26-Jan-25 (Luke 4:14-27)

One of the things we do in Church is to read small parts of the Bible out loud.  It probably wouldn't surprise you a bit that they did that in Jesus' time too. In fact, our gospel story for today is about a time when Jesus was asked to read scripture in the place he grew up in.
Jesus read a scripture that talked about someone who was going to bring Good News to the poor, who would set prisoners free, bring sight to the blind, and stop oppression.
Jesus set the scripture to one side and then said, "Today, you will see this scripture made true."
The people he grew up with were surprised to hear these incredible things coming from someone they watched grow up.
As much as we all want you to grow up and go and do amazing things, I'll tell you that we will be surprised when that happens. See, we sometimes get "stuck" on thinking of you as just the kids; some of us remember changing your diapers (and some of us will remind you of that at really embarrassing times.) So, sometimes it hard for us to see you getting older and surprising us with all you can do.
Still, we're proud of you when you do surprise us in good ways. We're proud of you when you show us how God wants us to live. We're proud of you as you grow up into the people that God wants you to be.
Let's pray about that.

Prayer

God, we thank you for Jesus, who came to show us who you are and how much you love us. When Jesus surprises us, help us to recognize what Jesus is trying to teach us and help us to live that way. And, as we grow up, help us to be more like Jesus so we can help other people to know you and to live like you want us to.
We pray in Jesus' name. AMEN