Message by Pastor Kristen Larsen-Schmidt, Jan 31, 2016 Calvary Lutheran Traditional And

Crossing the Line

Message by Pastor Kristen Larsen-Schmidt, Jan 31, 2016 Calvary Lutheran Traditional and Blended

Luke 4:20-30

20Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23He 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.’” 24And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25But 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; 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath. were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29They 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. 30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Dear Friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, always full of surprises. Amen.

Well Jesus has really done it this time. Judging from the reaction of his hometown crowd, he has crossed the line. But how?Reading this story from the beginning is a bit of a whiplash experience. You’re going down one path where Jesus is the hometown hero, loved by everyone, and the next thing you know, they are ready to hurl him off a cliff. What happened?

Well, put yourself in the sandals of his former neighbors. Imagine, you have known his parents, Mary and Joseph for ages. You gossiped right along with everyone else when Mary got pregnant out of wedlock. But you’ve seen them make the most of their rough start. You saw Joseph bring his son to the synagogue and his family to Jerusalem for the Passover. Jesus has always been a pretty good kid, smart, a little different, but not one to draw attention to himself.

But when he grew up and left home, something happened. You heard about how he got baptized by that John character out at the Jordan River, and how there was a loud crack of thunder and some kind of dove came down out of nowhere and rested on his shoulder. Strange story, but you didn’t think too much of it. But it seems like ever since then this Jesus has just come out of his shell, and he’s really started making a name for himself as a preacher and teacher, and even a miracle worker in the surrounding communities. The whole town is buzzing about this guy, talking about how he might be a prophet or even, could it be?-- the long-awaited Messiah. People gabbing in the market are at odds over whether we ought to feel proud of him or if he’s just getting a little too big for his britches. You decide to withhold your opinion till you see him in person.

When he comes to town, he gets a hero’s welcome, and of course the rabbi invites him to read and teach at the synagogue. And that day, you’re there with the whole town when he stands up to read. He rolls open the scroll, and as he begins to read, you recognize the words from the prophet Isaiah, about how God is going to send a new prophet to bring good news to the poor, free the imprisoned, opening the eyes of the blind, proclaiming God’s favor. Then he rolls up the scroll and sits down and everybody holds their breath, watching him, waiting to hear what he will say. He says one sentence only, “Today this has been fulfilled in our hearing.” and the room erupts in sound and commotion, as people turn to their neighbors. “He’s claiming the prophesy is about him! Can you believe it! He is the one we’ve been waiting for. He’s going to change everything for us, restore dignity to us, put our town on the map, bring in a new age of prosperity. But really? Isn’t this Joseph’s boy, the kid down the street?

Then Jesus, still sitting, looks around the room, his eyes bright and piercing, and speaks again, his voice rising above the din “I know what you’re all thinking. You want me to prove myself, to preach and teach and heal here, just as you’ve heard I’ve been doing in other communities. In fact, you think that I owe it to you to give you special attention. Well, as it’s been said, prophets are never welcomed in their hometown.

Then Jesus does something incredibly in your face, he brings up two stories from our sacred history when, in times of hardship at home in Israel, God’s saving grace came not to the Israelites but to foreigners. “Don’t you remember the stories about the famous prophets Elijah and Elijah?” he says. “Don’t you remember how God sent Elijah to a widow for protection, providing food for her and healing her son? There were many widows in Israel, but God sent Elijah to a foreigner…the widow of Zaraphath. And there were many people in Israel suffering from leprosy, but God chose through Elisha to heal Naaman the Syrian!

All of a sudden, the mood in the room turns icy cold. “Who does he think he is, talking to us this way? Where is the appreciation and respect?! He isn’t asking for our endorsement or help with his big plans, he claims to be a prophet butwhat exactly is he trying to say? That he didn’t come for us? He came for the…foreigners? He’s not going to make us proud, this radical’s going to make us the laughing stock of the country.”

No wonder his hometown was mad.

What about us? How do we hear this? What is the message for us here and now?

Well, let us begin by acknowledging that we are not Jesus’ hometown. We are not the original inner circle. We are, in fact, the widow at Zerephath. We are Naaman the Syrian. We are the gentile outsiders who were brought into the circle of Jesus’ redemption through the radical inclusion of non-Jews by those first Jewish Christians.

So then, isn’t Jesus’ message good news for us? Yes, it sure is! It is the assurance that God’s son was sent for us too, to heal and liberate and save us. This grace is for even us, who were not a part of God’s chosen people, but are chosen now, so we can reach out and grab it with both hands.

But if we, as a church community or a denomination, as a religion, race or culture begin to take this amazing grace for granted….if we take on a feeling of entitlement about God’s salvation and blessing, or start thinking that we have some kind of claim on Jesus, that we are the ones who are right about him, that we are the chosen and deserving and righteous and the ones he came to save, well, then, we had better watch ourselves. Jesus will not be put in a box by us. Whenever we draw a line between us and other people, Jesus is standing on the other side. From this point in the story on, with the rest of the time he had left walking this earth, Jesus made it abundantly clear that he saw it as his mission to stand up for the outsiders, the insane, the sick, the ex-cons, prostitutes, drunks, homeless, and refugees. The poorest of the poor and the most pathetic, despised, those of ill-repute. Everyone we might cross the street to avoid...those are the ones Jesus crossedall of time and space to get to.

John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much he sent Jesus to save us, and that means all of us--every single person created by God’s own hands, made in his image with a plan and purpose. God’s love for this world is radically inclusive and let’s be honest-- that sometimes bothers us.I had a confirmation student ask me about this recently:

”Does God really love everyone?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Did God love Hitler?” She asks, a troubled look on her face.

“I don’t believe God loved what Hitler chose to do, but he never stopped loving Hitler.”

“So do you think Hitler’s in heaven?”

“I have no idea. I would say that if Hitler is in heaven, not all of him is in heaven. All the hatred and horrible violence and ugliness, that would not make it into heaven. Only the good in him.”

“Well if Hitler’s in heaven. I don’t want to go there.”

Pause.

“How could God love Hitler?”

“Just like your parents may not be love what you do, but they never stop loving you.”

“Yeah, but I don’t kill people.”

“Not yet,” I said.

This girl is asking good, hard questions. She is asking, where is the line of God’s love? Who’s in? Who’s out? The same question was asked of Jesus by a smart lawyer who said, “I know I have to love my neighbor, but who’s my neighbor?” And the truth is, when it comes to God, there is no line keeping people out. That’s why Jesus answered the question by telling the story about the good Samaritan, which is almost a contradiction in terms, for every Jew knew there was no “good Samaritans.” And That’s why Jesus crossed the line in here Galilee and made everyone mad talking about the widow of Zaraphath and Naaman the Syrian. It was hard for them to hear that God loved people they considered enemies, and it is just as hard for us to hear this, in our culture and current climate. We like lines and walls, we don’t want to tear down the walls we have so carefully built around who deserves love and grace and salvation and protection, attention and representation and a place to live in safety. We lock our doors, we build fences and walls, we are always on the lookout for who our enemies are. And to some degree, this may be necessary, but it should never be easy or become habit for us because it is not God’s way.

God’s enemies are not human beings. God’s enemy is the sin that attacks us and takes up residence within us. That was the battle Jesus fought for each of us on the cross and he still fights with his holy spirit.

There is no human being outside the circle of God’s love and care and if the love that is in us is the love described in 1st Corinthians 13, the love of God, it will also be radically inclusive, always reaching out. When we receive the good news of our salvation, the freedom to live life abundantly free from sin or fear of eternal death—when we receive this precious gift—we had better understand that implicit in receiving it is the willingness to pass it on to all who need it, because we ALL need it.

It is like the candlelighting on Christmas eve. When your candle is lit, you do not just sit there and revel in the beautiful light that has been given you. You pass it on, igniting the candle of person next to you until the whole place is ablaze with light of Christ. This is what we do. It is right in our mission statement: we areCalled by God, centered in Christ, therefore Calvary serves and ignites people for Christ. This is who we are and who we are to be for all people.

So are we doing it, people of God here at Calvary? Are we bringing good news to the poor? The captive?The oppressed?Are we shining God’s favor and light on all? We sure are trying. In many and various ways.In the December offering to Juba café. In the class we are teaching to help us understand our muslim brothers and sisters.In our commitment to CVIC and Northland Mission and in our good Samaritan fund. If you come to the annual meeting, I think you will see it in our budget, in our commitments and in the values of those asked to serve on council. We are trying to reach out like Jesus. But does it include everyone? Who are we leaving out? We need to keep asking these questions, because If our message is not as broad as Jesus’ message, then it’s not broad enough.Everyday, for everyone whom God so dearly loves, we need to keep crossing the line. Amen.