Scripture/Sermon of the Day    February 2, 2025

Luke 4:21-30

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 not this 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 the prophet’s 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 lepers 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.

Reflection/Sermon:

I.      In Luke’s gospel, Jesus started his ministry in Galilee and “he taught in synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

II.     An interesting detail — Luke is the only Gospel where at this point, Jesus doesn’t have any disciples.  He’s begun his ministry in Galilee, and now he’s going to Nazareth — ALONE.  In the other gospels, he picks disciples after he is baptized.  In John’s gospel, when Jesus goes to Cana — he already has disciples even before his first healing or miracle.  In Matthew and Mark, when Jesus is rejected at Nazareth — the disciples are with him.  But not in Luke — he’s alone when he is rejected.

II.     When he arrived in Nazareth, Jesus was like the Philadelphia Eagles after their victory last week over the Washington Commanders.  Thousands of people filled the streets of Philadelphia to celebrate winning and going to — the Super Bowl!  If you saw news clips of that celebration, someone in the crowd shot his gun in the air, like in the wild west!

People were that excited to see Jesus — he was a rock star.  And Jesus didn’t disappoint.  He went to the synagogue and read from Isaiah.  He said he’d “liberate the oppressed!” Good news!

III.    People shouted, “Yay Jesus!  Israel first!  Make Israel Great Again.”  People sewed MIGA patches on their clothing.  Men tattooed it on their arms and chests.  Everyone praised Jesus.  People Magazine had a reporter there for a cover story about Jesus — which their poll claimed was the sexiest man in Israel. The article said: “Local Homeboy Is Famous!”

 III.   The problem with Jesus — and you could say this about all the prophets, all the way up to Martin Luther King and most recently Bishop Mariann Budde (who two weeks ago begged Trump to have mercy on undocumented citizens and the LGBTQ community — their problem is — they don’t use their fame to their advantage.  When the crowds cheer them — they need to quit — while they’re ahead, and popular, and loved.

IV.     Imagine having a compulsion to tell the truth, a compulsion to be an advocate for people who have no value in society.  It’s kind of a curse — because what does it get you?  Killed!

V.      Jesus had this curse.  If Jesus had a PR man, then after he read the Isaiah passage the PR guy would have made a thumbs-up signal to Jesus and clapped and then motioned for Jesus to exit, NOW — WHILE HE HAD THE CROWD.  Don’t give any interpretation, any homily — JUST LEAVE.  But Jesus had to talk — because of that “honesty curse” — so he told this MIGA crowd that God loves the foreigners as much — maybe more — than them.  Even terrorists enemy soldiers like the Syrian general Naaman got more favored treatment from God than Jews.  That’s like saying God loves Osama Bin Laden more than us!!!!

VI.      The synagogue service turned into a riot.  Most “Make Israel Great Again” folks chased Jesus with tasers, flag-poles, bear repellent and home-made weapons.  The police trying to keep order and protecting Jesus were struck on their heads and bodies with “Israel First” signs.  One of Jesus’ childhood friends took his hand and led him to an emergency exit and gave him a hat and a gray wig to make him look like an old man. The disguise saved Jesus life and he escaped.  He never saw Nazareth again.

VII.    All the great religions teach love.  Jesus said the only law that matters in the Bible is love of God and neighbor and self.  But love is a gift that only God gives and we have to wait for it.

In the meantime, we fight wars and treat other people terribly.  Think about it — of all the subjects Jesus could have talked about in his first Bible sermon, why did he speak about God’s love of foreigners — who we often call aliens — because if we called them human beings who are just like us — how could we live with our guilt for the horrible way we treat them? 

EVERY TIME AN UNDOCUMENTED, TAX-PAYING, HARD WORKING, FAMILY-LOVING, AMERICA-LOVING PERSON IS DEPORTED, WE PUSH JESUS OFF A CLIFF.   The irony here — millions of the people pushing Jesus off a cliff call themselves Christian!  This reading today is about us — we are the people pushing Jesus off the cliff — and the reading calls for us to repent and beg God to help us get back on the right track of loving everyone, especially those Jesus called “the least of these.”