Disturbed

Luke records the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in chapter 4 of his Gospel. He returned to Galilee following His temptation and taught in the synagogues. His reputation quickly grew and He traveled to Nazareth, His hometown. While in the synagogue, He read from Isaiah, sat down and began teaching.

22. And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?"

24. And He said, "Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his home town.

25. And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way. (Luke 4:22, 24, 28-30 NAS)

The rest of the account allows us to see that as Jesus taught, He reminded those attending of Israel’s past rebellion. He brought up past experiences when the Nation ignored the preaching and warnings of Elijah and Elisha. Jesus used two instances when pagans (widow in Sidon and Naaman of Syria) were changed by the power and presence of God. Because Israel ignored God, He chose to make His presence known in the lives of those some thought were unworthy.

It is interesting that those living In Nazareth, listening to Jesus knew Him better than anyone. After all, He grew up with them. No doubt, some listening in the Temple that day used to baby sit Him when He was a kid. A few may have been His teachers, or friends He played with as a child.

The residents of Nazareth were too familiar with Jesus. They missed the real meaning of His teaching. Their anger turned to rage because He reminded them that the Gospel was for all, not just the Jews. During Elijah and Elisha’s ministry, many were widowed and lepers, yet God did not heal them. He used the prophets to minister to others. Why? Because the Jews were too familiar with God. They thought that was enough. Just as those in Nazareth thought growing up beside Jesus was enough.

There is a difference with being familiar with Jesus and knowing Him. Too many Christians go to church every Sunday and Wednesday going through the motions of religious Christian rituals. We go to Bible studies, give money to the church, volunteer where needed, while paying lip service to Christ. Many of our actions are no different than those listening to Jesus that day in the Temple. We become offended when His presence dares to reach into our familiar, religious comfort zone. How dare He try to disturb our routine?

Needing to be disturbed from our familiarity, my prayer is to be shaken by His Spirit.
Coming across this poem by Sir Francis Drake, the great 16th century warrior/navigator and pirate, I thought it needed sharing. The poem was found in his ship’s log on the eve of one of his greatest adventures. Sir Francis Drake led the British Navy to defeat the great Spanish Armada, propelling himself into becoming of the world’s greatest sea captains. Yet, h was not satisfied with casual Christian mediocrity.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.