Daily Readings - Mon Sep 03 2018
1 Corinthians
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
Luke
16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.23Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'"24"I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown.25I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.27And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian."28All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.29They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.30But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
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.