Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, 1/30/22. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Text of today’s homily below.
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Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time -- Sunday 1/23/22
Readings: Jer 1:4-5, 17-19, Ps 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17, 1 Cor 12:31—13:13, Lk 4:21-30
Luke 4:21-30 American Standard Version
And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth: and they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? And he said unto them, Doubtless ye will say unto me this parable, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in thine own country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is acceptable in his own country. But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things; and they rose up, and cast him forth out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way.
Brothers and sisters, God doesn’t give us what we want – he gives us what we need. Perhaps I mention this too often, but it’s so very, very important that I’m willing to risk harping on it. Look here – many people lose their faith when things go wrong in their lives because they think that if they follow the commandments and worship God, that they should get some kind of magical protection. That’s not Christianity. That’s paganism, that’s magic, that’s idolatry. And so you have to understand this so that your faith will be strong.
During the Exodus, after the people had been freed from their slavery in Egypt, the people did nothing but gripe and moan and complain about how much harder freedom was than slavery. So God put snakes into their path to make their journey even worse. The people repented and begged Moses to speak with God so that they could get relief from the snakes. Moses did. But did God do away with the snakes? No. He didn’t even make the snakes stop biting! God told Moses to make a brass snake and put it on a pole, and he said that if those who were bitten looked at the brass snake, the poison would not kill them. They were still going to get bitten, the poison was still going to hurt, they were still going to be sick, and still suffer. They just wouldn’t die. (Numbers 21:4-9)
And then, to really drive this point home, God sends his only begotten son Jesus who says in John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.” Jesus is saying, just like the people in the wilderness all those years ago, you’re still going to suffer, and get sick, and be beset by all kinds of problems. In fact, you’re still going to die an earthly death. But those who follow Christ may have hope for a hereafter.
Okay. So now to today’s reading. Jesus is in the temple, and he’s just finished reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 61.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”
And Jesus tells them that this scripture is fulfilled in their hearing. And they say, “Wow, isn’t that great! God’s chosen one is from right here in our hometown! Boy oh boy is this is going to be great for us! We’re going to be liberated from the oppression of the Romans! Let’s party, let’s celebrate!” They had heard about Jesus’ miracles in Capernaum, they figured, “If that’s what he did over there, imagine what he’s going to do here!”
But then Jesus shocks them. He says, like Elijah – who didn’t help the widows here but this one widow way over in Zarephath – his job is to heal others, not himself; to heal foreigners, not his own family. He mentions Elisha – who doesn’t heal Israel’s lepers, but this one leper who is the general of the opposing army! Jesus basically tells them in no uncertain terms that they are not going to be getting any special treatment. In fact, they might not get anything at all!
And do they get the message? No. Of course they don’t. Just like many of us today, they think that if they follow the rules they should get rewarded. Just like us, when they find out they aren’t going to get what they want, they get frustrated, disappointed, angry and resentful. So they take Jesus to a cliff to throw him off but, miraculously, he escapes.
Friends, struggle against the temptation to think the way those people thought. We are not going to get what we want. We are going to get what we need. And what we need is the blessed hope of a share in the Paschal Mystery – in the passion, death, resurrection, and glory of Jesus Christ – so that we may give up our pettiness and selfishness and live our lives in imitation of Christ, as healers and preachers to all the nations, loving our neighbors as ourselves.