Words-Part Three

Luke 4:21-30

Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Having said all that I did on the previous postings about words, I end today with the hard but true reality that speaking from something prompted by God often makes you flunk the popularity contest. Although there are certainly times when people are comforted by words pointing to God, there are also times when God's action or power generates resistance.

If people are fussing and fuming and trying to assert their own need to "know" or to "strategize" this or that outcome the human ego exerts its investment in the way things are going. Communication may get quite chaotic.

There will be times when folks will not want to hear that their agenda is trumped by God's Wisdom and Love. They may get "miffed". This is especially true when you are one of the familiar parties...that is, when you are speaking those words in your own "home town"...or family...or church council.

The next time you are exposed to a situation where anxiety is rising and human emotion and/or tempers are elevating, see what happens if you begin to pray for a way to proclaim God's presence: Peace, be still.... It may or may not be well received by those present. But that proclamation does have the potential to settle matters into a more calm place.

Shifting the focus to our Loving and Wise God can help us see where sight is being restored to the blind, where gaping wounds might be healed, and where the stormy movements might be stilled.

For a while, you may be met head on by the maddened crowd...they may seem to be ready to cast you out...but take heart. When the Lord is leading you, you will most certainly pass through the darkness of human confusion in His protecting presence.