| Then all the tribes of Israel
came to David at Hebron, and said, ‘Look, we are
your bone and flesh. For some time, while Saul was king
over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it
in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd
of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.’ So
all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron;
and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before
the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. David
was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
for forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah for
seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned
over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years. David
occupied the stronghold, and named it the city of David.
David built the city all around from the Millo inwards.
And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the
God of hosts, was with him. |
|
| 2 Sam 5:1-5, 9-10 |
| He left that place and came to
his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the Sabbath
he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard
him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man
get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to
him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 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?’ And they took offense at him. Then
Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour,
except in their home town, and among their own kin, and
in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power
there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people
and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief. |
|
| Mark 6:1-6 |
| This has been my first Geneseo Summer Festival weekend!
I moved here and began to serve in ministry with Central Presbyterian
Church in August of last year. I must confess that this weekend
has been a blast. I’ve found it a blessing to be a part
of a community that makes time to play, relax and celebrate
our life together. From meeting many of your friends and family
this weekend I’ve learned that this festival draws back
tons of people who used to call Geneseo home. Family reunions,
class reunions, old friends gathering together—many people
have come to visit the place they called home for some part
of their lives. |
| The word or notion of “home” brings different
images, places, people and memories to each of our minds. Home
has been claimed in various places: on the range, as a home
away from home, the homes we grew up in, the home of our making
as adults, in a dorm room at college, or even in a lifetime
partner or with a group of friends—they can become a
kind of home. No matter how the word home plays out in your
personal experience, “home” usually rekindles our
sense of belonging and identity. |
| David thought so much of his new “stronghold” and
kingly home, that after conquering it and being made king over
all of Israel he named Jerusalem the “city of David.” It
was a marvelous home, if you are the king, maybe not so much
if you are Bathsheba or Uriah. Yet David was chosen by God,
anointed by Samuel, and then called by the people Israel to
rule over them. The people saw that God was at work in David
even though he often made poor choices. He was a shepherd boy,
the youngest in his family, transformed into a powerful king
through God’s grace. This image, the servant of God becoming
a powerful military and ruling king, fit with ancient Israel’s
image of how God worked in the world. |
| Whenever David returned to his home and namesake city, the
people rejoiced! |
| Jesus does not receive the same welcome in his hometown.
Even though God is obviously working though him—his hometown
did not rejoice at God’s work in Jesus. |
| His treks home were not the stuff of Hallmark moments nor
were there great parades to meet the local boy who could heal
the sick and interpret the scriptures with authority. Whenever
Jesus went home tensions arose. He always shook things up to
an unacceptable level. Last time Jesus went home his family
came and tried to “restrain” him because his teachings
claimed so much attention that the authorities from Jerusalem
came to accuse him of being filled with demonic powers. His
family thought he had gone crazy. Who says things like, “Who
are my mother and my brothers?” when they are standing
right outside, and then looks around at people gathered around
him who are unrelated and claims “Here are my mother
and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother
and sister and mother.” |
| Hometown opinions about Jesus hadn’t changed since
his last visit. They all know he’s Mary’s boy,
trained as a carpenter, not an interpreter of the scriptures.
His brothers and sisters live right next door to the locals
like normal Jews. Who does Jesus think he is? |
| These folks watched Jesus grow up and they knew the truth;
he had an unremarkable background just like theirs! Yet whatever
he said was so powerful, so filled with wisdom that the people
gathered were scandalized. |
| When he was Dean of the Duke Chapel, Will Willamon used to
teach an intro to the Gospels class. He would ask his students
or Freshpersons, why they thought Jesus so often spoke in parables?
One said it was so simple people could understand his message.
Another returned that he must have been a lousy teacher because
they usually missed the message. The class ended up determining
that “something about Jesus, something in his teaching
or in his person, turned away more people than he attracted. … Jesus…was
willing to suffer rejection, was quite content to be misunderstood…because
the point he was making was not dependent, for its validity,
on their acceptance.” His radical message was God’s
love incarnate—a whole world redefining order for us
to grasp. Following Jesus is much more complicated than placing
trust in a military ruler like King David. |
| God chose to rule in and through Jesus offing a new covenant
to humanity—yet we have trouble accepting the radical
way Jesus rules. You know it took his family a long time to
recognize God at work in him. In Acts and other Gospels we
hear that they eventually came around. Over time they discerned
God’s presence at work in Jesus and came to accept that
their son and brother was God’s chosen one, the messiah.
Their former vision of a messiah was inadequate. |
| Jesus’ disciples begin to understand that following
this messiah would not be easy as they witness his rejection
in Nazareth. The next thing Jesus did was to send the disciples
out to minister in pairs—with the expectation of being
rejected. And they went! Going home with Jesus apparently does
strange things to his followers. They claim a new identity
and are willing to risk rejection for the sake of following
God’s will. |
| Each week we pray the words “thy kingdom come” in
the Lord’s Prayer. We say these words over and over—but
do we actually accept the rule-breaking reign of God into our
lives to reorder the world? We are often in disagreement with
the way Jesus intends to “rule” this world and
even our own lives. Does he provide enough safety and security?
We recognize military might, intellectual reasoning, and other
feats of great strength, but God’s power shown forth
in amazing grace, God’s claim to peace or shalom, God’s
abiding love, and God’s great compassion for all humanity—seem
too good to be true. Are God’s promises of peace coming
through Jesus’ rule just a fairytale? |
| King David, for all his faults, knew something about of going
home with God too. Although he claimed the city he named for
himself as his earthly home, the scriptures, especially the
Psalms, make it clear that David always knew his real home
was God’s everlasting love and mercy, God’s covenant
with him and Israel. |
| How does one find our home in God instead of in this world? |
| Jesus often retreated to the woods to claim and find his
home in God in solitude. He also took breaks from the crowds
to help his disciples claim their home in God. Going home with
Jesus means claiming that our true home is found as we rest
in God’s eternal care. No matter what we are facing in
our lives, be it good, bad or ugly, God is with us—our
shelter through it all. We live in the world recognizing that
this is not our resting place; God’s love is. |
| Jesus’ life is focused on returning home. Nazareth
is merely a stop on his way to fully claiming his home with
God. Because he rests in God’s love and care, Jesus can
bear the knowledge that those who knew him best in this world
were least able to see God’s power at work in him. By
resting in the comfort and identity of his eternal home, the
loving communion of our triune God, Jesus showed us that strength
is manifest in weakness that love trumps all evil, and that
rejection by family and society and even death have no power
over God’s rule. |
| Amen |
| Beth E. Godfrey - July 9, 2006 |
| Central Presbyterian Church, Geneseo, New
York |
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