The scripture this morning was taken from Luke 4: 14-30 with Jesus reading in the synagogue at Nazareth.
Rev. Dimock began her sermon talking about the two Calvins in her life: John Calvin and Calvin, the precocious six-year old in the daily comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. It is interesting that young Calvin was named for the 16th century theologian.
"The world isn't fair, Calvin."
"I know Dad, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favour?”
Jesus reads in the synagogue and sees that others do not grasp the full weight of his message. He then tells them “No prophet is accepted in his own town”. Jesus will not heal himself just to prove to them that he is the Messiah. When the message of Jesus went from just "preaching" to scolding, the crowd got ugly and decided to throw him from a cliff.
Perhaps we are like this when the message is strong and directed at us - we get angry
It is difficult to criticize a community to which we being - this is what happened to Jesus in the synagogue. It was hard for the crowd to accept that God’s favour would go beyond their people. To them the Lord’s favour shouldn’t look like this! It is hard to speak the truth in our own community even when we need to hear it.
Life is not that simple and I am sure we all respond like Calvin sometimes. Why isn’t life fair in our favour?
God’s message is simple as His grace is for other people as well.
What can we do to make sure we do not miss an important message in church? Are we sometimes like the people of Nazareth, open to the words but closed to the message?
Jeanie H.