As For Me and My House, We Will Feast on the Lord

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-25
Ephesians 5:21-33
John 6:60-69

So Jesus asked the Twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life."

The readings today have a few things in common, but one I want to highlight is loyalty - he kind of loyalty that changes you, even breaks you. But like breaking bread and pouring out wine, it is a transformation that gives life. All the undoing and rearranging that happens when we pledge ourselves to Jesus' way of living and being yields a well-being that makes it worth it. The choice is ours, and the choice is worth it.

When I was eighteen, I stayed with a family with two teenage sons in Wichita, Kansas. I was traveling with a Southern Baptist youth choir, and we had come to Wichita to do what all Baptist youth choirs do - put on cheesy plays written by adults about being a teenager, how following Jesus would help you deal with peer pressure or face up to bullies. For virtually any problem, all you had to do was sing a few songs, do a few hand gestures, and tell someone about Jesus, and then your problem was solved. At least, that's how I remember it. What I also remember is that I played the school nerd. And, big surprise, I really was a nerd.

That's why as we drove him with the church family to sleep I was anxious about how I would fit in with these teenage boys who were very different from me. Thankfully, three other boys from the choir went with us. That night all of us packed into their minivan, and I was somewhat relieved when we walked into their front door. Just inside the entrance of the home, were large wood block letters:"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." I was in the home of believers, people who were claiming this household space for God. I was safe.

After the parents went to bed, the six of us stayed up late laughing, talking about college, girls, sports, and various other staples of conversation for young men. Being socially awkward, uncomfortable talking about girls, and a mediocre athlete (at best) I was pretty much an outsider. But I was desperate to fit in.