June 6, 2021

 I have been enjoying this year seeing videos on Facebook and elsewhere of mama ducks taking their babies out for their first walk and first swim.  Maybe one of the blessings of this past year is that more of us are getting out in the fresh air and enjoying nature.  On these walks, maybe we notice the wildlife more.  These videos show the mamas crossing roads and jumping off the side of bridges, of little ducklings hesitating on the side, but knowing they need to follow.  They show leaps of faith and a lot of encouragement until all are out of the nest and learning their way around the pond or creek.

In today’s Gospel Jesus has just called the disciples and done a few miracles, and now he is taking his little duckling Disciples on their first outing.  Jesus is teaching the Disciples, You gotta leave the nest.  You have to leave what is comfortable and familiar and go where you have never been.  The disciples have already left their parents and families to follow Jesus, so they have some ideas of what it takes to follow Jesus.  Now Jesus is going back to his hometown to show them that he, too, has given something up, too.  His mother and siblings.  He’s left the nest.  And he didn’t just give something up, he is also gaining something.  He’s gaining a whole new family, the Disciples, the whole Christian family, all of us, as siblings.

I don’t think Jesus is anti-family, but he is pro-leaving the nest.  He knows we all have to grow up.  We have to leave some things behind to learn and grow into the person God made us to be.  Our families give us a lot of what we need, but they are not God, and we should not worship them.  And our families teach us some unhealthy habits.  They lead us into temptation, demand our loyalty and can keep us from being Jesus’ disciple, from following him, from becoming the body of Christ.  Sooner or later we need to leave the nest and become who we are separate from our family.

Jesus also gives up the disfunction of the Temple and the authority of the Scribes, the religious authorities.  Organized religion is also not God and should not be worshipped as God.  We have to be willing to question our religious leaders and hold them accountable.  We need to be willing to question our traditions and ensure they still make sense in the current context.  We have to make sure our religion doesn’t uphold the values of this world that oppress those who are poor and small and sick, and only venerate the wealthy.  If our religious institutions and patterns don’t follow God’s values or make sense in our world, they need to go.  Jesus is leading the disciples from the nest and away from the distraction of religion. 

Of course the disciples aren’t just leaving something behind, they are going out to practice following Jesus and learning to minister in the world.  They are taking something on.  This is very threatening to the religious authorities and to their families.  The people call Jesus crazy.  They say he is possessed.  They discredit him, revile him, to try to keep him in his place, to keep him in systems that divide and destroy, that tell him lies to disempower him and keep him from empowering others and sharing the good news.  The disciples, too, will be called crazy.  They will be suspected of being possessed.  They will be arrested.  They will be tortured and executed to keep them in control, to keep them in the broken systems.

But Jesus won’t be divided.  He won’t be distracted.  He is single-minded in his obedience and focus on God’s plan of love for the oppressed and empowerment for people who have been discounted.  He will not be a hypocrite and say one thing and do another just because of pressure put on him by family or society or religion.  He will not be distracted from his goal and he is leading his ducklings to jump in the waters of baptism with him.  He goes first, like any good mama duck.  He knows the way.  And those who love and trust him, although frozen by fear to stay on the sidelines, are called to jump. 

We, too, are Jesus’ disciples.  We jump every time we visit someone who is sick, make or deliver a prayer shawl, visit someone who is sick or send them a card, pick up the phone to talk to someone who doesn’t get many phone calls, volunteer, bring food for our hungry neighbors, show care and concern, take time with someone who is grieving.  I’ve seen you take that leap of faith again and again, caring for each other and welcoming strangers and as many times as I see it, I can never get enough.  I still watch in wonder as those ducklings take the plunge, and I am just as impressed when I see you loving your neighbor and leaving the nest, and defying the rules of this world that tell you be partial to those who can repay you.  You do take risks.  Sometimes your family can’t understand your priorities.  Sometimes your religious leaders don’t want to be questioned, but too bad.  This is the way of following Jesus.  This is the way of growing in discipleship.  This is the way of living into the body of Christ.

Adam and Eve, too, had to leave the nest.  They were safe within the garden and they had everything they needed, but they were growing up.  They needed to make some mistakes to learn from.  They need to find where the limits of the garden are.  They need to learn who to trust.  They need to learn to jump.  They make some false starts.  They face the consequences of giving in to temptation.  They made a mistake and hid because couldn’t picture a future where God would see them through the consequences.  This is a very natural story of growing up.  As they grow and learn and make more mistakes, as they mature, they will learn that God is loving and forgiving and does not abandon us when we go astray, but comes quacking back and calling us to the waters of baptism to remember who we are and to start fresh.  Adam and Eve will hopefully learn that it doesn’t do any good to blame each other, but that they need each other, they are a gift to each other.  Hopefully they will learn to take responsibility for their choices and actions and learn to do better next time.  And hopefully they will feel that God sees them and knows them and rather than feel vulnerable and afraid, they will realize they have nothing to hide because God loves them just who they are. 

Sometimes a duckling gets stuck on the shore or stuck in the water and struggling to get out.  The mama duck waits patiently and continues to quack to give the duckling encouragement and direction.  We, too, know the voice of our shepherd, our mama duck, always there when we get stuck, waiting patiently, not rescuing us, but calling us forward to take that leap of faith either into or out of the water. 

Some of our leaps into the water are small, easy leaps.  They entail very little risk, but they are still meaningful.  But sometimes our mama duck, Jesus, asks us to take a greater leap and we don’t feel as comfortable.  Some of you are considering the leap of putting together a packet of snacks to give to someone in need.  It can feel scary to interact with someone new, someone in such desperate need that they are holding a sign by the road.  When we take those leaps, we might feel fearful, awkward.  Other people might say to us, “You’re crazy!   You stopped for that guy?”  They might pull an Adam and Eve and start blaming.  But you know you’re following the way of Jesus, and that helps, even when the other ducklings are still waiting fearfully on the shore.  Some of you might even find yourself taking the next step and having a longer conversation with someone you give a packet to—get to know them and their story, maybe have a meal together.  And there are greater leaps of faith.  Some of you might openly welcome someone who is gay or lesbian or transgender.  You might get flack from your family or friends or even someone in your church family.  Someone from this church might go to seminary—quite a leap not without its sacrifices.  And maybe even someday, this church might call a gay or lesbian pastor.  A lot of people might say that is of Beelzebul, of Satan.  Even someone who sits right next to you in church might look at you like you’re crazy or decide to leave because of this radical following of Jesus.  But what can we do but follow the one we have come to trust and live in this abundant life he offers?  Jesus welcomed all kinds of people.  He prevented an adulterous woman from being stoned to death.  He touched lepers.  He invited himself to eat a tax collector’s house.  He has taken us all through from death to new life in the waters of baptism, and what can we do but follow where he leads?

Jesus is calling us to follow him, to leap into the waters of baptism and swim in abundant life.  He is calling us to lives of obedience and service into a bigger family than the one we are born into.  Listen for Jesus’ call to you to leave the nest and look where you might take a leap of faith to follow Jesus more nearly and to share God’s love with all those in need.