Prophet without Honor

by the Rev. Deacon James E. Gilman

The Gospel story in Luke 4:21-30 shows Jesus reminding the people of Nazareth of some dangerous stories from their tradition. In his sermon, the Rev. Jim Gilman reflects on how those stories might bring some eye-opening and risky remembrance to us, as well.

You may listen to the sermon by clicking here.

Introduction

What a provocative gospel story about Jesus. What happened? Was it something he said? How is it that at the beginning of this episode “[Everyone] spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth,” as Luke puts it, and by the end of it, “The [same people] got up, drove Jesus out of town, and led him to the brow of the hill… so that they might hurl him off the cliff.? Wow!! What a sudden and unexpected reversal of fortune for Jesus. Why is it that his home town neighbors praise him for his gracious words, on the one hand, but a short time later threaten him with death. What happened? What caused this sudden reversal? What does Jesus do to incite his neighbors?

Remembrance

The answer, I think, can be summed up in a single word: REMEMBRANCE! Now, remembrance seems like an innocuous and harmless activity. It is something we do often and happily. We recall, for example, warm and cozy things—like family and friendships and goodwill and vacations and the like. And that’s all well and good. But truth be told remembrance can also be a provocative and dangerous activity. In Jesus’ time remembrance was a common Jewish activity—in the home and at synagogue. By telling and re-telling ancient stories, as Jesus does here, a community remembers who it is and what it is suppose to be doing. Remembering and telling stories should be today a common Christian activity. And indeed it is. Remembrance is central to the sacrament of Holy Communion, which in a few minutes we celebrate.           

So, what is it about remembering that caused such a ruckus in Jesus’ hometown? What is it about the ancient stories Jesus refers to that is so scandalous? Why do his neighbors want to put him to death? The stories Jesus refers to are ones they are already familiar with. Why are they provoked? Partly it is because Jesus interprets them in such a way that his Jewish friends suddenly recognize that they are part of the narrative, characters in the plot.

Both stories are classic; they are about two prophets—Elijah and Elisha. Listen to these stories; listen to what is provocative about these stories; listen for how you and I, how the church today, is part of their narratives

(1) The first story is about the prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. There is a famine throughout the land, both in Israel and in Sidon. Elijah goes to the village of Zarephath, a foreign, Gentile region of Sidon (today Lebanon). Sidon was a longtime enemy of Israel. A woman comes out to gather sticks. Elijah says, “Give me something to eat.” She says, “I’m gathering sticks so I can make a fire and cook the last of the food that I have. My family and I will eat it and then die.” Elijah says, “I don’t care, get me something to eat.” Now, the woman easily could have been offended and said, “Get lost;” but she didn’t. With great faith and kindness, she brings him the last bit of what she has to eat. Elijah then tells her that her jar of meal and oil will feed them during the long famine, and incredibly it does. The kicker is what Jesus says next. He says that at the time of this miracle there were also many widows in Israel who were dying of starvation; but Elijah was sent by God to none of them. He was sent not to the Chosen people Israel, but to a foreign enemy. The implication is that the people of Israel were faithless; that they had forsaken their God. So, Elijah brings God’s love to a woman of a foreign religion who, unlike the starving women of Israel, has faith enough to receive the power of God’s mercy. How could that be? How provocative! How dare Jesus claim that the faith of a devotee of a foreign, pagan religion is greater than the faith of God’s Chosen people.

(2)  The second story Jesus tells is even more graphic, offensive, and scandalous. Naaman is a general in the Syrian army. He carried out many military campaigns in northern Israel; a region God had allowed the Assyrians to eventually conquer, again because Israel had forsaken their God.  So this is a story not just about an enemy; but about a conqueror and oppressor. On one raid, Naaman captures a young Israelite woman; he takes her home as a slave. When Naaman contracts leprosy, the slave girl, out of compassion, tells him about a prophet in Israel, named Elisha. Naaman seeks out Elisha. When the general arrives, Elisha doesn’t even go out to greet him; he sends a message telling Naaman to go and bathe in the Jordan River. At first, Naaman is offended, but his servant convinces him that he should give it a go; he does, and is made whole. The kicker is what Jesus says next. He says that “There were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha but none of them were cleansed.” Only Naaman, the Syrian general, the foreigner, the oppressor, has faith and is healed. What? The faith of a conquering, enemy general is greater than the faith of Elisha’s own Chosen people? Saying this to Jews then,is today like saying the faith of a Muslim Iranian general is greater than that of an American Christian. The hometown crowd immediately recognize themselves as characters in the story’s plot. They are not amused. How scandalous? What nerve? For Jesus to praise the faith of a conquering general and to chastise Israel for its lack of faith.

Implications

So, remembrance is sometimes provocative and dangerous, as the people of Nazareth found out. But where in these stories do you and I as Christians discover ourselves? Where in these narratives is the church today to be found?  

There are least two provocative points I think Jesus is making in referring to these stories. (1) First, that the power of God’s healing grace is not just for the Chosen, but for people of all nations and people of all religions, yes, even enemies. Israel had come to idolize its own Chosenness; it came to believe its own press; with great pride Israel deceives itself into thinking it is a nation and religion superior to all others. So it is today, I think, with so-called American exceptionalism; many Christians buy into this deception: that somehow America as a nation is called to be a beacon to the world, a city on a hill.  Like Israel we are often smug in our own sense of Chosenness. Last I looked it is the Kingdom of God and not earthly nations that is exceptional; that the gospel Jesus taught and lived is what is exceptional; so that the power of God’s grace belongs to the church, to peoples of all nations; that the power of God’s grace in the lives of all faithful people is  what is exceptional.

(2) Secondly, by referring to these stories Jesus is reminding Israel that people of other religions also have great faith, and that we should learn from their faith. The faith of the widow of Sidon and the faith of the general of Syria invites the power of God’s healing grace; in contrast, the faith of God’s own people sometimes is lacking. Can we Christians accept that the faith of some Muslims or Hindus may be greater than our own? Just as Israel could learn from the faith of the widow and general, Christians can learn from the faith of people of other religions. Just as in ancient Israel, we American Christians often place more trust and confidence in superior military power and in superior wealth than in the power of God’s grace to heal and redeem. Just as Jesus was asking his Jewish neighbors to learn from the faith of foreigners, like the widow and general, he is asking the church today to learn from the faith of others;  like the faith of Gandhi, for example, who believed that the power of God’s grace was greater than the military might of the British Empire; that the power of what he called “soul force” is greater than the power of what he called “body force;” that the spiritual weapons of non-violent, civil disobedience are more powerful than the physical weapons of violence and brutality.   

Jesus could have told his neighbors pastoral stories instead of prophetic stories. On some occasions he did; but not on this occasion. The stories he told were provocative and dangerous. The story we come now to celebrate is also a dangerous story. By participating in Holy Communion we enter with our lives a narrative of grace and mercy and peace that Jesus calls his church to practice.  It is a story that, like those of Elijah and Elisha, draws us well beyond nationalistic, racial, ethnic, and class divisions; a story that enables us as faithful Christians to see the grace and mercy and love of Jesus even in the faith and faces of foreigners and enemies. To do this is not easy, not something we can do under our own human power. Only by God’s power can we as Christians see with Elijah and Elisha the power of God’s healing grace in the faith of people of other religions. May Holy Communion draw us into the narrative of God’s redemption; may in faith we receive Christ’s healing power and pass it on to others, especially those different from ourselves.