{"id":9775,"date":"2021-02-07T19:49:44","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T19:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=9775"},"modified":"2022-10-02T15:50:47","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T13:50:47","slug":"luke-421-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/luke-421-30\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke 4:21-30"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Not Just for the People in the Club<\/strong><\/p>\n

We pray:<\/p>\n

Kindle us, kindle us now.
\nLord, we believe, we accept, we adore.
\nLess than the least though we be.
\nFire of Love, burn in us, burn evermore.
\nTill we burn out for thee. \u00a0Amen.
\n–Amy Carmichael from The Hodder Book of Christian Prayers, Hodder & Stoughton,
\n1986<\/p>\n

Ever hear of a „Ruby Begonia“? \u00a0I am sure that some of
\nyou know what I am talking about. \u00a0Can you imagine that a Ruby Begonia
\nis what a city is proud of and for which it is noted? \u00a0Well, there
\nis one here in Texas. \u00a0The city is Cuero. \u00a0The Ruby Begonia
\nis, catch this, a turkey! \u00a0Yes, a bird, a variety of turkey! \u00a0Every
\nyear Cuero proudly has Ruby Begonia races with some neighboring town
\nto see which „turkey“ is the fastest! \u00a0Every town, village,
\nhamlet, burg wants something, somebody, anything to make it stand out.<\/p>\n

I notice when I come into this town (Kerrville, TX) that there are no
\nsigns, stating Kerrville, the home of…. . \u00a0Of course, the local
\nschool system does have the years of the high school being the regional
\nand state champions of football, well displayed on one of its building
\nfor all passing by to see. \u00a0Didn’t see any recent years displayed,
\nhowever.<\/p>\n

There was this burg, village called Nazareth in the hills of Galilee. \u00a015
\nmiles from the Sea of Galilee, 20 miles from the Mediterranean–in the
\nmiddle of nowhere- passed by the Interstates of its day. \u00a0It had
\na moderate climate, good for growing vegetables, but it had only one
\nspring for water. \u00a0So you had to drink rain water some of the time,
\nand rain water soon tastes brackish. \u00a0So the place was a place you
\ndidn’t stay if you had another place to go. You didn’t say: „I live
\nin Nazareth.“ \u00a0 That was like saying you lived in Hell, Michigan;
\nBobo, Mississippi; or Boring, Maryland.<\/p>\n

But, and this is a big, „but“ they had their „Ruby Begonia.“ \u00a0They
\nwere at long last going to have someone of whom to be proud. They were
\nready to get the city signs repainted (if they had city signs) to read: „Hometown
\nof the Famous Prophet, Jesus.“ They may have been slightly wrong
\nabout that, but what is that among so many small lies we hear in these
\ndays? \u00a0They were no longer going to be the buffoons of the rest
\nof the region. \u00a0The derisive „What good can come out of Nazareth?“ would
\nforever be banished. \u00a0Jesus was their boy, their hero. \u00a0They
\nhad produced him.<\/p>\n

He had come home. \u00a0Jesus, the person always loyal to tradition,
\na person of great piety, spends the sabbath studying Jewish law and custom
\nin the synagogue. \u00a0(Now I wish all of you would at least follow
\nthat pious example of Jesus, even if you can’t follow much else.) He
\nis in the church, we would say, of his small hometown. \u00a0He is given
\nthe privilege, that was given to visiting teachers, of reading from the
\nHoly Scriptures and giving a short explanation of its meaning. \u00a0Jesus
\nhad done that.<\/p>\n

The Scripture was from the book written by Isaiah, a famous man of God
\nfrom long ago, about 700 ago. \u00a0Those words were: „The Spirit
\nof the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news
\nto the poor. \u00a0He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
\nand recovery of the sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to
\nproclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.“ The Good News of God appointed
\nfor today begins after Jesus had handed back the scroll of Scripture
\nand sat down.<\/p>\n

„Today this is happening right here and now.“ Jesus says. \u00a0This
\ncalls for an immediate response from the people hearing him. \u00a0They
\nwere to respond not with some kind of tinkering with their ideas, not
\nwith some small tweaking of how they did things. \u00a0They were to become
\npeople of action.<\/p>\n

There were two responses to Jesus. \u00a0One was „Wow! Isn’t he
\nthe best, the wisest you have ever heard?“ and the other: „Who’s
\nfulfilling what around here? \u00a0Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? \u00a0He’s
\nJoseph’s son.“ They didn’t want action they wanted Jesus to do something
\nfor them, not for them to change and get moving.<\/p>\n

The rest of the story seems like Jesus just intentionally irritated
\nthem, egged them on, tried to get them upset with him. \u00a0For all
\npractical purpose he says, „You want me to do miracles like I did
\ndown there in the town of Capernaum. \u00a0No way! \u00a0I am not here
\nto make you famous. \u00a0I am like the great Old Testament man of God, \u00a0Elijah
\nwho didn’t get fed during a sustained period of drought in his homeland
\nof Israel, but went outside to Sidon.“ The people of Nazareth knew
\nSidon all right. \u00a0It was in the neighboring country. \u00a0Elisha,
\nElijah’s successor didn’t cure anybody locally but a man, a sworn enemy
\nof Israel, from the country of Syria.<\/p>\n

What’s going on here? \u00a0Where is the great love that our New Testament
\nLesson for today speaks about: love is kind, gentle, and all the rest
\nof those things? \u00a0This is shocking.
\nJesus is shocking and loving in an amazing way. \u00a0Shocking in the
\nway he seems to treat his hometown people! \u00a0Amazing that he wants
\nus to be free, he wants us to see, he wants us to see him for what he
\nis: God’s one and only Son born as a man for us and for our salvation–to
\nfree us, given correct insight into life, get rid of those things that
\noppress us, that burden us!<\/p>\n

Had Jesus decided to make Nazareth famous by staying there, making it
\na shrine for himself, we would never be sitting where we are today. \u00a0Jesus
\nis not a hometown person; he is for all people. \u00a0His message is
\nfor the people of Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.<\/p>\n

His message of freedom from guilt, from shame, from sin, from addiction,
\nfrom the thought process that either you are the hottest person who ever
\nlived, or from believing you are nothing–that no one cares, no one is
\nconcerned about you. \u00a0He give us eyes to see that it is not the
\nend of your nose that is important, but the view of eternity, of life
\nalways and forever which he gives us through his cross, through his death,
\nand through his resurrection. \u00a0His message to you is that we suffer
\nfrom a poverty of righteousness which cannot be purchased, earned or
\nproduced by us and that poverty turns into „riches“ when he
\ngives us the perfection that only God can possess and that we have by
\nfaith in this Jesus.<\/p>\n

But why the anger in the people, if that was Jesus‘ message? \u00a0They
\nwanted him for themselves. \u00a0They wanted the exclusive rights to
\nwhatever he was or would become. \u00a0His message said, „there
\nis no exclusive club for my message. I am for all people everywhere.“<\/p>\n

Now I notice as I come into this wonderful town, roadside signs telling
\nus about three other Lutheran churches, several other churches, and then
\ncoming into the city itself, I can see other churches of several denominations. \u00a0Now
\nmy question is: are they brothers and sisters in Christ, competition,
\nor perhaps even the enemy?<\/p>\n

And what is this congregation about? \u00a0Are we exclusive? \u00a0Do
\nwe have fences so high that only people remarkably like us would find
\nthis place as the place of God in their life? \u00a0Are we proud of being
\nLutheran or do we boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ? \u00a0Because
\nyou have been baptized, confirmed, and are regular, what do they say? „A
\nmember in good standing,“ are you better than others?<\/p>\n

Are we open or do we want to be closed? \u00a0I know most of the people
\nthat surround you here today are your friends, and that is wonderful,
\nbut Jesus is a friend to all, because he laid down his life for all. \u00a0All
\npeople need to hear the wonderful message of Jesus and his forgiving
\nlove. \u00a0All need it just as you continue to constantly need it.<\/p>\n

You can convince people of anything, but if you don’t love them by giving
\nyourself in service for them, you are a gong that people can hear, but
\ncalls them to nothing. \u00a0You can tell it like it is and understand
\npeople and life really well, you can accomplish the impossible in life,
\nbut if you are not willing to accept them and serve them with the Good
\nNews of Jesus and in their other needs, you are nothing. \u00a0You can
\ngive everything to others, and die for your faith, but you will have
\ngained nothing if love was not present in those actions. \u00a0Your example
\nwill prove nothing to anybody.<\/p>\n

When people are young, like children, we want exclusive rights. \u00a0Children
\nsay, „This is mine. \u00a0You can’t play with it.“ Sometimes
\nwe are shocked when our friend has other friends we don’t even know about.
\nWe wonder if that person is really our friend. \u00a0We want to be exclusive. \u00a0We
\nhave clubs to keep some others out. \u00a0We are better, finer, whatever
\nthan others.<\/p>\n

God loved the whole world, the whole world, that all you have to do
\nis believe in him as your Lord and Savior, you have eternal life. \u00a0Which
\nmeans, you will be taken care of always. \u00a0Jesus says, Believe God
\nloved the whole world. \u00a0Believe he loves everybody in Kerrville,
\nTX. \u00a0 Believe God wants everyone to hear of Jesus and make them
\nas you are into his beloved children.<\/p>\n

No exclusive rights. \u00a0No sign to say, „Jesus is only here.“ No
\nboasting of who we are, save in the cross of Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n

Are we here today sitting in the synagogue of Nazareth listening to
\nJesus say: „Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,“ and
\nsaying: „This is God’s Son our Savior. \u00a0Let’s get others to
\nhear what he has to say? \u00a0Or are you saying, „I’ve had enough
\nof this Jesus stuff.“ \u00a0Where are you today?<\/p>\n

Walter W. Harms, retired pastor
\nAustin, TX, USA
\nComments? waltpast@AOL.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not Just for the People in the Club We pray: Kindle us, kindle us now. Lord, we believe, we accept, we adore. Less than the least though we be. Fire of Love, burn in us, burn evermore. Till we burn out for thee. \u00a0Amen. –Amy Carmichael from The Hodder Book of Christian Prayers, Hodder & […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,727,108,110,453,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-9775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lukas","category-archiv","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-04-chapter-04-lukas","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13782,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775\/revisions\/13782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=9775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}