Matthew 11:20-24

“Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!

For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

I doubt there are many preachers who would clamor to preach on the gospel text we have just heard.  We preachers tend to avoid the difficult sayings of Jesus and look for more comfortable and pleasing words.  This straight-talking, hard-hitting, no-holds-barred Jesus disturbs us.  And yet this may be one of the blessings of having texts chosen for us by a daily lectionary, which compels us forego, at least occasionally, the more agreeable stories and sayings of Jesus.  In texts like these, we are forced to confront the message of Jesus in all its forms.

So here are a few things we might note about tonight’s gospel lesson:

First, that Jesus was not “successful” in his ministry in the ways we normally measure success.  Although at times he drew large crowds, there were also a great many who rejected his message and ignored the signs and wonders God did through him.  The fact that so many turned away must have been frustrating, disappointing and discouraging for him, as it would be for us.  At times he must have felt anger and despair.  At one point in the Gospel of John, when the crowds are turning away from him, we sense his frustration when he turns to his disciples and says, “Do you also wish to go away?” (John 6:67).  Passages like these remind us how often Jesus’ words and deeds were met with incomprehension, indifference and outright opposition. And since disciples are not greater than their master, we should not be surprised to encounter the same indifference and rejection in many of those with whom we share the good news.

Second, note that Jesus’ criticism of the peoples of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum is not that they have not believed in him, but that, in spite of what they have seen and heard, they have failed to repent.  They had witnessed God’s power and heard of God’s love and yet had not turned from evil to do good.  Such powerful evidence of God’s loving care, Jesus maintains, would have persuaded even the pagans of Tyre and Sidon, and of Sodom, to turn to God in faith and obedience.  He has harsh words for those who fail to take God seriously or to commit their lives to being part of God’s plan.  They see and hear, but fail to respond.

Third, note that Jesus condemns the unrepentant towns corporately.  They are faulted for glorying in their own importance and for failing to heed signs and wonders and turn to God.  They have discouraged rather than encouraged faith in God.  They have been caught in their own pride.  This is a warning to our own communities and cities and countries, wherever wealth and commerce take priority over human need, wherever pride and privilege cause us to be indifferent towards the things of God.  Do not be blind to what God is doing!

Finally, note Jesus’ warning that the failure to repent, the failure to turn from evil and do good, has long-lasting consequences.  God will judge our actions, and our failure to act.  Greed, misuse of power, disregard for the dignity of other people, lack of respect for the earth, unwarranted violence will all have their consequences, both in our time and in the age to come.

It might be surprising for some of us to hear such sharp words from the lips of Jesus.  But perhaps this is how True Love speaks when we refuse to hear or obey.  Perhaps harsh words are the only way of getting our attention when we act as though we are blind and deaf to what God is doing and saying in our world.  Perhaps this is the form that True Compassion takes when nothing seems to be getting through to us.

Can we imagine Christ saying to us, “Woe to you, Cambridge!  Woe to you, Boston!  Woe to you, United States of America!”  And might this be the Voice of Love, trying to shake us awake from our sleepy indifference?

There are serious questions here for us to consider:

First, we m[...]