This was a homily given at our 6:30 p.m. service, which is led by and focused on our youth, but open to all. It was delivered on the day we wished Godspeed to our Rector of ten years, the Rev. Randall Day, and his partner, Bill Hurbaugh, as they accept a call to St. Mark's-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos, California, and we begin the process of selecting a new Rector to lead our congregation.
One of my favorite things about the marathon camping trips my family took when I was a kid was to arrive somewhere late at night, fall in to bed, and then wake up to discover where we had ended up.
Of course I had no responsibilities other than maybe helping with breakfast or getting rid of the garbage. Pretty much everything else was decided for me. Someone else planned the trip and decided where we’d stop along the way (and my dad NEVER wanted to stop). My mom’s job was food and drinks in the car, and for some reason as the day went on, she would start combining the contents of drink coolers as they got empty. So you might get orange juice mixed with Coke or some other revolting mixture.
Most of the passing scenery was lost on my sisters and I as we played and fought in the back of my grandfather’s Suburban. I would call it an SUV, except they had not been invented yet. Picture an Escalade... minus ALL the bling. It didn’t even have air conditioning, so driving across the Great Salt Desert in Utah one July was NOT fun.
Even still, we had it pretty good compared to the Israelites who followed Moses out of Egypt in today’s reading from Exodus. Even today, the Sinai makes the Great Salt Desert look like Disney World. There are no air-conditioned rest areas with fast food and clean water. And these weren’t riding in cars, they were walking, carrying everything they owned, and it wasn’t just all day or even a week, but for forty years! They had no idea where they were going, sometimes they didn’t have anything to eat or drink, and, to top it off, Moses -- the guy they had been following on this crazy journey, who regularly interfaced with God on their behalf -- was taken from them before they made it to the Promised Land, which we now call Israel.
Sound familiar?
Of course the details are a little different, but we -- like the Israelites -- are a community on a journey. For ten years -- long enough that many of you don’t remember anything else -- Randall has led us through happy events, like Christmas, new babies and other celebrations, and tough times, like the deaths of people we loved, some of them way before their time. And now, we all face the task of choosing a new priest us to lead us forward.
This morning, we felt all kinds of emotions as we wished Randall and Bill our best and they left to begin a new life in California. And now, we begin a new chapter in our own life together. Some people are sad, some are excited, some are scared, and some are even angry. All of these feelings are normal, and whatever combination you may be experiencing yourself, it is okay.
The most important thing is that we are all here for each other. There will be opportunities to talk about what’s going on, ask questions, and make choices. Take advantage of those chances... you are just as important a member of the community as anybody else, and your opinion matters. It’s your church, too.
There will also be new opportunities to help out. Things that got done because Randall or Bill were here to do them may need to be done by someone else. That could be as minor as picking up scraps from the sidewalk. Sometimes it might mean just coming to church when you don’t feel like it. Yes, it’s true, even adults have days like that. But that may just be the day when someone needs an understanding ear... and the ear they need may just be yours.
The Israelites grumbled and complained to Moses that they were tired and hungry. I bet they whined, “Are we there yet?” like kids on a long car trip, and asked “Is God with us, or not?”. For us, the answer to the first question is no, we’ve only just begun. But yes, God is with us every step of the way.
Can we count on you?
