“Great Expectations

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

February 2, 2025

Petting a cat

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Luke 4:21-30

Children’s Message:

How old do you have to be to preach in church? How old do you have to be to serve in church? How old do you have to be to tell someone about how much God loves them?

God told Jeremiah that he was going to speak for God. He was going to tell people about God and warn them about the consequences of bad behavior. But Jeremiah was only a kid. Like you. He wondered who would listen to him. He wasn’t old enough.

But God wants everyone—at every age—to know that they are important to God’s message. You know that clipboard I pass around every week? Some of you sign up to light candles. Some of you sign up to greet. Some of you sign up to bring treats. What do you think would happen if you signed up to read or do prayers? Or serve communion? What if you help with gathering the offering? Or sing with the choir? Or play bells? Or…what if you helped me lead worship?

Maybe…with a little help…you could give a sermon. What do you think? Tell you what, anyone who wants to help with communion, you just come on up. You can partner with an adult, or you can even have a very special role giving blessings. It’s up to you. This is your church.

Let’s pray. Dear God, give us the courage to speak your love and life to the whole world. Remind us that we are all called and chosen to do your work. Amen.

Message:

Bill Bouknight tells a story about Billy Sunday, the Billy Graham of a previous generation. He was conducting a crusade in a particular city. In one of his sermons he said something critical of the labor conditions for workers in that area. After the service, several prominent businessmen sent a message to him by one of the local pastors. The message was this—"Billy, leave labor matters alone. Concentrate on getting people saved. Stay away from political issues. You’re rubbing the fur the wrong way."

Billy Sunday sent this message back to them: "If I’m rubbing the fur the wrong way, tell the cats to turn around."

It’s the risk Jesus took when he preached in his hometown of Nazareth. Last week, we read the first part of the story. He was praised as he preached and taught throughout Galilee. He even did miracles in places like Capernaum. So, when he reached Nazareth—the village that nourished his faith and taught him about God—they had great expectations.

He began by reading from Isaiah. “The Spirit of our God is upon me: because the Most High has anointed me to bring Good News to those who are poor. God has sent me to proclaim liberty to those held captive, recovery of sight to the blind, and release to those in prison—to proclaim the year of our God’s favor.” Then he sat down and said, “Today, in your hearing, this scripture passage is fulfilled.”

And they waited, breath held. What will he do? Who will he heal? How will he show us God’s power like he did to the others? And instead of displaying his power, he reminded them of Israel’s past. He told of Elijah. As he was on the run from Queen Jezebel, he escaped her clutches by going to the area where she grew up. There was a great famine in the land, and everyone in Israel and beyond was suffering. But Elijah went to a place near Sidon and encountered a widow there—also suffering.

He begged for her help, but in her despair, she told him that she had just enough for a bit of bread for herself and her son before they died. He assured her that her oil and flour would last if she took him in. With nothing to lose, she helped him. And she and her son did not die. They ate, and they fed Elijah as he hid away.

Then, Jesus told them about Naaman, one of the highest leaders in the Aramean army—fighting on behalf of Assyria. Afflicted with leprosy, the Jewish servant of his wife suggested he go to the king of Northern Israel and request help. Naaman was sent to Elisha, and when he arrived, Elisha’s servant told him to go to the Jordan River to wash. When he finally did, he was made clean. Not long after, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria.

When the folks at Nazareth heard Jesus refer to the ways in which God helped outsiders instead of God’s own chosen, they were infuriated. They got so mad they meant to throw Jesus off a nearby cliff.  And, in a scene I like to imagine was similar to the one in the movie “Tombstone,” just after the battle at the OK Corral, Jesus told the mob, “I don’t think I’ll let you kill me today.” And he walks off.

Here’s the thing. The people of Nazareth expected some pretty special treatment. They expected Jesus to do everything he did for others—and more. He was one of their own. Surely, he’d take care of his own first. Surely, he’d put them first. Surely, he’d give them preferential treatment. This attitude of exceptionalism and entitlement was a problem then, and it’s a problem now.

I remember not long after I completed seminary, my home congregation in Kansas asked me to preach there. Apparently, there were comments about how it was only right. Not that they had offered any financial assistance. But I was one of theirs. I owed them. So, I went. And nobody—including myself—wanted a repeat performance. It was awkward. I couldn’t really preach there. I knew too much about them, and they knew too much about me. And anything I said would fall on deaf ears.

But in some ways, we all have this problem. We all want to hear how God will give preferential treatment—to the righteous, to the Christians, to America, to Israel, to Germany, to whatever group you happen to be in. And any message to the contrary rubs our fur the wrong way.

Here’s where we often get God’s good news confused. We think the good news is TO us. FOR us. We are the chosen. We are the believers. We are the ‘in’ crowd. But anytime we draw a circle around who’s in and who’s out, we will find Jesus on the outside.

Yes, the good news is to us and for us. But it is also for others THROUGH us. We are not exceptional in that we are especially loved and chosen by God. We are exceptional in that we are sent by God. Sent to the margins. Sent to the oppressed. Sent, like Jesus, to bring Good News to those who are poor. Sent to proclaim liberty to those held captive. Sent to give recovery of sight to the blind. Sent to release those in prison. Sent to proclaim the year of God’s favor—to the whole word.

We find in this passage one of the core natures of human sin. Those who claimed to love Jesus really only loved him for what he could do for them. If we only love God for what God can do for us, we will often be offended by the gospel. Because the good news of Christ is for the whole world—regardless of belief, regardless of faith, regardless of actions, regardless of nationality, regardless of race, regardless of gender, regardless of gender expression or orientation, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of citizenship, regardless of political party. As Paul writes, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that keeps us—ALL of us—from God’s abiding love.

If hearing that causes offense—if hearing it rubs someone’s fur the wrong way—then it’s likely time for the cats to turn around.

Pastor Tobi White

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

Lincoln, NE