Have
you ever had a time in your life were you felt like you didn’t belong in a
group? These groups can include people
going to watch a sporting event, a group out to see a movie, being included in
a church group or just going out for dinner.
This has happen many times in my life and I’m sure each of you can come
up with an example where this has occurred to you. You have either been not invited or left out
of something important. You feel pushed
away and not wanted. You think to
yourself “What did I do to be excluded?”
Now
think of a time when you were the one that excluded others. It might be harder
to come up with an example, because many times we are not aware of what we do
to others especially when we can’t always see how they react. But in reality we are probably included and
excluded equally.
I
remember many times when my group of friends was planning to hang out and do
something together. We had to decide who
was going to be invited. There are so many things to think about. Who gets
along? Do we really want that person there? Many times I remember people
saying, including myself, “they really aren’t in our group”. Too many times, you go along with the
majority, and decided that the people excluded wouldn’t have much fun with the
rest of us anyway. Looking back, I feel
bad because I know how it feels to be on the other end of these situations. I have been left out of groups or events, and
really never knew the basis for this exclusion.
So
will I think about including everyone in future events? Yes of course I’ll think about not excluding
friends. But the answer can also be No
because there will be peer pressure, the potential for more people than desired
or you don’t allows think about what is right.
Jesus
states in the Gospel “truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s
hometown.” He goes on to compare himself
to Elijah. Elijah helped a widow when
there were many that could be helped. In addition, Elijah cleansed Naaman the
Syrian, but not the lepers in Israel.
We
heard that Jesus dismisses the idea of performing his miracles in the place
were he grew up. It was not necessarily because he did not want to but he felt
the need that it was not mandatory. He refers to Elijah and how Elijah saved
individuals outside his hometown that weren’t the “chosen” people, Israelites.
Elijah didn’t help the people that were in the inner circle. He helped those in
need on the outer circle and even people that were not in a circle at all.
Jesus
was just like Elijah and we can see it in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus knows that
the people in the synagogue are well off. They don’t see in themselves in dire
need of salvation. This leads to Jesus’ refusal of being what they want him to
be. The crowd becomes raged. They want to throw him off the cliff. They hated
the idea of Jesus helping the outsiders and not helping Israelites.
At
Ewalu we learned a lesson that provides a visual for this Gospel. Everyone
except one person got in a circle and linked arms. The one person on the
outside was considered the outsider. They were given one task. Their goal was
to get inside the circle and become part of it. I was a person on the circle
and with human nature we all tried to keep the outsider out and not in. We
worked as a team to push that person out. The outsider wanted to give up but
had to keep going. Once they got inside the circle we talked about what it felt
like to be outside and have everyone gang up on you. The outsider said it was
awful and they hated having to keep trying to push their way in. After we
talked a bit we found out that the circle didn’t have the instruction to keep
the outsider out. Remember the one goal was for the outside to get inside the
circle. It was our choice to push them
out. It could have been as simple as unlocking out arms and letting them in. So
a chose was made to keep the individual outside the circle and/or group.
So
are we in rage when not included in events or in a group? Do we want to drive
these people off a cliff? Honestly sometimes it might feel like you want to.
Never do it though. We have to remember that they are only human. People
exclude others without thinking about their feelings and how it might affect
them. To be honest some people are very oblivious to others feelings and this
can be hard. We have to also remember that we exclude people too. It’s our
human nature. We exclude and then ask for forgiveness. Jesus usually didn’t
exclude people but I’m sure he excluded the Israelites in the synagogue on
purpose. He wanted to show that God
loves and accepts all people, especially outsiders.
But
I’m pretty happy Jesus helped people. Jesus came down to earth to help
everyone. Jesus helped everyone in need. He felt it was his duty to be part of
the whole earth. If Jesus only saved those on the inside, most of us today
would not have our sins forgiven. He chose to save us all and that means we all
have eternal life after death. Thank you Jesus. Amen
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