Nazareth Manifesto

Epiphany 3 year C Sermon 13 

In only a short time Luke tells us... news about Jesus... had spread through the whole countryside. Stories of the voice saying ‘this is my beloved son’ 

and the dove at Jesus’ baptism in the river Jordon. Stories about how the spirit had led Jesus into the wilderness...

Stories of his teaching in synagogues... all over Galilee...
and how everyone praised him. 

And now in the midst ofall  this growing fame…
Jesus came home... to Nazareth...to the people he’d
grown up with...to his neighbours and friends.

People who knew him as Joseph’s boy, Mary’s oldest son, friends who’d watched him at his work as a carpenter ...who’d studied and argued with him...
growing up in the synagogue... like all good Jewish boys.

Of course they’d ask him to speak… now he was back.
Ask him to read and interpret the scriptures. So they could get a good look… at what all the fuss was about. [pause]

Was Jesus standing by a window in the sun’s morning rays … as they handed him the scroll of Isaiah …

or was it in the cool dusk of evening as they gathered there?

Were his friends and neighbours in that little town… intrigued… or were they skeptical and slightly cynical
… of what Joseph’s son…would say…
did their eyes glistened in anticipation…

as they waited… in silence… for Jesus interpretation…

of his chosen text. [pause]

And standing there before them…unrolling the scroll of Isaiah, Jesus finds the several texts he wants...and begins to read:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He’s sent me...

to proclaim freedom for the prisoners... and recovery of sight for the blind…to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.’

Then… Luke tells us...Jesus rolls up the scroll,
and hands it back to the attendant... and the eyes and ears of everyone are fastened on him... as he sits down to speak...

You could have heard a pin drop…when Jesus says

‘Today…in your hearing…this scripture has been fulfilled.’

By this shattering assertion…Jesus could only mean…
the spirit of God is actually on him…that he’s been anointed
that he’s the one… the prophet is writing about…

The congregation are stunned…I imagine. Nothing his mother told them over the years…has prepared them for this.

Mary and Joseph’s son has become either a madman, or a
con man. Or incredibly…what he says is true… God’s purposes are being unveiled for them… right there in their hearing.

If Jesus is crazy…if his mind is sick and filled with grandiose fantasies and delusions…of course his words can be
easily dismissed… as the ravings of a deranged man

…they can feel sorry for his family…
whisper… what a shame it must be his mother and father.

If Jesus is conning them… lying to them…
claiming he’s got God’s support claim the throne of Herod… or even more daring…lead an armed revolt against Rome

then Jesus certainly can’t be dismissed…or ignored …because he’s actually dangerous…
In that case…Jesus needs to be got rid of…

If the Jewish or Roman authorities get wind of this…
they’d be down on our little town of Nazareth…
like a ton of bricks.

It’s all very well for us to dream of God rescuing his people from domination…saving the oppressed from exploitation, liberating the captives…but don’t try to drag us in on it. [pause]

If what Jesus says is true… and he really is the promised one …the anointed one of God…we can expect some
special razzle dazzle…for the old home town…

something more… than this young man they’d known since childhood…just sitting there…
calmly claiming to be the Messiah. [pause]

So what conclusion do the people of Nazareth come to …those who knew Jesus… the best and the longest?

Do they raise him on their shoulders and spill out into the street… in joyous relief …
that the saviour of the world is one of their community?

Or do they laugh out loud… and roll their eyes…
and say yeah right Jesus…looks like you've been out in the wilderness sun… just a bit too long [pause]

Actually…I find what Luke says happens truly confusing …because right after this in verse 22 Luke tells us.

 ‘All spoke well of him... and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.

Excuse me? I think much later on…some well-meaning scribe must have slipped a little political correctness
into Luke’s account of what happened that day.
Because the story does says…‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’

And this is really weird because up to this point in the story...
the only thing Jesus has said in his own words… is
‘Today… in your hearing…this scripture has been fulfilled.’

And that declaration… would certainly have branded Jesus...
as mad...or bad… or the actual Messiah.

I’m sorry, but ‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’ seems like a very strange response to mad or bad... and a ridiculously polite response... to well…‘I am the anointed one of God’.

Because right after this difficult verse... we’re confronted by what sounds like Jesus reacting to skeptics
asking for miracles...and proof of identity…

Right after ‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’

Jesus says ‘Oh now I suppose you’re gonna say. Go ahead Doctor…heal yourself! Don’t try to dazzle us here in your home town like you did in Capernaum. But I’m telling you no prophet’s ever been accepted in his home town...

not even the great Elijah...’

[gently] I don’t need to prove anything to you.  [pause]

And bang…that snaps it for the congregation...and they react. And it’s clear from their reaction…they don’t think Jesus is crazy...They’ve decided he’s dangerous…and they’re not going to allow him…to hang around Nazareth

Luke tells us ‘all the people in the synagogue were furious. And they got up and drove Jesus out of town, and took him to the brow of a hill, to throw him off the cliff.’

But again Jesus’ time has not yet come...

and he just walks straight through the crowd...

and right on back to Capernaum.

This won’t be... his last rejection.... [pause]

Throughout his ministry…Jesus’ teaching interprets Jewish tradition...in a way which shocks...and angers
and scares a lot of people.

But why...were they so upset when his saving message was just about the fulfillment of their dreams…and God’s desire for the wellbeing of all people…for a just and equitable peace for all humankind. [pause]

Well…part of the reason Jesus was rejected then…
and continues to be rejected today... is because of his teaching in the synagogue that day in Nazareth...what we call his Nazareth Manifesto…and because of his claim
to be the actual fulfillment of Israel’s prophets words…

And for us just as for the congregation in Nazareth…
If Jesus wasn’t crazy or lying...then he really is the anointed one of God... Immanuel...God with us…
in time and space...and if that’s true...

then we have to take him seriously...

we have to take his teaching to heart...And if we take his teaching to heart…well we might have to sacrifice something ourselves…maybe even our safety…
the powers that be… might not like it...

The powers that be… might not like us. [pause]

It’s the same in Wanaka or Hawea today as it was in the synagogue in Nazareth…our response to Jesus’ own understanding… of his identity...of who he was…is critical.

We have three choices…One…either he was mad along with all who followed him and recorded his life and teaching...
or two…he was a liar and a conman

Or three…we can choose to believe that in him...through the very person of Jesus...God’s purposes of peace and well-being were to be fulfilled… for all creation. [pause]

Like those who sat in the synagogue in Nazareth…we’re free to choose what we believe about Jesus and what we do about him. We’re free to reject him and his gospel message
or free to follow him and his teaching...at school in our family our community and in our politics.

And mark my words… if we follow him… it will be good news to the poor…and it will mean freedom for those in oppressive relationships…it will mean sight to those who are blind to God’s love… for all creation.

Credo – I believe Cre do I give my heart

Epiphany 2 year C Sermon 13 John 4:1-42

Title slide

Drink deeply of the water I offer you
and you will never thirst.

Jesus words… so remind me of Joy Cowley’s poem ...The quiet pool…I have to share it with you / she writes

There is within each of us… a quiet /

clear pool of living water/

fed by the one deep Source/

and inseparable from it,

but so often hidden by a tangle of activity/
that we may not know… of its existence.

We can spend the proverbial forty years

wandering in strange deserts

Sinking unrewarding wells

And moving on…driven by our thirst

But when we stop still/ long enough

To look inside ourselves/…really look

Beyond our ideas about water

and what and where it should be

We discover it was with us… all the time

That quiet clear pool… which is… ageless

The meaning of our existence

And the answer to all wanderings

And as we drink/ we know what Jesus

meant when he said/ we’d never be thirsty again. [pause]

And Jesus says to the woman at the well
Drink deeply of the water I offer you
and you will never thirst.

We often overlook Jesus promise…that this reviving will come from within us and not from outside. But… when we look closely at the story in John’s gospel for today that’s exactly what it says.

At first the woman at the well certainly thinks
it’ll come from outside her…doesn’t she…
when she questions Jesus…

but sir you have nothing to draw water with…
and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Do you think you’re greater than our
father Jacob…who gave us this well… and drank from it himself…as did his sons and his animals?”

And Jesus adds more to the mystery, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again…but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Slide words

Really…Jesus says… the water I give them…
will become in them… a spring of water…
welling up to eternal life.

In the Greek: Zoe = Zoe eternal life = an imperishable relationship with God. [pause]

And the woman responds…
“Sir, give me this water so I won’t get thirsty
and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Blank slide

And we want it too… don’t we?
Again and again we hear this story from John’s Gospel.

Again and again…we open our hearts to the promise of refreshment Jesus offers…

But in our everyday lives...
do we act like we actually believe him...
do we go to Jesus for refreshment… for reviving
when we’re dried out and frustrated
and at the end of our tether?

Do we seek an encounter with God in Jesus
through prayer or contemplation?

or do we actually look for a different kind of fix…to satisfy our longing… our emptiness
or our thirst for love…

maybe your first impulse is to open the fridge door…
or the chocolate box…maybe booze cabinet…
a little retail therapy or a game of golf…

Perhaps you lose yourself in a romantic novel…a game of solitaire… or in fantasy... or gambling or pornography

But Jesus is telling this woman at the well that…
 if she really wants deep and abiding soul quenching…
it will only be found through receiving
what he has to give…

And isn’t that the essence of our faith…receiving and giving love…
John’s story of the woman at the well… reminds us… that the Christian faith… is a love story
between God and all creation…between God and us.
In faith we believe in this love story…

Slide words

Did you know that in the Gospels when someone says ‘I believe’ they use the Greek word ‘credo’ which comes from ‘cor do’ (I give my heart).

Faith to the gospel writers… was an affair of the heart.
An intimate encounter between God and every one of us.. And the encounter between Jesus… and the woman at the well…is a perfect example.

At the well…heart speaks to heart…
both people reveal themselves to each other.

And in my own experience this is an encounter we can seek out…whenever we’re aware of our own thirst or emptiness.

To often we interpret belief as a head thing …or faith as a set of propositional statements…that we rationally accept. And sometimes we need to remember these…
But the living water Jesus is offering
is relational… not intellectual…It’s about God’s willingness to know us and be known by us.

Jesus tells the woman who he is…and she tells him about her life. They come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds…and through this conversation
Jesus reveals to her…the confluence of faith that is happening…as he inaugurates the kingdom of God.

No matter what your religious or ethnic background is Jesus is saying…a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in the Spirit and in truth,

For they’re the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. Jesus says…
God is spirit, and God’s worshipers
must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
It won’t matter if you’re in Jerusalem or Samaria…

Intrigued… the woman says…I’ve heard the anointed one of God is coming…the one the Jews call Messiah
and the Greeks…call the Christ…
and that he will proclaim the truth about all things.”

[pause]

And in that moment of intimacy…
there’s no distance of gender or culture or religion between Jesus and a woman who to all other rabbis would be an unclean foreigner and not even worth talking to…

and Jesus reveals to her… who is really is…

Slide words

“I, the very one talking to you—I am he.”

This woman had been hearing about the Messiah’s coming all her life…but hearing about it never brought her living water. In her joy… she rushes off to tell her friends and neighbours…
but her witness doesn’t bring them living water…

Only when they encounter Jesus for themselves
do they believe.

Yes, the story shows…it’s good for us to have knowledge about God and about Jesus,
but this is not enough. Yes, the story shows
the witness of other believers is helpful…
but that too is not enough.

Like the woman at the well…John wants us to have
a personal encounter with God… in the person of Jesus…so a relationship of intimacy can form…so faith can grow…a relationship where hearts are given…

And the way we encounter this relationship…
is in prayer…speaking and listening…

where else will we get the energy and the strength and the courage…to love and serve others in Jesus’ name when the well of our own resources has run dry.

and the beautiful thing is…because it’s a love story
we have the freedom to say yes from our heart
every day…the freedom to sit and chat
and to reveal ourselves to each other.

And every day when we pray… like the Samaritan woman…we come privately to our well… with our needs and our questions.

And every day…just as her life was transformed forever … by her encounter with Jesus…
our lives can be reformed… around and through him.