“Familiarity Breeds Contempt” (Luke 4:21-30)

Last week we ended our scripture reading with the words: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  This week we begin our scripture reading with those words.  This is the Gospel of Luke’s start to the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus stands in his hometown synagogue and reads a passage from Isaiah that proclaims and defines his ministry, purpose, and life.  Then he sits down.  All the eyes of those gathered are focused on him.  They sit in silent awe of what they are seeing and what they have just heard.  It is a “shazam moment” of silent awe.

 

This is how our reading ended last Sunday, but this Sunday it kicks off the story.  A lot can take place in those silence moments as we discover this morning.  Those gather begin to speak among themselves . . . “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they ask.  There are rumblings . . . some discontent is expressed . . . some anger.  Anger about who Jesus thinks he is to waltz in and make such a proclamation . . . to insinuate such things.  Anger that turns into outrage and fury.  The congregation rises up and drives Jesus out of town to the crest of a hill in which they plan on throwing him over the cliff.

 

From a really cool revelation of the Holy last Sunday to a murderous confrontation this Sunday, the story shifts quickly.  It is of no surprise to Jesus.  He is expecting it.  After all, he tells the people: “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”  He expected the challenges to his proclamation.  After all, he is a hometown boy . . . they all know him . . . and, familiarity breeds contempt.

 

At least that is the old saying . . . familiarity breeds contempt.

 

Think about that phrase.  Familiarity is defined as “close acquaintance with or knowledge of something . . . of knowing something very well.”  Contempt is defined as a “feeling that a person or thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn . . . disregard . . . not worth the time or effort.”  Basically, then the phrase is telling us that knowing someone, or something well can create feelings of disrespect or acknowledgement that leads to ignoring or becoming careless in situations.

 

Obviously, the hometown folks knew Jesus . . . in their minds, quite well.  Because of this they had some feelings and opinions about the hometown kid everyone outside of Nazareth were hailing as the next best thing to sliced bread.  They didn’t agree.  As far as they were concerned Jesus was no different than any other person who had grown up in Nazareth . . . there was nothing special about him.  After all, he was one of them.  So where did he get off proclaiming he was some hotshot for God?

 

What was Jesus thinking!

 

Jesus knew what he was getting into.  He understood that the reaction he would get from the hometown folks was quite different than what he would have received if he had made his announcement down the road at Cana.  He knows that he will be tested . . . “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician heal yourself!’”  He knows that they will test him.  He even tells them that “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”  And he knows that no matter he does or says . . . no one is going to believe him.  But the truth of the matter is God’s will is God’s will.  Jesus is who he says he is via the words of the prophet Isaiah.  And, to prove it, as the crowd is threatening to throw him over the cliff . . . “he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”      

 

It is because of familiarity that I am not a big professional football fan.  It is the same teams year after year . . . same players over and over again . . . it seems to never change.  Because of that I find the games predictable.  It became boring.  And it made me resentful.  Resentful of the same teams and players getting all the publicity and airtime . . . getting all the awards and championships.   I guess you would say I have developed some contempt for professional football.  And I want you to know it has nothing to do with my favorite team . . . the Minnesota Vikings.  You have heard of the Minnesota Vikings, right . . . see!  See what I mean.

 

Last weekend’s professional football divisional championships ripped open an awareness of how “familiarity breeds contempt” for me.  Last weekend’s games were probably the best playoff games ever for the National Football League.  Three of the four underdog and visiting teams won their games and did so in the last three seconds by kicking field goals.  The fourth game went into sudden death overtime with the favored team coming back to win.  Knocked out and having their seasons ended were the familiar . . . the Titans, Packers, and the Buccaneers. Gone were Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.  The only thing that would have made the weekend perfect is if the Chiefs and their quarterback Patrick Mahomes had lost . . . but they did not.  Otherwise, it was a great weekend of football!

 

That weekend showed my contempt . . . my boredom . . . my loss of respect because I caught myself rooting for the underdog in each of those games.  I found myself cheering for the underdogs and their defense each time they stopped the other teams’ offense . . . especially if they got to Brady or Rodgers or Mahomes.  In perfect twenty/twenty hindsight I was no different than the congregation in Jesus’ hometown synagogue . . . except three of the four teams I held in contempt got pushed over the cliff.

 

Familiarity in our lives . . . with people, routines, objects, experiences—you name it . . . can create contempt.  It can make us turn against that which we are familiar with.  It can make us bored and unwilling to participate.  It can upset us and make us do things we wouldn’t normally do.  It can happen in our lives, and it can happen to our faith.  The same old same old can be the end of so much once we become familiar with it all.

 

Of course, the familiar can also be comforting and comfortable.  We all have clothes and shoes that we wear over and over again because they are comfortable.  We all have stores where we shop over and over again because we are familiar with them.  We eat the same meals over and over again because they are familiar . . . what we like . . . and that makes us comfortable.  We like the familiar because it always comes through the way we expect it to.

 

But what happens when the familiar goes against what we think the familiar should be?  In the minds of the people, they knew Jesus.  Knowing Jesus, they expected certain things from him . . . that he would act in certain ways.  In what takes place in the synagogue Jesus blew those expectations out of the water.  Expectations were crossed.  Being the good humans that the congregation consisted of they did what any good human being would do . . . they attempted at getting Jesus to do what they expected him to do.  After all, he was a hometown boy and hometown boys can be depended to act in certain ways.  Being an instrument of God’s will was not one of them.  Having no success at getting Jesus to conform, they decided the best way to solve the issue was to get rid of it . . . kill Jesus and everything would return to the familiar.

 

Or so they thought.

 

In the end, Jesus just “walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”  The will of God was not to be denied.

 

In this story Jesus steps into the familiar and then turns it upside down.  He acknowledges the familiar and understands the roadblock it can be to one’s journey through life and to one’s faith.  God is a great mystery that we can never fully understand.  Because of that we should be open to the unexpected and to be willing to move beyond the familiar to know God in ways that we never imagined.  God is an adventure that challenges us in our journeys of faith and life.  Jesus shows us that.   Jesus understands.

 

God and God’s will is an adventure that we are never sure about where it will lead us.  All we know for certain is that it is God’s will . . . and if it is God’s will then so be it.  We need to be open and willing to step into whatever it is that God throws at us.  We may not know where it is leading us, but we go knowing it is God’s will and that God is with us.  Jesus understood this.  It was not so much the words that he spoke, but the actions he took.  Nothing would stop him . . . “he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”  Nothing will stop us . . . especially if we believe.  Amen.

“Shazam!” (Luke 4:14-21)

Recently on social media someone posting a challenge to “name a television show that kids of today would not know.”  Now I am thinking that this had nothing to do with the knowledge of kids today about old television shows . . . nope, I think it had to do with showing how old the person was answering the question.  With that understanding my answer exposed my age as being “old”!  I answered, Gomer Pyle.  Actually, the correct name of the show was Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.  The U.S.M.C. stood for United States Marine Corp.  The show ran from 1964 through 1969 and was a spinoff of the Andy Griffith Show.  So . . . as my children would say, I am old!

 

Remember Gomer?

 

Gomer was a naïve, extremely moral auto mechanic from Mayberry. North Carolina.  He was played by actor/singer Jim Nabors.  Basically, Gomer was a good ol’ boy . . . a country simpleton or bumpkin.  In his simplicity he was constantly amazed at the world around him.  He was awestruck by life and the people he encountered.  Do you remember any of the phrases he would exclaim when struck with awe?

 

“Golly!”

 

“Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

 

And “Shazam!”

 

If something went against his morals he would proclaim, “Shame, shame, shame!”

 

It was pretty hard to miss the exuberance of Gomer when he was awestruck with people, life, or experiences.  You could hear it in his voice.

 

As I read our scripture lesson this morning, I couldn’t help but to think that we were witnessing a moment of “shazam!”  The setting of our reading is shortly after the baptism and the wilderness experience of Jesus.  Coming out of the wilderness Jesus heads off to his old stomping grounds . . . he heads home.  Being the Sabbath, he does what he would usually do . . . he goes to the synagogue.  There he stood up, reads scripture, and then sits down.  Everyone’s eyes are glued to him.  Ta da! “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” he says.

 

For those gathered it was a moment of epiphany . . . a “shazam” moment . . . Jesus opened their eyes! 

 

Unlike the Gospel of John from last Sunday where Jesus begins his ministry with the miracle of turning water into wine, in the Gospel of Luke his inaugural act of ministry is an act in which he proclaims his identity, purpose, and vocation . . . and he does it through scripture.  Words familiar to those who are gathered.  Words heard a thousand times by those who were gathered.  Jesus takes the tried and traditional old words of faith and makes them new . . . these are not his words . . . these are the living words, the living words of faith.  By the way that the writer describes it, the people were stunned.  If the silence had words, they would be words like . . . “Golly!” . . . “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” . . . and, “Shazam!”

 

Whatever the case, when we do something or hear something over and over again, there comes a point where it loses its magic or power . . . it doesn’t pack the power it once did.  Scripture can be that way, especially if it is a familiar story or reading that has been heard over and over again.  It feels as if it is no longer “living” . . . it is just words.  It is something read without thinking.

 

Through the familiar Jesus announces who he is . . . what his purpose is . . . and his vocation.  He does not use some fancy job description that he and God whip up for the occasion.  No, he uses what is already there . . . traditional words . . . familiar words.  He reads from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

 

There is “life” in the words he shares.

 

Have you ever heard a familiar song as if you were hearing it for the first time?  Have you ever re-read a book and caught yourself feeling the story in a new way you never imagined?  Have you ever seen a picture or painting only to see it in a new and exciting way?  Have you ever encountered an old friend and discover someone you never knew existed before?  Have you ever broken the bread and lifted the cup only to discover a deeper understanding and depth to the Lord’s Supper?  Have you ever read or heard the scripture that changed your understanding, opened your heart, and made you just step back and proclaim, “Shazam!”

 

This is what happens in the sanctuary of the synagogue as Jesus reads to those who are gathered.  They experience the “Word”—“God’s Word”—in a new way.  The “Word” comes to life!  We sometimes forget that the “Word of God” is a “living word”.  The “Word of God” is neither dull nor dead.  It is alive.  The word lives, here and now.  It is organic, it breathes, it moves in fresh and revolutionary ways. It lives. 

 

It can be a constant “aha” . . . an epiphany.  If we only allow it to be.  We must pick up the Word, roll out the scroll, read and receive.  The joy of the Lord is there in a collection of what seems a lot of antiquated pages telling the story.  The Spirit makes it possible . . . if we allow it.  The Scriptures can be a constant source of epiphany . . . of “aha” moments . . . of discovering God’s presence in the world around, through the people we meet, and deepening our relationship with God and one another.

 

Through the familiar routine of Sabbath . . .  its usual rhythm and flow, the Holy is revealed in the traditional words of faith known by those who have gathered.  In what is taken for granted, the Word comes to life.  So, it was on that morning Jesus read.  Jesus knew it.  “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  The people felt it.

 

Shazam!

 

So, it shall be for us if we only allow it.  The Holy shall be revealed.  “Life” discovered.  Yesterday, today, and tomorrow . . . we have the opportunity to constantly experience the presence of the living God.  Jesus shows us the way.  Life should be filled with “shazam”.  The choice is ours.  Amen.