God’s eyes… maybe… just maybe it will mean life will somehow get better for them. That because he is special.... they too will receive something special.

You can imagine their excitement just bubbling over as they begin dreaming what this news of Jesus will mean for them. They’re getting read for God’s blessings to start showering from the sky—it’s time to break open the champaign or keg! It’s time to party like it’s Zero 29!

It reminds me of a congregation that I heard about a few years ago. A very wealthy member of the congregation died and left an extraordinary sum of money to the church. The gift paid off the remaining mortgage without any issue. And there was so much left over that the church budget was going to be completely covered for the next 20 years.

As you can imagine, there was a great deal of excitement within the church. Many of the people realized that whether or not that church continued to survive financially no longer rested on their shoulders. They were free from having to give to the church any more. They could just hold onto those large funds that were given and live off of that for the next 20 years—making it last as long as they could without having to put any money in the offering plates themselves.

15 years in, the church still had a great amount of money. The building was in good shape, they had a full-time pastor with a very nice church owned car for travel… but hardly anyone in the pews on Sunday. 5 years later, the church closed its doors forever. Why?

And that’s the problem.

That congregation had become so excited by the idea of a church with no commitment that they got one. Rather than seeing how they could use those funds to be more deeply engaged in ministry with their neighbors by feeding the poor, clothing the naked, giving shelter to those who needed it… they saw only how their own lives could be made easier, perhaps, through that generous gift. Rather than being a part of a church body that was serving others—it became a body that was served.

Just like the people from Nazareth in our Gospel lesson today when they realized Jesus might be something special, they looked at what that blessing could mean for themselves. Neither the congregation in the story nor the people in the synagogue in our Gospel lesson were nearly as concerned about what Jesus could do for the rest of the world as they were concerned about what Jesus could do for them individually—for them personally.

They were not seeking to be part of a body that was serving as much as to be a body that was served.

Jesus’ Response

And that’s the problem that Jesus sees bubbling up in the excitement at the synagogue that day. People looking, quite naturally I might add, to what Jesus being from Nazareth means for them—not for the world. Jesus points it out by saying:

The New Revised Standard Version The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

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.’ ”

In other words, we have heard that you did good works elsewhere—why not do them here? By taking care of us you are taking care of yourself! So it’s really a win win.

And then he goes on to remind them of two stories from the Old Testament. One of Elijah and the other of Elisha. Both of them great prophets of Israel—messengers of God on High.

There’s a common theme between these two examples that connects them to one another. And that is that the people that Elijah and Elisha fed or cleansed in times of great need were not Jews… but Gentiles. They were the outsiders—the neighbors from the other side of the divine tracks. And both of them, interestingly enough, from Syria.

Imagine in today’s world going to Jerusalem and reminding someone praying fervently at the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in the world to modern day Jews, imagine reminding them that two of their greatest prophets came and showed favor to people not from Israel but Syria. It would likely go over just about as well today as it would have back in the time of Christ.

It’s no wonder that a storm of anger seized them. One can almost imagine the scene of the angry mob grabbing him and hauling him up to the top of that steep hill and preparing to hurl him down.

What’s the offense? That Jesus is for those we’d rather forget? That Jesus is for others that just may be in line before us? That Jesus actually imagines the meaning of and purpose for his ministry as coming to fullness and fruition without our input and control? All of the above?

Thinking again about that congregation who had received the large gift—can you imagine the voices dissent if someone had stood up and suggested, “Let’s not spend any of this on ourselves but just give it all away?” It’s crazy. It’s ridiculous. The wisened people of the congregation would have stopped that kind of talk right away! We’re supposed to take care of ourselves first—that’s the way of the world. And so too we expect that God is supposed to take care of God’s faithful ones FIRST. It’s only fair, right?

Perhaps it would be more fair in our terms but Jesus’ teaching today tells us that God doesn’t always work in the way that seems fair to us. This Gospel lesson pushes us to our limits by reminding that Jesus is there for those we would rather not be included—and that those that we would rather not be included might even be ahead of us in line to get in!

It’s a reminder that we should not take the Gospel for granted. The Gospel is not something that we should use for our own gain or our own profit. It’s not something for our own self-gratification or self-adulation to pat ourselves on the back and say what a good job we’ve done. The Gospel is not something to simply receive in comfort but rather it is a proclamation of God’s work in the world with or without our approval! It’s also a call to engage in ministry and life with those we would rather leave on the other side of the tracks.

The Gospel proclaims that we as the faithful are to put the needs of others not just on the same level as ourselves but actually ahead of ourselves. The Gospel is not something that we should use for our own gain or our own profit. It’s not something for our own self-gratification or self-adulation to pat ourselves on the back and say what a good job we’ve done. The Gospel is not something to simply receive in comfort but to also engage in as a response to Christ’s life, death and resurrection.

And let me be the very first one to stand up and say that this is HARD stuff to swallow. Jesus wasn’t threatened with being thrown off a cliff because he was encouraging children to come up for a children’s sermon about cute and fluffy sheep. His life was put in jeopardy because what he had to say about God’s activity in the world rocked the worlds of good synagogue going folks right out of their comfort zones. Their town’s role in God’s plan wasn’t to become the center of God’s great blessing for the world… but instead the place where the blessing would be launched from to the rest of the world.

And let me be the very first one to stand up and say that this is HARD. Jesus wasn’t threatened with being thrown off a cliff because he was encouraging children to come up for a children’s sermon about cute and fluffy sheep. His life was put in jeopardy because what he had to say about God’s activity in the world rocked the worlds of good synagogue going folks right out of their comfort zones.

Jesus is informing them that God’s greatest gift to the world, who was born in their town of Nazareth, is for the sake of those outside of their town. It would be like us taking our beautiful building here and all of the blessings we have and just giving it to charity to someone we don’t even know and we’ll likely never meet. Why on earth would we do that?

When Jesus talks like this, I remember what I was told as a child when I talked about a crazy idea like that, “It’s nice to think that way, but we live in the real world.” And as frustrated as flustered as I was by that statement back then, I feel tempted to tell myself that we live in the real world now… and that what Jesus says just isn’t practical.

Concluding Story

Many of you will recognize the name of Eli Wiesel (Ellie Visel), the renowned Jewish theologian and prolific author. In his book, All Rivers Run To The Sea he tells of his family, living in Hungry during the dark days of the WWII. His family was waiting for their time to come, for the Nazis to arrive at their door and take them to labor camp.

There’s a story that came across that I think is quite fiting for today. Many of you will recognize the name of Eli Wiesel (Ellie Visel), the renowned Jewish theologian and prolific author. In his book, All Rivers Run To The Sea he tells of his family, living in Hungary during the dark days of the WWII. His family was waiting for their time to come, for the Nazis to arrive at their door and take them to labor camp.

He tells about a peasant woman by the name of Maria. Maria was almost like a member of the family. She was a Christian. During the early years of the war she continued to visit them, but eventually non-Jews were no longer allowed entrance to the ghettos. That did not deter Maria. She found her way through the barbed wire and she came anyway, bringing the Wiesels fruits, vegetables, and cheese.

One day she came knocking at their door. There was a cabin that she had up in the hills. She wanted to take the children, of which Eli was one, and hide them there before the SS came.

They decided after much debate to stay together as a family, although they were deeply moved at this gesture. He writes of her:

Dear Maria. If other Christians had acted like her, the trains rolling toward the unknown would have been less crowded. If priests and pastors had raised their voices, if the Vatican had broken its silence, the enemy's hand would not have been so free. But most thought only of themselves. A Jewish home was barely emptied of its inhabitants before they descended like vultures.

I think of Maria often, with affection and gratitude and with wonder as well. This simple, uneducated woman stood taller that the city's intellectuals, dignitaries and clergy. My father had many acquaintances and even friends in the Christian community, not one of them showed the strength of character of this peasant woman. Of what value was their faith, their education, their social position, if it did not arouse their love. It was a simple and devout Christian woman who saved the town's honor.

If I found myself in a similar situation to Maria… I wonder what I would do. Would I be tempted to tell myself the mantra that I live in the real world? Or would I do choose to do like she did? What would give me cause to follow her example? The words from 1 Corinthians today are helpful:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. If I have prophetic powers and a faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Like the congregation that lived and died for itself… like the good folks of Nazareth… we are reminded that all that we gather, all that we protect, all that we hold sacred and dear mean nothing without love for one another.

It is my hope that each of us can be inspired and encouraged by the strength of character that Maria had. It is my hope that we can hear the impractical words of Christ and respond not with throwing the pastor off of a cliff—please—but by recognizing the joy in the very hard thing that the Gospel calls us to do. To focus first not on ourselves—not on our own needs or wants… but instead on the needs of others in our communities and throughout the world.

And it is my hope that we can hear that this teaching, while difficult, is also GOSPEL for us. For it is through this Good News that we hear God’s care for ALL creation through which we also receive God’s grace and forgiveness. Let us find joy in God’s love not just for us—but for all people.

Let us pray...

Amen.