fpc missoula

‘home base’

12 June 09 – capernaum and mount arbel (Mark 1.16-38)

a seaside town…decent area for business…fishermen and their families enjoy a nice way of life (i actually stared at one of the fruits of the Galilean fishermen’s labours on my plate at lunch…before devouring it, of course).

and the place where one Jesus of Nazareth made his ‘home base’ for life and ministry.

in all the years i’ve been hearing the stories of Jesus, i’ve never thought of him as having a ‘home base’. i always took his phrase about ‘not having a place to lay his head’ as a literal description of his nomadic existence. and once he called those fishermen and tax collectors to leave everything behind and follow him, the image in my mind was one of a ragtag group wandering from town to town, always looking for a new place to lay their heads.

but it seems that at least for the first major part of his ministry, Jesus had a home. a fishing village called Capernaum.

from there, he traveled out to different cities and villages to share the good news in words and actions, each for a specific period of time.

but he always returned to ‘home base’.

this continued until the time he ‘turned his face towards Jerusalem’ and headed toward the climax of the his life and ministry. and his death. and his resurrection. and his ultimate return to his ultimate ‘home base’.

i’m not sure why this struck me so memorably. did learning this strike a sentimental chord within me, that longing and desire deep within this nomad and wanderer in life for a place, an experience, a people that i can truly call ‘home’? am i just a schmaltzy schmuck who always wants to return to that place of happy endings, for lassie to perpetually come home?

or is this about something deeper and even more meaningful?

is it about a Saviour who came to show the love of God in real, concrete relationships, not merely abstract theological and philosophical concepts?

is it about a group of followers who actually had lives and jobs and possessions and homes and families to leave behind all for the sake of that Love?

is it about One who lived the majority of his life in small, tight-knit communities with people who faced real issues and experienced real challenges and joys, hardships and happiness?

is it about all of them and all of us who were made for a place, an experience, a people who are loved right where they are just as they are, and a life in which that Love heals and hallows, redeems and transforms, embraces and empowers them and us in ways that lead to unexpected, surprising and delightful new places, experiences and people?

is it about a Jesus who needed that place called ‘home’ just like i do?

i don’t know…i guess i just like the idea of this One who finds power in people, comfort in community, renewal in relationships, and an experience of ‘heaven’ as home.

makes me wonder why i so often find myself wondering about my own ‘home base’, and wandering around through the far reaches of the world and my mind, heart and soul to ‘find’ it.

especially when it seems to ‘find’ me wherever i am.

darn it…the preacher gets carried away, and blows one of his ‘great’ sermon illustrations by ‘blogging’ it before he even returns home to share it.

maybe i should just stick to talking about the food here (which is great, by the way…)

hope you are all well back ‘home’…wherever that may be for you.

shalom of Christ to you,

brian

ps. how ’bout those LAKERS????

pps. here’s the lil’ guy i stared down at lunch…