In 1940, Thomas Wolfe’s novel, You Can’t Go Home Again, was published (posthumously). It is the story of a man named George Webber who has written a widely acclaimed book about his family and hometown. The trouble is, when he does go back to that town, he discovers that unlike others who loved his book, the citizens of his home town hate it, and are offended at his portrayal of them. In the book, Webber names his discovery: "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood ... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time – back home to the escapes of Time and Memory."
Once Jesus returned to his hometown, and the reports of his teaching and healing ministry had preceded him. The folks from Nazareth, his hometown, can’t quite figure this out. They know him as the carpenter, as the son of Mary, and as part of a collection of siblings. Nothing that they have known of him has prepared them for this new understanding of Jesus. Mark says that they take offense at him. Jesus, reflecting on this less than welcoming reception, said, “Prophets are not without honor except in their hometown.”
This is a striking observation. Could it mean that a certain kind of familiarity with Jesus, or anyone, can prevent one from accepting new light? And if so, what does that mean for those of us who through decades of Christian teaching are very “familiar” with Jesus? For that matter, what can that mean for this country, celebrating its birthday this week, in which Christianity is a widely “familiar” faith tradition, but there exist such widely divergent opinions about what Jesus is calling us to do?
We’ll talk about this on Sunday morning. The sermon is titled, “A Case of Mistaken Familiarity,” arising from Mark 6: 1-13. In the service, we’ll share hymns, pray and have a moment for children. And the Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Ilze Akerbergs, will lead us musically.
If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday. You can find the livestream link at www.smumc.church. There also is an intimate Service of Holy Communion in the SMUMC Library at 8:30 AM.