Ezekiel 2:1-5 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Mark 6:1-6
Here in the United States we have many cities and towns that are named in honor of famous people. For instance, we have places named for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. And we also have cites and towns named after famous places like Paris, Texas and Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Now as far as I know, Nazareth, Israel is most famous as the hometown of Jesus Christ. When I was a teenager, I naturally assumed the town of Nazareth, PA was named thus in order to honor Jesus Christ. One day, a few months after I had received my driver’s license, I took a trip to Nazareth, PA to satisfy my curiosity.
Having never been to Nazareth, I was not sure what I would see, but I thought the town would be full of things that would honor Jesus. Even though it was summer, I imagined they would have a big nativity scene and perhaps a park with storyboard signs that would tell all about the life of Christ. So naturally the closer I got, the more excited I became.
When I arrived at the outskirts of Nazareth, however, I saw nothing announcing the life of Christ. Instead, they had a big sign that read, “Welcome to Nazareth, Home of Indy Racing champion Mario Andretti.” Even today, Nazareth, PA is known as the home of the Martin Guitar Company, and the world famous Andretti racing family. But nowhere in the entire town of Nazareth did I find anything that paid any special tribute to Jesus or anything that would set it apart from the other towns I had driven through. I could not help to think of how Jesus would have felt if I had brought Him along. It appeared to me that the town had lost the significance of being named after such a holy place and I wondered if Jesus would even be welcomed there.
Well, according to today’s Gospel lesson, perhaps Nazareth, PA had been aptly named after all. Jesus went to His hometown, which was a lot like little towns today. Nazareth had it share of cliques, family pride and prejudices. Jesus had grown up there ‘gaining wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.’ as Saint Luke tells us. (Luke 2:52) But for the most part His family led quiet unassuming lives. Jesus worked with his earthly father and managed to earn enough to live on. He probably worked there as a carpenter and stonemason until He was 30 years old—old enough to be a Rabbi. Then He set out to do His heavenly Father’s business.
Now He had returned, not as a poor carpenter, not even as an average Rabbi, but rather Jesus had returned claiming to be the Christ. And He came into the synagogue teaching and preaching with great wisdom. The healing and miracles He had done really proved that Jesus was the Messiah. You would think that a visit to His hometown would generate an overwhelming positive response. However, just the opposite happened.
People were so amazed at hearing Jesus that they really didn’t listen to Him. This was the same Jesus who they saw grow up, whom they paid little or no attention to when He was little. People were so busy watching Jesus and trying to remember what He was like as a little child that they didn’t see Him as the Son of God. They were so busy prejudging Jesus the carpenter that they couldn’t grasp His message of the building of His heavenly kingdom. The ones who should have been closest to Him made themselves farthest from the kingdom He proclaimed.
We can in our sinfulness become the same way —caught up in our own hearing, watching, and prejudging. We let our family worship and our personal devotional life be shaped by the demands and designs of the world around us. As we become busier, we focus on our immediate needs and desires. Jesus and His message gets pushed aside and forgotten. So when our needs are not being met, we do not turn to God in prayer, but we try to work even harder instead. We forget what Jesus tells us in Matthew, (6:33) “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
We know that in His ministry, Jesus sometimes chose not to do miracles (Mt 26:53–54; Luke 23:8–9). But it is amazing to find a situation in which Jesus “could not do any miracles” (v 5). His power is not limited, however. Jesus can do anything He wants, at any time and in any place. The problem is not with Jesus, but with the people. The long awaited Messiah comes into town and all of the people look at Him and say, “Oh, its just Jesus. Why I knew Him and His family since He was just a baby. He can’t help me.” Because of the lack of faith among the people, and their resistance to his person and His preaching, Jesus could not do many saving miracles there.
Sometimes we, by our lack of interest to the means of God’s gracious presence among us, limit the working of God’s power in our lives. We neglect to live out the daily nature of our baptismal grace. We treat the blessings of the Lord’s Supper casually as if the body and blood of Jesus has no real power. Our worship becomes a matter of convention or convenience. We see that Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith in his hometown. How might Jesus assess our hometown and home lives? I pray that you don’t just see Our Savior as the name of our church but that you really see Our Savior and the forgiveness that leads to eternal life as you worship here.
God promises that his Holy Spirit will continue calling, gathering, enlightening, and sanctifying the whole Christian church on earth, as much in the 21st century as He did in the first. Wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He promises to be among them. God’s church will remain until Christ returns. But if Christ is ignored or His name is not called upon, you do not have a church with the means to heal unforgiven souls but you have something else. Saint Paul calls it, “having a form of Godliness, but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:5) This is what Jesus found in His hometown. They wanted to believe in a Messiah, but they denied the power of Jesus because He was not who they wanted.
Nevertheless, it is amazing that Jesus kept right on teaching and healing and loving. Even though only a few faithful came to Him, our Lord effortlessly healed them.
It is not that far from Jesus’ hometown to our hometown. You are people just the like the folks there—people who know Jesus and who have heard His message. I pray that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may respond—not with skepticism and uncertainty but with a joyous welcome home; making Him truly a prophet with honor among us, and a Savior who is well-loved among you--His brothers and sisters.
Because of His love for you, He continues on from village to village, from place to place, from His hometown to the cross. Graciously He invites you to set aside any cherished cultural values that stand in the way of your following Him. He is more than a carpenter, more than Mary’s son, more than a prophet or teacher. He is your Lord and your Redeemer. Jesus is the One who has promised you fullness of life and, by His mercy; He is offering you an amazing place to live with Him forever.
Right now He invites you to hear His amazing words, to remember His healing of your souls through His means of Baptism, to receive His forgiveness through the means of Confession and absolution, and to be fed with His very body and blood for the remission of your sins and the assurance that only Jesus can give. All this, our Savior does for you, the members of His kingdom. All this He does for you, His brothers and sisters. It is His way of saying ‘welcome home’ to you because you are very special to Him. In Jesus Name, Amen.