Going Home 2, Following Jesus       Pentecost 11b            August 20, 2006

On my recent vacation, I visited the places where I grew up. The house where my mother still lives, the old city Hall, the grade school and high school I attended years ago, all brought back memories. My mother and Marilyn and I enjoyed looking at old pictures. I was amazed that one of the pictures showed me playing in the school band wearing my Boy Scout uniform on in front of city hall.

Now that school is being torn down, and the city hall moved years ago to a bigger building. But I remember that day like yesterday. I was in the seventh grade. It was Memorial Day. First I marched in the parade with the Scouts, and then played in the orchestra. Then the mayor got up and talked about giving thanks for all those who gave up their lives for our country’s freedom.

I grew up with the freedom to go anywhere in our town with my friends long after sunset. We never gave a thought that any harm would come to us, unless we brought it on ourselves. Parents were not concerned that 12-year-old children, boys and girls could go anywhere in our town, so long as we were home by bed time. I used to ride the bus to Atlantic City to take violin lessons when I was eleven years old. We were safer then, at least it felt that way, and children like me felt free. Today that has changed.

Crime is higher, and violence in families and neighborhoods are up. People don’t know or trust one another. Many live without any real friends or meaningful contact with another person. What happened?

It was a gradual change, of course. The automobile television and internet were all huge steps forward, but increased our isolation from other people. In the late sixties came the turmoil of civil rights movement and integration. In the seventies came the Viet Nam War.

Today, our children and grandchildren today are growing up in a different world, a world filled with isolation and violence. Crime and drug use is in our neighborhoods. The police are telling me it’s been a hectic week now that school has started. Parents can’t allow children to go outside and roam the streets like I used to do. Letting a child take a bus downtown today would be irresponsible. We need to watch where they go, who they’re with, what’s going on in their lives.

So what’s going on? Something happened over the years, and we are only beginning to understand why. It’s an increase of the same sin that happened when Cain murdered Able. Part of our human condition is that we somehow believe that we can get rid of our problems by killing off those we hold responsible. It doesn’t work, or course, but enough people believe it to threaten everyone.

We see more isolation and violence is our families, brother against brother, spouse against spouse. Women and children are usually the targets of rage and anger. The violence is all over the world. Stories like the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey dominated our headlines this week. It was good news that they finally caught her killer. But the story doesn’t make sense. Is he sick? I wonder, how could anyone murder a beautiful five-year-old girl?

Other stories come out of Iraq and Lebanon and Israel. Thousands of children there have been killed, and others live through a barrage of bloody death and destruction of their lives. We live in violent times.

Jesus lived in troubled and violent times, too. The Roman occupation of Israel was a bloody mess. Jesus was one of the thousands of people that were crucified. Those who didn’t believe that Jesus found his claim to be a threat to their power and control. They reasoned that the easiest thing to do was kill Him, and they eventually succeeded in doing that by hanging him on a Roman cross.

In our reading today, Jesus is debating them, and he used a very strong image, cannibalism! He told them unless they eat my flesh drink my blood, you have no life in you. He said this to show them that their murderous ways would not work. By his death, those who eat his body and drink his blood would have life.

There are two movies that show me the stark contrast of how we view God’s plan for the world. One is filled with violence and destruction, and the other is filled with peace and joy. This weekend we watched the remake of "War of the Words," staring Tom Cruise. War of the Worlds is about aliens who come down to earth and destroy everything and kill everybody they can. That’s one way to look at what will happen at the end of time.

One the other hand, there was a Movie called E.T. In that movie, an alien child came down in a space ship. He was lost, and only wanted to go home to his family. Human children came and helped him but did not tell their parents. The children became his friends. With E.T.’s magical powers, the children were able to help him get back home.

The question is, what will God bring down to us. Will God be like War of the Worlds, and destroy us? Or will God come down like a child who only wants to go back to his parent?

Jesus was God’s child. He came down to us to show us God’s plan for us. Jesus also wanted to get back home to his father, but he wants all of us to go with him. He gave his own life for his friends as well as the world. And he has promised that in the Day of Days, he will come again to reconcile the whole creation unto himself. That is the good news for all who follow Jesus.

So how can we follow him as we live in the world as it is? The fifth chapter of Ephesians outlines how to live, very briefly and to the point. Three things we must do: Be wise, be sober, and be thankful. It’s a short list but if we can orient our daily lives around these three—be wise, be sober, be thankful—we will transform not only our lives but also the lives of our family, friends, church, and neighbors. Paul then offers these admonitions:

First, be wise. Put away all inclinations toward violence or destruction. Wisdom takes time and patience. Wisdom listens and looks for the best ways of toward new life and new possibilities. The wise find ways to work toward justice and peace in our families and with others. Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.

Wisdom is the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting. In verse 17 it says do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Wisdom discerns between what is right and what is wrong. Wisdom discerns what is good and what is evil.

Second, Be Sober. Wisdom and sobriety go hand in hand. The book of Proverbs associated drunkenness with poverty, violence, and injustice, the three basic evils in any society. On poverty it warns: be wise, do not join those who drink too much wine, for drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness clothes them in rags (Ch 23). On violence Proverbs has the drunkard saying, "They hit me but I am not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can have another drink?" (Ch 23). And on injustice the book warns that alcohol is not for kings to drink lest they forget what the law decrees (Ch. 31).

What does a person do when they over indulges and becomes drunk or takes drugs? It actually takes over their character, and they do stupid things they would not normally do. But when a person receives the Spirit into their life, they submit to the power of God! These two are profound powers: Drink and Spirit. Both have the power to control us. Let the spirit of God have control, and we will have the life God wants us to have. A drunk will find it difficult to grow in knowledge and wisdom, but the sober take advantage of each day’s opportunities.

Third, be thankful. The lesson reads, "sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." As Paul says elsewhere, whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, therein we should be content. We can be content knowing that Jesus is with us and for us. It’s like the story of the man who goes to his rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?"

Following Jesus is a choice we make every day. We can be grateful or we can be bitter. We can seek wisdom or we can live as fools. We can be sober learning ways of Christ or we can fill ourselves with drunkenness and violence. Let the Spirit of Christ, and his peace will follow us all the days of your life, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.