(Text and Audio)
Title: A Prophet in his Hometown
“A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
These words, spoken at the end of Matthew 13, has rung true over the centuries for millions of believers who have a position of respect and authority. I myself have felt the sting over the years from my own family concerning this very concept.
I have been ordained for 12 years. I’ve served as the pastor of this church for the last 11.5, I served over 7 years as a chaplain for Hospice, and for the last 3.5 as a teacher of Bible at ACS and Veritas.
And yet, I still feel like much of the protestant side of my family struggles to take anything I say spiritually seriously.
You all see me as your pastor, and I am humbled by the respect and attention you give me week after week. I am humbled when you call me because you want or need to discuss something of great importance. I am honored when you email me to help you through a difficult passage in scripture. I do not take that for granted, and I never want to.
But with family, it’s different. It’s hard for them to see me as anything but a cousin, nephew, or son.
How does that feel?
I’ll be honest with you. It’s extremely frustrating. It’s frustrating to feel marginalized and reduced to, “Well, that’s just Ben, he’s only in his 30’s…he hasn’t lived life we’ve lived, he still has a lot to learn. I can’t imagine he’d teach me anything.”
And my age, in relation to others, is never going to change. I’m about 30 years younger than Mike Ringler. That’s never going to change. I can’t close that gap.
And here’s the real kicker: For most of the life of this church, many, many of you have always been older than me. Yet you come here, to hear a young (maybe not young anymore, but certainly younger than a lot of you) preacher. And week after week you show your obedience to God by your respect for me.
For the last 12 years, about 50% of my ministry has been with those older than me, and you have responded to my teaching and leadership with great enthusiasm and willingness to follow. And, yet, with my own family, those who should have seen this metamorphosis from young, rebellious teenager, to humble, broken, saved college student, to a young man called to ministry, married at 22, straight to seminary, taking my first church post 6 months later in Indiana, and then returning to Ohio to work with Heritage about 6 months after that…they struggle to see it.
Why do I share this sob story with you this morning? So that you will compliment me today, share in my frustration, make a long overdue phone call to my family to give them a piece of your minds?
No.
I share it today because I’m just a lowly pastor.
The same things that happen to me, happened to Jesus, the Son of God!
Think about that. I’m frustrated when my family disregards my insight, and I’m just a pastor. So what.
Jesus is the savior to the universe, and his own family, his neighbors, and the men of spiritual leadership, the men who should have seen clearly all these signs and wonders…they sit in judgement and rebuke of the only one with the power to save their souls.
Let’s Read, let’s pray.
(read/pray)
- “Carpenter”
This Greek term tekton is often translated as “carpenter” but in truth it can mean any type of craftsman, most usually someone who works with either stone or wood.
While these craftsman were respected in their trade, they were not looked up to academically or theologically because they were tradesman. Their education consisted of taking an apprenticeship at a young age, learning the skills and practices of their trade, and then either going out on their own to start their own business or becoming an employee or partner of their master.
If I came in and exclaimed to you, “Great news, I’ve written a sermon!” Your response would be, “Okay…that makes sense, it’s kinda what you do!”
But if I came in next Sunday and said, “Good news! The City of Cleveland has just hired me to be the lead architect on a new skyscraper!” you’d most likely be confused and the thought would go through you mind, “Are you qualified to do that? I had no idea that you had those skills, or that type of schooling…aren’t you a pastor?”
And it is the same with Jesus’ countrymen in the Synagogue. The don’t see him as anything but what they have known him as already:
- The Carpenter’s Son
- The Son of Mary
- The brother of James, Joses, Simon, Judas, and his sisters
Q: So what’s their conclusion? What is unwritten about the conclusion that they come to?
A: That Jesus must be fraudulent, because they can’t understand how he “got all these things…”
The “things” they refer to at this point are his “wisdom” and “Mighty works.” from verse 54.
And it never crosses their minds, that these things were given by God. The idea that God would raise up a seemingly normal person to do great things was not a new concept to Jewish History.
What was Noah doing when God told him to build the ark?
What was Abram doing when God told him to take his family west?
What was Moses doing when the burning bush appeared to him?
What was Samuel doing when God called him as a prophet?
What was David doing when Philistine army was threatening Israel?
The issue was not that God couldn’t use a seemingly “common” man with a “common” trade. The issue for these men was that they refused to believe that Jesus was God’s messenger.
Instead of measuring what was the obvious proof of Jesus’ power, they relied on their own experience and foregone conclusions about who he was. Truly, they had no eyes to see, nor ears to hear.
And then Jesus says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
And then, we see the key to this entire episode in verse 58: Now he did not do mighty works their because of their unbelief.
It is very important that we understand what Matthew is and is not saying here. Matthew is NOT saying that Jesus could not do miracles, because the people didn’t have faith. Jesus’ ability to perform miracles is not limited, or governed in any way by the faith of those around him.
Moses’ ability to part the Red Sea was not based on the faith of Israel behind him, they were terrified, and full of doubt.
Elijah’s ability to light the altar when he challenged the prophets of Baal was not based on the faith of the masses gathered there. Those people were terrified of King Ahab, Jezebel, and their gods.
And Jesus’ ability was not governed by his surroundings. I mean, half the time the apostles were shocked at what he could do. When he comes up from the bow of the boat and command the wave to be silent, Peter doesn’t turn to John and say, “That seems about right…”
They are shocked, amazed, in awe at the things he does.
So what then is Jesus saying here?
He is refusing to perform miracles in an atmosphere of unbelief. Why? Because miracles are of little value to those without faith.
Jesus is not saying, “I can’t!”
He’s saying, “I won’t!”
How many times have you heard of someone “rationally explaining” a miracle form scripture using scientific terms? How many times has something truly miraculous occurred medically and people have written it off an coincidence, or misdiagnoses, or an anomaly?
Miracles don’t change people’s minds. People’s minds who have already been changed are the ones who see miracles for what they are. The others make them something they are not, because they are uncomfortable with something they thought they understood becoming something mysterious.
It is the same with Jesus and these people in the synagogue. They are more comfortable rationalizing and dismissing Jesus, his words, and his work, then comprehending the thought that he may be more than they originally thought.
Why?
Because not everyone is given ears to hear.