“Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding countryside. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all. Rejection at Nazareth  Now  Jesus  came to Nazareth,  where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.  He  stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled  the scroll and found the place where it was written,  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news  to the poor. He has sent me  to proclaim release  to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 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 fixed on  him.  Then   he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”   

 
Luke 4: 14-21 .

The headlines in the local paper may have read, "Home town boy makes good!"  Can you imagine how Mary and Joseph felt to have their son go to the synagogue with them that day?  What a thrill it must have been for the parents to have their son selected to read scripture and comment on it.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  We need to begin this story a few weeks before.

John the Baptist had baptized Jesus in the river Jordan.  Immediately after that, Jesus was driven out into the wilderness for a very long time. And after that, He began to teach in various synagogues and is well liked.  Now Jesus returns to his hometown, Nazareth, after being away for some time on this spiritual journey.  What a delight to have Jesus back in the carpenter's shop to help his father, Joe, with the orders.  And now it is the end of the week when all good Jewish families go to worship their God.  And on the Sabbath, He went as usual to the Synagogue: Jesus went to worship God.  It is interesting to note that Jesus was a regular attendee at worship.  He was one of those folk who understood that God needed to be worshipped at a regular time and a specific place. 

Some people tell me that they are better able to find God on a golf course than in a house of worship:  That the reason they don't attend worship regularly or don't attend at all, is that they feel closer to God when walking through the trees hunting for their little white ball.  But Jesus felt a need to attend a house of worship regularly.  Why??

I think there are at least three reasons.  First, Jesus knew that people need a place to focus their worship of God.  People need help to set the stage for seeing God in their everyday lives; and the synagogue, or church today, helps people to do that.  It enables people to learn skills to communicate with God, to grow in their understanding of what God expects from creation and challenges people to become better disciples.

Second, Jesus knew that attending worship regularly gave him a critical link with the past.  For generations, Israel had worshipped their God and Jesus became a part of that tradition.  He drew strength from the knowledge that thousands of saints before him had helped to prepare the way for his journey of faith.  It helped to set life in the proper perspective of time. 

And third, Jesus understood the value of fellowship--fellowship with kindred spirits--with people who have the same values as you, with people who care for you and support you...just like here at HPC.

So back to the golf course for a moment.  I don't know about you, but my experience with golf is quite different from what I have just outlined.  In golf, I try to focus on my game, not on God. 

In golf, I may be linked with persons from the past who enjoy the game, but I'm hardly reminded of God's interaction with people.  Now it might be true that I understand God's interaction with the beauty of nature while playing a round of golf.  But never have I stopped in the middle of my game, sat down on the grass, and spent the next 60 minutes thinking about how great my God is, and what God has in mind for me and rest of humanity.

In golf, I do enjoy fellowship with my friends with whom I play.  However, the caring for one another often stops, especially when I hit a bad drive.  They won't forgive me and let me take unlimited mulligans.  I'm not invited to take my ball out of the woods and put it on the green.  The purpose of this game is very different from the purpose of fellowship at church. 

So to my friends who tell me that they are better able to find God on a golf course than in a house of worship, I say hogwash!   Their spiritual lives need a transfusion, and more depth.

As a side note:  Those of you that have small children have a unique opportunity over the next few years. Children usually follow the example of the parents.  Statistics show that when parents --and the mother in particular--attend church regularly and consider it an important part of her life, the children will also.  These are the formative years in your children's lives, when what they learn will stay with them the rest of their lives.

Back to Jesus and his attendance at worship.  Worship in the synagogue in the time of Jesus was an informal event.  Services consisted of prayers, reading of the law/scripture and then comments about the scripture.  Giving of alms for the poor was also a part of the service.  Of course, adult males did all this in that time period.  Women were not a part of this inner circle experience.

Ministers as we know them today did not exist.  Usually an elder in the synagogue asked a learned member of the congregation to read scripture and comment on it.  It was customary for this person to stand while reading from the Torah and then to sit down while commenting on the scripture. 

Jesus was asked that day to read from the sacred writings.  He stood and was handed the scrolls.  He must have been familiar with the writings since he turned to a specific one and began reading.  No one told him what to read, or showed him how to find it.

Remember that Jesus was the favorite son of this congregation.  He was Joe's kid who had just returned from a spiritual journey to the river Jordan, and had been baptized by John the Baptist.  There may have been smiles on the faces of the other men in attendance that day.  One of our own has made good.  A boy who grew up in our synagogue and was nurtured by us has come far in his journey of faith. 

Recently one pastor who read this scripture lesson commented that when he gave his first sermon at his home church, he was told to look for the little old lady--his surrogate grandmother--and watch her as he preached.  The man could do no wrong in her eyes.  She smiled through his entire sermon, and afterward told him how proud she was of him.  He now knows she never heard a word he said.  She was simply glowing because he was up in the pulpit. 

Maybe that is what happened with Jesus.  He, too, was in his home place of worship.  He, too, had been raised by these folk and they felt akin toward him.  He, too, was about to do something he had never done before, namely, to tell the people that he was to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament scripture.  Would they hear him?  Would they understand?

Let’s summarize where we are:  Jesus read the Holy Writings, he knew them, and he also lived them.  He spoke with authority saying that he was the fulfillment of what God had promised.  Did anyone really hear him at that time?  Or was the glow of "one of our own" still in their ears and eyes?  At this point in Luke's Gospel, Jesus was received well by the congregation.  But we are only in Chapter 4, at the 22nd verse.  Jesus’ ministry is only just beginning.  What will happen with family and friends begin to comprehend His words?

Will the headlines read, “Hometown Boy Makes Good,” or Hometown Boy Makes Trouble?”  That is the question for us today too.

As we begin to truly comprehend what Jesus is saying to us, what He wants us to do, what He wants us NOT to do; what equality and justice really mean to we comfortable middle & upper-middle class folk…..What headline will you write about this Hometown boy?  And what about your leadership here at Hidenwood PC?  As your leaders become more prophetic and try to follow where they sense God leading, what will our response be? 

Will it be Hometown Boys and Girls make Good!  Or will it be Hometown Boys and Girls make Trouble?  I guess the choice is in how much we want to continue to grow Spiritually in our faith.  But never the less, the choice will be ours. . .yours and yours and yours….

In our journeys of faith, may we be open to wherever God leads. 

Amen