"I'm but a stranger here, heaven is my home;  earth is a desert drear, heaven is my home..."  Those are hymn words we don't sing often, because we've made our earth anything but a desert drear, at least here in the USA.  Nice homes, safe travel, good food - it's all a far cry from the 1872 when Arthur Sullivan wrote the hymn.  An Irishman who escaped the potato famine after seeing thousands starve to death, Sullivan longed for the day when he'd leave this vale of tears for his heavenly home.

          I went "home" to my 40th Class Reunion last weekend, and again discovered truth in the words, "you can't go home again."  Though enjoyable to see old friends and family again, the old hometown is never the same as you remember it.  People change, neighborhoods change, the countryside, even the town itself changes.  I saw Pakistanis in stores and parking lots where stores used to be.  The houses were smaller, the trees bigger and the people older.  Much as you'd like to do so, you can't turn the clock back.

          But nearly two decades ago I wanted to go back home, and that time for good.  The things of my life were such a mess I wanted to return home, to where someone would care for me.  I wanted to go clear back, all the way back to the womb if possible.  I was single again and had made some really dumb decisions which I felt had cut me off from the world.  I hated my work and my life, I was flat broke.  So I called and asked Dad and Mom if I could come home - not just to visit but to live there, to help them, I said, though it was really the son who wanted help from the parents, not the other way around.

          When a 40 year-old son wants to return home and bring his two boys, you know he's desperate.  Somehow I thought my parents would be overjoyed, but Dad's answer didn't show it.  "You AND the boys?  And for how long?" he said.  "I suppose you can come live with us for a few weeks.  But we're used to being alone, you know."  The message was loud and clear - sorry, but you can't come home again.  I really didn't understand why he said that until my own boys left home.  It is an act of love to push grown birds out of the nest, and once out, it's not good for them come back.  You can't turn the clock back, you can't go home again.

          In my case, I'd been gone for over twenty years.  In today's text, Jesus had been gone from His hometown in Nazareth only a year or so.  He had become a Rabbi, a religious itinerant moving His small band of brothers from place to place, teaching the Word of God.  And wherever Jesus went, His words were listened to and valued, that is, until He went home again.  There the neighbors saw only the man, the family saw only the boy, the locals saw just a carpenter.  Words that elsewhere would have brought adulation, here brought only speculation, even degradation.  "Who does He think He is?" they asked.  "We know Him - He's nobody special!"  And St. Mark says they were offended by His words, His presumption of importance around people who knew Him.  It's difficult, almost impossible, to evangelize your own family.  Even the most loving parent can't reach the spiritually rebellious child.

          Going home is always humbling.  It reminds you of who you really are.  Back there I'm still "Bobby" to some family and friends, especially one of the fellows I golfed with.  I'm sure it wouldn't have mattered if I'd have been the president of Missouri Synod, Wayne will always call me "Bobby."  I secretly think he enjoys calling a minister by his pet name.  And this boy "Bobby" really enjoyed beating the pants off him on the golf course that day.

          Jesus was humbled at the reaction He got in Nazareth, and He was also disappointed.  "Only in his hometown and among relative and friends is a prophet without honor."  No joy in those words!  If you have something eternally important to say, you always hope people will listen, especially those you care about.  It's a bitter pill when those you love won't listen to words of eternal life.

          There in His hometown, our Lord couldn't do many miracles, so great was their lack of faith.  Now understand, Jesus could have done whatever miracles He'd wanted to - after all, He was God!  But to be helpful and show His being Son of God, miracles required faith.  Nothing would have come of them if they're just a sideshow, a freak of nature.  But in Nazareth there was little faith, so there were few miracles.

          Sometimes I think you and I can get too familiar with the Lord.  We treat Him like an old pal, and don't take Him as seriously as we should.  Jesus Christ is not just our best friend, He is our Lord.  He's not just a buddy, He is God almighty, holy and deserving of our awe and respect.  We'd all best be careful not to make the Lord of the universe into a "good ole boy," an old shoe, someone we can wear or set aside if we feel like it.  We need not be afraid of Him, but we should fear, love and trust Him.

          Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.  They felt they knew Him too well.  My class reunion was pleasant.  Thirty-four of our living eighty-six classmates were there, and because I was emcee of the program, most everyone listened to me - at least for awhile.  They seemed to enjoy themselves as long as I told jokes.  But I couldn't have preached the Gospel to that crowd, because they wouldn't have listened.  They'd have felt they knew me too well.  It's hard to evangelize your old friends, too.

          But last Sunday my home church heard their newly installed pastor preach his very first sermon.  He's a young family man, energetic, and has a simple earthiness that will endear him to them in time.  And he's also from out of town.  He's not one of them, and that's good.  These days a pastor needs all the respect he can get.  I gave him my card and said, "If you ever want to know all about these people, call me."  Those who heard it snickered, but they knew it was true.

          The Gospel lesson ends with Jesus going to other places, preaching to those who would listen.  The Good News is that our Lord didn't quit preaching just because some quit listening.  He kept on proclaiming the kingdom, telling the Good News of God's love, and urging them to faith.  He talked to all who would listen.

          And still today God's people won't quit sharing His life, death and resurrection even if people don't listen.  We must keep sharing our Lord and His love even when others turn their backs on us.  Christ went to the cross when the whole world turned its back on Him.  He went the distance for us.  He loved us then and He loves us now.  He who knows us best, still loves us most.

          But we aren't always faithful;  we don't always regard God as we should.  We're so busy with cares and troubles of this world.  God wants us to come to Him in worship and prayer, often, and with faith He will hear and answer us.  Sometimes God has to get our attention, so we come to Him more often.  Sometimes He has to smack us upside the face so we'll pay attention to what He has to tell us.

          The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, son, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are getting a divorce.  Forty five years of misery is enough.  We're sick of each other, and so you'd better call your sister and tell her."  Frantic, the son called his sister in Los Angeles, who exploded on the phone.  "No way they're getting divorced," she shouted, "I'll take care of this."  The daughter called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father, "You are NOT getting divorced.  Don't you two do a single thing until we get there.  My brother and I will both be there tomorrow.  Until then, don't you do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"  The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife.  "Hey, honey, guess what?  The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and they're even paying for their flights!"

          The eternal truth for today is that Jesus kept on proclaiming the Kingdom of God to those who would listen.  He kept on loving mankind.  That's because Jesus never quits, His love never fails.  He's the Way, the Truth and the Life, the only way to heaven, and He is knocking on the doors of our hearts, wanting to come in.  Will we respond?

          Today's theme is "Going Home-Again."  Where is your home?  Most of us would reply it's where we live.  One day all God's people will be going home, this time permanently.  We'll see the only true home that can't be taken away.  God grant we all will be together in our heavenly home.  Amen.

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.