I think it is safe to say that we’ve all heard a dud
homily/sermon or two in our lives: boring, controversial, irrelevant,
difficult, long, tedious, hard to understand, and just plain horrible. Whatever
the case may be, we’ve sat through some doozies. But, have you ever witnessed a
preacher being chased out of the building to the edge of a cliff to be forced
to an untimely death because of one of those homilies? (Even if you’ve thought
about it <wink,wink>, it’s never actually been done!) Well that’s what
happens to Jesus in today’s gospel as he is preaching in his hometown synagogue
where he was raised and taught the faith. Yikes!
Here is the prequel to today’s gospel in a nutshell:
Jesus had just finished his 40-day “retreat” in the desert where Satan tried to
tempt him three times. He probably was in tremendous need of a shower and mom’s
home cooking after fasting in the hot desert for 40 days, I’m just sayin’. He
was also extra fortified in the Holy Spirit after such an experience and so he
volunteered to read the scroll in church that Sabbath. This was an honor
reserved for Rabbi’s and there had already been tremendous buzz about the shiny
kid from Nazareth so at first his neighbors and family were happy to hear from
him. His Scripture choice for the day was that beautiful passage from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a
year acceptable to the Lord.” Lovely job!
Bravo kid! Mary must be so proud of her baby boy! “Rolling up the scroll, he
handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the
synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, ‘Today this
scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.’” Still impressed and still captivated, Jesus leans in. Get
ready, here we go…
“And he said, ‘Amen, I say to
you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.’” Begin head scratching and thinking twice about that comment.
Jesus sees the unease and begins to recap the story of Elijah (A Jewish rock star,
icon, celebrity) who was also rejected in his hometown. He was healing people
and saving people and cleansing lepers, but not enough people or lepers and not
ALL the people so they ran him out of town. I imagine this was some sort of
deliberate response to some sort of rumor or gossip or complaints against Jesus
doing similar things. Suddenly, the crowd was no longer amazed and impressed,
but downright insulted, angry, and offended to the point that, “They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow
of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.”
(TO KILL HIM!) With neighbors like that, who needs enemies, right? And then, “he passed through the midst of them and went away.” What?
How? I picture Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak being pulled out of his tunic
and all the people doing that dog pile dominoes thing because he just
disappears. The point is that it was not his time to give his life and he
absolutely chose to save himself until the right time, which is a foreshadowing
of when he was hanging on the cross and the same neighbors (most likely)
challenged him to save himself again.
Jesus makes it clear today that
he is in control and that he did indeed choose to give his life for each one of
us AND each one of those hometown neighbors that wanted to kill him. Perhaps
the statement, “No prophet is accepted in his native place” is a call to all of
us to go outside of our comfort zones when it comes to spreading the word. Our
native place is that which knows all of our weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and
ugliness. It can be a place that allows us to rest and to retreat, but it can
also be a place that stands in our way and holds us back. It is necessary to go
out from the place that holds us back in order to cultivate our strengths,
gifts, and beauty. I’m not sure if I’ve captured today’s theme eloquently
enough, but perhaps all we need to know is that Jesus chose to suffer and die
in our place so that we might live. You can’t go wrong with that.
Oh, and, let’s be the kind of
neighbors that celebrate our own, and not the kind that flings our own off a
cliff. Have a blessed day and it is well with my soul.
Reading 1 2 KGS 5:1-15AB
Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram,
was highly esteemed and respected by his master,
for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram.
But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.
Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel
a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman's wife.
"If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,"
she said to her mistress, "he would cure him of his leprosy."
Naaman went and told his lord
just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.
"Go," said the king of Aram.
"I will send along a letter to the king of Israel."
So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents,
six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.
To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read:
"With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you,
that you may cure him of his leprosy."
When he read the letter,
the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed:
"Am I a god with power over life and death,
that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?
Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!"
When Elisha, the man of God,
heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments,
he sent word to the king:
"Why have you torn your garments?
Let him come to me and find out
that there is a prophet in Israel."
Naaman came with his horses and chariots
and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
The prophet sent him the message:
"Go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean."
But Naaman went away angry, saying,
"I thought that he would surely come out and stand there
to invoke the LORD his God,
and would move his hand over the spot,
and thus cure the leprosy.
Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
better than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?"
With this, he turned about in anger and left.
But his servants came up and reasoned with him.
"My father," they said,
"if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary,
would you not have done it?
All the more now, since he said to you,
'Wash and be clean,' should you do as he said."
So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times
at the word of the man of God.
His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before him and said,
"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel."
was highly esteemed and respected by his master,
for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram.
But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.
Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel
a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman's wife.
"If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,"
she said to her mistress, "he would cure him of his leprosy."
Naaman went and told his lord
just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.
"Go," said the king of Aram.
"I will send along a letter to the king of Israel."
So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents,
six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.
To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read:
"With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you,
that you may cure him of his leprosy."
When he read the letter,
the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed:
"Am I a god with power over life and death,
that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?
Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!"
When Elisha, the man of God,
heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments,
he sent word to the king:
"Why have you torn your garments?
Let him come to me and find out
that there is a prophet in Israel."
Naaman came with his horses and chariots
and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
The prophet sent him the message:
"Go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean."
But Naaman went away angry, saying,
"I thought that he would surely come out and stand there
to invoke the LORD his God,
and would move his hand over the spot,
and thus cure the leprosy.
Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
better than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?"
With this, he turned about in anger and left.
But his servants came up and reasoned with him.
"My father," they said,
"if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary,
would you not have done it?
All the more now, since he said to you,
'Wash and be clean,' should you do as he said."
So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times
at the word of the man of God.
His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before him and said,
"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel."
Responsorial Psalm PS 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Verse Before The Gospel SEE PS 130:5, 7
I hope in the LORD, I trust in his word;with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption.
Gospel LK 4:24-30
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
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