It’s God Asking
Luke 4:21-30
The folks of Nazareth sure gave Jesus a cold reception when He returned to visit His hometown. That happened because Jesus had one vision for His ministry and the townsfolk had another. Their expectations had deafened them to the fulfillment of the of the scriptures that Jesus had just finished reading to them in the synagogue. That’s because they were so caught up in their own agenda they couldn’t hear, much less participate in, God’s agenda.
Ever see happen in today’s world? In the church? In our own lives? The people of Nazareth couldn’t get past that.
But Jesus, as Messiah, was guided solely by the concerns of God and the scriptural prophecies that came before him. He couldn’t let himself be co-opted by the people of Nazareth or their agendas and that made them mad. Really mad.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul speaks about the importance of love, particularly love in relationship to Christian community. But love shouldn’t just be confined to the Christian community. In 1 Corinthians 16:14 Paul says, “Let all that you do be done in love”, and in 2 Corinthians 5:14 and 5:18 He says, “The love of Christ urges us on” and God “has given us the ministry of reconciliation”. If our love is grounded in the love of God, a love that knows no end or boundary, a love we see manifested in Jesus, then surely our love must not be limited to our own community.
Jesus challenges us to reach beyond our self-imposed boundaries to be agents of God’s good news and justice: to bring good news to the poor; proclaim release to the captives and healing to the afflicted. To help the oppressed go free; to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.
Anytime we prioritize ourselves over someone else in relation to God or we see our group as more deserving of God’s goodness and grace than another group, or anytime we feel entitled to God’s life and love while excluding it from others, we’re missing Jesus’ point. And if that’s the case, Jesus will pass through our midst and go on His way because we’re too blind to see him.
Jesus broke the limitations of human kinship that day in Nazareth. He wasn’t rejecting His hometown; He was enlarging His hometown. He wanted to make it clear that no one should be excluded, and no one should receive special favors. No one should ever be left out. All are, and should be, the recipients of the prophecy’s fulfillment.
That’s not always a popular agenda. It’s not always even our agenda, but it’s always God’s agenda. It’s an agenda of love.
So, what’s the plan for today? Are you going to be reaching out to others with the Good News Jesus talked about, or are you going to stay stuck in Nazareth? By the way, that’s not me asking. It’s God.
