Who Do You Make Furious?

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove Jesus out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 
- Luke 4:28-29

What a dramatic scene - the worship service got so out of hand that the congregation turned into a mob and tried to push Jesus off a cliff. All because ‘they heard this.’ The ‘this’ was Jesus talking about God’s radical inclusivity, his compassion on the poor, and his prioritizing those on the margins. Apparently that’s very threatening to the status quo. For example, try putting an end to slavery and you might have a war break out, or try ending Jim Crow and you can spend a lot of time in prison.

Is there anything that you say or do that makes other people furious? (Not the annoying things that are selfish and immature, but the dangerously bold, the powerfully good, and the status-quo-threatening things that God is up to).

If you find yourself saying yes to that question, meditate on this passage as a way to connect with Jesus: ““Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Mt 6:11-12).

If you find yourself saying no to that question, ask yourself why not and ask Jesus if might want to make you a bit more revolutionary :-).