Morning Prayer: Eula Hledik Choral Amen Hymn of Faith *If You Will Trust God to Guide You* Witness of Scripture: Luke 4: 21-30 Anthem *Glory to God* Chancel Choir, Zach Chancellor, trumpet Sermon *Cultivating A Learning Environment* Steve Graham
Recorded on February 2, 2025
Cultivating A Learning Environment
The Good News Shared with the Beloved Community, First Christian Church, Norman, Oklahoma
Dr. Stephen D. Graham
February 2, 2025
**Luke 4:21-30**
Before facing rejection from the crowd in his hometown, Jesus was met with excitement, like “7 Up” bubbling to the top. Luke describes a stir of admiration among the people surprised to hear such gracious words from his lips. However, their enthusiasm quickly turned when they began to question, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son? He is just a boy we know!”
One afternoon I hurried into the hospital elevator with deep concern for a patient I was going to visit in ICU—a place filled with whispered conversations and loud beeping monitors. As the elevator doors close, a voice behind me asked, “Aren’t you little Stevie Graham?” Before turning around, I internally admitted, “I’m afraid you’ve got me!” I wondered if this question was asked as affectionately or questioningly. Turning to see who had mentioned me in a past tense, I paused, suddenly feeling inadequate for the ministerial task ahead. “Truly, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy!”
What implications did that carry if Jesus was known as Joseph’s son? Are any of us defined solely by our heritage? Do we become the sum of our parents and grandparents? If he were Joseph’s boy, would this confirm their suspicions and allow them to dismiss him as unremarkable? Were they revealing something about themselves when they claimed nothing good could come from Nazareth?
It reminds me of Groucho Marx, who said he declined an invitation to an exclusive club because he would not join a club that would accept someone like him.
Joseph’s child could be easily dismissed. It would allow them to hold onto old narratives. Some stories linger far too long, especially when newer, more affirming stories deserve a chance to emerge. I recall a favorite story we told about my sister, Kay Ann. I enjoyed sharing that story until the day I discovered it was outdated. No longer necessary. I sensed we were ready for a different story—one that more accurately described her as a brilliant, capable, and impressive individual committed to lifelong learning.
Instead of viewing Jesus as merely Joseph’s boy, what if they had recognized him as someone who was growing in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man? Instead, they crafted a tired story to belittle him: “He’s just a poor boy from Nazareth.” That was their conclusion. Some of our conclusions are so limited.
Jesus acknowledged their narrow perspective by saying, “You will quote the proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we have heard you have done in other towns.’ No prophet is accepted in his own country. A prophet is never welcomed in his own hometown.” (A prophet may not be recognized, but a prophet nonetheless.)
He then shared a story to illustrate that when it is embraced God’s love is transformative: “In the days of Elijah, there were many widows in Israel when a famine lay hard over the whole country that lasted three and a half years. However, Elijah was sent to a widow in Sidon, not to one of them. There were also many people with leprosy in Israel, but only a Syrian named Naaman was cleansed” (Luke 4:25-27). Jesus alludes to two famous prophets, Elijah, and Elisha. Sometimes, when God’s people will not listen, God sends messengers to people outside of Israel- ministry shared with those who are not part of the hometown crowd. Despite Jesus coming to his own, his own folk did not receive him (John 1:11).
They could not believe, either in him or even themselves.
Sara Little, in her book, To Set One’s Heart, provides this insight about belief: “Unless individuals are ‘believed in,’ unless they can ‘believe in’ others, the possibility of becoming who they are is limited.”
Finding our belief in this one humbly born in Nazareth is transformative; without it, our potential to become fully realized individuals is restricted.
We believe that Christ’s love transforms us both as individuals and as a community.
A congregation must believe in itself. It is important to recognize this during times of transition. James Hopewell, in his book, Congregations: Stories and Structures, writes: “The local church suffers when it does not take its idiom seriously. If the congregation views itself merely as a repository of meanings better expressed elsewhere, it fails to appreciate its genius, its unique capacity to reflect the sociality of humankind. When a congregation sees its own language as neither interesting nor significant, it undermines its identity and its names before God” (Hopewell, p. 9).
During these first few days, I am learning to appreciate your congregation as it serves with vitality and intentionality. Experiencing your story, I find you to be a people of faith and faithfulness.
W.H. Auden asserted that the events of a single day in the life of an average person could fill a novel. If that is true, the story of a congregation might occupy several shelves in a library (Hopewell, p. 154).
Part of me will always be little Stevie Graham. Some stories can be shared about that curious, hopeful child with a burr haircut, and in many ways, they may resonate with who I am today. We have early narratives in which nothing is wasted. They contribute to, without constricting, who we are becoming.
In The Learning Congregation, Thomas Hawkins reminds us that congregations sometimes treat people as a utilitarian resource whose time and abilities exist to help the congregation grow and develop a wider range and base for its ministry. Learning congregations invert this formula. They make a primary shift from using people to create a better congregation to using the congregation to nurture better people (Hawkins, p.26). In the past, church leaders were recognized for their ability to grow churches. In today’s world, the ability to “grow people” is the key characteristic of effective and faithful leaders (Hawkins, p.11).
Our goal is to cultivate a learning environment where we discover all that we can about Joseph’s boy, the one who transformed everyday experiences. Our goal is to cultivate an environment where we realize our calling is to be a loving congregation. When all God’s children believe in all God’s children, miracles happen.
“Where there is great love there are always miracles.” (Willa Carter). Miracles occur when through love we gain a finer sense of things. This finer sense of things calls us to sacrifice.
God has a place for our gifts in service and calls forth our faithfulness. God uses whom we are in all our humanity to bear the Word (Paul Wilson).
So, fine people of First Christian, to be or not to be! We cannot be other than we are, but God would not have it any other way. We are called to let God be the author of our stories. Therefore, let us bring to God all that we are and all that we long to be.
I close with a line from Wendell Berry: “...and we are here as we have never been before, sighted as not before, our place Holy, although we knew it not.”