Jesus is Not the Hometown Hero

Last Sunday the rector of my church was out of town. She had come to me at the beginning of the summer and asked if I was willing to lead morning prayer and preach one Sunday if she needed to go out of town. I said I would and a few weeks later she emailed me with a date and the readings for that Sunday. On July 1, in anticipation of being distracted all week by really good books, I sat down and wrote (in about an hour and a half) my sermon. Satisfied I had a friend read over it and thought nothing else of it until it was time to print it out and read it. Summer attendance being what it is at a smaller parish attendance was on the low side on Sunday, but as a whole the experience was delightful. And surprisingly natural. I didn't have much time for nerves over my sermon and I didn't even panic when things didn't go quite right (none of the acolytes showed up, I was very hot, the microphone took a lot of getting used to, and one of the readers got very confused and ended up not reading the first lesson at the later service). And now without further ado, the sermon I preached on Mark 6:1-13.

Imagine with me for a moment that you are a young adult. You have already left home and gone out into the world to discover who you are. You’ve got a place you call home (a nice house on a hill), a job that pays spectacularly and you love it dearly, and some close friends that support your every decision. You have some time off from work so you decide to go visit your hometown; you bring your close friends along with a promise to show them around. Now imagine that you arrive in your hometown, only to be scoffed at by the inhabitants. They remember when you were the kid from around the corner who had very little money and a very big family. Now suddenly they accuse you of thinking you’re better then them; “Who do you think you are?” they say. “Just because you have money now, doesn’t make you better then us!” Sound familiar to anyone? If not, substitute faith in God for money; count out 12 faithful disciples, and a calling from God for the job. Now you have some idea of what Jesus was dealing with in this morning’s Gospel.

We would like to think that the town in which we were raised-if in our modern move-around-constantly society we were so lucky to have just one-would be the town that would support us and welcome us home with open arms. We want that town to be among the first to believe in us, and the first to fight for us. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and in small towns all across America I like to think that’s still a possibility.

It was certainly a reality in Jesus’ time. Women lived to do all the menial labor for men-cook, clean clothes, bring in water, raise the children, milk and feed the animals, harvest olives and fruits, and various other tasks. Which meant that often times women gathered to do their work together and brought their children with them. In a town like Nazareth, it is right to guess that most of the women would have helped Mary raise Jesus and His siblings. When you help raise a child, you come to know them in ways that complete strangers do not. You see when they fall and scrap their knee, their first argument with siblings-yes I think Jesus probably argued with His siblings too, you come to understand and help shape what kind of person they will be.

So on that day when Jesus brought the disciples to Nazareth thinking to show them around His home town, maybe even hoping to be able to relax a little and visit with His family, you can imagine how surprised He was by how they treated Him. “What is this wisdom given to him?” “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” You can almost hear them sneering at Him, their utter disbelief in what He has to say. He is Mary’s son (not Joseph’s you will note) ergo He is not worth their time. I can just hear the shock coming from the disciples as they try to understand how the people in this town can be so dismissive of their Rabbi. “Don’t you know who this man is?” they might say. “This man has cast out demons, healed lepers, raised the dead, fed 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, and walked on water; how dare you speak to Him thus!”

I also imagine that Jesus would just sigh and calmly but sadly tell them to let it go. He would do what healing He could, but He wouldn’t try to force the issue. Its kind of like when you know someone really well and you get into an argument with them, at some point during that argument you realize that no matter what you say or how convincing you are you simply aren’t going to change their mind. I think Jesus hoped that by acting instead of speaking He would convince more of them to realize who and whose He was. Actions speak louder then words; unless you are Jesus in your hometown of Nazareth I guess.

It can be so difficult sometimes for the people closest to you to see you for who you really are. When we spend so much time getting to know someone, we slip into that comfortable space of thinking that they will never change. Baring a big shocking change, it may take years for us to realize that the person we knew no longer exists; or they do but not in way we are used to. As much as we are a fast changing society and we push to be adaptive, no one really likes big changes. There is a reason that so many traditions have lasted for hundreds of thousands of years; human beings are creatures of habit. I think that Jesus going to Nazareth with His disciples was God’s way of experiencing that first hand. And I believe that this story is important to Mark because he hopes that by reading it we will remember that we don’t have control over the lives of those around us. Yes, some people will change and it will not be for the better; but some people need to change in order to grow into the person that God asks them to be.

It is incredibly important for us to remember that our lives are in God’s hands. We can choose to put it there willingly, or we can try to take the reins ourselves and watch it go not according to our plans. Which do you choose?

The Healing Power of Faith

I hope to give an update on everything that has happened over the last month and a half soon. In the meantime here is the sermon I preached at my home parish during the 10:30 Youth Service. The passage for the Gospel is Mark 1:21-28. And yes, it is the Gospel for next Sunday; turns out I can't count.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus spent a large portion of His life and ministry healing people; making the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead living again, and lepers whole. Was his motive to have compassion on each person according to their need, to display his authority and power as God’s agent? Is it possible that God wished to radically expand the community He calls the kingdom by restoring those who were excluded because of their illnesses? This morning’s gospel is the first story in Mark of Jesus’ public ministry. He has found His “fishers of men” and now He is starting to speak to the public. It just so happens that He starts this ministry in Mark with an act of healing, following an authoritative teaching, which soon has the whole town talking. It would be like if you were a scientist and your first research project resulted in a cure for breast cancer. To that end, Jesus hits the mark every time; revealing who He is and giving us a new sense of God’s greater plans.

“The healing power of faith” is one of those phrases we hear so often that it has become a dreaded cliché. How many of you have really thought about what it means? What does it mean to have a faith so strong and powerful, that it heals? How do we know what faith is, and what do we mean by healing: a cure or something that goes deeper than the physical?

According to the Hebrews, the body and soul are inextricably intertwined; if one is suddenly out of balance the other is soon to follow. In Greek the verb sozo means both to heal and to save, and the word soter means both savior and physician. In Buddhism and Hinduism, they believe that there are 7 distinct chakras of the human body that keep us in balance and draw us closer to the Divine. The Chinese and other cultures, to bring understanding of stability and longevity, study the concept of qi. These concepts are all famously embodied in some fashion in The Force in the “Star Wars” films.

We are constantly seeking ways to bring balance to our lives. Some of us practice yoga, another ancient concept meant to bring balance between spirituality and humanity. Most of us pray, in hopes that God will hear our request for healing and bring the desired balance back into our lives.

All our prayers for healing in times of sickness liken us to the woman who sneaks up in a crowd to touch Jesus’ robe, believing that touching the robe will heal her. “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’” (Mark 5:21-23)

The Gospel of Mark often portrays Christ as a servant. We read stories of Jesus reaching out to the poor, the outcast, those living on the fringes of society. Then, being ill often meant being excluded from community; so healing restored one to the group which is more than individual wellbeing. He reaches out a hand to those men and women who are so desperate for that healing touch, so desperate to believe that they can be healed. He shows us that compassion, love, and faith can be the most powerful tools in our arsenal as servants of God. He tells us that no matter the circumstances, no matter the struggles we feel we are facing, God is always there to lift us up if we but reach out and touch His robe.

Anyone can pray for healing; you don’t have to be a priest, and you don’t have to just pray for yourself. The Prayers of the People are the most well known way we pray for the healing of others, but you don’t have to wait for Sunday morning services. If you are with the person, try laying your hands on them and asking God to use your hands and your faith to bring healing upon them. You may feel foolish at first, but with God, He asks only that we try. Remember, there is no right or wrong time to ask for healing from God. If you are seeking healing for yourself, there is a wonderful little prayer in the BCP on page 461.

“O God, the source of all health: So fill my heart with faith in your love, that with calm expectancy I may make room for your power to possess me, and gracefully accept your healing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

It is important to note, that we are not always seeking healing from illness and disease. Sometimes the sins we commit can cause us to feel out of balance. In times like this, we can seek the help of Christ, but it can also be beneficial to involve another person. This kind of prayer is called confession; and once again, you don’t need to go to a priest. Sometimes it can be therapeutic to simply “confess” what’s on your mind to a close friend, and pray about it afterwards. God doesn’t want us to live in suffering and pain. We have only to ask to receive His forgiveness and grace.

Sermon

I preached at both services this morning. I did pretty well, I was very nervous at the early service and went too fast. I felt I did better at the later service, though still a little too fast. I am posting it below, it is based on the Gospel of Matthew 23: 1-12.

This morning’s Gospel is a well-known, oft repeated story. We hear from a very young age “Do as I say, not as I do” which can be very confusing if you truly watch what others are saying and doing. Parents, teachers, and politicians love this phrase because it gives them a loophole, and as with much of life we are always looking for loopholes. We often take for granted the fact that others may look up to us as role models. As Christians it can be hard to live our lives according to the Gospel. There is a saying I heard “Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary use words.” What we do is almost always what people will remember about us.

We all know that one person, whether it is a coworker or friend or family member, who likes to tell others to do things, but never actually does anything themselves. They leave the work to others, often making excuses that seem barely believable; we may even be guilty of it ourselves at times. It certainly would have been easy for Jesus to perform a miracle or two and then step back and let someone else do all the “dirty work.” If that were all we needed from Christ, then walking on water and then turning water into wine would have sufficed. We know that to be false. We needed to hear what He had to say, we needed to see Him working with the poor and the outcasts, we needed Him to die on a cross to show us God’s saving grace.

I think that the scribes and the Pharisees were the religious celebrities of Jesus’ time. They were in positions of power and their behavior was not considered unusual. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure there were exceptions just as there are exceptions with celebrities today; but in general much of what they did was about seeing and being seen. Who gets the best seat at the banquets? In the synagogues? Who’s recognized when they go out in the marketplaces? What “good deeds” can they do that people will see and applaud?

We all like to be recognized for our accomplishments and the things we do for others. Praise is a slippery slope. Are we receiving the praise because we truly deserve it, or because it’s what’s expected? Do we do certain things because we know others will take notice and acknowledge our good works? Or do we do them because we feel that is what Christ is calling us to do with the talents God gave us? Are we seeking our five minutes of fame by going to Haiti to help the victims of a natural disaster, or are we going to seek and serve Christ in others?

Was Christ putting on a show for others when He went to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner? No, He was criticized and reprimanded, but He did it anyways. Jesus was rebellious in so many ways that we seem to have forgotten. He accepted water from a Samaritan woman at the well, He healed ten lepers though only one was grateful, and He was outraged when He found a temple filled with merchants selling their wares! And He didn’t worry about His reputation, when living His life according to God’s will. He offended others just as much as He healed them; but it was necessary.

It is important for us to hear that we are not God. God is God, and we are God’s children; that no matter how many times we try to play God with our own lives or with the lives of others, we will not succeed. All things happen because God’s Holy Spirit works within and through and among us. We can certainly plan for things to happen, as we are unlikely to wake up in the morning and say “I’m not doing anything today unless God says to me that I should do it.” I certainly don’t have God on speed-dial, I know some people think they do, but I don’t and so I can’t even begin to guess what God is saying I should do everyday.

At the same time, it is equally important for us to recognize that we are not perfect. We all make mistakes; we all do things to get attention rather than because we should do them for others. The important thing is knowing that when we ask, God will forgive us. Christ died for our sins. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that when we screw up, and we always do, we can seek God’s forgiveness. It is God’s opinion that matters in the end. When we die and the day arrives for God to pass judgment on us, can we tell the truth about our life? Can we admit our faults? Can we recognize our mistakes? If we cannot, are we prepared to face eternal damnation for our stubbornness and pride? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves, when we hear the phrase “Do as I say, not as I do.”