“A CLIFF HANGER, STRAWBERRIES AND GOD’S BLESSINGS”

LUKE 4:12-30

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “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 liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?”

23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”

24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,

26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.

29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.

30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace.

That’s what everyone wants of course.  Everyone from the President of the United States to pedestrians on the street want God to bless them.  You want to God to bless you, don’t you? 

After all nobody wants to feel the same way a husband felt one day. The husband was reading his newspaper when his wife came running into the house shouting at the top of her lungs.  “I won. I won,” she said.  “Hurry up and pack your bags. I just won the lottery.”  The husband couldn’t believe it.  “That’s great,” he said.  “But should I pack for the mountains or should I pack for the ocean.”  “How cares,” she said. “Just pack your bags and get out.”

We all want God to bless us but here’s a question to ponder this morning.  Why would God bless us?  By us, I mean why would God bless us as a people?  Why would bless this nation that proclaims itself to be a nation under God?

After all this is a nation where stores are open on Sunday morning.

This is a nation where the pursuit of gold is more important than the Golden Rule itself.

This is a nation where you can’t say God’s name at a high school graduation without getting into all kinds of hot water.

This reluctance to honor God can be seen in an event that took place shortly after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.  Did you know that one of the first things Buzz Aldrin did after they landed on the moon was celebrate Communion?  It’s true.  His pastor gave him the elements to celebrate Communion but NASA told him to keep it quiet.  That’s because NASA, at the time, was in the middle of a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the well known atheist.  Madelyn Murray O’Hare went to court when the astronauts on Apollo 8 circled the moon and read those words from Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Because of that, Buzz Aldrin sat there in silence as he celebrated Communion.  He later wrote, “I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that…brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility.  It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

Most people don’t know about this story because Buzz Aldrin was told to keep it quiet.  So, I’ll ask the question again.  Why would God bless us if we, as a people, don’t really honor God? After all, if you don’t honor God there’s no guarantee that you’re going to truly appreciate those blessings and there’s no guarantee that you’re going to use those blessings in a way that pleases God.  So, you can’t take those blessings for granted.

That was the message that Jesus sent to the people in that synagogue.  Jesus began by offering them a message of hope. Jesus stood up and read these words from the prophet Isaiah:

“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 liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

After he read those words Jesus sat down and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The people were thrilled.  They praised Jesus but then Jesus threw them a curve ball.  Jesus reminded them how God blessed the widow of Zarapath and Naaman, a Syrian general who had leprosy.  Jesus reminded them how God blessed those two foreigners instead of the widows in Israel who were suffering and the lepers in Israel who were suffering.

That’s when the people got angry and tried to throw Jesus off that cliff. They were angry because Jesus was sending them a message and the message was simply this: Don’t think that you’re entitled to be blessed by God just because you’re the chosen people. Jesus may be saying the same thing to us.   Don’t think that you’re entitled to be blessed by God just because you proclaim yourself to be a nation under God.

It’s true.  If we don’t honor God why would God bless us? When you look at where we are and where we seem to be heading it’s easy to feel the same way a Marine felt one day. The Marine was taking a philosophy class at a local college when the professor issue a challenge.  The professor decided to prove that God doesn’t exist.  So, he stood in front of the class, looked up to the ceiling and said, “God if you’re really there, then I dare you to knock me off this platform.  I’ll give you exactly 15 minutes.”   The students in the lecture hall became increasingly uncomfortable as the minutes went by.  At the 10 minute mark the professor looked up at the ceiling again and said, “Hey God.  I’m still here!”  A few more minutes went by and the professor did a little more taunting.  At that point the Marine walked to the front of the class, punched the professor in the nose and knocked him off the platform.  The professor looked up at the Marine and shouted at him.  “What did you do that for?  Are you crazy?”  The Marine looked down at the professor and said, “God was busy protecting soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff like that.  So, he sent me.”

When you look at where we are and where we seem to be heading it’s enough to make you angry. Jesus , however, doesn’t want us to go around punching people and throwing verbal rocks at them.  If we did that we’d look just like Pat Robertson.  Pat Robertson, of course, is the televangelist who threw a few verbal rocks at the people of Haiti.  He said they deserved all their pain and suffering because they didn’t honor God.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be like Pat Robertson.  I want to be like Jesus; the Jesus who told us to speak the truth in love; the Jesus who told us to let our light shine so that other will see and give glory to God.

That’s why I’ve been thinking about strawberries this past week.  I know it sounds a little strange.  So, I guess I better explain.  When I was younger I didn’t eat strawberries.  That’s because I didn’t like anything that had seeds in it.  So, for 27 years I didn’t eat strawberries.  Then one Sunday afternoon I was invited to have dinner with an elderly couple at the Union Congregational Church in East Walpole.  I was the student minister there and after we enjoyed an incredible dinner Mrs. Rafuse brought out her p’esta resistance. I panicked when I saw the homemade strawberry shortcake.  I was trapped though and had no choice.  I had to eat the strawberries and guess what?  I absolutely loved them.  I later realized that for years I’d been missing out on the wonderfully delicious and delectable taste of fresh strawberries.

Maybe that’s what Jesus wants us to do.  Maybe Jesus wants us to live our lives in a way that helps people realize what it is that they’re missing here.  After all we don’t have good news.  We have great news.  We have the peace and love, joy and hope that comes from following God’s only begotten son.

What we have here is a lot better than running over to Wal-Mart to pick up some shampoo and slippers.

It’s a lot better than sleeping in and reading a newspaper that’s full of bad news.

It’s a lot better than sitting on a cold metal bench at 6 or 8 a.m. and watching a hockey puck being slapped around. 

It isn’t our angry words that will bring people back to God.  It’s our faithful living and deeds of loving kindness that will bring people back to the God.  That’s what will bring us back to the God who more than anything wants…

…to bless us and keep us

…who wants to make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us

…who wants to lift up his countenance upon us and grant us peace.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

January 24, 2010