We would say, “Charity begins at home.” Before you go off doing good for others, make sure you've first taken care of those nearest and dearest to you.

I looked up that expression, by the way: charity begins at home. One source said the expression dates from 1642 when an English doctor, Sir Thomas Browne, penned it in a book. He wrote, "But how shall we expect charity towards others, when we are uncharitable to ourselves? 'Charity begins at home,' is the voice of the world ...”

Another source, however, dates it from ancient times when the Roman playwright, Terence, used it. This same source adds that the English Bible translator, John Wycliffe, said something similar almost 300 years earlier, in 1383: 'Charity should begin at himself.'

But I digress! The point is, we would say, “Charity begins at home.” Before you go off doing good for others, make sure you've first taken care of those nearest and dearest to you.

It makes sense. In fact, we can all probably think of people who seem to have time, energy, and patience for everyone and anyone ... except those closest to them! (Pastors, performers, and politicians are notorious for this!) But, interestingly, Jesus seems not to agree with this sentiment. Charity does not begin at home, he seems to suggest. And I think it's important we understand why!

Today's gospel reading both continues and then concludes the reading begun last week. Very early in his ministry Jesus has returned home to Nazareth where he has been invited to preach in his hometown synagogue. As we said last week, what he said there is not only Jesus' first recorded public pronouncement, it's also, in effect, his State of the Union address. After having been handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus unrolls it until he painstakingly finds the passages that reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus finished the reading, rolled the scroll back up, and handed it back to the attendants. With every eye fixed on him Jesus then simply said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

We said last week that what Jesus was saying was that, right there and then, the promises that God was making in those passages from the Hebrew scriptures--promises to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind--were coming true, right there and then, in Jesus! “I am the promises of God come true,” he’s saying, in effect. “I am the good news for the poor. I am recovery of sight to the blind. I am release to the captives ...”

And at first, the hometown crowd loved it! All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, proudly, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

But then things turned ugly, and fast!

We would say, “Charity begins at home.” In other words, before running around, taking care of others, make sure you've taken care of those nearest and dearest to you.

The way that Jesus heard the hometown crowd put it was like this. “Doctor, cure yourself! Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”

This was Jesus' hometown. This was where he grew up. If it takes a village to raise a child, this was the village that helped raise Jesus. And so, they assumed his charity would begin with them. They expected it! “If you're looking for some poor to preach good news to, Jesus, start here! If you're looking for some blind folks to give recovery of sight, Jesus, look around you! If you're looking for some oppressed folks to set free, look no further than us!”

But Jesus refuses. And it's important for us to understand why.

In our most recent New Members class, we had a great discussion about when God first became real to us, more than just a name. Without revealing any confidences, one of the things we talked about was how tragedy or illness brought some people closer to God while those same experiences drove a wedge between others and God.

I've seen this myself. Years ago, a parishioner once asked me to call on her best friend. Twenty years earlier the friend's daughter had been tragically killed in an auto accident. Ever since then the woman had given up on God. If God couldn't help or protect her daughter when she needed God most, what good was God? If God wasn’t there for her, why should she be there for God?

We talked, but there wasn't much to say. Like the people in Jesus’ hometown, that brokenhearted mother believed that charity should--and must--begin at home. “Doctor, cure yourself! Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”

“If you're looking for some poor to preach good news to, Jesus, start here! If you're looking for some blind folks to give recovery of sight, Jesus, look around you! If you're looking for some oppressed folks to set free, look no further than us! Go ahead and do good and be good to others also. But, Jesus, really! Do good and be good to us first!”

Before I decided to call this message Charity Begins at Home (with a question mark at the end), I was calling it, With Empty Hands. Because that's how we must always approach--or come before--God: with empty hands.

It doesn't matter if we come to church every Sunday, every-other Sunday, or once in a blue moon, we approach--or come before--God with empty hands. God plays no favorites! God owes no favors!

And that’s especially important for us to understand today. Because today is a fifth Sunday in the month, it’s being observed by us as a healing service. How should we regard our prayers for healing, whether for ourselves or others? With what expectations do we come before God?

We come with empty hands. We come out of need--whether for ourselves or for others--and not with any claim or demand upon God.
Charity does not begin at home. Those who would like to think of themselves as near and dear to God are no closer--and no further--than those who imagine themselves as far from God.
Charity does not begin at home. It begins with God!

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Charity does not begin at home. It begins with God. But, we can trust that love, that charity. We must trust that love! And so, we come before God today as we must always: with empty hands, outstretched and hopeful, seeking the love of God.

Seeking the love of God. In Jesus’ name. Amen!