"Where Seldom Is Heard..." (Mark 6:1-13)

Tristan turns 11 this week.  Later this month, Ethan will turn 15.  Hard to believe.  Quite often, I am startled to catch a glimpse of a maturity in them that I didn’t know was there, a glimpse of the men they are becoming.  And, like any parent, I wonder:  How am I helping them progress into manhood, and how am I keeping them in childhood, holding them back?

In the movie Finding Nemo, Marlin experiences this in regards to Nemo, his son.  Tragedy in the past has made Marlin extra-protective of Nemo, to the point that he tries too hard to protect him from every possible source of harm.  He says to Nemo:  “What’s the one thing we have to remember about the ocean?  It’s not safe.”

Nemo, like any growing, developing, maturing child, needs to experience life and have adventure in order to become the adult that he is destined to be, in order to find his place in the world.

Which brings me to another animated movie:  In The Little Mermaid, King Triton faces the same dilemma regarding his daughter, Ariel.  He tries to keep her his “little girl,” and in the process stifling her individuality and her development into an adult.

Both Marlin and King Triton eventually learn how to nurture their children in ways that honor the adults that they are becoming.  They learn how to encourage their children to greatness, rather than holding them back, keeping them in the playpen – or, in Nemo’s case, on the sponge beds. 

It is a constant balancing act, and not just for parents.  Churches and communities have a part in this, too. 

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, where he learned how to be a carpenter.  Nazareth was a very small village.  It wasn’t like nearby Sepphoris.  Sepphoris, on a ridge so that its buildings could be seen from Nazareth, was a thriving city, bustling with trade.  It was also a city with a lot of construction; when Jesus was just a tiny child, an uprising in Sepphoris led to massacres and destruction of much of the city by Roman soldiers.  So as Jesus grew from a boy into a man in Nazareth, nearby Sepphoris was going through a rebuilding phase.  It’s likely that Jesus and his father Joseph sold many of their doors and other woodworks to the builders in Sepphoris.

Nazareth was a much quieter, more humble town than Sepphoris.  And as much as we may romanticize it, being a carpenter or woodworker was not all that glamorous.  Carpenters were members of the artisan class, and artisans were of a very low state, lower even than peasants.  Out on the street, it’s possible Jesus was taunted or made fun of, because his dad was a carpenter.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the young men growing up in Nazareth dreamed of escaping their small town, of doing something big with their lives, something too big to be confined to Nazareth alone.  But as they grew older, those dreams died down as they faced the reality of a world under Roman rule, where it is best, actually, to keep quiet and hidden in a small, inconspicuous, humble little town like Nazareth.

Well, Jesus did leave Nazareth.  When he was twelve, he journeyed with his parents to the temple in Jerusalem.  They travelled in a group, with family and friends, for safety, and even though they were on a pilgrimage, they tried to keep themselves invisible. 

Except for Jesus.  On the return trip, back to Nazareth, his parents couldn’t find him, so they went back to Jerusalem where they found him sitting in the temple, teaching.  Teaching!  Drawing attention to himself! 

“Jesus, what are you doing?  We’ve been looking everywhere for you?”

So Jesus returned to Nazareth and grew into an adult.  And evidently kept pretty quiet.  Until…

Jesus had a cousin named John, a pretty radical guy, who lived out in the wilderness and preached about the kingdom of God.  He didn’t keep very quiet, but he also kept far away from the centers of population.  However, groups of people travelled out to hear him and to be baptized by him.

And among those who went to John was Jesus.

Then Jesus began his own ministry of teaching and healing and proclaiming the kingdom of God.  People were amazed by his authority, and we think of his authority as a good thing, but some who heard him thought he was drawing too much attention to himself.

When he returned to Nazareth, he taught, he preached, and he did some healing.  He wasn’t the quiet, humble carpenter anymore.  And for some people, this was too much.

After all, who did he think he was?  Someone important? 

No, they knew who he was:  he was nothing but a carpenter.  They had watched him grow up!  They had watched him play and run around with his brothers and sisters.  They had chastised him when he ran through the marketplace, they had given him support when his father passed away, and did their village best in guiding him to take his place in the community, in Nazareth, among the people, doing what he was expected to do.

But now he was there, acting like someone important.

Well, he might have fooled those folks in the other towns of Galilee, but he couldn’t fool them.  They knew who he was.  And they figured it was about time he remembered who he was:  just a kid from Nazareth, a lowly carpenter.  Nothing more.

Have you ever had someone try to put you in your place like this?  It can be really discouraging. 

Nemo’s dad Marlin was just trying to protect him.  King Triton was just trying to protect his daughter Ariel.  Both went a bit overboard, but had the best of intentions. 

Maybe the people in Nazareth had the best of intentions, too.  It was a dangerous world they lived in; maybe they were just trying to protect Jesus.

Or maybe they were trying to protect themselves.

Or maybe they were jealous of Jesus, that he was actually able to follow through on the dream they all shared, and break free from Nazareth.

I guess it’s complicated.  But they did succeed in bringing him down.  Even Jesus, it seems, can be brought down.  Even Jesus can be ridiculed, bullied, and put down enough so that he is no longer able to fulfill his calling.

I know, that contradicts just about everything I have come to believe about Jesus, but did you notice what happened to Jesus after his townsfolk brought him down?

The scripture said:  “He could do no deed of power there…” 

The people of Nazareth – whatever their intentions – kept Jesus from fulfilling his role.  They kept him from achieving the work that he was called to do.  They kept him, temporarily, from finding his place in the world.

One of the most important things parents can do – and one of the most important things we in the church can do – is encourage one another to greatness.  At our best, this is what we do, but there are times when we give in to the temptation to bring each other down or put someone in their place; times when our discouraging words keep people from achieving the greatness they are capable of.

Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to be a part of churches that do encourage their members to greatness.  These churches have been especially good at encouraging their youth to greatness.

One of the joys of facebook is being able to keep up with the lives of some young adults who were once youth in churches I’ve served.  Some of them have gotten married, started families of their own; and yes, sometimes that does make me feel old. 

But when I read of what they are doing, how they are living their lives, and how they are using the gifts God has given them to make a difference in the world, I am filled with joy and satisfaction.  They are speaking out for peace and justice.  They are in college, majoring in fields that are more about serving humanity than they are about gaining wealth for oneself.  They are defending and supporting leaders in government who have pledged to work for equality.  They are marching in peaceful protests, and taking part in the Occupy Movement.

In short, they are working to bring wholeness to a fragmented world.  On days when ministry gets discouraging, it lifts my heart to hear about how the youth I’ve pastored or counseled at church camp are making a difference.  What more could I ask for?

I got to see a different side of this phenomenon last Saturday during Miracle Week.  On the last night of their Miracle Week experience, the participants in the youth program were treated to a concert that was put on by the Rock the Loch organizers. 

I am one of the Rock the Loch organizers, and for those of you who don’t know, Rock the Loch is an annual, all-day music festival at our church camp, Loch Leven.  This year that concert is on Saturday, September 22.  Make sure you have September 22 marked on your calendars.

At our little “mini-concert” last Saturday, Doc Rogers and his band performed an energetic rock concert in the beautifully ornate gothic-revival sanctuary of McCarty Memorial Christian Church in Los Angeles.  In between the songs of praise, Doc shared a little bit about his past, including the time when he was a teenager known as Dustin, who one day found himself at a place called Bixby Knolls Christian Church.

He says he was pretty wild and rambunctious back then.  He told the kids that if you’ve seen the new movie Rock of Ages, that was him.  He had very long hair, and clothing that was intentionally ripped and frayed, and just had a wild look about him.

But the people of Bixby Knolls Christian Church, he said, didn’t care about that.  They loved him anyway.  They accepted him.  They showered him with God’s love and let him know that they were glad he was present with them.

How many years ago was that?  Some of you know.  You were here. 

All these years later, Doc is still talking about it.  He’s still sharing the experience he had here, and how it changed his life.  And now, he’s playing concerts all over the place, telling people about God’s love for them, the same love he experienced here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church.

Every day, every moment, is a wonderful opportunity to let someone know that they are loved, to encourage them to use the spiritual gifts within them, to live the life that God is calling them to lead.  One week from now, we have a remarkable opportunity to do for several dozen youth the same thing this congregation did for Doc and so many others, to let them know that they are loved, and that God has a purpose for their lives.  We’re just one week away from Vacation Bible School, and I hope you will take seriously the task of inviting families you know to participate in what really is a life-changing event for so many of our children and youth. 

This week, there is nothing you can do for the church that is more important than inviting people to Vacation Bible School, where they will experience the unconditional love of God.

When we encourage our young people – and when we encourage one another – we bring out the greatness, the goodness, that is in each one of us; the spark of the divine with which each of us was created. 

The people of Nazareth discouraged Jesus and brought him down, and as a result, he could do no deed of power among them.  We are called to encourage people and lift them up, so that God’s power can shine through them.  When we do that, we and they together find the healing, wholeness, and salvation, which is God’s vision for humanity and the world.