St. Francis' Episcopal Church

Serving Eureka, Wildwood, and Surrounding Communities

Moving to a New Place - It Happened in the Bible Too

Ever wonder whose idea it was to have Mary travel to Bethlehem?  After all, she was pretty far along in her pregnancy.  This past spring, my nephew and his wife chose not to attend a family wedding because she was 8 months pregnant.   No one questioned their caution, and she simply would’ve had a long day’s ride in a car.  Two thousand years ago with no rapid transportation, Mary would have walked, or, if Christmas lore is to be believed, ridden a donkey.  (The Bible never mentions a donkey.)  Surely someone, her mother perhaps, would have suggested that she would be much more comfortable staying in the home she had known for 15 years rather than taking an arduous journey to an unfamiliar place.   

Okay, this is a lead in to talking about St. Francis’ congregation’s move away from the place that has harbored us for 15 years to an unfamiliar one. It seems as though I’ve been writing and preaching about it at every possible opportunity for months.  It’s just that the journey we are taking has so much precedent in Holy Scriptures—so many of our ancestors in faith just up and moved—that’s it hard not to point that out.   

First, Adam and Eve were unceremoniously kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  Well, that wasn’t exactly their choice, simply the consequences of an unfortunate decision.  Next there was Abraham.  He was doing pretty well in the land of Haran when God told him to leave—to go to the land that God would show him.  And Abraham went, no questions asked, and became the father of a great nation.  Then there was Moses.  God spoke to him from a burning bush (now how are you going to explain that to your wife?), told him to go back to Egypt, fetch the Israelites and lead them to an unknown land that God would show them.  Not without a lot of grumbling from his flock, a few mutinies, and a longing to return to what they knew before.  But in the journey, they were transformed into a united community of faith—God’s chosen people.   

Back to Mary and Joseph.  There was no reason why both of them had to go to be counted; Joseph would surely have sufficed.  They must have determined that journeying together would be best for their young family.  Gospel writers would later suggest that this was so that the scriptures might be fulfilled:  the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.  I doubt the newlyweds were trying to fulfill scripture.  Then again, maybe they were following the voice of God telling them to go to the place God would show them.  

By the time you read this, we will have moved to Blevins Elementary School, and for those involved in the move, it has been an arduous journey.  Many thanks go to all the movers, and especially to the Worship and Music Team who have worked so hard.  This will not be our permanent home—it cannot be.  It is simply a response to God’s call to us to go forth.  It requires a great deal of trust in our God, but then, amazing things happen when people trust God.  

Remember, Bethlehem was not a final destination.  It was simply a temporary stopping place in which a most remarkable birth took place.  I believe that, if we are open to God, a remarkable thing will happen to St. Francis’ in this space.  What that will be is up to God.