Daily Readings - Mon Sep 03 2018
1 Corinthians
1And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Luke
16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,18"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.21And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."22And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"23And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself.' What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well."24And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,26and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."28When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.29And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.30But passing through their midst, he went away.
Sermon
In today's readings, we encounter two profound moments that invite us to reflect on the nature of God's message and our response to it. The First Reading from 1 Corinthians reminds us of Paul's humble approach to preaching, where he relied not on human wisdom but on the power of the Spirit. He emphasized the crucifixion of Christ as the core of his message, teaching us that true wisdom comes from God, not human intellect. This humility is a powerful lesson in trusting God's power over our own abilities.
In the Gospel, Jesus faces rejection in his hometown of Nazareth after declaring the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. Despite initial amazement, the crowd turns hostile when Jesus challenges their assumptions about who deserves God's grace. This rejection mirrors Paul's experience, highlighting the theme of trusting in God's plan, even when it leads to discomfort or rejection. Both readings remind us that God's grace often appears in unexpected places, urging us to be open to His work beyond our limited perspectives.
As we apply these teachings to our lives, we are called to humility and trust in God. Let us embrace the truth that God's ways are not our ways and remain open to His message, even when it challenges us. May we, like Paul and Jesus, trust in God's power and grace, allowing it to guide us in our daily lives. This is a call to look beyond our own understanding and prejudices, recognizing that God's work is not confined to our expectations.