Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 4:21-30
Title: An Unwelcome Word

Sermons are meant to be heard.  Listen along here.

 

Story about Josh Hartnett. (show pic if people don’t know who he is)

(Also can mention MN natives: Prince, Chris Pratt, Bob Dylan, Winona Ryder, Vince Vaughn, Skier Lindsey Vonn, Peter Krause, TR Knight, Rachel Leigh Cook, Jessica Biel, Sean William Scott, Joe Mauer, Garrison Keillor, just to name a few)

We like to claim famous people as our own.
Right?
And not only do we like to claim them, we think that because they are from here, they owe us something.
This is exactly what was happening when Jesus went to preach in his hometown synagogue.  
If you were here last week, you know that Chad decided since I was in Florida he’d just go ahead and preach my text for this Sunday as well as his own.  

Just kidding (kind of) – the lectionary took one story and broke it up over two weeks, when in reality, it should not have been split up in the first place.  So, I guess it’s a good thing that this story about Jesus in his hometown is filled with enough to handle two weeks of preaching.  

Jesus went to his hometown and headed to the place that a young new up and coming rabbi would go – to preach in the synagogue.  This was a big deal, and Jesus didn’t disappoint.  He stood up and began to preach.  

Now before I go on, I think it’s important to recognize where this story takes place in the Gospel of Luke.  Jesus has just come from his baptism and subsequent temptation in the wilderness.  He leaves the wilderness and, as Luke 4:14 said last week – FILLED with the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee to begin preaching.  

It is here that Jesus comes home to Nazareth.  Filled with the Holy Spirit.  Ready to do the work of God, confident in who he is and whose he is.  

Jesus could preach on anything he wanted here.  

He could have chosen ANYTHING from the sacred texts that people knew so well.  But he quotes Isaiah – saying: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  And, as Chad said last week, Jesus sits down, and with all eyes on him, says: That day is here.  I’m the one that Isaiah is talking about.

Jesus is making a big claim – that he is the Messiah.  The one they’ve been waiting for all these years.  

I think sometimes we hear this text, about Jesus preaching in his hometown and we think the people wanted to throw him off the cliff because Jesus claimed to be the son of God.  

But that’s not actually the problem here.  
After Jesus tells the crowd that HE IS the one Isaiah was talking about, after he tells the crowd that this thing that they have all been waiting for is here, in front of them, they aren’t mad.  They are excited.  
They are interested.  They are amazed.  
Verse 22: “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”

They weren’t mad.
They were happy.  This guy, the one they had grown up with, that they had shared so much with, was telling them he was the messiah.  

And really, I think they were thinking, SWEET.  WE’RE IN.
Because it’s true.
We’re in.
Jesus comes to us this morning with this same word.
We are free.
Jesus comes to us to set us free.
Now you might sit here and think that this isn’t you.
You aren’t in slavery.
We’re not an occupied country.
This word from Jesus can’t possibly apply to us here and now.
But I’m here this morning to tell you it does.
We all have things that enslave us.
We all have things that hold us back, that trap us, that keep us bound.  
Think about it.
Close your eyes, and think about what it is that holds you captive.
Jesus has stood before you today and said that you are free.

YOU. ARE. FREE.

When Jesus says he has come to set the prisoners free, to release us from those things that enslave us he isn’t just talking to the people in his hometown under Roman occupation, but to us as well.

We are set free from all those things that we named in silence.  Today.  Right now.

Jesus has set you free.   

It doesn’t mean that those things are any less real, that being freed from them means they go away or suddenly disappear, no, addiction is still real.
Anger is real.
Comparison is real.
Mental illness is real.
But freedom in Christ means that Jesus is stronger.

Jesus is more than all those things that try to keep us captive.
That is the good news that Jesus says he was sent to proclaim.
So in case you need to hear it one more time… YOU ARE FREE.

Repeat after me: I am free in Christ.
Again!  I am free in Christ!
Turn to someone next to you and tell them “you are free in Christ”

And so, I think we too, can sit here after hearing this good news and feel like yeah – we’re in.  We know this Jesus guy, and he gave us this good word and it’s ours.  It’s here that I get where the people listening to Jesus can first feel amazed at these words of grace coming from Jesus.  

How can we not?
These words include us.

And it’s amazing.
And really I could end my sermon right now.
We are free.  End of story.
But that isn’t where Jesus stops.
So we can’t either.  

Jesus goes on to talk about all the other people included in this grace he brings.
And those gathered don’t like it.
They go from amazed to enraged in a few short moments.
so do we.

We love grace.

But we don’t want it when it’s not exclusive.
Or at least, if it’s not about being exclusive, we might say that we don’t like grace when it isn’t so easy.  When being an insider gets difficult.  

Today Jesus reminds us that grace has always, always, been about more than us.
If we’re brutally honest, we like these words of grace until they include those we have decided are unworthy.
We love the idea of Christ coming to break chains and set people free. Grace feels amazing, we just experienced it ourselves.

But then that grace is extended, outside… extended to drunk drivers, murderers, abusers, addicts, cheaters, brick throwers, Black Lives Matter activists, racists, LGBT community members and haters, pro-life activists, planned parenthood supporters, republicans, and democrats.

I mean – a God who extends grace to people I don’t like?
To people I think are evil?
To people I vehemently disagree with?
To Donald Trump AND Hillary Clinton?
Both? At the same time?

“when they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.”

How many of you are still feeling amazed at the words of grace Jesus offers now?
We can understand wanting to throw Jesus off a cliff a little more now can’t we?  

Again, we cannot stop here.
Though it would be again easy to say Jesus walked through the angry crowd and that was it.  Boom.  Epic mic drop.
An enraged crowd doesn’t stop Jesus.  It doesn’t stop the word of God from reaching those who need to be reached.
It’s important, just as in the beginning of this morning’s text, to see what happens around it.
Where does Jesus go from here?
He goes and heals a demon-possessed man.
Then he heals someone who is sick.
You could say he sets them both free.

And he keeps doing it.

All the way to the cross – where the freedom he talks about is given once and for all.
For all.

This grace stuff is hard.
Really hard.
Because the reality is that grace that just makes us feel good might not actually be grace.
Grace amazes and enrages.
It’s both.
It has to be both.
And that makes it a lot harder to swallow than we initially think.
So, just like those gathered all those centuries ago, here we are, gathered in our temple, our place of worship, and we encounter these same words of grace.

We are free.  We heard it. We felt it.

And we are amazed.

And yet we also heard the words that grace isn’t just for us.  
We can’t claim it as our exclusive right because we are here today.
It’s for all.

So we’ve been given two truths today
You are free. The personal.
All are free. The universal.

And now we are asked to go out and live as if we believe BOTH of those are true.

BOTH.

Because if we live as if we are really free, then we love without reservations and without fear.  And if we believe that everyone is free too, then we show every single person the kind of love that loves them the way Christ does.

We are free in Christ.
Say it with me.
We are free in Christ.  
AMEN