July 7, 2024
Mark 6:1-13
Introduction
“Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.”
Growing up in the surrounding farmland of Wooster was a pretty great upbringing for me. I loved the wide-open spaces of cornfields; discovering or making winding paths through shady woods; and low traffic country roads that made for an easy bike ride to my best friend’s house that was just a mile away. I loved too how the amenities of my hometown were just a few miles aways—things like a public swimming pool, soccer and baseball fields, and the county library.
Admittedly, for many years, I didn’t always enjoy being asked, “Are you Al Rumburg’s boy?” However, eventually I came to relish this question because my dad was a self-employed carpenter who I now believe built at least half the homes in Wayne County.
Bottom line, my hometown became the kind of place where stories were lived out, and then told over and over again because no one minds hearing them again and again.
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Hometowns… that’s a lot of what our text for today is about. Hometowns like Wooster and Stow, and even Nazareth. So I wonder what your hometown experience has been like. I suspect, in their own unique ways, they were similar to mine. I wonder too, what are some of the best things about a hometown? It’s where we know everyone, and everyone knows us. There’s a closeness. We have history in our hometown of course—some we are proud of, and maybe some we are not so proud of.
Our hometown is familiar, secure… and probably a bit predictable. But there is a certain level of comfort that comes with consistency and routine, right? We know what to expect. There is stability and security when not much changes. It’s why we often say, “There’s no place like home.”
Was this what your hometown experience was like? Now let me ask you this…. What are some of the most troublesome things about a hometown? It’s where we know everyone and everyone knows us. There’s a closeness. We have a history. The hometown is familiar, comfortable, and predictable. There is consistency and routine. We know what to expect. There is stability and security. Not much changes. It’s why we often say, “You can never go home again.”
Move 1
When I talk about a hometown, I am talking about more than Wooster, Stow, Nazareth, or a geographical location. Our hometown isn’t just the place where we were born and raised. Our hometown isn’t just outside of us, it’s within us. It’s not simply a place, but it is a way of being. The hometown within us is our routines and habits, attitudes, beliefs, opinions, prejudices, assumptions, values. It’s the hardened patterns of how we’ve always done things and what we’ve always thought. The hometown within us is a lens through which we see the world, one another, and ourselves. The hometown within us shapes who we are and how we live.
And regardless of whether we have had one hometown, or multiple hometowns (because perhaps you were an Army brat, or circumstances were such that you moved a lot) we all still have a hometown way of being that has been instilled into our minds, hearts and spirits—blessings in many ways. However, a hometown way of being can, if we are not careful, keep us from growing and becoming. Which is why, no matter our hometown, or how many hometowns we have had, no matter our age or how deep our settled roots go… we still need to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and go beyond the city limits of our hometown.
Move 2
So what are the “hometown ways of being” that shape and form your life today? Maybe it’s your faith and the church, politics, national or cultural identity. Maybe it’s your family, what they told or taught you, or the family way of doing things. Maybe it’s your work, career, or craft. Maybe your reputation or social status. As Violet and A.J. get older, I can’t help but wonder what kind of impact being a “preacher’s kid” is having—if any. Maybe your “hometown way of being” is an idealized memory, nostalgia for the way things used to be, an image or persona you project.
I present this question, and some possible answers, because our “hometown way of being” is rarely just a singular way of being. There are multiple ways of being, from habits to core values. Additionally, I suspect most of us like to believe we have a “hometown advantage.” We think playing the game on our home field gives us an edge, an advantage. And in many ways, it does. We know all the best places to eat in our hometown—and where not to eat. We know the fastest routes, and the spots where the police like to sit for speed checks. We know when, and where we need to put out our blankets and chairs for the best view of the 4th of July parade.
We can all think of our “hometown advantages.” But what about the hometown disadvantages? Have we ever considered what those might be? Here’s what I mean by that… In our hometown it’s easy to know about another, but still not really know about another. Our hometown often has a way of convincing us the hometown way of being is the right way, the best way, even… the only way. And because our hometown way of being will at times influence us in such a way, our vision of the world and life will consequently only extend as far as the city limits sign—and that can undoubtedly become a hometown disadvantage.
Our hometown advantage leads us to value the comfort and security of our community and the core values that it provided and became foundational to our lives. But these advantages can become disadvantages because they can set us up to becoming closed to someone or something new. Excessive familiarity often keeps us from recognizing, valuing, and appreciating what is new, what is different, what is beyond the city limits… of our hometown.
Move 3
Excessive familiarity is happening in our text for today, and it quickly becomes a hometown disadvantage for the people of Nazareth when Jesus comes home.
Mark tells us the people of Nazareth were astounded by the teaching and wisdom of Jesus, that they knew about the deeds of power he had done. And because they did, you might think that the people of Nazareth would have added to the “Welcome to Nazareth” sign “Home of Jesus, the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” But they didn’t. In fact, all his wisdom and deeds of power made no difference to them. The people of Nazareth were instead offended. And probably dismissive. “That’s just Jesus, the hometown kid.” “That’s the carpenter’s boy; the son of Mary; the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon; the one whose sisters are right here with us.” The people of Nazareth knew all about Jesus but “they took offense at him.” Hard to believe, isn’t it? But that is exactly what a hometown disadvantage is. And a hometown disadvantage happens whenever… We become stuck in the status quo and defend our hometown against change and growth… We settle for what we know rather than opening our hearts and minds to what we don’t know… We take for granted and refuse to see or listen to those we love most and are closest to… We let familiarity blind us to something new, breeding contempt, and making our world small… We choose being content and comfortable over being challenged.
These hometown disadvantages keep us stuck in our hometown—no matter where we are. These hometown disadvantages keep us from seeing and experiencing the wonders that are beyond the city limits signs. We know this is true, and we know this can happen to anyone of us because even the people of Jesus’ hometown could not see beyond the city limits of Nazareth.
Our text for today… this story we have heard is a lesson in following Jesus but is also a warning to a hometown way of being complacency. There is value and beauty and comfort and security of our hometown ways of being, and undoubtedly all of it becomes blessing upon blessing. But those blessings dry up, fade away, and become disadvantages when we choose—no matter where we have gone in the world—to still stay firmly within the city limits of our hometown.
Conclusion
So I wonder… What is at work in your life today? Is the hometown advantage at work? Or is the hometown disadvantage at work? Does your hometown way of being ground you to your core, yet also guide you to broader experiences and perspectives? Or does your hometown way of being cause you to put up walls, keeping you locked in, and others locked out? I wonder if our hometown way of being is preventing deeds of power from being done in our lives. I wonder if our hometown way of being is preventing you and me from doing deeds of power. I wonder if our hometown disadvantage might be diminishing our lives and impoverishing our world. And I wonder what you and I are willing to do about this.
Maybe what we need to do is expand our city limits. Maybe what we need to do is write a new town charter. Maybe what we need to do is shake off the dust, move on, and leave our hometown. Not permanently. Not even out of spite or disdain. But maybe we need to do this because it is good and right and faithful. Maybe we need to do this because it’s what Jesus showed us to do. And if we were to do this, I can’t help but wonder just what kinds of wonder we would find waiting for us beyond our hometown’s city limits. I wonder… Amen.
Pastoral Prayer July 7, 2024
Gracious and loving God, we read how your son called and sent out the 12, sending them out two by two, giving them authority to share the Good News of your grace and love and opportunity for new life. We read how Jesus commanded them to take nothing for their journey, not even basic necessities because he knew you would provide everything that would be needed. And then he commanded them to go forth to the places you would lead them and simply to stay there until they left.
Holy God, we know that today we are now your disciples—that we are now those who you command to go forth and continue to share your Good News. We know too you will equip us for all that we are sent to do. And certainly, we want to be your faithful disciples who follow these commands. But we have to admit, all too often we place barriers in the way of seeing you in the world and dismiss opportunities to share your Good News with the world.
And so we pray now for your support, compassion and resolve, that we may always, however tentatively, proclaim the hope, peace, joy, and love of your promise to us— a promise that always and forever includes forgiveness, grace, mercy, and eternal life. Empower us to proclaim this Good News in ways that others will want to hear and know more, and not dismiss the message as a sales pitch of assimilation.
God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, we gratefully affirm that your love will always welcome us, comfort us and heal us. So make us ready to hear your command and not be dismissive. Make us willing to go forth to share and not make excuses. Make us into your disciples again and again, full of faith and confidence that your power and authority will be our guide and our strength in all you will have us say and do.
We ask that you would listen now to the prayers within our hearts as we share them in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”