The text is below the sermon audio…

 

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Church, Goldsboro, NC; Sunday July 4th, 2021
The Reverend Alan Neale “Come back home, you rebels”

“Oh… you nation of rebels, oh… you rebellious house…” – now these are not my words as a native Englishman, nor am I seeking to channel the spirit of the engaging, complex and outré King George III… no, these are words spoken by the Lord to the prophet Ezekiel.

You know, for years I have considered these words to express a deep divine anger, a chronic godly frustration, a recurring deific angst but now I am not so sure.

But now… I sense a pathos, not an anger, behind these exclamations. A pathos that is borne out of, created by a longing that desires “these rebels” to come to their senses, to accept their destiny, to discover a home in the very heart of their Lord.

I am reminded of the time when Jesus utters these tragic words, “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often I have ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not let me. And now you are so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. (Matthew 23:37-39).

Far from holding them over the precipice of disaster, destruction, decay… the Lord instead is wanting to confront them as he confronts Ezekiel. Ezekiel is urged to stand upright, to talk with God and to be filled with the Spirit of God.

Here is a theme, a mighty theme, pervading all of Holy Scripture… as Adam and Eve rebel and lose their home, as nascent Israel rebels and loses its home, as Prodigal Son rebels and loses his home. And each time, and many more, the heart and mind of God is riven, beset, torn asunder as She/He grieves, mourns, laments over the rebellious house who will not find, nor even return to a home destined since before Creation and for eternity.

These past few weeks Wendy and I have driven around Eastern North Carolina; I talked of looking for a house, but really we have been searching not for a house… but for a home.

When aliens, exiles, refugees come to these hallowed shores… they are looking, at heart, not for a nation… but searching for a home.

When visitors, guests visit churches… they are looking not for theological propriety, not for liturgical precision… but searching for a home.

And when Jesus returns to his so-called hometown (in today’s Gospel), he finds no welcome, he finds no domestic haven… no, he finds a home elsewhere… in community with disciples, in partnership in mission.

Friends, why is it that we rebel against God, resist God’s plan, repel God’s advances?

It is because, deep in our psyche (yes, the psyche of each of us) there is a resistance to surrender… yes, even to the One who covets our best and craves our happiness.

Wendy and I have been driving a lot over the past three weeks and one recurring situation is when a car at speed approaches an interstate on a ramp and, despite the red triangular sign YIELD!, ploughs ahead. Why will we not yield to the Lord?

Are we fearful? Are we suspicious? Are we self-confident and self-satisfied?

Psalm 68:6 says this:
“the rebel will live in a parched (NRSV), a dry land (Wycliffe)”
“the rebel will rot in hell (Message), live in famine and distress (Living Bible), inhabit a desolate land (Good News)” and yet.. we rebel, we will not yield.

We say “oh it’s the principle of the thing” as we contemplate broken and fractured relationships.

We say “I am owed an apology” though we know nothing of the full and deep story of our antagonist.

We say “I cannot be vulnerable again” as if our loving Creator God would ever abuse, exploit, mistreat our frailty.

When we returned home to Goldsboro, after an absence of two weeks, Wendy noticed that in a flower box by our front door, a wren had created the most perfect of nests – a home to the eggs entrusted to its care. Friends, so the Lord… today… no matter what our pain, fear, anger or dismay… so the Lord creates a nest for our lives… remember Matthew 23:28? “I have ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not let me.”
From the New Colossus, written by Emma Lazarus,

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The original 12 Step Program of AA now enters its 86th year; its liberating, freeing, rescuing ministry is based on surrender to a Higher Power who works for our good.

It has been said that the first three steps of the 12 Step Program can be summarized thus… I can’t, God can, I think I’ll let him. Please, I beg you, yield, surrender, submit to the Lord and come home, at last. AMEN… SO BE IT.