“Fleeting Fame”
Sermon Presented January 31, 2010
Luke 4:21-30
People in Wisconsin understand the concept of “fleeting fame”! For 16 years, Brett Favre was the beloved quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Although he was not a “hometown boy”, having come from Mississippi, Wisconsinites claimed him as their own. He was loved and revered!
However, that all changed last year when he donned a Minnesota Vikings uniform and played for the Packers’ archrival. Suddenly the love that had been showered on him turned to disgust – even anger. Instead of wanting to see him play well, many of his former fans hoped that his passes would be intercepted or that he would fumble. They wanted him to lose!
Even though Jesus wasn’t an acclaimed quarterback, he was a brilliant and talented teacher, and on the fast-track to becoming a renowned rabbi. When he made his first teaching foray back home at the synagogue in Nazareth, the home crowd loved him. Mary and Joseph’s boy had great potential! They didn’t even seem to mind when he literally changed the scripture he read from the prophet Isaiah. He omitted a critical phrase and replaced it with another. Isaiah 62:1 doesn’t end with “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” as Jesus said, but with “to proclaim…the day of vengeance of our God.” And this day of vengeance was against the Gentiles, those outside the house of Israel. Jesus omitted the judgment part—the vengeance against Gentiles part – and added a statement of grace. It’s almost like Jesus is rooting for the archrivals – the opponents – and not the home team (Ann M. Swennungsen, New Proclamations Year C, 2006-2007, p. 120.)
Let’s look at our text and try to find out just what’s going on in Nazareth that day – after Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah. Luke 4:21-30 (Read text.)
Luke says that when Jesus comes home to preach his first sermon, everyone tells him how wonderful he is and how well he did. His mama would be proud. But then he ruins it all!
Not only does he change the ending to the Isaiah text, he continues by telling stories of God’s grace toward the Gentiles. In 1 Kings, it was a Gentile woman to whom Elijah provided the never-failing jug of oil and flour. And in 2 Kings, it was the Gentile Naaman whom Elisha healed of leprosy. This is too much. Why can’t Jesus just root for the home team – or at least the home country? Why does he have to stir up a hornet’s nest – on purpose? The anger of the crowd is so great that they try to destroy him – to throw him off a cliff. His first sermon in Nazareth moves from a positive reception – even amazement, to rage and attempted murder. (ibid)
The people of Nazareth want to draw lines in the sand. They possess a “we-they” mentality. Even outside of the football stadium, we see this mind-set exhibited today, especially in politics.
Yet our text proclaims the impartiality of God. Jesus claims that God shows no partiality for the Jews. Wow! That upsets this Jewish crowd!
When – if – we understand this concept, we realize that God wants us to erase the lines we draw between others and ourselves. We are all in the same boat – saved not because of our merit, not because we are pure on the inside, not because of our theological or political beliefs, but solely by the grace of God. When it comes to redemption, we are all on the outside – all sinful and unclean. We are included by the God who crosses lines, who breaks down barriers, who becomes human in Jesus to create new and clean hearts within people. (ibid. p. 122)
So how do we live as faithful people in this world shaped by lines and boundaries? How do we live with those we view as “other,” even as enemies? Jesus talks about this in the next chapter of Luke. He says: Pray for others. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.
In this season of Epiphany, we see Jesus, God’s Son, full of grace; and we see ourselves, so deeply in need of that grace. We see the Christ who welcomes us all, sinners and outcasts, rich and poor, home team and archrivals, Republicans and Democrats. It is through this unconditional acceptance by our gracious God that we are made welcome! (ibid)
Most people don’t want to hear that God includes those who look or believe differently than they. They/we want to make God in our own image. Just look at religious leaders who claim God supports one political view over another – and there are religious folk on both sides who claim God’s favor.
The people in Jesus’ audience thought they knew him. They thought they had him figured out. They also thought they knew God and that they had God all figured out, too. But when Jesus describes God’s love for foreigners and enemies, they don’t like it and try to kill him! Don’t challenge my beliefs! I don’t care if you are a hometown boy!
When author Madeleine L’Engle was asked “Do you believe in God without any doubts?” she replied, “I believe in God with all my doubts.” We see in a mirror dimly, but what we see is important. We view God through our traditions and culture, and these are imperfect lenses. (Bruce Epperly, Christian Century, January 26, 2010, p. 20) We can’t claim to have perfect insight into God because no one does.
Jesus risks speaking an unpopular word! He says that God is unfolding God’s power in the midst of outsiders. Do we dare take the same risks? Think about those who fit that category of outsider in today’s world! Think about those who are persecuted by Christians today!
In the midst of the global complexities of this era, this century, the church faces the daunting possibility – indeed the reality – that God is unfolding a new narrative through the particularities of “outsiders” who come to God and bear witness to God on the fringes – and only occasionally in the church. We look at famine, struggling widows, dying children, disbelieving leaders, servants, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus! (David L. Ostendorf, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 1, p.310)
Sometimes we, too, get angry when we hear something we don’t want to hear – something that goes against the grain of our beliefs or is an outright attack on our beliefs. When we calm down, then we can begin to think about what was said and see if there is truth in it we need to hear and heed. When we begin asking questions, we can find answers.
The God we proclaim and worship won’t be domesticated or shut in. God doesn’t accept our complacency and well-worn narratives either. Jesus comes and declares that the Scripture has been fulfilled through him. Then he purposefully jars his audience into feelings of intense anger. Will Jesus jar us into anger or into faithfulness? Will we be indifferent to what is said or will we follow, and by following contribute to our transformation? (ibid, p. 312)
If we follow, we may not only be with the outsider, we may become the outsider. And this is a difficult place to be because we all want to fit in. We want to be liked. We want to be accepted! In this era of increased polarization around religious, political, and economic agendas, it takes courage to speak an unpopular word.
We want people to speak gracious words to us and about us. It’s human nature to seek approval. We don’t usually go out of our way to antagonize those who support us as Jesus did. But most religious folk resist change. AND we believe our reason for doing that is to protect God’s interest. The Jews in Jesus’ audience believed furtively that God was solely the God of the Jews – of the people of Israel. They didn’t want that concept broadened because they knew they were right! Who was Jesus to challenge their beliefs?
Who is Jesus to challenge our beliefs? Well, if we believe that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life, then we need to be challenged by him. Let’s be willing to hear the hard word and to be shaped by it. It’s what Jesus calls us to do!
02/01/2010
