It’s been a while since I was here at St. Mark’s in Southborough, and I’m grateful for Phil’s invitation to join you while he’s on a mission trip to NY with some of your folks. I had a little detour last year, some time away from my calling as a missionary and evangelist, while I served as the acting dean of our Cathedral Church of St. Paul. Like your Archdeacon Michael, and Jesus, I do not serve in one place only, and I’m delighted to be here with him, and Jesus, today in this place of rest and renewal!
In today’s gospel of Mark, Jesus invited his disciples to go away with Him for a little while to a deserted place and rest. Now, I’m not talking about those deserted places that are filled with demons, snakes, and all sorts of temptations, or those deserted places where drugs rule the mind, and guns kill innocent people, like police officer Sergeant Michael Chesna. Rather, I’m talking about those places where we can get away from the maddening crowds and rest our weary souls. For me, these places are as close as my bed and as far away as I can travel. My favorite place is Cape Cod.
I like to watch movies and read books where I can escape to these places without leaving home. I don’t like scary or violent but prefer a world of romance or a place of fantasy where I can relax and rest. I like stories where there is laughter, and healing, and a drama that is not my own. Yes, they are stories in which the ugly truths of violence, hatred, human sin, and prejudice are exposed but they are also overcome. These stories give me glimpses of heaven on earth and hope for the world to come.
My husband Paul and I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina last week for his company picnic. Like Boston, it is a city rich with history. While we were there, we removed our Boston Red Sox hats to watch the Charleston River Dogs, a farm team for the New York Yankees. During a horse drawn carriage tour the next day, I learned that river dogs is a euphemism for rats. It made me a little nervous about the hot dog that I ate the night before.
Today, in Charleston like Boston, people still argue about many things. One night, Paul and I attended a listening session and open conversation, sponsored by the diocese of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. It was for parishes, who had joined the Anglican Church of North America over issues surrounding human sexuality, and were considering a return to The Episcopal Church after a recent Supreme Court decision. About this ecclesiastical civil war, Provisional Bishop Adams wrote, “One of our deep desires is that we might be a visible manifestation of reconciliation in Christ. Our aim is restoration and unity.”
In the beginning, God created us with diversity, and we will disagree about many issues, small and large. I think that we are fascinated by struggles for power, and we relish stories about human conflict. We watch movies and read books about wars; we follow television series like the Game of Thrones, Judge Judy, and Special Victims. Our video games and children’s stories are battlegrounds between good and evil.
With unvarnished truth, the Bible tells stories about all of this - the good, bad, and ugly sides of human nature. We hear that families squabble, laws are broken, and people kill each other. We hear about divided nations, human betrayals, abuses of power, sibling rivalries, and inhumane treatment. Our salvation story also reminds us that God is ever-present - in the worst of times and in the best.
These themes are evident with the on-going story of King David. Today’s scripture lesson from 2 Samuel said that the prophet Nathan reminded David that God moved with them in a tent and tabernacle in the ark of the covenant - in their escape from Egypt, through deserted places in the wilderness, and into the promised land. There, judges and tribal leaders ruled the people until Saul was anointed as the first king of Israel under a united monarchy. David, who won the civil war against his beloved mentor, King Saul, marched into the capital city of Jerusalem, bringing the ark of the covenant into the city with him as their second king.
King David was now settled in a grand palace and he thought that God deserved a better place to live as well. God should not be living in a tent, he told the prophet Nathan, but in a more stable place, a more elegant place, a more permanent place for God to rest God’s holy head. I want to build a house for God, King David said, or as the prophet Isaiah said, we need a house of prayer for all peoples, a holy temple for our God.
Not so fast, said the prophet Nathan. Like Supreme Court justices, prophets are called to speak truth to power without regard to personal consequences. Balancing the scales of justice and mercy, prophets are wise counselors who try to harness the passions of people, presumably without prejudice or bias. They are discerning leaders, who recognize the importance of past history, the reality of present day circumstances, and with an eye for the good future of all peoples. Like kings, they were anointed by God to serve the public. Like wise King Solomon, they don’t cut babies in half to keep everyone happy.
In Biblical history, “when the king was found to be neglecting his duties, or improperly caring for his flock, the sheep would become scattered, attacked, and dispersed into dangerous territories” and a prophet’s voice would be heard over and against the king. And so, the prophet Ezekiel claimed that because the kings were failing in their care, God had to reclaim and rescue the flock. God alone would become the Good Shepherd and the only King of Israel in the future.
As more voices rise in protest in public squares throughout our world, and more sheep are scattered, I often wonder, “What is best for God’s flock?” What do people in Iran and Turkey need, I wonder? What do people in divided countries like Israel and Palestine want? In North Korea and South Korea, in North America and South America? What do the people in Russia and these United States really need and want? And how do we balance God’s justice and mercy, respecting the dignity of all human beings, believing that we are all part of God’s diverse and beautiful creation, and members of one beloved community?
News stations throughout our world offer various perspectives. Truth be told, I am frequently confused by competing prophetic voices; and I’m never sure what is fake news and what is real truth. I often suffer from communication overload, and yet, I channel surf, always looking for wise counselors and a new perspective. Today’s collect is one such channel. “Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
It is no wonder to me that we need good news in times like these - like the recent signing of Marcus Smart to the Celtics, or the rescue of those boys from that cave in Thailand, or that young adults are still eager to serve God, go on mission trips, and become public servants. Perhaps like millions of people throughout our world, you watched the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Most, if not all of us Episcopalians, were enormously proud of our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who preached the sermon at this wedding. As our chief missionary and evangelist, he reminded us of God’s mission of reconciliation. “We are all related,” Bishop Curry said, “whether we are royalty or not. Whether we are black, white, red, yellow, brown, gay, straight, rich, poor, no matter the nationality, no matter the religion, we all come from the same God, and if that’s true, then we are brothers and sisters.”
Like I said, I like to read books, and just recently, I finished a book called, The Girl with Seven Names. It is the story of a young woman’s escape from North Korea and her migration to China, and then South Korea. She longs for a united Korea. While in Charleston, I also learned that President Abraham Lincoln was found at the time of his death with a confederate $5 bill in his pocket. “Why?” someone asked.
When they lowered the United States flag at Fort Sumpter in 1861, the federal soldiers did not know if it would ever be raised there again. Deep down, I believe that all people want to live as we were created, with free wills, with equal opportunity, with liberty and justice for all. We want to feel safe and protected, at peace, and have good news fill our lives. We also want mercy and compassion - a King of Love, a Good Shepherd, who will lead us beside still waters, help us find green pastures, provide places of comfort to lay down our weary heads, and lead us into the Promised Land. In short, I believe that we need the life-giving, liberating, love of God to reign supreme throughout our world.
The author of the letter to the Ephesians wrote about this human desire in today’s lesson. Remember, he said, that at one time, we were all aliens, and now, we are all citizens with the saints of God. We are all members of the household of God, and equally beloved children of God. The dividing wall between nations has been broken down; for the hostility between us was put to death upon the cross. Our prophet, priest, and king, our supreme court justice of iconic proportions, is Jesus. In Him, God’s mission of reconciliation was completed. In Him we are restored to unity. In Him is our peace.
Today we know Jesus as The Boy with Seven Names. He was King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Good Shepherd, and Savior of the World. St Mark’s was built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. You are God’s dwelling place today.
But God is not confined to this place only. Rather, God is a holy temple not made of cedar, or stone, or of human hands, but rather of human flesh. “I think the world is hungry for love right now,” said Bishop Curry. Today, be fed by God’s hand and at God’s Table, and then take Jesus with you. Be a part of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement. Be a missionary and evangelist, and share that Way of Love with others. Amen.
2 Samuel 7:1-14a
Psalm 89:20-37
Ephesians 2:11-22
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
