Contempt

 Here's a truism: Familiarity breeds contempt. That should be obvious enough to all of us, especially those of us who are in the church. Back in the day when I was in university, everyone and his or her dog were Buddhists. Back in the late 90s, Buddhism was seen as cool, exotic and fascinating. Not like your tired, played out local Lutheran church, those Buddhist monks had a real, authentic spirituality, that was totally connected to the world, and to the spiritual realm in a way that the local Anglican church wasn't. 

None of this should be news, but there was a reason why all that happened at once - the good people of the University of Calgary had become cold to the idea of the Christian faith of their ancestors, and had begun to look for something new. And it was the novelty that drove things. I know I've quoted this before, but there was a bit from 'Family Guy,' where Peter mentioned that he could see into his neighbor Bonnie's room. Stewie responded by saying "Wait a minute, Lois is way hotter than Bonnie! Oh, I get it. It's worse, but it's different.' That kind of sums things up right there. The quest for novelty can lead to you destroying a marriage for something that isn't better, but is different. And if you'll do it for a marriage, you'll probably do it with God, too.

Our Old Testament reading comes to us from Nehemiah, and part of what goes into wrestling with the Bible comes from a realization that this is telling a long story over thousands of years. Each reading is fairly brief, and doesn't give you much context. And that's a shame, given how much context is required. There are things in the readings that suggest something that is happening essentially right out of frame, and it's only when you pry a little deeper that you work out why those things are happening.  In Nehemiah, they are rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. 

It's catchy, and it's a nice concept, to rebuild the walls and to put Jerusalem back together. But that brings up a question: why do you have to rebuild the walls? What happened to them in the first place? Well, that drags us all the way back to the books of the kings, where the people of Israel did what we all do, you know. They sought after foreign gods, seeking variety over what what handed down to them. Pulling the Peter Griffin move that we can't seem to stop doing: It's worse, but it's different. 

The kings of Israel kept on following after other gods, kept on getting into trouble with it, and kept on doing, as the Bible says 'what was evil in the sight of God.' Their endless quest for variety ended up with them essentially throwing everything away. And away it all went. The walls came down ,the Temple was destroyed, and nothing remained of any of it. A king slain, a people carried away into captivity, all of it gone. The temple toppled and burned, all that was of any value gone and despoiled.  And that's the tale of why the walls had to be rebuilt.

So when Nehemiah has the walls rebuilt, Ezra goes up on a wooden podium, and reads the book of the law to the people who are gathered there. And they weep, likely out of joy, for the reality that the book of the law of God is being read again. The people of Israel, who had grown so bored of the god of their ancestors that they left him to serve other gods, those same children of Israel wept for joy upon hearing the words that they had spurned finally being read again. They have spent time in captivity, have gone all the way round, and found their way back home again. 

Likewise, the people of the New Testament. Familiarity breeding contempt as it does, they found themselves looking at Jesus, speaking the word of God to them, and saying 'don't we know this guy too well?' Yes, this was the one that they had seen grow up as part of their town. They weren't impressed with him anymore. He was now boring, because they were too familiar with him. Too close, as they say. They had seen him walk, talk, build furniture, operate his shop, all of that noise, and now, when he came to teach and preach among them, they shook their heads. Surely, we know him far too well.

Well, like the people of Israel in the Old Testament, or the people of our time now, we tend to be over familiar with God, but in the wrong way. That is, most people can tell you exactly what Jesus looks like, right? They can tell you what kind of beard he has, even down to what he was wearing. They can describe his haircut, eyes, all that even though most of it isn't in the Bible. They can tell you about his birth, his death, and some of his miracles in between. 

But they can't tell you what he says.

And that's so key. You can be over familiar with Jesus in the wrong way, just like they were in Nazareth. Isn't this the guy we're tired of? Isn't this the guy we're used to? We're not impressed by him anymore. Sure you're not. Because you're familiar with what he looks like. But Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, and as such, what he says is of such Titanic importance that it can't be overlooked. His words are what counts and what matters, and unlike his appearance, I have yet to meet anyone who can be over familiar with what he says. Familiarity with what he looks like can breed contempt, thus the Jesus on toast, or Jesus in water stains, or anything like that. But over-familiarity with his words? That seems to be almost impossible. I don't tend to find people that often who read through the Bible and get over familiar with the words of Christ - quite the opposite. They tend to say 'I had no idea that Jesus said these things. I had no idea those were the teachings of Jesus. I've heard these stories my whole life, and I'm still finding new things.'

Just like at the transfiguration, this the son of God, hear ye him. It's an important bit, because if we're listening to Christ, we're doing what we are supposed to do. Then our familiarity leads to seeing his same words in a new way, excitement, joy and meaningful teaching. And our desire for novelty finds its perfect rest in Christ who makes all things new.