 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 |
| Mark 6:1-13 |
In today's Gospel Jesus comes home. Like many bright young men before him he is invited to speak to the community. But unlike many young men for him he speaks with authority which is a direct threat to those in leadership in the synagogue.
There is real irony in the fact that Jesus is rejected from his home even as he reads a prophecy, which according to Luke, is about the home that God which is to create for his people, a home of justice and peace , good news for the poor and freedom for those imprisoned.
As we have seen earlier in Mark that Jesus removes some of the old barriers and structures which way round Jewish life. He seems to reject his own family as he invites the stranger in and removes the familiar from the old power systems.
Home is redefined in this passage. Not just the home which is their Jewish religion, not even that central home of the Temple but the whole concept of home . It is to be found in the person of Jesus. It is no wonder Jesus is rejected.
Who is he to say this? The Carpenters son? We know him, we have seen him since he was a child. Why does he have the authority to tell us what the scriptures mean? to claim this for himself ? To ask of questions which we not comfortable answering?
I wonder what Jesus felt as he approached his hometown. He must have anticipated the conflict and allowed himself to let go of the familiar in order to fulfill his mission. But this was not easy. If we allow Jesus to be fully human he is a person who is letting go of deeply formed relationship as he is rejected.
Immediately after this Jesus sent his disciples out on the road. Just as he will no longer find his home where he grew up so they will no longer find a home in stable and static lives. Something new and more important must motivate them now. They are called to find a home, not in bricks and mortar, not in reliance on human relationships, not even in reliance on themselves but to find a home in Jesus. This is both frightening and exhilarating for them.
They are told to go out without anything except the clothes they stand up in. It is to be a journey of complete trust. Jesus even tells them that they will meet opposition but they are not to let it stick to them. They are simply to journey on, trusting that there will be those who are open and responsive to the message.
This is very different to the close and supportive Jewish community and the large extended families with which they would have been familiar. It is tempting to think that Jesus asks big change merely from those in positions of authority when, in fact, he demands from those who are closest to him. A change in life which will shake them to the very core of their existence.
Where do we find our home. Are we relying on things which get broken ? Or are we at homevwith and in Jesus Christ?
Our reading from Corinthians seems at first to be a little bizarre but really it is about where we find our home and that is in the presence of God. Paul uses the language of mysticism to express his own experience despite, in spite of weakness. This sort of experience it's not something we can do of our own will.
We are not sure what sort of problem Paul had many speculate, but that is not the point. Paul's point is not about the nature of imperfection but rather its reality and God's response . It is only by being at home in Christ that Paul can find realfreedom and relief to pursue the ministry to which God has called him. Paul find his true home not in the certainty and prestige of rabbinical Jerusalem but as an itinerant preacher for the Gospel.
So what about us where is our home? St Augustine says our souls are restless until they find a rest in Christ. But rest in Christ does not look like a copy of Southern Living. It is not picture perfect. It is real.
A few years ago a survey was done on church growth. Parishioners were asked what would happen if they brought their friends to church. Many said they did not bring friends to church because friends might not like it. They worried that they would find it strange for odd and that would damage their friendship. But I wonder whether it is less about telling a story of how God impact our lives and more about how we perceive are image as church in the world.
I wonder how many of us have looked up magazine perfect pictures of homes and thought to ourselves it might be pretty but it will never be my life. Jesus did not call disciples who were perfect. He sent them out into the world in a way where they had to rely on him. Yet get too often we think about presenting church glossy product. Yes, we have to be the best people we can be, but if we wait until things are perfect we will be waiting an awfully long time.
It seems less likely that we do not trust the story of Jesus and more that we do not trust ourselves to tell it. Baptism makes each of us members of the household of Christ and we move into a new home in God's presence. But we are not invited in in order to close the doors and windows. In order to keep people out. Neither are we to rely on ourselves in order to achieve some sort of magazine perfection.
In a society which likes to make things look shiny and new from the outside because we do not trust the imperfection of the inside, we must trust that even as fallible and broken people God will use us to invite others home.
We cannot do things backwards. We become hypocrites when we think that we begin to think the story starts with us. The story of course starts with God. We need to spend less time worrying about looking perfect and shiny and devote more energy discovering what it really means to live in God's house. What does it mean when we leave our home and find our home in Christ,because unless we can answer that for ourselves, we cannot convincingly invite others to join us. Amen
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