Sermon Text: Mark 6:1-6
Date: July 7, 2024
Event: Proper 9, Year B
Mark 6:1-6 (EHV)
Jesus left there and went to his hometown. His disciples followed him. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did this man learn these things? What is this wisdom that has been given to this man? How is it that miracles such as these are performed by his hands? 3Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own house.” 5He could not do any miracles there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6He was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went around the villages teaching.
Why Do People Reject Good News?
Have you ever felt nervous asking someone a question or having a necessary conversation with them? I’m going to guess that it was not because you thought they would be too happy to hear what you had to say or too excited to talk about the topic you needed to raise. No, if you delayed or even outright avoided having a conversation, it’s likely because you were nervous about how the other person would respond—and you likely assumed that their response would be negative in some way. Maybe you thought it would make them sad; maybe you thought it would make them angry; maybe you thought they would lash out at you; maybe you thought you wouldn’t find the right words to explain the situation or ask the question accurately.
Regardless, we all know that there are heavy conversations and topics that can be nerve-wracking to bring up. But it can really hurt when something that you think should be good news is interpreted negatively and when something positive is outright rejected.
If you’ve ever tried to share your faith, you might be familiar with this adverse reaction to good news. While we might understand why someone might react poorly to certain things that we think are good news—they don’t like the person you’re now engaged to, they don’t want you to attend that university you were accepted to so far away, they’re concerned what that new job will mean for the family—when it comes to the gospel, this is universally good news! The forgiveness of sins! Eternal life! What is there to be upset about? Why do people reject good news, especially the good news?
Rejection of God’s message is the central theme of our worship this morning. God was clear with the prophet Ezekiel that his message would not be well received. Paul sat in a Roman dungeon as he authored 2 Timothy, imprisoned for the message he shared, facing imminent execution. And Jesus, in our Gospel, went to Nazareth, his hometown, among the people he knew and knew him, and was rejected. These situations are sad and frustrating in their own ways, but we will focus our attention primarily on Jesus’ experience in Nazareth this morning.
Things seem to start well. Jesus takes his disciples back to where he grew up, to Nazareth. Saturday rolls around, and Jesus is in the local synagogue for worship, including teaching. In Luke’s Gospel, if this is the same event, we hear that Jesus read a messianic prophecy from the prophet Isaiah and then declared that this promise of a Savior was fulfilled among them that day. Mark tells us that many who heard him were amazed. Notably, though, amazement is not the same thing as faith.
In fact, Mark tells us that the people of Nazareth took offense at him as he taught and worked (or they at least heard accounts of) miracles. “Where did this man learn these things? What is this wisdom that has been given to this man? How is it that miracles such as these are performed by his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And it doesn’t end there. Luke’s Gospel tells us that this contempt would bleed over into rage once Jesus confronted their offense at him with the assurance that this good news would be given to others, to people they might have viewed as lesser, the non-Jewish Gentiles. The people of Nazareth tried to throw him off a cliff.
Why? Why would Jesus’ own people, the people who saw him grow up, the people who perhaps knew him the best, the people who we might expect to be first in line to support this amazing “hometown boy,” why would they be so taken aback and even furious with Jesus? It is said that familiarity breeds contempt, a psychological principle that suggests the more we know someone or something, the more likely we are to find fault with them, which may be what is at play here. They were too familiar with Jesus (or at least who they thought Jesus was), and couldn’t see him as he actually was.
Maybe you’ve experienced this where someone is too familiar with Jesus to care what he says or thinks. Maybe it comes in the form of a child whom you raised at Jesus’ feet and then, as an adult, seems to care little for their Savior. Maybe it comes in the form of a friend who was dedicated to their church and God’s Word, and then something happened to sour them on the whole thing. Maybe it comes from a coworker who knows the pop culture points about Christianity and finds the whole thing so ridiculous (God becoming a man, dying, and then rising from the dead?!) that they reject it.
However, rejection of the gospel message is usually about more than simply familiarity. After all, many of you have known the truth of Jesus’ forgiveness for many decades, yet here you are, prioritizing time at Jesus’ feet and not rejecting what he has to say. What else plays a role in someone rejecting God’s message?
In large part, it’s about agency. We want agency; we want control. We want to be able to say we had a part in something. Maybe it’s in voting for or against that proposition, and the vote went how we wanted it. Maybe it’s in contributions to a group project in school or at work, even if those contributions are mainly in the background—perhaps no one else will know, but we do!
There is a part of everyone that wants to contribute to their eternal well-being and have a role, no matter how small, in the soul’s salvation. Maybe someone wants to think that they decided to believe in Jesus, that this was their choice. Perhaps someone wants to think that their good deeds are why God loves them. At an extreme, perhaps they don’t view their sins and failures as that big of a deal or that God should be happy that they compare pretty well with many other people in the world, their city, and maybe even their own household.
We know there’s no such thing as a free lunch, so when people hear about God’s forgiveness as a gift that we don’t have to and, in fact, cannot contribute to in any way, a large part of our natural selves burns against that. And that friction is present whether you’re hearing the good news for the first time or the millionth time. At the start of the service, we sang “Christ Be My Leader,” but how often isn’t our internal hymn more like, “I’ll take the lead, Lord, and you do as I say”? When we think about what Jesus said and did, perhaps our reaction is more, “Isn’t this the carpenter?” and less, “Thanks be to God!”
All of this forces us to engage in self-reflection. Rather than always thinking about other people’s rejection of God’s good news, we should focus more on how we receive God’s Word. You’re here this morning, yes, but why are you here? Is it because you want to hear what God has done for you or because it’s a habit or an obligation? Whether you’ve been coming to worship Jesus for your whole life or it’s relatively new to you, is there any amount of rejection, apathy, or offense to God’s message in you? Are you excited about everything in the Bible? Is there anything you might have said or done differently if God had consulted with you? Are there parts of God’s Word that you can’t understand, really wrestle with, or flat-out don’t agree with?
To a certain extent, that’s going to be true for everyone. None of us have a perfect understanding of what God has said and done. Because of sin, our wills are not in harmony with God’s, so there will be times when we will find ourselves in conflict with God in our thoughts and desires. How do we find a resolution to that?
The message that our natural selves burn against in the message we so desperately need. The message that the people of Nazareth didn’t want to hear was of the utmost importance for them. The message that so many in our world don’t have time for or think is ridiculous and reject, that message is the solution to the times that we grind against God’s will and Word. Because while we are inclined to think and speak for ourselves and what we want, Jesus never did that. He always obeyed the will of God, up to and including when it was his Father’s will that he suffer that horrible, torturous crucifixion.
He went to that death and faced those physical pains and even greater spiritual suffering, for you, for me, for all the times that we haven’t wanted to listen to him or thought his way was wrong. Jesus paid for every single sin on that cross, which means every time we’ve conflicted with God, those are forgiven; every time we’ve been in church for the wrong reasons, those are purified; and every time we’ve neglected his Word, and will in our lives, those are buried in the depths, never to be seen again.
We are forgiven for the times we have rejected the message that we are forgiven. It’s a bit recursive, but that is the total completeness of God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t take offense at us like the people of Nazareth took at him. He doesn’t treat our rejection or struggles as the “last straw,” so he draws back his love and forgiveness from us. No, even if he is amazed at our unbelief as he was that day in Nazareth, he still forgives us, as he did for those in his hometown. He went to the cross to bear the sin of rejection his neighbors in Nazareth committed, even as he went to bear the sin of rejection that you and I so often commit.
With encouragement and fire in our souls, what is your feeling about sharing your faith? Is there fear that sharing what you believe, inviting someone to church, or even just living your life in thanksgiving to God will mean rejection by those around you? It might. It often did for Jesus, so it should not be surprising when it happens to us. But that is not a reason not to do those things.
Rejection will come, but the message of Jesus being crucified and rising from the dead solves that rejection in ourselves and others. Bring them to Jesus; drag yourself to his cross and empty tomb. This is good news that we should not reject; this is good news of great joy that is for all people. We have peace with God, whether or not we’ve always wanted to acknowledge that. We are forgiven; our Savior will never reject us. Thanks be to God! Amen.
