Open Your Eyes and See What God is Doing!
Luke 4:21-30
Rev. Frank Schaefer

It was Sabbath, and many folks had gathered in the synagogue. It was a regular Sabbath with all the regular people there. Nothing unusual. Everyone’s getting comfortable in their places when, Mary’s boy Jesus comes in, all grown up now and back visiting. It's easy to imagine that they probably talked about what they’d heard about Jesus since he had left Nazareth. “Look, he's all grown up.” “I heard he's been traveling quite a bit.” He is one of John's disciples and some even say that he had already surpassed his mentor. A few even claimed he’d even healed people. They were full of anticipation, intrigued by what became of this little boy who they knew so well all these years.

During the worship service Jesus stands up to read. Awww. How special was that and what an honor for Jesus. Jesus picks up the scroll of Isaiah and starts reading:: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has 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.

Nice choice. Jesus had picked the Jubilee passage that was full of hope for the future: the restoration of Judea to God's idea of peace and justice, the promised land at its best. Of course, for whatever reason, that vision, as nice as it was was never fulfilled and probably never would. But still, it was a nice thought and this verse was definitely a feel-good quote. Had Hallmark been around, they surely would have printed it on a greeting card.

I can imagine that when Jesus was finished reading, everybody hung on his lips. What was he going to say about it? Jesus started off by saying: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Hmmm. What on earth did he mean by that? He couldn't possible mean that he was the one fulfilling this passage? Wait! That was what he was suggesting. Seriously? Was he actually saying that he was the Messiah? Wait....what? He was still just Joseph’s son wasn't he?

And that was the problem.

The fact that they know Jesus from when he was “yea high.” They knew him as Joseph and Mary's son. They were right, Jesus was Joseph’s adopted son, but, of course, we know now that he was so much more.

But the people of Nazareth didn't And that’s why they were struggling; they could not see beyond the familiar, the usual; they could not see through the eyes of faith. God’s blessing for them was standing right in front of them, but they could not see it.

The people of Nazareth were like a bull standing in front of a torrero in a Spanish arena. When I was traveling through Spain about 30 years ago, I decided to check out what the hype was about the bull fight. So I went to an arena near Valencia and soon regretted my choice of “entertainment” It was brutal and inhumane. I am glad that bull fights are no longer legal in Spain.

But think about this if only the bull in the arena could see that the red cloth is not his enemy, he could take out the real “enemy”, the torrero, with ease. Truth is that the Torrero is not really a match for the bull! Instead of getting rid of the real problem, bulls are so focused on that red cloth that they cannot see beyond it, even though the their tormentor is standing there in plain sight. That’s where we get the expression: seeing red, meaning that when you’re angry, you don’t see things objectively.

The people at Nazareth were also blinded by a metaphorical red cloth. To them, the red cloth was the history, the familiar. When they looked at Jesus, all they could see is Joseph’s kid, little Jesus, learning his father’s trade in the carpenter’s shop. Perhaps they remembered the times Jesus messed up, which cost his father dearly. Maybe they remembered how Jesus had run around the synagogue while his parents were trying to get him to quit running in this holy place.

When the disciples looked at Jesus, they saw a great teacher and prophet, when the lame and the sick looked at Jesus, they saw a divine healer, when the poor looked at Jesus, they saw the hope of Israel, the leader of a new, just, and prosperous society. Why could the people of Nazareth not see that? Because of their red cloth, their preconceived perception, their unbelief, Jesus wasn’t able to help one single person in Nazareth. In fact, they got very upset at Jesus’ claim to be a prophet sent by God.

It’s easy for us to condemn the Nazarenes. However, we are guilty of the same thing. We grow up with a certain picture of God and we hold on to that perception, because it feels comfortable. We like to see God as the comforter rather than one who challenges us and calls us out to take a risk.

The truth is that God, while being our comfort, always seems to push us to grow more, to do better, and to change the world. Neither of these things can be achieved by sitting in the comfort of the spiritual lazy-boy chair.

Jesus once compared us to grape’s in God’s vineyard, he said I am the vine, you are the branches, if you abide in me you will bear much fruit.

It is a known fact and a ruse used by vineyard owners to under-irrigate the vines. Do you know why? You want to limit the water supply to the vines so that they struggle, because it intensifies the flavor. A comfortable grape, well watered, grows into a lazy ingredient of a lousy wine.

God is challenging all of us for our own good; God wants us to grow and to become flavorful people that change this world! The bible repeatedly calls us to grow by studying the Word, it also tells us to make disciples. Matt 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the world.”

And yet, we tend to ignore or not even see the opportunities God sets before us to grow and to reach out! Opportunities we have right where we are!

So before you judge the Nazarenes for not seeing what God was doing among them, let’s look at ourselves and ask ourselves what are we not seeing that God is doing right in front of us? And once we get it, let's get off our spiritual lazy chairs, roll up our sleeves and get to work—for the world doesn't change itself for the better. Amen.