That sounds familiar

 

Luke 4:16-30

I've always been proud to be from Galveston. BOIs (Born on the Island) love seeing other BOIs "make it." And there have been plenty of notable people from the Oleander City. From pirates to politicians and celebrities to athletes. I haven't done a search on prominent pastors yet. According to Jesus, though, we'd be leery of welcoming home a prophet. While there are parallels to their ministry, a prophet is different than a preacher. We look to prophets to tell us what we need to hear to turn us back to God. We want to hear a prophet's word until we don't want to hear it. And if Luke 4 is any indication, we have a low tolerance for what we want to hear from our hometown prophets. It's a familiar story to many of us. Jesus attended synagogue in Nazareth where he grew up. He stood to read from the prophet Isaiah and sat down to share his message. At first, the people loved what they heard. God is using one of us, they must've thought. The words from his mouth amazed them, until they angered them. Because that's what a prophet will do. All it takes is one sentence. What got to Jesus' hometown people that day? The reminder that God doesn't need us like we think God needs us. We are God's beloved. We are God's people. But God is not limited by any sense of entitlement we think that brings. The Lord moves among people we try to avoid. God uses people we'd rather dismiss. Even people we despise. Sometimes, what God does through them is more meaningful than what we've allowed God to do through us. Someone from little Nazareth had finally made it, but who does he think he is now! Interestingly, the people had a familiarity with Jesus and the text. They knew him and they knew the biblical stories. But they let what they knew blind them from what God was doing. The lesson for us today? Be careful with your familiarities. Don't let them quell your passion or dull your zeal for God. And listen to your prophets, no matter where they're from. Stay blessed...john