A Bittersweet Homecoming

Transcription

1 Mark 6:1 13 David Telfort Des Moines, IA July 5, 2015 A Bittersweet Homecoming Beloved, a week after walking across the graduation stage, diploma in hand from divinity school I made my way back home to possibly the greatest place on earth Brooklyn, NY. I began to pack my things to move here to Des Moines, IA but before I did that I had to, couldn t help myself, had to drive around my home town one more time. I drove around and as I did began to reminisce over significant places in my life. I saw the elementary school where I studied math for the first time, developed my first crush, failed my first test. I drove past my home church Pilgrim Wesleyan Church where I preached my first sermon, sang in the Inspiration Youth Choir, and met my best friends affectionately called The Dream Team. I even drove past the apartment building my grandmother lived in for almost a decade where Sunday dinners, and Christmas festivities were celebrated year after year. But then it happened. I drove down to one of the major avenues in East Flatbush the neighborhood I m from, Flatbush Avenue. I had to look around because I did not recognize the same streets I had walked through every single day as a teenager. We call it The Junction, the place where one can catch every type of transportation through Brooklyn and to the other four boroughs, it had shifted from family owned stores and restaurants and had exploded into corporate chains and banks. The change on Flatbush Avenue stirred up a reminder in me of the transformation that I am going through. Beloved, going home can be difficult. There are those of us for whom going home is filled with nostalgia, fond memories, and blissful flashbacks of simpler times and I would venture to say

2 that in the same breath the place we call home can also be filled with equal parts of discomfort and heartbreak. It is the mystic, pastor, and theologian Howard Thurman who reminds me of this lesson. After all it was Thurman who in 1935 makes his way to India, Burma, and modern day Sri Lanka and is asked a question that turns his sense of Home upside down. The dean of the law school at Colombo University invites Thurman out for some coffee and after an awkward silence the dean asks Thurman how it was that he, a man of African descent could be a Christian? The Dean proceeds to name the atrocities that have come to stain the red, white, and blue of our nation s flag dripping with the blood of groups and races subjugated and attacked for economic, political, and psychological gain. I imagine in my sanctified imagination, coughing over drips of coffee going down the wrong tube, Thurman is left not only to defend why he worships the same God as his oppressors but pause to reevaluate what Home means for him. Thurman writes in his biography and his seminal work Jesus and the Disinherited that at that table and in the days that followed, the home that America was never quite looked the same. Thurman s mission and ministry was emboldened and he was able to sharply articulate a Christian ethic that hinges on a liberating interpretation of Jesus: a poor, Jewish child of a Palestinian teenager who helps to bring forth a vision of hope and strength. This was for all people but especially to those all over the world who find themselves with their backs against the wall under oppressive regimes. Coming home to American soil could not have been easy for Thurman. He encounters countries, several people, and a question that changes him forever. I would venture to say that perhaps there are a few of us here who know what that s like. Who know what it s like to encounter something, someone, especially God that ignites an undeniable change in us. And every now and then that change can make coming home the hardest thing to do. Our text today tells us about a time that Jesus experienced this. Mark doesn t bother with the details surrounding Jesus birth. One who likes to go straight to the action, Mark introduces us to an adult Jesus who is baptized in the Jordan River. After Jesus is baptized God s Spirit

3 descends upon him, declares an affirmation over him and almost immediately Jesus is driven into the wilderness. Something happens to Jesus in these moments. We know this because after the wilderness Jesus emerges having experienced some things that catapult his ministry. He begins teaching, preaching, and healing and we ve been studying these past few weeks how Jesus actions and words turn everyone s expectations upside down. And just in case you thought there wasn t any more Jesus could do Jesus shows up, at home and begins to teach in the synagogue. You read the text, the people of Nazareth can t handle it. They can t believe that this is the same Jesus they knew growing up: They can t believe this is the same Jesus who they heard at night keeping his parents up refusing to be soothed by lullabies and bribes of toys if he would let his parents get through the night. They can t believe this is the same Jesus who was attached to Mary s hip as she went to the market for bread and meat. They can t believe this is the same Jesus who proudly showed off his first hammer as Joseph gave him his first carpentry lesson. And in a moment of astonishment and pain Jesus realizes that the people of Nazareth are so blinded with familiarity they can t see the divine when it is in their midst. What do you do, when a homecoming is difficult? How do you handle it, when the community that is a part of who you are can t make sense of a change you ve undergone? Where do you turn when what God has done in your life makes the people who raised you, love you, and know you treat you differently?

4 Beloved I can t answer those questions but I believe that there a couple of things that Jesus does that might speak life to those of us who may be struggling with bittersweet homecomings. Can I share them with you? The first thing that blesses me is that Jesus even in this moment of surprise and rejection realizes when it s time to move on, but before he leaves shares the gift he s been given with those who will receive it. It s right there in the text, Jesus realizes that he can do no deed of power, realizes that the people of Nazareth are expecting the divine to come in unfamiliar packaging, and so he makes the difficult decision to leave. I struggled with this part of the text because it s often hard for us to admit when it might be time to move on or change our relationship with a place or community we love and cherish. But what blesses me is that Jesus didn t leave that place just because he was angry or frustrated. He leaves because he realizes he can t do what he s been commissioned to if he stays. And just to demonstrate it s not just about the rejection he experiences but about his purpose he heals the few sick that he is able to. So Jesus realizes when it s time to move on, but before he leaves shares the gift he s been given with those who will receive it. Here s the second thing that he does that teaches us how to handle a bittersweet homecoming. Jesus, after this experience, sends his disciples out in a posture of vulnerability, to find community even when he s been rejected by his own. At Bible study this week, the young adults and I reluctantly admitted that so often we struggle with being vulnerable. The value, that in part is the reason we celebrate the 4th of July, fierce independence can hinder our ability to make real and meaningful connections as we transition into new intellectual, spiritual, and vocational spaces in our lives. Jesus calls his disciples to find community with each other, he sends them out two by two, but also asks them not to bring anything with them. He says, don t bring any money, don t bring any change of clothes, and don t bring any food. I want you to depend on one another and the kindness of others. If you re anything like me, you might have looked at Jesus a little strange, but I learned what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples last night. I went out to a cookout with Frank Thomas, the

5 coordinator of the TiM program, and his wife Sheena. We were going to have some food at a friend s home and it sounded like a good time so I said, Sure I d love to join you. Frank says, David meet me at my house I ll drive and you can follow me because it s a little tricky to get where we re going. I said, Sure Frank But I thought about my car and the GPS, state of the art technology, can get me anywhere I need to go. I thought to myself I probably won t need it but I ll follow him anyway. I get to their home and Frank s lovely wife Sheena says she s going to ride with me. As we ride she points out the streets and the way to get back home. Again, I listen and take notice but I m also thinking about my car, and the GPS state of the art technology, can get me anywhere I need to go. I thought to myself I probably won t need it but I ll listen anyway. We get to the cookout, hang out have a good old time. I know I have service in the morning so I make my way back to the car and leave the cookout. I hop into my car, turn on the GPS state of the art technology, can get me anywhere I need to go. Plug in my home address and turn on Sirius XM NBA Radio and get ready for smooth sailing. That is until the GPS system tells me to make a turn on a road that no longer exists. Now I could have panicked but then Sheena s voice popped back into my head. She tells me to make a right and then a left and she guides me the right way home. The GPS couldn t account for an unforeseen obstacle that came my way but someone who took me in, helped me when they didn t have to, and got me to where I needed to be. I hope you don t think I m still talking about driving directions. Jesus may have just been hurt by his hometown community but knows it s importance, even when it s uncomfortable. It s almost as if Jesus is saying to his disciples, I know you think you could probably do this on your own. I know you ve always prided yourself on getting things done with no help.

6 The easy thing for me to do right now would be to strike out on my own based on how my own hometown treated me but here s what I m asking you to do instead: Depend on each other like you ve never depended on another before. Ask for help when you need it. I m not saying it s going to be easy, There ll be times when you are rejected. There ll be times when you doubt if you heard my voice correctly. But you can t heal the way I need you to heal, you can t preach the way I need you to preach, you can t teach the way I need you to teach you can t call out injustice the way I need you to call out injustice you won t see the brokenhearted the way I need you to see them...if you try to do it on your own. The vulnerability, the interdependence I m inviting you to, is needed for the work of transformation. I came to speak life to someone here this morning. So much is happening in our world that it s easy to lose hope. And maybe for you it s the fact that Black churches are being burned. Maybe it s that Black and Brown bodies can t celebrate Independence Day when they feel more like enemies of the state than citizens. Perhaps what s keeping you up at night is the backlash against Supreme Court rulings. It might be something closer, maybe it's a change that has made home different for you. I invite you to the vulnerability Jesus invites his disciples into, a vulnerability into community that won t always be or feel perfect but has the potential to help all of us transform our world and others around us. Amen. Plymouth Congregational Church United Church of Christ 4126 Ingersoll Avenue Des Moines, Iowa Phone: (515) Fax: (515) vmcoleman@plymouthchurch.com

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