Go home to your friends

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. Mark 5:18-20

I remember years ago, at the end of a long drive from Colorado to New York, cresting a hill and being overwhelmed by the New York skyline. It suddenly took up the whole window frame, and tears came to my eyes. It signaled I was home and everything in my being ached for the familiar, even though the trip was fraught with complexities. We weren't coming home triumphantly or on our schedule and yet, there it was - home.

The young man who has been tormented with demons begs Jesus to take him along with the disciples. He wants to get in the boat and escape all of the pat and start a new life in a new place. He has been healed and he wants to leave his troubles behind and begin a new chapter. And Jesus encourages him to begin a new chapter, right where he was. His phenomenal change and the power of God's love working in his life would change his home. His home would become a place where miracles happened and where people saw the power of God in their lives. He wanted adventure and would find adventure right at home.

Today, as our vestry meets to imagine our future together, I am reminded that I am home. Although we might be new to one another, this community offers the possibility of becoming that place where miracles happen and God's love is known in our midst. This place is home and these people are home - a place where we can be transformed together. May we all rejoice in the places where God has planted us, and may we grow deep roots so that God may work miracles in our midst.