 Word Luke 4:21-30
After Jesus read from Isaiah, “The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” 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.
Meditation “Enraging Grace”
Last week we sang, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.” Last week, Jesus proclaimed good news to the poor, the year of the Lord’s favor and said, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The crowd was amazed at his gracious words. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Jesus should have stopped right there. Instead he picked a fight. You want a sign, don’t you? You want me to do what I did at Capernaum, don’t you? You all love singing Amazing Grace, but what about the time of Elijah? Only a foreigner was fed. And what about the time of Elisha? Only a foreigner was healed. Amazing grace turns to enraging grace. The synagogue crowd became a mob. They threw him out of town, and they tried to throw him off a cliff. What happened? Why did Jesus let their amazement turn to rage?
I would like to think that Jesus knew something about them, and that he also knows something about us. Grace is amazing and sweet when it is for me, but I’m not so sure about you, or about them. Grace is amazing when it is for me, but can be enraging when it is for others. The categories of the poor, the captive, the blind, the broken can include some people we don’t like, people who test our patience or kindness, people who stir our envy or resentment, people who make us irritable or rude.
Jesus pushes us because he knows us, and he knows that we are just as responsible as religious leaders and Romans for his death. When grace enrages us, we crucify Christ. We like to say that Jesus died for me. It is much harder to say that Jesus died because of me. But grace is truly amazing because it triumphs over our rage.
I would like to think that there is a little humor in this story, that hidden in the rage is the promise of resurrection. “But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” I can’t help but think of a scene from the Three Stooges, where Larry, Curly and Moe get into a fight with a bunch of people, and as everybody is consumed in the fight, Larry, Curly and Moe crawl out of brawl. “He passed through the midst of them.” As we rage at grace, Christ crawls out of tomb, stands in our midst and says, “Peace be with you.”
Amazing grace invites you and embraces you at the Lord’s table. You are fed with promises of God. Your sins are forgiven. You see God held in the ordinary. Your brokenness is healed. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. In the same way those who irritate or scare you, those who frustrate or confuse you, even those who hurt or offend you; they are invited and embraced too. Enraging grace. But enraging grace is still God’s grace, and maybe if it were not enraging, it would not be grace.
Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope and love; and that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen
NEXT WEEK IN WORSHIP
February 7, 2010: The 5th Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 6:1-13 Psalm 138 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Luke 5:1-11
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