Homecoming Weekend

Gospel: Matthew 13: 54-58

The residents of Nazareth are a perplexing bunch.  On the one hand they recognize the wisdom that Jesus teaches, as well as the mighty deeds of love and mercy he performs.  And yet on the other hand they reject Jesus because he is one of them, one of us.  He grew up among them.  They know his family.  It's a small town with small minds.  Their biases against Jesus and his family are greater than their observation of his wisdom and loving deeds.  

This phenomenon is ever present in every time and place, including our own.  How often is Jesus rejected in the person of the immigrant, migrant, and refugee  - or any foreigner for that matter in our society? We love their food, clothing, art.  We will seize these for ourselves and put them in our restaurants and museums while rejecting, imprisoning, deporting, and killing their people.  We are no different from the people of Nazareth.

The wisdom and loving deeds of Jesus cannot be accepted without accepting him as a person.  To reject him as a person is to reject his wisdom and loving deeds.  A Christianity that claims Jesus as Lord while spurning entire groups of people is not Christianity at all.  It is a false religion built upon lies and violence that is built not upon the Gospel but on the biases and bigotries of particular cultures.  It crucifies Jesus over and over and over again...