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I think it is good to experiment when you are young.  And no I don’t mean like with psychedelic drugs or whatever.  I mean just trying different things.  That way you learn early on what you are good at and most importantly, what you are not.  One of the things I became aware of at an early age, is that I would never win an Olympic medal in Equestrian jumping.  Sure I could ride and like a lot of kids, I LOVED horses.  But, when I started learning to jump I realized mmaaaayyybe, this was not my calling.

There were two things that made that clear.  First, as the horse was cantering up to the jump, I would lean way back….like away from the fence.  Now please understand that these were not big jumps.  These were like little tiny logs like a dachshund or even a Pekinese could hop over..  Not any big deal.  But, even so, as the horse would canter towards the jump, in my mind, all these doubts started flying… oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh… and automatically my body would begin to lean back away from the jump.  Why is that a problem?  Because if your horse doesn’t think you want to go over the jump, he’s probably not going either.  More times than not, I would approach a jump, lean back, the horse would abruptly stop and I would go flying over its head into the mud.  Not exactly the sign of an Olympic champion. 

The other thing dead giveaway that the Olympics weren’t in my future was the fact that when I did actually get the horse to over a jump, I would always look back to see if I knocked anything off.  Not a good plan.  You got a 1000 pound horse heading one way, and you are looking back… see the problem?  Looking backwards not only throws you off balance, it keeps you from focusing on what’s important, which is the next jump in front of you. 

So, sadly enough, I never became an Olympic jumping champion. However, as with most things we try, I did learn some things that have helped me in life.   Depending on how you look at it, there’s not that much difference in jumping a horse over a fence and living life.  Everyday we approach jumps and obstacles, things that can make us soar or put us head first in the mud.  And as we approach these obstacles we can feel doubt, we can go “oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!” –we can start to lean backwards.  Ironically, in life its not so much the obstacle or the fence that generates the doubt, but the people that surround us as we approach the jump. 

Which brings us to our lesson today from Mark.  Here Jesus and the disciples return to Jesus’ hometown to preach.   And although Mark doesn’t tell us exactly what Jesus said, we know the kind of things Jesus was teaching:   that tax collector and sinners are welcome at the banquet table, the first are last and the last are first, and of course, Jesus being the Messiah.  Provocative, risky, gutsy stuff.  When the crowd heard the teachings and saw Jesus’ power, they took offense.   Wait… who IS this guy?  Isn’t this the carpenter?  Mary’s son?   “Where did he GET this?   what’s with the miracles and the messiah stuff?  Messiah?  You have to be kidding.”  This is Jesus the carpenter… whatever.

How interesting that sometimes our biggest critics come from the people we hold closest.  Jesus tells his disciples, "Only in his hometown, [only] among his relatives. [only] in his own house is a prophet without honor."  And we know its true, cause we’ve all seen the same thing.  We all know that people get accustom early on in life to what they believe to be possible for them…their station is life.   And over time it becomes a place of comfort for them:  this is what is possible, and I am living up to that potential, therefore I am successful.  Then all of a sudden, someone from their same place--breaks out of that place.  They move away.  They change jobs.  They choose a different path.  They meet a new person.  They learn a new skill.  They become a prophet.  And all of a sudden, they have stepped above their station.  And as we are approaching that fence, we hear the same thing Jesus did… maybe we hear it from a family member or friend, partner or spouse, it could be a boss or a colleague… but, as we approach that fence we hear:  “Who do you think you ARE?  What’s with the miracles?  You must think you are better than all of us.  Isn’t that the carpenter’s son?  Why are you trying to be something you are not.”   As if another’s success, would diminishes their worth.    I saw a little magnet at the card store recently that said “mediocrity attacks excellence.”  And isn’t that so true.

Being true to our call, breaking out and following what God wants us to do is hard.  And many times … it threatens people.  Its like the playwright Lorraine Hansberry said:  “the thing that makes you exceptional is also what makes you lonely.” 

Here’s the problem, if we aren’t careful, we allow these opinions and words and doubts and criticisms to sink in and we start leaning farther and farther back.  Until finally the horse balks… and you land head first in the mud.  Right where the voices said you should be.  Kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. 

With this story in Mark, Jesus acknowledges that there will always be people in our lives who will try and bring us down, who will be threatened by our success, or our choices, who don’t believe in our power.  Mark tells us that Jesus himself couldn’t even perform miracles in his hometown except lay hands on a few people.  And why?  Because they had no faith.  They didn’t believe in his gifts, in his power. 

But, did Jesus take that as some statement of his worth or abilities?  No.  Did he let their words change his ministry?  No.  Did he allow them to undermine his faith and his call and direction?  No.  Mark tells us that Jesus continued teaching – teaching throughout the town and villages -- even sending his disciples out to teach.  And at the end of the passage, comes a powerful warning from Jesus to his disciples:  “if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when-you- leave.”       

I think this is one of the great lines of the bible.  And people have used it, copied it, embellished for thousands of years ever since.  Most recently, I heard Whoopie Goldberg:  “There will invariably be people who don't accept you.  And in that case, you just have to be your own badass self, without apology.”

“If any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when-you- leave.”  Jesus is saying, don’t dwell in a place that does not honor you.   Do not tarry in a place where there is no faith. Don’t look back at the jump you have just come over.  Shake the dust from your feet and MOVE ON.  I particularly like this wording, as it implies not only a movement away from the place of negativity, but a cleansing.  The book of Luke tells the same story, but words it this way:   “But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you.” 

Many times, we say we have “moved on” from a situation, when in fact we still carry its corrosive baggage in our hearts.  You know what I mean… those experiences that still haunt us, that still cause us to act out in destructive and hurtful ways.  Jesus is saying, shake the dust from your feet, and from your heart.

It is a common story… for history is full of stories of doubting voices and folks not being honored “in their own house”.   The great musician Bach interviewed for the position of choir master at St. Thomas church Leipzig, Germany, the town where he grew up.  He came in third, as the committee called him a “mediocrity.”  The great football player Johnny Unitus from PA, was turned down by Pittsburgh Steelers because they didn’t think he was NFL material.  He turned out to be one of the best quarterbacks of all time.    Albert Einstein was told by his own teachers that he was slow and not as smart as the other kids. 

"[Only] in his own house is a prophet without honor."   “yet, if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when-you- leave.” 

There are no parameters around what is possible in our lives, except for the ones we allow.  The world will try to rein you in.  Make you safe.  Hold you back.   But, when we settle for what others think is appropriate for us, then we lose everything. 

Sir Frances Drake offered the following words:

Disturb us Lord when…
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to shore.

My message today is simply this:  when we face the obstacles, the fences, the challenges of life, when we hear the voices who say you can’t do that, who do you think you are?  That’s not possible… just lean forward into that jump and then never look back, because in Christ – because in a life grounded in Christ, ALL things are possible.