Epiphany is a season of new beginnings. As we journey through this season, we focus on moments when Jesus was “revealed” to be the Messiah. A few weeks ago, we focused on the story of Jesus visiting Jerusalem as a kid... .his parents assumed he was travelling home with their group, and when they realized he was missing, they found him in the Temple, teaching the adults and scholars and explaining the scripture to them. Last week, we focused on Jesus’ baptism – the first time he was declared to be God’s beloved Son by the Holy Spirit out loud to a crowd of people.
This morning, we are skipping over the story of Jesus’s journey in the wilderness – after his baptism, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness praying and preparing for his work. We always remember those days and Jesus’ temptation during Lent. Now, we pick up the story....Jesus had begun preaching and teaching..... he was getting noticed and whispered about. And, then he made a visit to his hometown, Nazareth....
Listen to how the story unfolded as we turn to Luke, chapter 4, verses 14 thorough 30.
Scripture Luke 4:14-30
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read,
and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.
He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.
Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.
They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.
But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray....
Message – The Sermon at Nazareth
When I was preparing for my life as a minister, I thought it would be beneficial for me to move somewhere else to be a minister. I was 25 when I graduated from seminary, and I had lived in Missouri for all my life...I wasn’t sure how I would be received if I became the minister of a church in St. Louis....would the people who knew me as an awkward middle schooler or a silly teenager take me seriously as a pastor? I wasn’t sure, so I searched for a church in a different state and ended up in Pennsylvania.
Sometimes, people are rejected by their hometown crowd.
In 1919, another Missourian was rejected in his hometown. The editor of the Kansas City Star fired an aspiring illustrator because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Fortunately, Walt Disney kept persevering....and his imagination and ideas brought us Mickey Mouse and hundreds of movies and a few theme parks.
Jesus returned to Galilee after his baptism and his time in the wilderness. The word was spreading about him—he was something special. On the Sabbath day, he went to worship at the synagogue in Nazareth. During the worship, men stepped forward and read the scripture. Jesus came forward to read and was handed the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah. He read from Isaiah chapter 61, the first and second verse. And, then he declared the prophesy was fulfilled in their hearing.
The people in the room were stunned – Jesus was making a very radical claim – he claimed the Holy Spirit was upon him, him in particular. He was there to proclaim good news to the poor. Jesus was there to bind up the brokenhearted. Jesus was there to free the captives and release the prisoners. Jesus was there to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus was there to declare God’s vengeance. Jesus was there to comfort all who mourn.
These were big claims.
And, the people in the room were puzzled. They knew this guy. They had watched him grow up. They knew his parents and his brothers and sisters and cousins. Who was he to claim the Holy Spirit was upon him? Who was he to claim he was here to do all of these Godly things?
So, although the room was initially impressed, they soon turned on Jesus. They revolted against him, pushed him out of town, and nearly threw him over a cliff. They were so angry they almost killed Jesus. But, he walked through the crowd and walked away. He left Nazareth and went to Capernaum. Jesus had work to do.... he was busy fulfilling the prophesy he read.
Jesus was rejected by the people in his hometown. They were not able to accept that the Jesus they knew as Joseph’s son, one of them, had become a prophet...had morphed into the Messiah. They couldn’t accept the truth of who Jesus was revealed to be – the son of God.
We also sometimes pigeonhole people – we assign people to a role or category and don’t allow them to break free from that role – in families, we have the caregiver sibling, and the baby, and the black sheep. In high school, we have the jocks and the stoners and the band kids. In friend-groups, sometimes there is the connector, and the therapist, and the mom, and the party-animal. Our brains categorize people into their assigned role for whatever the group may be.
But, when people want to break-free from the role we assign them, we sometimes have problems shifting. We don’t want the black sheep of the siblings to become the normal and respectable and mature. We don’t allow the band kid to become the quarterback. We don’t want the party-animal friend to be the sober and conservative guy.
The people of Nazareth struggled to see Jesus as anything other than Joseph’s son, a carpenter. They couldn’t accept him as the messiah.
This story reminds us to work on being less rigid. When people are ready to turn a new leaf, and embrace a new role, we are called to accept and love them as they are now. In our worship services, each week, we confess our sins and our mistakes to God and ask God to forgive us. WE are assured God forgives us. When our family members, and friends, and co-workers work to change their lives for the better, change their role in the system, we are also called to offer them love and acceptance.
Epiphany is a season of enlightenment. We are called to pay attention to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Is God calling upon us to take on something new? Do we need to devote more time to prayer or meditation or silence? Do we need to start volunteering at the Daily Bread Food Pantry or the Norristown Hospitality Center? Do I need to change my behaviors -- sleep more, stop drinking, eat less ultra processed foods? Does God want us to work on mending relationships with estranged family members or former friends? Are we called to become something new – to change our role in our family or friend groups?
The people in Nazareth struggled to accept Jesus as the messiah. We are called to be open to accepting when people in our lives choose to embrace new roles and attitudes for the better. And, we must ask ourselves if God is calling us to embrace new opportunities and roles in our own lives. Remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." The Holy Spirit of God is inviting us to embrace the new in ourselves and in each other.
Amen.
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