Epiphany 3A

The foreign country I have been to the most number of times, 

and spent the most amount of time in, 

is Turkey.

When I was in college, I went to Turkey for a class, almost three weeks in Turkey,

reading, touring, learning and experiencing a very different culture.

The class was a joint religious studies and geology class.

We studied Paul's travels around Asia Minor, went to some of the same places he went on his travels

and learned about the geologic nature of Turkey and the volcanic areas.

We learned about the cave churches in the early centuries and climbed up into some of them,

marveling at the audacity and perseverance of the early Christians, 

who would sneak out of town to climb up or down into caves 

in order to meet together and worship God.

They would carve the rooms out of the volcanic rock,

carving spaces for community members to be buried and rooms to eat together and worship spaces.

The geology and geography of the land made it possible for them to find river gorges with easy to carve volcanic rock

in order to find hidden spaces to worship so they wouldn't be persecuted. 

During my first year in seminary, 

our Old Testament teacher gave us those short metal flag poles, 

the ones used by utility companies and some yarn. 

We were told to go pick a small square of land somewhere on the university grounds, 

somewhere we could check on each week. 

That was "Our Land." 

Then each week we had to go check it and write a paragraph about it.

She wanted us to have a connection with the land. 

So much of the early books of the Bible are talking about a culture which is intimately connected to the land.  

And since we were all new to the university grounds, we needed to build our connection 

to the land. 

Throughout the centuries, our human relationship to the earth has truly impacted our relationship with God.          

The geography of Franklin and the surrounding area most definitely has an impact on us in our daily lives.

The question about the weather on the Fifteenth Street hill, or the Victory Heights or Bully Hill, 

are always pertinent. 

The rivers make the downtown area warmer than other parts of town,

which can mean a very different experience of life,

within even the same mile of town.

The fact that our church lives on a one-way street

affects our attendance and movement in town. 

The geography that makes the most impact on our church right now though,

is the geography of the pews!

You all tend to sit in the same pews every week. 

Occasionally some of you move around, or if you are helping out, you sit somewhere specific for the job,

but most of you are tied to the geography of your familiar land, your pew.

(pregnant pause)

You all know where this is about to go, right?

This is today's exercise. 

I want you all to move to a different pew, at least, for the rest of the sermon.

If you absolutely need to, you can move back after the sermon.

All of you in the back, come sit in the front, 

those on the left, move to the right,

and vice versa.

(Even the choir loft is available right now, if you are curious what it is like to sit up here.)

As you sit in this new place,

see how your geography, your change in geography in the church, affects your experience of church,

affects your experience of God in this time and space.

Jesus was well aware of the affects of geography in Israel in the first century

on people's experiences of God.

The Jewish tradition tended to assume a better experience of life, of religion, of culture

on people who lived in specific places,

such as all those who lived in Jerusalem,

casting out all those who lived in other places.

Today we see Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee,

in the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali,

both territories which had seen foreign occupation for centuries,

and all the people who lived in those areas were seen as 

"the people who sat in darkness."

Not exactly a unbiased view of what was considered the rural hicks.

Yet, Jesus knows, they are the ones who need the great light,

who need the Good News which he proclaims.

Jesus knew the Scriptures, he knew what Isaiah had foretold,

he knew that the prophet had proclaimed

that some day, these people

would know good news! 

So Jesus takes a walk and he remembers,

he probably had been along the Sea of Galilee before,

but this time is a little different.

He reminds everyone following him,

he makes the past present, 

in that specific geography,

of what the prophets say,

Good News, a great light

is coming into the world. 

He proclaims it boldly, 

"the kingdom of heaven has come near!"

Even in a land of darkness.

He walks along the Sea of Galilee

and there, among the people sitting in darkness,

he proclaims good news, and 

he gathers his disciples,

his chosen companions.

The ancient Greeks had a special word for what Jesus does in this Gospel passage.

Anamnesis.

Have you ever heard this word?

Anamnesis. 

The only place you'd hear this word is in a church nowadays.

Anamnesis means to make the past present.

Jesus makes the past present as he walks along the Sea of Galilee

in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali,

by recalling what the prophet Isaiah had foretold 

and fulfilling it in their presence.

We tend to use the word anamnesis in the church

most when talking about the Eucharistic Prayer.

We make the past present when we remember Jesus' passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.

It is a part of every Eucharistic prayer in the Book of Common Prayer,

we remember and we make it present in what we do at that moment

in the breaking of bread, in the sharing of wine.

We make Jesus present by our remembrance of him and his actions.

Probably your biggest experience of anamnesis though

is as you are going down a particular street, or into a particular house, or store,

and you recall memories and other times going down that street or wherever you are.

I notice this most in my life when I go back to Bethlehem to visit my parents and family, 

the roads, the stores, the buildings, all of which remind me of so many memories.

When those memories come back to us, 

it changes and colors how we feel in the moment,

and our lives are shaped by our experiences in those areas.

As we were discussing earlier, the geography

shapes our experience, especially if we have memories of being in that space before.

The fact that Jesus mostly traveled in the countryside

meant that Jesus' disciples were mostly all country people.

The disciples were mostly found by the water ways of Judea, 

the river Jordan, the sea of Galilee, 

and their understanding of who they were was shaped by where they were from.

The geography of Israel impacted who and how the disciples traveled and ate and preached.

Our relationship with nature has always impacted our relationship with God, 

our relationship is impacted by our geography.

So far, has your change in geography in the pews changed your experience of the sermon?

Can you hear me better or worse? Do you find yourself more or less engaged?

How has your experience of worship changed?

While you are walking around today, 

here, at home, going to the grocery store, a restaurant, anywhere you go today, 

think about all the times you have been there before and in how many different states of emotion. 

You've been happy here, or sad there, lonely here and angry there.

God walks each day with us, 

sometimes we know it and sometimes we don't.

where and when have we felt God's presence? 

If our geography affects our ability to find God,

have we gone where we need to go

in order to find God?

Amen.