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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
This Fourth of July weekend, the country that most—but not all—of us were born in celebrates the 239th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence from England. In various ways, many of us probably have expressed our patriotism, our love of the country, such as by honoring the flag and so also honoring the country it represents. “Country and Honor”—or the lack thereof—are also central in today’s Gospel Reading. Thus, our theme, as we this morning reflect on today’s Gospel Reading, is “Country and Honor”.
In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus after healing the woman with a discharge of blood and raising Jairus’s daughter, came to Nazareth, His “hometown”, the English Standard Version we heard read a few moments ago translated (confer also NIV, NASB, AAT, NEB), but other versions translate the same Greek word as His “own country” or “fatherland” (KJV, ASV, NKJV; BAGD, 636-637), namely Galilee. Jesus was not born in Galilee, of course, but He was raised there, in the town of Nazareth. As we heard, after teaching in the Synagogue, Jesus said that there—in His own country, among His relatives, and in His own household—He was “without honor”. Undeterred by that rejection, Jesus went about among the other villages teaching, and He called and sent the Twelve, who, having gone out, also preached repentance and did miracles, essentially inviting the rest of the country to honor Jesus.
I still vividly remember the first time I “preached” at both the congregation where I was confirmed and the congregation where I was a member as an adult before and while I was in seminary. I could not help but think of Jesus’s saying essentially that a prophet is without honor in his own country, among his relatives, and in his own household! I did not experience that kind of rejection, though, as those hearing me on those two occasions said only kind things, at least to me. And, three years later, all my aunts and uncles on my Mom’s side traveled across the continent to be at my ordination and first installation, and the aunt and uncle who are my baptismal sponsors even came to my installations in Elgin and here in Kilgore. Yet, that does not mean that they or everyone else in the country, including all of us, always honor Jesus.
In today’s Old Testament Reading (Ezekiel 2:1-5), God told Ezekiel that He was sending him to the people of Israel, a nation of rebels, who had rebelled against Him, and was a rebellious house. We are no better. The United States of America, our nation, our country, was founded 239 years ago in an act of rebellion against a God-given ruler, and in some ways we have not stopped rebelling against God, dishonoring Him and those He puts over us (Romans 13:1-7). We may think that that rebellion has gotten worse in the last week or so, but we may be fooling ourselves, wrongly thinking that the corruption of humanity’s nature could get any worse than it already was, say, before the flood, when, apart from God, every intention of the thoughts of human hearts was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Yes, those who flagrantly ignore God’s law by living in homosexual relationships and try to call themselves “married” are horrible sinners, but, by nature, so are we all horrible sinners! Who among us perfectly lives sexually pure and decent lives in what we say and do and does not sin in any other way? Even we who believe by nature deserve death now in time and torment in hell for eternity. And so we will be punished, unless we turn in sorrow from our sin, trust God to forgive our sin, and want to do better than to keep on sinning. When we so repent, then God forgives our sin, whatever it might be, for Jesus’s sake.
There is a lot more to Jesus than we think we know, certainly more than the people in the Gospel Reading thought they knew. They asked where Jesus got the things He taught, what the wisdom was that was given to Him, and how such mighty works were done by His hands. They thought Jesus was just a carpenter, the Son of Mary, and “brother” of James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and the sisters there with them. In fact, Jesus was true God in human flesh, with innate Divine wisdom to teach and with innate Divine power to do miracles. Jesus may have been a well‑known “first‑career” carpenter, but He was a lesser‑known “second-career” Savior! The rejection in Jesus’s own country, among His relatives, and in His own household was just the beginning. Near the end of His personal earthly ministry in Jerusalem, rejection would lead to Jesus’s death on the cross for the sins of the whole world, including your sins and mine. When we do not take offense at Him but instead repent and believe in Him, then God graciously forgives our rebellion and dishonoring of Him, our sexual sin or whatever our sin might be. God forgives all our sin, in the specific ways that He has given for us to receive forgiveness.
In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus called the Twelve, gave them the authority they needed, and sent them out. The Twelve then continued Jesus’s ministry: going from one house in one town to another house in another town, preaching repentance and doing miracles that awakened faith. The Twelve’s successors still today continue Jesus’s ministry: called and given authority to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments in a specific house (or in separate houses) of God. Mighty works are still done by Jesus’s now nail‑pierced hands, only today He does them through the hands of a pastor pouring water in Holy Baptism, making the sign of the cross in individual Holy Absolution, and in Holy Communion consecrating and distributing bread that is Christ’s body and wine that is His blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins, including yours and mine. In all these ways, those who honor and revere Jesus Christ with faith receive the forgiveness of sins that He won for them on the cross.
Just in time for the Fourth of July, a number of polls and surveys came out claiming to measure people’s level of patriotism. One reportedly found that patriotism was “tempered by concerns that the nation [is not] the moral leader it once was [and] that Christians face discrimination here at home”. Christians’ love for their neighbors does not depend on their love for the country, nor does Christians’ love for their neighbors depend on the lack of discrimination or persecution. Even if we all are not called, given authority, and sent as the Twelve apostles were or as today’s pastors are, we all for better or worse “testify” to those around us in the world in various ways. For example, who we “like” and “follow” and what we say on Facebook and in other public places can bear witness to both God’s law that condemns sin and His Gospel that forgives sin. As in the cases of Ezekiel in today’s Old Testament Reading, Jesus in today’s Gospel Reading, and St. Paul in today’s Epistle Reading (2 Corinthians 12:1‑10), we should expect our witness to be rejected—rejected in part because God through us calls people to repent. If our own country, our own relatives, and our own households reject us, they really are not rejecting us as individuals as much as they are rejecting Jesus and so also the Father Who sent Him (Luke 10:16). Yet, like Jesus, we do not retaliate or write people off, even when they scornfully dismiss us (TLSB, ad loc Mk 6:1-6, 1666), nor do we cease trying to witness to others (Kretzmann, ad loc Mk 6:6b-9, 193). And, like St. Paul in today’s Epistle Reading, God’s grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in weakness, so we can be content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, for when we are weak, then we are strong.
Even as we might celebrate this Fourth of July weekend and pray for the United States, we know that the “Country and Honor” that matter more are not earthly but eternal. With daily repentance and faith we honor God, receiving His forgiveness through Word and Sacrament and desiring the better heavenly country, which He has prepared for us (Hebrews 11:14, 16).
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +