January 24, 2022 at 8:17 p.m.
We are called to preach with love not contempt!
We are called to preach with love not contempt!
When Jesus goes to his hometown of Nazareth in the Gospel of Luke 4:21-30, those in attendance in the synagogue were complementary of the words he spoke. “And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” (Lk.4:21-22) These opening verses continue the passage we began to hear in last Sunday’s Gospel, when Jesus went into the synagogue and unrolled the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and proclaimed that the words of the prophet were fulfilled in their hearing.
All three synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark and Luke — tell of the event when Jesus visits his hometown of Nazareth, but only Luke tells us that the assembly in the synagogue thought his words were gracious. Then the people realized who he was and then their familiarity with Jesus and his family — “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” — began to breed contempt and they would not listen to his words. Jesus was rejected in his own hometown, thus the words he spoke, “Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”
The people were rejecting the word, but not just the spoken word, they were rejecting the word made flesh. Jesus goes on to speak to those present in the synagogue on how their ancestors had rejected the prophets of old and that they are doing the same in rejecting him as well. “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.” (Lk. 4:27-28) Jesus tells the religious officials that a humble widow is more faithful to God than they themselves are to God. He went on to further compare them to Naaman the Syrian, a nonbeliever, who he said was more holy than they were for he listened to the prophet Elisha and received healing. They were filled with fury as the passage says, but Jesus passed through them and moved on as all great prophets of old were required to do.
In the First Reading, Jeremiah (Jer.1:4-5, 7-9) is called by God and told that God will strengthen him to withstand the rejection he will have to endure for the prophetic word he must proclaim. “Stand up and tell them all that I command you. Be not crushed on their account, as though I would leave you crushed before them.” Every prophet, apostle, martyr, saint and servant of the Lord has experienced that same rejection of the word that was given to them to proclaim. Just as Jeremiah was fortified by God, we should be fortified by our faith.
In the Second Reading from 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13, Paul tells us that we should act with maturity and humility in proclaiming God’s word, “When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.” Paul tells us, if we love God first and foremost, we then have the ability to love one another as well. God’s love gives us courage to be faithful rather than fearful, “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
We are called to be humble, faithful servants to the Word of God, even if proclaiming that word means we are rejected. Paul writes in Second Timothy 4:4, “We are not called to preach to people who want their ears tickled.” We are called to preach the Gospel as Jesus preached it: with love not contempt, with courage and not fear. Psalm 71: 1-2 says it best, “I will sing of your salvation. In you Lord, I take refuge.”
250 X 250 AD
250 X 250 AD
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250 X 250 AD
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