God Taps #6 · “Amazed”

0:08 by the power of your Holy Spirit so that as your scripture is read and your word is proclaimed, we might hear with joy what it is that you are declaring to us this day. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. This fall, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church has been exploring biblical stories in which God taps someone on the shoulder and says, I have a plan for you. I have work for you to do. My dear friend June recently declared to Reverend Natalie that she does not believe that God has a plan for people, at least not that way, knowing her to be a faithful soul. I followed up, tell me more about what you do not believe. Well, June went on to explain, I do not believe that God has a detailed to-do list for me to follow every day. I don't think God has a step-by-step flow chart hanging on the wall of heaven describing my life. I don't think that I can make an errant choice and suddenly fall off God's map? I don't believe that either, I responded. I don't picture heaven as an archive of blueprints. I don't think you can fall off God's map ever. I don't think God expects us to conform to a flow chart. I don't think, by the way, that God does parking spots. Mostly, I don't think God's into micromanaging. The good book presents God's plans for us usually, typically in a sort of sweeping manner. Now at this point, our conversation teetered on a threshold. On one side of this threshold, most of us feel at home. We are comfortable describing the God in whom we do not

2:19 believe. The other side of the threshold looks risky. It can feel spiritually out there verging on loopy and downright vulnerable to speak of the God in whom we do believe, the spirit we have encountered to describe our sense of what is really holy and truly guiding light, accurate.

2:49 With this in mind, with June's questions in mind, let's get risky this morning. What do we mean, really mean, when we say that God has plans for us? Now, on a basic level, I think most of us, June included, believe that God has expectations for human behavior. Some, for example, like Rachel, like to quote the writings of Micah. I'm speaking of the place where the prophet asks, what does the Lord require of us? And then quickly answers his own question, to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God. That's not a bad place to start. Perhaps we should all imagine that instead of blueprints, intricate blueprints in heaven, there's a big old sports banner on the wall up there with Micah's words on it, two feet high.

3:55 And every morning the angels tap this banner before running out onto the field. Every day they flit around the world, tapping humans on the shoulder, reminding them to be kind-hearted, humble souls devoted to righteous living. Does that sound like the broad strokes of a plan? Of course, the problem with embracing Micah's words lies not with the sentiments they express, but the lives that we live. How do we make doing justice and loving kindness real? What does God expect of me? Micah's challenge sounds good in theory, but it feels dicey when it comes to practice. Is it any wonder that when God taps us on the shoulder, sometimes we want to run in the other direction?

4:56 As Reverend Palmer wonderfully illustrated last week, sometimes the pursuit of God's righteousness looks like a scary proposition. We don't want to go to Nineveh. And sometimes when God taps us on the shoulder, those fears turn to anger. You want me to do what? This is the case in today's text. As we pick up the thread in the gospel, Jesus is preaching. His sermon is going well, really well. And then all of a sudden, it's not. Listen now for God's word to you as it echoes to us from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, beginning with the 14th verse.

8:44 this is the word of God for you the people of God thanks be to God So, the trickiest aspect of any sermon, like the trickiest moment in a gymnastic routine, comes at the very end. It's the dismount. At what point should a preacher stop talking? now at first blush this seems to be a question about duration about the stamina of the average listener can all the important stuff be communicated in the spry six minute span of a catholic homily or does it take 40 break out your fan baptist minutes to speak the truth When has the preacher said enough?

9:48 Enough about God and the text and the world and the challenges of the life of faith. How long should a sermon be? A second related question is equally important. How should the sermon end? Should listeners be left with a question to ponder? Is it best to finish on a high note with exuberance or in sober we've got work to be done tones? Should every sermon conclude with words of hope and grace or should sermons end with a challenge? In my former life as a homiletics professor, I used to refer to this final delicate moment in preaching as landing the plane. Like a pilot, a preacher has got to get her craft back on the ground.

10:50 And like air travel, this conclusion, this controlled crash of an ending, is probably the most dangerous moment in the entire journey. sometimes a preacher sets the plane down too hard jarring the passengers other times the landing comes without warning surprising listeners who did not expect the trip to be over golly we're here already occasionally it seems as if the sermon is about to end LaGuardia's lights are in sight There's the water, there's the tarmac, and then whoosh, the preacher guns the engines and the sermon takes off again. In the most unfortunate cases, the sermon circles the runway and circles the runway, making pass after teasing pass over the congregation whose thoughts long ago have been abandoned from the higher realms to focus on their gnawing desire for lunch.

11:51 in today's text Luke describes a sermon preached by Jesus early in his ministry it's a typical account of what Jewish preaching was like in the first century Jesus enters the synagogue he reads from the scroll that is handed to him in this case Isaiah and then he sits as was the custom for religious authorities in that day and he begins to preach. At first his sermon is well received. The people love it. Luke tells us all were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. All were amazed. Not bad rookie. Jesus has got him laughing, crying, turning cartwheels down the center aisle, but then he makes a mistake. He keeps on preaching. He doesn't land the plane. Instead of stopping when they were ready to hoist him on their shoulders and carry him all the way to brunch, Jesus guns the engines and starts part two of the sermon, the part that makes them furious.

13:06 Once, when I was preaching at a church in West Texas, I was startled to find a barometer that someone had hot glued to the surface of the pulpit. Over time, I have come across many clocks that have been embedded in a pulpit's woodwork, evidently Bob Henn property committees get worried that preachers might just might lose track of time. I've seen thermometers affixed to pulpits too, but the barometer, the barometer perplexed me. So I asked a nearby deacon about the device and he explained that since we were in the midst of tornado country, the congregation thought it would be prudent for the pastor to be able to monitor the atmospheric pressure.

14:00 That way, if it started dropping with unusual speed, the pastor could abandon the sermon and instruct the congregation to head for the cellar. in Nazareth, Jesus offers no such warning. Suddenly the wind shifts, the pressure drops, the atmosphere turns nasty. Out of nowhere, a storm materializes, a congregational tornado.

14:30 In fact, by the time Jesus finishes preaching, the people of his hometown are so angry that they drive him out of the synagogue, chase him to the edge of town, and hustle him toward a cliff. They plan, says Luke, to hurl him off. What made the people so suddenly, so violently angry? The content of Jesus' sermon actually offers us a few clues. We know that the first part went well. That in itself is important. After reading Isaiah, Jesus says, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. The first word out of Jesus' mouth is significant, today. Maybe that should always be the first word that we hear from a preacher. The good news is about today.

15:26 It's not about the distant past. It's not about some pie-in-the-sky future. Salvation is now. Redemption is now. grace now today says Jesus and he's off to a good start today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing what scripture well that one from Isaiah the one he just read the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to bring good news to the poor he sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to let the oppressed go free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Now here, you might think that things start getting a little dicey because Jesus implies, basically comes out and says, that he's the one.

16:19 The one who's going to bring good news to the impoverished and healing for the blind. The one who will set prisoners free from the empire's jails and declare a year of jubilee, a year of canceled debt and celebration. These are big promises. Do they get the hometown hero in trouble? Not at all. The people of Nazareth like big promises. Kind of like us. Listen to any random five minutes of rhetoric around election 2026, and you'll hear the candidates suggesting all sorts of grandiose things that will happen if we turn over the reins of power to them. A chicken in every pot, a check in the mail, big promises catch our attention.

17:18 They make us lean in. Wouldn't it be great if that were to come to pass, if that were to happen to us? Hearing Christ speak the faith's ancient and very big promises, Luke tells us all were amazed. One person in the crowd gushes, isn't this Joseph's son? How cute. I remember when this little guy was covered in sawdust, hanging on the corner of his daddy's workbench. Now look at him, he's all grown up and acting like the Messiah. His parents must be so proud. they don't sound angry do they not at all they're loving it loving jesus great morning at church all were amazed okay so if the people didn't get angry when jesus made big promises if they didn't stomp out in rage when he claimed to be the messiah what provoked them i mean all he did was keep on preaching. All he did was circle the runway one more time. All he did was quote a proverb, truly I tell you no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. All he did was poke at them a little bit. I know what you want. You want signs and miracles. You want God at your beck and call. You want me to do what I did in Capernaum. These comments may have furrowed a few brows.

18:50 a smart minister would have said amen about a minute and a half ago a seasoned preacher would have landed the plane already and then it happens one moment the people are singing christ's praises all were amazed and the next they're filled with anger they want to do violence to the preacher this shocking flip-flop happens when Jesus dares reference two stories from Hebrew scripture. Don't forget, he says, the prophet Elijah paying a visit to the widow at Zarephath and the prophet Elisha healing Naaman the Syrian. And on hearing these names, the congregation in Nazareth flies into a rage. What is so doggone provocative about these two obscure stories?

19:46 Let's peel that gnarly onion together. Layer one. Layer number one of the onion is fairly simple. The widow at Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian are both stories about foreigners. They feature outsiders. In fact, Naaman was both a foreigner and an enemy. He commanded an opposing army, the army of Syria.

20:20 So in other words, we might think of the way that Jesus' sermon unfolds like this. The good news of Isaiah, the promise of God's healing, wholeness, and hope is for you. It is for the people of Nazareth. But it is also for people whom you despise. People you hate.

20:48 And that's all it took. Mention two outsiders and this once ecstatic congregation morphs into an angry mob. Did Jesus just say that God has compassion for Naaman the Syrian? For Pete's sake, grab a rail, boys. We're going to run the preacher out of town, toss him off a cliff. Layer number two. Why were these people so primed to get that angry? CBS News recently reported that 54% of Americans, so over half of those surveyed, indicate that they feel socially isolated. They feel lonely and left out. Over half of America feels lonely and left out.

21:50 Why did the people in Nazareth become so furious so fast? I wonder how they would have completed the CBS News survey. I wonder if they wanted someone to champion their cause, their cause above all others. I wonder if they wanted a hometown hero who would announce, God sees you. Yes, you. You've been skipped over a million times, but this good news, this good news is for you. Our archaeologists tell us that in the first century, Nazareth was a small, insignificant agricultural village. During the time of Christ, Nazareth was home to about 400 Jews. It had very few foreigners. It wasn't on a trade route. The people who lived there were poor.

22:41 And then along came Jesus, a traveling preacher whose popularity was on the rise. when this local boy made good returns to the dusty town of his youth. It's an exciting moment. When he starts speaking about God's favor, you can see the people light up. Well, it's about time. Finally, it's our turn. Finally, God is taking notice of Nazareth. Finally, some good news for us. and then just as they're putting on their party hats Jesus wrecks the vibe listen up friends he says don't domesticate this moment don't shrink God down and stick God on a shelf in the high school trophy room there's there's good news here for Nazareth yes but you should also know that God's favor extends far beyond here.

23:41 The Holy One offers grace to all sorts. God's good news is even meant for people that you have come to hate. the people in Nazareth do not want to hear a sermon on the wideness of God's mercy so the plane's last pass over the runway hits them hard and if we're honest it hits us hard too no we don't have a beef with name in the Syrian but there are people out there whom we revile people we cannot imagine God treating with kindness.

24:25 So why does Jesus do it? Why does he keep on preaching? Why does he risk the people's anger? Layer number three. My friend June, the one who recently shared her opinions regarding the plans of God, celebrated her 99th birthday on September 22nd of this year. June was a parishioner and a friend during my time in Atlanta. She's been a faithful online worshiper here and a pledger to FAPC and a theological conversation of mine for the last 19 years. June's messages to me always arrived full of affectionate spark and thoughtful challenge. She was willing to critique sermon ideas that she found unclear or just plain wrongheaded. She offered feedback on the hymns that we sing here and other spoken parts of our liturgy. She once had a conversation with Reverend Ramirez debating the words that he uses for the assurance of pardon.

25:35 And at the same time, amidst all of this, in all the exchanges that I had with June on email, she always concluded with the same sign-off. Forgive my ramble, it comes with love, June. I tell you this story in part because June stepped across the threshold into God's glory this past Friday. I'm going to miss her voice, her intelligent emails, and her trust that the faith we practice together matters. i'm even going to miss june's critical feedback because it always came packaged with hopefulness with sincere affection for the for the church forgive the ramble it comes with love june i tell you this story because my friend understood that the life of faith requires healthy challenge, hard conversations, and calls for change.

26:54 June's perspective gets us to the heart of the Union. on most days Christian belief my friends can seem like a pretty tame affair the message we hold and trust for the world is that that God loves us what could be radical problematic or controversial about that Jesus proclaims this message in Nazareth that people eat his words up with a spoon. But then Jesus circles the plain. He expands the vision. Why? Is he spoiling for a fight? Is he trying to make people angry? Or is our Lord weaving a deeper sort of magic in Nazareth? in today's text Jesus taps an entire community on the shoulder and says hey folks it's time it's time to let old divisions rivalries and enmities like your beef with name in the Syrian go and on hearing this challenge the people in Nazareth begin to seethe They break out the torches and the pitchforks.

28:13 What does their reaction tell us? is it possible is it possible my friends that the food capable of healing our broken souls and our broken world is not the food that we're most want to consume is it possible that faith real faith healthy faith depends on us grappling with hard things Is it possible that Jesus challenges the people of Nazareth not to rile them up, but to beckon them toward health?

28:57 To paraphrase my friend June, forgive Christ's ramble. It comes with love. I invite you now to stand in body or in spirit and join me in praying the prayer for the day. which can be found printed in your bulletins and on your screen.

29:21 God who seeks, open our hearts. Do not let us be frightened by the scope of your grace or angered by the wideness of your mercy. Draw us in, amaze us, delight us, heal us with your expansive love. In Christ's name.