Truths that are hard to hear.
Dear friends and members of St. Matthew's,
This Saturday is the feast day of James of Jerusalem, James the brother of Jesus. Often called James the Just, he has long been one of the convincing voices for me and for many others about the authenticity of Jesus' life. I'm an only child, so I can't claim to completely understand sibling relationships. But it strikes me that if you can convince your brother - or sister - or sibling - that you are the Messiah - then there's probably some truth to your claim! James became a leader in the early church, trusted and revered, with an important voice after Jesus' death and resurrection. His legacy is an important one.
And the texts for the day are interesting, too. One of the places in scripture where we see James named is relatively early in Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus comes to his home town. Jesus has been preaching, teaching, and performing miracles. He's beginning to have quite a following. And yet, when he comes to his hometown - the place where everyone knows Joseph, Mary, James, and the rest of Jesus' siblings, we hear a story of Jesus' rejection. The people in his hometown simply couldn't hear the truth that the young man they knew was the Messiah. They couldn't open their ears, or their hearts, to the possibility. In fact, the text says that they "took offense at him." Meaning that they were so flummoxed by what he had to say, by the claims he was making, by the fact that he would dare to try to teach them and tell them the truth, that they were offended. They didn't want to hear a word he had to say.
All of us have been those people in Nazareth at different points in our life. All of us have heard the truth and been offended by it. Sometimes it's hard to take the truth in - to let our eyes and our hearts adjust to it. Especially if it convicts us - as surely Jesus' teaching and preaching did on that day in Nazareth, calling those folks to live differently, to be more faithful, to return to the Lord. To see something new in him and be willing to respond to it. Sometimes the truth is very hard for us to hear. Sometimes we aren't interested in the ways in which it pokes into our souls, creates discomfort, and challenges us to accept, be, or do something new. How many of us like to be challenged? Or to feel uncomfortable? We aren't conditioned to like that. And yet this is an important part of the Christian faith! Much of what our faith asks us to do and to believe is so counterintuitive to what we learn from the rest of the world, that it can be difficult to really take it in. If we aren't uncomfortable, we aren't growing. And probably haven't really had to contend with Scripture or with Jesus in a while. And the truth is a powerful thing...it has a way of shining light into the dark places we hide, the secrets we hope are only ours, the flaws we wish others couldn't see. The truth is persistent and relentless. Sometimes the truth is welcome - healing, even - and other times the truth shakes us.
What truths have you struggled to accept? Have you found yourself offended by the truth? By the Gospel? By some teaching that is or was hard to accept? If you said yes - that's good news! It probably didn't feel like it at the time (and may not still now!) but it's a sign of spiritual maturity to cling to Jesus even as you stretch to understand. Try not to take it too personally or let it push your buttons. But instead, give thanks for the fact that God is trying to show you a new way, send you a new opportunity, or lead you to a new understanding.
Surely, many of the people in Nazareth eventually came to see the truth about Jesus. And they would have had to be big enough people, with big enough hearts, to admit they had called it wrong. The good news is, God's grace and mercy abounds. Even when we get it wrong, there's always another chance, more room for growth, if only we'll accept it, naming our limitations, and letting go of what held us back. And over time, we learn to hold things more lightly - as God works on us slowly - transforming us more and more into the image of Christ. Sometimes the things that are hardest for us to hear and to accept are the most important, the most transformative things we encounter. Sometimes the things that shake us the most are precisely the things that break us open and send us in new directions. May we open our hearts and our ears - and as we'll hear this coming Sunday - our eyes - to the unbelievable brightness of Jesus.
Please take a careful look through the e-news today - there is a lot to add to your calendar and look forward to!
Faithfully,
--Marissa +