Wouldn't Everything Be Just Fine?

Did you ever say to yourself as you walked into church, "What am I doing here?"

Uristides McFarland went to church one Sunday morning expecting nothing unusual to happen. There were the same words to be said, the same announcements to be listened to, and the same hymns to be sung with the same congregation. Over the years he'd gotten so he often went through the whole experience in a sort of trance. This he accomplished by turning his mind to automatic pilot and letting his thoughts drift off in other directions. And this Sunday morning was no different. He sat down in a pew, turned off his mind, and let the words and music wash around him like waves swirling around a log cast up on the beach.

Uristides stood up and sat down at the proper times, folded his hands and bowed his head at the proper times, and turned the pages to the proper hymns at the proper times. He was just beginning to say the Lord's Prayer when the thought suddenly struck him: "I have come here to worship God!" The idea was such a startling one that it jolted his mind off the automatic pilot setting and other thoughts rushed in.

"I'm praying the Lord's Prayer," he suddenly realized, "which means I'm talking to God! I'm talking to the Lord of the whole universe! And now I'm singing a hymn asking God to send His Holy Spirit to live with me. I'm inviting the Holy Spirit to live with me."

Later, when the congregation had filed out, Uristides McFarland remained in his pew, saying to himself over and over again, "I have been talking to God! ... I have been talking to God!"1

Wouldn't it be wonderful if, every time we walked into church, each one of us asked herself or himself, "What am I doing here," and then answered in total sincerity, "I came here to talk to God!" Wouldn't it be even more wonderful -- wouldn't it be mind-blowing -- if each of us answered, in total sincerity, "I came here to listen to God!"

Luke tells us in today's Gospel that when Jesus began preaching that sermon, the congregation responded to His words with high praise. "He won the approval of all," Luke says, "and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from His lips" (Luke 4:2-2). The congregation was spellbound! And everything was just fine. Jesus was saying things the congregation wanted to hear. And they wanted to hear even more from this great preacher who was thinking like them. But, as Jesus continued to speak, the congregation's mood suddenly turned ugly. Jesus was saying things the people didn't want to hear. Jesus was saying things that contradicted their thinking. Suddenly, Luke tells us,

Everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled Him out of town; and they took Him up to the part of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw Him down the cliff, but He slipped through the crowd and walked away (Luke 4:28-30).

What did Jesus say to evoke such a violent response? We recall that when Jesus rose to speak, He identified His mission on earth with a Reading from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord has been given to Me, for He has anointed Me. He has sent Me to bring Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord's year of favor (Luke 4:18-19).

The problem arose when Jesus emphasized to the congregation that those words of encouragement and hope and liberation were meant not just for them, not just for a chosen few, but for everyone -- even their enemies. Jesus' listeners lived in expectation of a Messiah who would liberate them from bondage. They had their own way of thinking about what the Messiah would be like and the kind of leadership He would provide. Consequently, as Jesus continued to speak, they realized that His description of the Messiah's mission did not correspond with their thinking, and they wanted to kill Him.

Jesus said to His disciples, "I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." (Wouldn't everything be just fine ... if only everyone would think like Jesus?)

Jesus said to His disciples: "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly!" (Wouldn't everything be just fine ... if only everyone would think like Jesus?)

Jesus said to His disciples: "To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too ... Give to everyone who asks you ... Treat others as you would like them to treat you. (Wouldn't everything be just fine ... if only everyone would think like Jesus?)

Jesus said to His disciples: "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate ... do not judge ... do not condemn ... grant pardon!" (Wouldn't everything be just fine...if only everyone would think like Jesus?)

Jesus said to His disciples: "Love one another as I have loved you!"

WOULDN'T EVERYTHING BE JUST FINE...IF ONLY EVERYONE WOULD ACT LIKE JESUS?