Monday 2 December 2024 Kirsty-Ann Mabbott,

Monday 2 December 2024

St Luke 4: 22 – 30

All spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’  He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’  And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.  But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land;  yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.  There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’  When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.  They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.  But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Reflection

Sometimes it can be hard going home when you have journeyed, grown and changed because when you get back, people only see you as you were not as you are now. The problem is when you point out you have changed, the folk at home get angry and this can be for a number of reasons; they could be jealous that you have grown and changed and they are still the same, they might be in disbelief that you can truly change, they might feel that you are rubbing it in their faces as if you are better than them. 

I know from my own experience that sometimes when I get into disagreements with my sister she will get angry if she thinks I am speaking with “fancy, educated words” to make her feel stupid, and if I try and explain that I am not doing it deliberately, it makes her angrier. Sometimes, there is no winning. I think this is the situation that Jesus is facing here, regardless of what he does, it will be wrong because folk have become intractable. 

As a church we need to ensure that we do not fall foul of this. As Jesus followers, we must always be open to change and growth, challenge and inspiration. We must always be prepared to also welcome back and uplift those who have journeyed and changed and accept that they are not who they were and they have something wonderful to offer to the church locally, regionally and nationally as well as in the community.

Prayer

Teacher God
You are always lifting us up,
teaching, training, encouraging 
and inspiring us to be better disciples. 
Let us not become intractable to the changes in others 
that keeps them small so that we feel better about ourselves, 
but encourage us to rejoice in their growing 
and celebrate their deeper commitment 
to your kin-dom of now and not yet.
Amen.