NO SURPRISES, PLEASE!

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This past Thursday the lectionary invited us to reflect on this well-known episode on Jesus' life:

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.

They were astonished and said,

“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?

Is he not the carpenter’s son?

Is not his mother named Mary

and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

Are not his sisters all with us?

Where did this man get all this?”

And they took offense at him. (Mt 13:54-56)

The first thought that usually comes to mind as I read this passage is always the "scandal of familiarity," the notion that we tend to assume we already know everything about a particular person and have them captured securely in one or another box. So when Jesus performs miracles and preaches in ways that move people's hearts like never before, his townspeople can't figure it out because it doesn't fit their preconceptions of this man whom they've know for all these years and whose relatives still live among them. And since Jesus' behavior doesn't fit their preconception of the "carpenter's son" they take offense at him.

That's probably pretty close to what the gospel writer had in mind when he recorded the story. But I'd like to suggest a slightly different take that might make for a more profitable meditation for us who are hunkered down trying to hide from the covid-19 virus.

See if you agree with this thought from cultural anthropologists: the role of most religions is often to make sure that nothing changes. For millennia people have been sacrificing to their gods to make sure that the crops grow as usual, that the spring rains return as they're supposed to, that they and their families can live out their lives in peace. 

This seems to reflect our built-in preference for predictability (which means the ability to control things around us) and for understanding (figuring out the meaning of things on various levels). We don't like living with mystery, with events that lie beyond the reach of our senses and our intellect. To say that something is a mystery is to admit that we can't control it.

Now, back to the incident of Jesus in his hometown. The townspeople have been hearing about Jesus' miracles and now hear for themselves his incredibly powerful preaching. Their first reaction is to be "astonished"by Jesus' power, but their astonishment quickly turns to resentment and hostility. Why? Because they find themselves confronted with something that they cannot understand. God is doing something new in their midst, but instead of rejoicing and glorifying the Lord because if it, they feel threatened.

God is saying through Jesus "Behold, I am doing something new (Isaiah 43:19)!" An encounter with Jesus is an encounter with mystery. The incarnation, when you think about it, is incomprehensible: The infinite becomes finite, the Totally Other comes among us as a little baby, the Lord and Creator of the universe walks around Galilee as a simple rabbi. "Incomprehensible" is right!

Christians believe that this incomprehensible mystery is still going on at all times in every person, in every created thing and in every corner of the universe. Because of the incarnation, "God comes to us as our life," in every event great or small, pleasant or unpleasant, joyful or frightful. 

So, when God comes to us as covid-19, what is our prayer? Maybe it could be "Lord, take care of your people, keep us healthy and safe, and let us not lose hope in your loving care." Behind our prayer, whatever it might be on a particular day, is the underlying faith that God loves each of us infinitely and absolutely, and that everything is under God's control and God in Jesus Christ is in our midst to love and to save, to bring to the entire world healing and peace. 

"Behold, I am doing something new. Wear your mask!"