“A Meandering Journey”
Spirit of Peace United Church of Christ
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Scripture: Mark 6: 6b-13
Rev. Jean Morrow
Will you pray with me: Startle us, O God, with your truth. And open our hearts and minds this morning to your word, that hearing we might believe, and believing trust you with our lives. Amen.
When I worked at the university, someone would inevitably bring a list to a staff meeting that would help us get a sense of the mindset of the incoming freshman class. Last week, a friend sent a list that was put together at Beloit College in Wisconsin. I didn’t do any fact checking, but will rely on Katrin, Kyle and Ally to set me straight if it isn’t accurate. This is what was on the list:
The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1989.
1. They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
2. Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
3. Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.
4. The CD, compact disc, was introduced a couple of years before they were born.
5. They have always had an answering machine.
6. They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
7. They can’t imagine what hard contacts lenses are.
8. They don’t know who Mork was or where he was from.
9. They wouldn’t know the first thing about replacing a ribbon in a typewriter…but they can do things with the computer that makes most of our heads spin!
Inevitably, a list like this one makes us reflect about all the amazing changes and advancements we have seen…and wonder with awe about all of the amazing changes and advancements that our young people will likely see in the scope of their lifetimes.
Today we celebrate with three of our young people as they begin to make that transition from high school to college, from living at home to living away from home, from being a regular part of this community to, perhaps…we hope, finding a new church community to call home.
Kyle, Ally & Katrin, soon you will literally be taking steps to seek and search for a vocation that fits your skills, interests and talents…a calling, if you will, where you will find purpose and meaning for your lives.
It has been our privilege to be your church home at this time. Through the teachings here, based primarily on the life and teachings of Jesus, we hope we have fostered in you a heart of compassion, a hungry mind that asks questions and seeks deeper meaning, and a spirit that will stand courageously for the sake of love and justice. It is our hope that, no matter where your future takes you, you will be a courier of peace in the world.
In a little booklet on vocation, UCC pastor and former seminary president Rev. Malcolm Warford writes, “Our calling as persons shaped by the purposes of God is a meandering journey, it is not a straight path; part of what we need to learn is how to walk from place to place in the geography of faith. Vocation is not a matter of a single, unchanging sense of purpose. The fact is that throughout our lives, we live in the midst of several callings, changing times and new understandings of God’s voice which calls us.”
Many of us have been out there in the workforce for awhile…or are retired…and we can attest to the fact that God does lead us in purposeful though not always obvious ways that give meaning to our lives and work…and the work that we are called to can change over time, and when it does, in effect, we are given new life and new work. If you open yourself to the possibility of several callings throughout your life, yours will certainly be an exciting meandering journey.
So, how does one prepare for a journey with unexpected twists and turns? How do we prepare for our several callings? What advice or instruction might we offer our graduates as they begin this meandering journey? Let’s do what we so often do…let’s take another look at the teachings of Jesus.
The scripture this morning is often referred to as “the sending of the twelve.” It seemed to fit on this day because it tells the story of the time when Jesus told the disciples they were ready to go out on their own…a time when Jesus said “Go” instead of “Come”.
So often we think of Jesus as saying, “Come…follow me…come and see…come to the table…I am the living water, come and drink…come.” But today, we hear Jesus saying, “Go…you are ready…you know the teachings…it’s time to get out there and do the work.”
It was back in chapter three of Mark that Jesus first said, “Come.” In between that time and now, chapter six, the disciples have been following Jesus wherever he went. They watched the scribes and the Pharisees question Jesus’ knowledge and authority. They listened to his parables…and Jesus took the time to explain his parables when they didn’t understand. They saw Jesus calm turbulent storms and exorcise demons…and they even saw Jesus raise a child from death.
For those who struggle with what appears to be unbelievable in the ancient text, let me offer an alternative interpretation. Between chapter 3 & chapter 6, the disciples watched Jesus as he confronted the evil of oppression…they marveled at how he was able to somehow calm tense and explosive situations. They heard him teach about a radically inclusive God and promise that life could be different. They saw him anoint and care for the bodies of the sick, while also bringing healing to their spirits. They listened as he invited those who had been pushed to the edges of society, marginalized…they listened and watched as he pulled them back into community, restoring them to wholeness, naming them as beloved by God.
And now, in chapter 6, he has turned over that authority…that power to heal and teach and love and include…he has turned it all over to the disciples. Instead of “Come”, Jesus is now saying, “Go.” And he sent them out, two by two, with only a staff, one tunic and a pair of sandals…that’s right, just one pair of shoes! He told them to live with only one family for the duration of their stay in one place. And if they were not welcomed, they should shake the dust off their shoes and move on.
It’s a very instructive story about how we might walk from place to place in our geography of faith. It provides a powerful lesson as we consider our meandering journeys as disciples of a God who would have us go out into the world to share the good news of relationship and reconciliation. Let’s take a closer look at this story’s lessons.
First, and most obvious, travel light.
Scholars believe that the disciples were sent out with very little so that they would live out the call to be in relationship…with so little, they would have accept the care and support of others while they were reaching out to minister and serve. With so little, there would be no way to remove themselves…or set themselves apart or above the rest of the community. They were not self-sufficient. They were in it and dependent upon the community for survival.
Good advice for all of us. Part of our witness as disciples is to live deeply in the community…to know our neighbors and to invite in and engage the stranger. To know them well…to know their challenges and their joys. What might this mean for our graduates? Get to know your neighbors…talk with and genuinely get to know the weirdest kid on the floor of your residence hall. Be the first one to strike up a conversation with someone who looks lonely. Engage the person in your class who looks like a snob. Don’t travel with any barriers to bless and be blessed. Be the bridge builder, be the peacemaker, let yourself be vulnerable and take chances for the sake of the community.
The second lesson we might take from Jesus’ instructions to the disciples is about how to accept hospitality. They were told to accept the first bit of hospitality they were shown. If they were welcomed, they were to say “Yes” and stay put. They were not too look around for better accommodations or a better cook…they were not to wait to see if something better would come through. They were to simply accept, graciously, hospitality when it was offered.
Whenever I read this instruction to the disciples, I am reminded of a book I read several years ago. I think several of you have read it, too. It is called “Tales of a Female Nomad”, written by Rita Golden Gelman. It is the true story of a woman who, at age 48 following a divorce, sells all of her possessions and follows her long-standing interest in anthropology and her dream of being a nomad, a traveler of the world, living in and absorbing the particularities of different cultures. Since 1986, Gelman has had no permanent address and no possessions, except those she can carry. She travels without a plan, guided by instinct, serendipitous opportunities and a remarkable openness to people around her, even those whose language she does not speak and social mores she does not fully understand.
She wrote something that I thought was so simple, yet so powerful. She said that no matter where she is, if someone invites her to do something…if someone she meets along the way extends hospitality…an invitation to their home, to a village ritual, to see some local point of interest…she says “Yes.” She says the only reason she would ever say no is if her instincts tell her it might not be safe. Otherwise, it is always, always “Yes”. She doesn’t hold out for a better invitation…she doesn’t attempt to make connections with the right people…she simply says “Yes” to those who welcome her. Her book tells of the people around the world who have let her into their lives, given her entrée’ into their home, their families, their situations, their lives. It tells of the marvelous connections she has made with the most unlikely characters. It is quite an amazing story.
Now, not all of us are able…or even interested…in becoming nomads, but the instruction to say “Yes” to hospitality extended…that seems like a good rule of life in ancient times and now. And so, travel light, be a bridge builder of community, and say “Yes” whenever you are welcomed and hospitality is extended to you.
The third instruction I want to explore is what you do if, God forbid, you are not welcomed. The text says that you should shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. That sounds a little like huffing off doesn’t it? Stamping your feet, knocking off the dust in disgust, and stomping away.
I think it might be important to know that according to earlier, ancient Eastern thought, “to shake the dust off your feet” meant… “to shake off the animosity and bitter feelings which arose between another and you as you leave, so that you may go on your way with your heart full of peace and joy.” Shaking off animosity and bitter feelings…that isn’t exactly what our text says, but I choose to believe that is at the heart of what Jesus, our teacher of compassion and forgiveness, may have meant. If things don’t go well, shake off the dust from your feet and move on. Don’t make a scene…don’t hold a grudge…simply move into new opportunities that God has in store for you. Another fine lesson.
So, in review, travel light, be a bridge builder of community, say “Yes” whenever you are welcomed and hospitality is extended to you, and when it isn’t, shake the dust, animosity and bitter feelings off your shoes and move on into God’s future.
The last lesson isn’t stated, but understood. Never forget that you are not alone. Your church family will always keep you in their prayers and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are always welcome here. But, more importantly, God is with you. It is God who graciously gave you gifts, special and unique gifts that the world desperately needs…and it is God who asks you to trust the Spirit’s leading to “Go” into the world to share those gifts…and it is God who promises to be with you always.
Like the disciples, we have each been sent out into the world to bring healing. God does not tell us exactly where we are going, or what amazing, wonderful things we will see, but God does prepare us with confidence in the teachings of our faith and asks us to be ready, to reach out and move with the Spirit who leads us to unexpected places and purposes. As we send our graduates out into the world, may we too walk with more confidence on our own meandering journeys of faith, ready to accept our several callings. May it be so for you and for me. Amen.