Growing in the Light Dr

Growing in the Light
Dr. D. William McIvor
January 25, 2004
Presbyterian Church in Sudbury

Today’s scripture lesson continues the story from Luke’s Gospel that we looked at last Sunday. Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth and preached a sermon one Sabbath at the local synagogue. He quoted from Isaiah as to how God’s Spirit had anointed him to proclaim good news to the poor and release to the captives. Then Jesus concluded by saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The good people of Nazareth were impressed with Jesus’ words, at least at first. He had gained an impressive reputation during the early period of his ministry, becoming famous for preaching, healing, and casting out demons. Last week’s text said that he “was praised by everyone.” So the good folk of Nazareth were excited to see him come home. He was a celebrity, a hero, a local boy who had made it to the top. A celebrity returning home makes everyone happy.

But today’s lesson picks up with what Jesus said next and that made everyone angry, so angry that a synagogue of worshipers became an angry mob ready to kill Jesus. People who had known him since he was a boy wanted to kill him. They became violent because he reminded them of a truth from the scriptures. Jesus reminded them that God doesn’t play favorites. Just because Jesus grew up in Nazareth didn’t mean that they would get special favors and the good religious folk didn’t like to hear that. So let’s pick up the story in Luke 4.

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

You and I live in a transient community. Some of you have been in this community and at this church for many years. But most of you are relatively recent to this area and this congregation. Increasingly we live in a highly mobile society. Fewer and fewer of us live our lives near where we were born or raised and some have moved so often it’s hard to know “where home is” anymore. But whether we’ve moved a lot or mostly stayed put, we all understand the expression that you can never go home again. You can never go home again because home changes. And we change. Everything changes even when we stay in one place.

Jesus went back to his hometown. He had grown famous since he had be gone. Some wonderful things had happened up in Capernaum, about 35 miles away. News got back to Nazareth before Jesus did and when he showed up they were excited to see him. But everything had changed, as Jesus soon discovered.

So let’s ask two questions today. What changed? And, what does it mean for us?

First, what changed? What changed so that a crowd of approving friends turned into a mob of accusing, would-be killers? I think things changed because of what they expected Jesus to do for them. We usually hope famous people will do something for us. So when the celebrity hero came home, the folks in his hometown had some expectations of Jesus.

Next Sunday the New England Patriots will meet the Carolina Panthers in Houston for Super Bowl XXXVIII. My observation is that most of you are backing the Patriots and a few of you are — more quietly — cheering for the Panthers. And there are a least a couple thinking “Go Seahawks.”

Regardless who wins the football world championship next Sunday, I mention it today only to lead in to describing what happened in Spokane a few years ago after the Super Bowl. On January 26, 1992 the Washington Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI. Mark Rypien, the quarterback for the Redskins, was the Most Valuable Player of that Super Bowl.

You see, Mark Rypien grew up in Spokane. He was a high school football star in Spokane and a college football star at Washington State University just down the road from Spokane. His being the MVP of the Super Bowl was a really big deal in Spokane. Every year Spokane has a sports award banquet and it’s mostly a big yawn. But after the Super Bowl Rypien was awarded Spokane’s Professional Athlete of the Year. He was the hero, the celebrity come home, and everybody wanted to be near him. Getting tickets to the sports banquet was never hard except that year. I wonder how many people at the awards banquet asked or expected Mr. Rypien to do a favor for them sometime. And I wonder what Mark Rypien thought about having so many “friends.” Would they all have been his friends if the Redskins had lost?

Everybody seems to like hanging around a famous hero, if the hero is a winner. Maybe they hope something good from that fame will rub off on them. Some are even quite insistent. There was a woman who called Mark Rypien and asked him to buy her an alarm system because her house was just burglarized. She didn’t know Mr. Rypien or have any connection to him. She just thought the celebrity ought to take some of his Super Bowl winnings and use them for her. Of course, there are also the incessant demands for tickets, appearances, and autographs.

Picture Jesus arriving back in Nazareth a few days before the Sabbath. Everyone would want to see him, be with him, talk with him. Why? He had not won the Super Bowl but there was something special about him. He seemed to have a unique relationship to God. That counted a lot for a people who hungered for godly things. And Jesus could heal people. That’s what they heard anyway. So maybe he would heal them from their ailments and troubles. That would be nice.

I think they figured that if Jesus had something special going with God, then they would have some special connection to God too. After all, Jesus was one of their own. Certainly he would do that much for them. I think they were probably saying to Jesus, “You’re a good ol’ boy, Jesus. Now why don’t you take care of us like good ol’ boys do?”

You see, the real problem was not what had changed but that their idea of God had not changed. It hadn’t grown at all. They were still looking for a god who only took care of them. But Jesus was saying that God was bigger than Nazareth. That had always been true. Even the scriptures point at it when they talk about Elijah and Elisha. The Nazarenes expected great things from their hometown boy. Maybe Joseph’s son would even bring in a little money if pilgrims visited town to see him. But Jesus said God is bigger than you think and that got everyone upset.

So what does it mean for us? What does this say to us on a January Sunday nearly 2,000 years after Jesus went back to his hometown?

I think preachers can be tempted here to find a cause or causes they know are upsetting to their parishioners. These could be a political, social, or church issues. Then the preacher could imply that opposition is really opposition to the will of God. That would really upset some parishioners and some preachers like to do that sort of thing.

So I asked myself, what would really upset us like Jesus upset the Nazarenes? I wrote down a few issues but soon crossed them all out. I am not a preacher who tends to thump issues very hard. Every once in awhile if there are compelling reasons. But not often. So then I thought that I could say that God is God for the whole world and we should take off our provincial spectacles. But I think you already believe that. Maybe you don’t like it but I think you mostly believe that God is God for the whole world. So none of this was leading me anywhere.

Then I asked, what really upsets me? When I faced that question, I ended up being right where the good folk of Nazareth were. What really upsets me is when God doesn’t do what I want. I mean, we Christians are suppose to have an inside track with Jesus, right? And after all, I’m a pretty good guy. I’ve given my life to God and I work hard at following God. Why doesn’t God do what I want when I want it, especially when I want good things? Do you ever think about that? Does it upset you? It does me. And I get angry and I throw a few angry stones at Jesus, at least in prayer.

So I was fascinated with the last verse of our text. The Nazarenes were angry and intended to throw Jesus off a cliff. Verse 30 says, “But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” Their anger did not overcome him and he went on his way. The way of Jesus Christ is going to go on whether we get angry with it or not. Jesus is on his way. He is bringing light to the world. That is happening as much today as it did when he walked the dusty streets of Nazareth long ago. The question is, do we want to go that way?

I think we do. But, my friend, growing in the light isn’t a stroll through the park because being called by God doesn’t mean everything will be easy. It wasn’t easy for Jesus. Being in the light doesn’t mean that everyone else will like it. In fact, they will hate it if the light we have questions their darkened perspectives. Often we won’t like it either because the light we have will all the more emphasize the darkness still lurking in our own souls.

But Jesus calls us to the light. That’s what this season after Epiphany and before Lent is all about. Being in the light means growth. The light of Christ brings growth and we must keep growing in Christ, every one of us — the oldest and the youngest. You see, my understanding of God is too narrow, just like the good folk of Nazareth. And your view of God is too narrow too. God is always going places and doing things beyond what we can imagine or agree with. We have to grow in that light even though sometimes it will make us very angry.

Jesus went back home and preached, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Everyone thought that was great. Then he shared a couple of examples of what that looked like. He recalled for them the famine that occurred during the time of the great prophet Elijah. (1 Kings 17.1-16) In order to keep the prophet alive, God sent him to “a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.” Through Jewish eyes (which were the eyes of the folk in Nazareth) that woman had three strikes against her: she was a woman, a widow, and a gentile. Jesus’ good news restores the relationships between women and men, between those who are well off and those on the margins of life (like a widow), and between Jewish and gentile peoples.

Who is comparable in our world to the gentile widow and how is Jesus’ good news restoring them?

Then Jesus talked about Naaman. (2 Kings 5.1-14) He also had three strikes. He was a leper, a gentile, and a general in the Syrian army. Leprosy was not only a painful and debilitating medical disease but also a social stigma. Lepers were excluded from public life. Naaman was not only a gentile, but also a general in the enemy’s army. The good news of Jesus breaks down even those barriers and brings a world of shalom in which strife and killing are impossible.[1]

Who is comparable in our world to general Naaman, the leper and how is Jesus’ good news restoring them?

Friends, as tough as it is, grappling with these questions is what it means to grow in and rejoice in the light that Jesus brings. Will we go Jesus’ way?

I’m reminded of the story of President Lincoln as the Civil War was winding down and it was obvious that the Union would win. Someone asked the president how he would treat the southerners after the war was over.

“But Mr. President,” the questioner protested, “aren’t we supposed to destroy our enemies?”

Abraham Lincoln’s response was a piece of divine wisdom: “Don’t we destroy our enemies when we make them our friends?”[2]

It is our joy and our burden as followers of Jesus to go his way and grow in the light.

[1] Ronald J. Allen, “Preaching the Lesson,” Lectionary Homiletics 12.2 (2001): 26.

[2] Quoted in David Neil Mosser, “Was It Something I Said?,” Lectionary Homiletics 12.2 (2001): 28.