FAMILIARITY GENERATES CONTEMPT

THE GOSPEL OF MARK 6:1-6

                When Familiarity generates Contempt

You have probably heard the saying "familiarity generates contempt", which Means the better we know people, the more likely we are to find fault with them. If you know someone very well or experience something a lot, you stop respecting them.  The more you know something or someone, the more you start to find faults and dislike things about it or him. We find an example of this in our text when Jesus returned to His hometown, the town of Nazareth, where He had been brought up.

 JESUS' COUNTRYMEN TOOK OFFENSE.

At first they were impressed by His teaching; they knew Jesus as: A carpenter and the son of a carpenter, the son of Mary, with brothers and sisters. But the moment He spoke critically, they took offense, they became angry, they attempted to kill Him. The people did not expect their Savior to come from among them. They did not expect a carpenter to lead them to the Promised Land. His familiarity stood as a stumbling block to their belief. Which led Jesus say: "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." Because of familiarity, they did not respect Him as a prophet

The phenomenon is not unexpected. People are often more open to teaching from big name strangers than to the same teaching from their regular people.

What strikes me as really odd about this passage is the reason for their rejection of Jesus, Where did He get this wisdom and the power to work these miracles?” They didn't doubt his power and wisdom, but they rejected it anyway because He was the little kid they had known and He just came from this average family in their town.

 JESUS LIMITED HIS TEACHING...

 Their offense led to His leaving and returning to Capernaum. Thus depriving themselves of further teaching by the Son of God! Because of their contempt, they lost access to more learning of God's will!

THE BLESSINGS ARE NOT RECEIVED

JESUS LIMITED HIS MIRACLES...

 Mark states that "He could do no mighty work there. Matthew says it was "because of their unbelief. It wasn't that Jesus could not do miracles, for He healed a few. Where people would not believe, He could not do a great work for them.

 WE MIGHT BE GUILTY OF THE SAME...?

We can easily develop familiarity today. With those teaching us at school, with those bringing the Word of God to us, with our brothers and sisters with whom we live and say "He no longer impresses me" "I've heard that many times before"; I know who he is, what can he tell me?, We allow our familiarity to generate contempt No longer respecting those we know well, taking them for granted; No longer appreciating the significance of the Word of God, the Lord's Supper, the prayer, … We become like stones in the river where, though water is passing on it, it becomes darker and darker.

If so, such contempt will "close the channels of grace and mercy" of God then we will cut ourselves off from him.

CONCLUSION

Most of time reject God's work because it doesn't come to us in the package we expect. We can't hear a preacher's message because of our preconceptions and prejudices. Like Naaman, we might reject a healing because we expect a different methodology. A miracle is ignored because it doesn't come with the fireworks we expect.

As these people could not accept one of their own as being somehow greater than they were, we too are experiencing this. Jesus’ experience in today’s gospel is happening around us. Try to invite people to a party, concert or whatever outing, and you will get a nod at once. But invite or gather them to a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, what response would you get? People stay until late to party but feel burdened to stay in one-hour Mass. Text messages and emails containing jokes are circulated more than those with gospel values. Internet addicts don’t notice the time in front of the computer but a minute of prayer is much too long. These are modern signs of indifference and rejection towards Jesus and I know the list is long.

The message of today calls us to faith and humility. Faith and humility don’t travel without each other. Trusting Jesus means seeing yourself in need of him. Knowing your need for him generates trust in him. He’s in town, your town, right now. Trust him with your burdens. Let him give you rest. It’s you he’s coming to see.