TCK - Third Culture Kid

Greeneville Seventh-day Adventist Church: Where are you from? That's a question that strikes fear into the heart of every TCK. People have been asking me all morning, what's TCK? You have to show up to find out. TCK, Third Culture Kid. It's actually an official term. Third culture kid. What's a third culture kid? A child that is born into one culture and raised in another and does not totally belong to either one. TCKs are often from military families, including the Lord's Army. Missionary kids are labeled as TCKs. There are thick books that try to help parents and children navigate this phenomenon. Because TCKs are different. And you may have a TCK come to church and they don't feel like they quite fit in. I remember when the Dietrich's grandchildren came to church for the first time since I had been here. And they nervously walked into one of the little Sabbath school rooms. They're in a new place. And so I said, okay, I know what it's like to be overseas and in a different place. And so they came in and the kids that were already here, who are these guys? And there's a little nervousness. so I introduced them to each other. I said, these are missionaries from Africa. And these are missionaries from Greenville. Now they have something in common. But TCKs have a hard time when TCKs grow up. and become TC adults. They are often the best people you could ever hire. They are going to be the hardest worker you ever saw. They will get the job done and they'll get it done right. But in three to five years you're going to have to hire somebody else because they got itchy feet. They're used to moving. They're used to looking for new challenges. So that's just one of the challenges of TCKs and being around them. When missionary families return from service, the General Conference sends them to a program that's provided by the Mission Institute. When you leave as a missionary for the GC, you go to Mission Institute and you learn things about the culture where you're going. And they try to prepare you for living in a different world. And when you come home, they do the same thing, try to introduce you to a new culture. try to prepare you for living in a new world. And for us, the new world was the United States for my kids. And Mission Institute, it's called Mission Institute Reentry. And the children have their own intensive program. There's even a GC psychiatrist that specializes in kids and helps them make the transfer from the little tin shack shop to Walmart. You wouldn't believe how hard that is. I know one missionary family that walked into a Walmart after being on a way overseas and they just stopped in the entrance. didn't know what to do. It had been years. And finally the father said, look at all the stuff that we don't need. It's a culture shock. So one of the worst questions you can ask a third culture kid is, where are you from? This forces them to face the confusion that has become their life. What do you want to know? Where I was born? Where I grew up? Where do I go to school? What country issued my passport? I tell you, that's one thing my kids couldn't, they struggled with when they came back to the States. There's people in our Sabbath school class that don't have passports. That's all they've ever known. Should I say that I'm an American even though I've only visited my grandparents there? Where my parents live now even though I've never been there? Where do I feel most at home? What many seem to prefer is usually the country they were raised in. We actually dealt with missionary kids in Kenya because our school was catered to missionaries' children. And we actually had to deal with, I remember one specific case. A person in the academy said, I don't know where home is. What are you talking about? Well, When I left home to come to boarding school, my parents lived in this country. And since I've been here, they have moved to another continent. They're going to serve there. So when I leave here, I'm going there to home where I've never been. And I don't get to go back to my old home to say goodbye to the friends I made there. In fact, that's a problem you might notice among third culture kids is when you say goodbye, they tend to say something like, you later. Because they have too many goodbyes in their lives. And those goodbyes are often permanent. They never see those people again. In fact, on our campus at Maxwell, we go through the graduation celebration of another senior class. And that my first year there, I noticed that all the faculty disappeared. I'm the only one out there with all these graduates after everything's done. And then next graduation I understood why. We didn't want to say goodbye. Because we love those kids and we knew we would probably never see them again because they're going all over the world. And so the faculty would become scarce just to not say goodbye. Jesus was a TCK He always existed in what we think of as heaven though. This is vastly beyond our comprehension He came to this planet that he created and was born in Bethlehem He lived in Egypt was raised in Nazareth. He called Capernaum home He's a TCK. He doesn't know where he belongs it seems But this is also where he said in Capernaum as we saw in Pastor Dawson's sermon last week, foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. That doesn't mean he literally couldn't sleep somewhere, but he had no place that was, I'm home. He also felt at home in Bethany somewhat in the house of Mary Martha and Lazarus near Jerusalem. Then when he was raised from the dead, he tells Mary he's not yet returned to his father, not yet gone home. Maybe it helps us understand the first verse of our text today. Turn with me to Matthew chapter nine. This story is also told in Mark two and Luke five, and we'll pull some thoughts from those stories as we go along. Matthew chapter nine, verse one. So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to, in different versions say different things here, New King James says, his own city. Okay, go from here for now all the way through the book of Mark. Mark chapter two. We'll go back to Matthew soon. Mark chapter two, again verse one. This verse is similar. And again he entered Capernaum after some days and it was heard that he was in the house. Some version says that Jesus had come home. But in Greek, it's more nebulous. But the implication of these two verses is that it was a usual spot for Jesus to be in. So what does this imply about Capernaum? It seems that Capernaum was the home base for ministering in the region of Galilee. As you read about Jesus' ministry in that region, there's several verses that are always saying, and Jesus left Capernaum, Jesus came back to Capernaum. This was the closest thing he had to home around there. Did he have a house there? Highly unlikely. Remember the whole no place to lay my head thing? Most likely he stayed in the house of Peter. This is a house that can still be seen today if you visit Capernaum. St. Peter's Catholic Church has been built, raised up off the ground over the top of it. So it's kind of like a flying saucer on legs above Peter's house. So it's not touching it, but so you can still look under the church. Yep, there's Peter's house. And they really do believe that this was Peter's house. And you can see how it was expanded over time because Peter's house became the local Christian church. And of course now there's a cathedral built over the top of it. But you can go up into this flying saucer shaped thing and look down through the floor because it has a glass floor and you can look down into Peter's house. Kind of the perspective of the guys we're about to read about. Those that lower the guy through Peter's roof. So we're going to continue in the book of Mark because Matthew doesn't mention the whole roof part. Mark 2 verse 2. Immediately, many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And he preached the word to them. Then they came to him bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying." I love this story. Desire of Ages confirms that this was the house of Peter. Jesus had healed in this town before and had disappeared for a while to work in other towns. But now he's back and the people are crowding around him in and out of Peter's house listening to his every word in desiring healing. But crowds were so thick, a desperate man with the help of his friends has to find a unique solution to the problem. How to get close to Jesus. How badly do you want to get close to Jesus? I recently read a story that reminded me of these desperate friends. Hans and his wife Enid escaped the war in Europe so that he could continue his life as a seminary professor in the United States. At first things were difficult because his English was not good, but soon he became one of the seminary's most beloved teachers. The students loved him because he was warm and gentle and when he spoke the scripture just came alive. Hans and Enid were very much in love. Nearly every day they took long walks together holding hands and it warmed the hearts of the young students to see this old couple walking around like they were teenagers. Deeply in love, sitting close to each other in church. Then one day Enid died. Hans was struck with a grief he had never known. For weeks he would not eat. He no longer took walks. The seminary president, along with three other friends, visited him regularly, but he felt lonely and depressed anyway. He was experiencing the darkest time of his life. On one of their visits, Hans said to his friends, I'm no longer able to pray to God. In fact, I'm not certain I believe in God. After a moment of silence, the seminary president said, then we will believe for you. And we will pray for you. The other friends looked bewildered by the president's words, but not knowing what else to say, they agreed. We will believe for you. We will pray for you. In the days ahead, the four men met daily for prayer. They asked God to restore the gift of faith to their dear friend, and they continued to visit him in his home. And then after many months, the four men all gathered in Hans' living room. He smiled before he spoke. It's no longer necessary for you to pray for me. Today, I would like you to pray with me. The darkest time of his life. His friends had not carried him to Jesus on a pallet lowered down through the roof. They had carried him with prayers that lifted him up through the roof of his own despair. And I see that in many of you. I get calls, get text messages, have you seen so and so lately? Do you know anything about why so and so's not here? ⁓ I'm concerned for them. So we'll pray for them. Visit them. And you do, and I appreciate that. It's like the four friends in Jesus' story. Now we don't know the names of this paralytic man or his friends, but Mark tells us how persistent they were. Can you imagine them arriving at the house and seeing the situation? They have a confab. They have an impromptu board meeting right there. It's impossible to reach Jesus. By the time He heals everyone that's in the way, He'll be tired and disappear again like He did last time. Well, there has to be a way, but we can't bully our way through so many people. Yeah, but hey, maybe we can make a new door through the back wall. What, do you want the whole house to cave in? What if we came in from above? ⁓ what are you talking about? You know go up on the roof where they sleep when the house is too hot then we can dig and voila We're through and at the feet of Jesus What? Who's going to fix the roof? We can't afford that. We'll table that for the next meeting. All in favor? All right. What shall we call this operation to get our friend over this crowd to Jesus? We have to call it something. How about bridge the gap? ⁓ so moved. ⁓ These four friends could have called it quits and said, board adjourned, we can't do this. They might have thought it too difficult for them to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus. They may have gotten discouraged and returned back home, but they persisted. They were not giving up, so they worked hard to raise the paralytic up onto the roof. Then they opened up the roof and cleared the, I've always wondered what it was like inside that house. Do you have termites? Something's up there. What's going on? Dust starts to come down. Then sunshine. And then a man. Carefully lowered by their friends in front of Jesus. How persistent are we with our friends? Do we have a friends like Hans or the paralytic man? How far are we willing to go in loving God by loving a neighbor in need? Without the prayers, the faith persistent of loyal friends, neither Hans or the paralytic would have been healed. Never underestimate what God is able to do through each one of us or in groups We are Christ's hands feet voice and presence Miracles can and do happen when we love our neighbor like Hans's friends like the four friends of the paralytic such persistence It's quite the example of faith and love to each of us Now we can turn back to Matthew for his shorter version of the story. Matthew chapter nine. Go to verse two. Then behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven. Wait a minute. We didn't bring him through the roof for you to say I forgive you. We want healing to be done. What's going on? He needs healing from this paralysis. But you know sometimes even the most fervent good friends don't really know what is truly needed. But Jesus does. He knows the root of the problem. That's why it's called the root. It's unseen. We don't always know the root of why somebody said this or did that or what was going on. Jesus knows the root. Jesus knew what the real issue was and rather than just heal the symptom, which was paralysis, he goes to the source. This story, in contrast to the story of the healing of the blind man in the Gospel of John, where Jesus says there was no connection to the man's sin or the sin of his parents, you remember that. And this story makes the traditional Jewish connection between illness and disease and sin. In Matthew's story there's an association of the forgiveness of sin by Jesus and the healing of the paralytic man. Jesus knew what was behind this man's condition, that his lifestyle and the resulting guilt had taken him out of commission. The association between sin and sickness and disease is also a real one in today's Many people live under the burden of sin, guilt, and shame. You know this does physically to the body? It lowers resistance. I'm not saying if you got the flu, you're a sinner. But this kind of living does lower the resistance to disease and other conditions. Ellen White wrote many things about the connection between mental and physical health, even how the spirit of criticism can warp the mind and affect the physical body. I've heard secular doctors admit that if a person is spiritually strong, and has a sense of humor, by the way, they tend to heal faster. That's why most hospitals have chaplains and special parking for pastors. Did you know that? ⁓ When I used to look at the pastors' spots, I would bypass them because that's for old pastors that want to shoot. I'll go park with a rabble. And then I realized one day I was the old pastor. And I said, wait a minute. I've been stealing parking places for other people and that one's remaining empty. I better go park there. But when I see that a hospital has special parking for clergy, that's a signal to me that they understand the power of the spiritual. And even if they don't, some hospitals, you know, in Atlanta, you know, I visited my members in 24 different hospitals there. Most of them had free parking for pastors, but you had to get a special card or something. They had an idea that, hey, it's not just physical, there's also something spiritual going on. It's also been observed that people who don't have a forgiving spirit or who are easily offended often lose their physical health. Of course, sin causes all disease in one way or another. And from the stories just mentioned, we see that sometimes disease hits people who have lived close to Jesus and others like the paralytic experience disease because of their choices. I remember an Adventist doctor who was famous for traveling around the country giving talks on how to avoid cancer. and he died of cancer. One person said, see, didn't help him. To which I replied, no telling how much sooner he would have died if he hadn't been living so well. Many die of disease due to lifestyle choices that go against God's principles. I've had friends die from HIV here and in Africa. There are whole orphanages in Africa filled with babies who carry diseases that are the results of their parents' wrong choices. Babies you're not really allowed to touch, because you might get it. But touch them we did. I'm glad God knows how to sort all that out with his great love and compassion. Certainly, a strong positive relationship with Jesus is the healthiest way to live. Jesus was able to see that what this man needed most was a release from the burden of sin. Can you imagine the relief of hearing the words coming from the lips of Jesus? Son, your sins are forgiven. Did he call me son? Does that mean I'm back home again? I'm back where I belong? Being called son when I've been so far away from home, that's amazing. As in the parable of the prodigal son, welcome home. He must have felt the same way though. Do I dare go home? Do I dare seek help from Jesus considering how far I have gone? I don't deserve to go home, but I sure want to. He found himself at home with the word son Your sins are forgiven Notice Jesus didn't say they're there. You you can't you couldn't help it because he were created that way what you know no Forgiveness is needed your sins are forgiven Verse 3, and at once some of the scribes said within themselves, who did they say it to? Themselves. This man blast beams. Mark adds to their comments, who can forgive sins but God alone? Luke adds that there were also Pharisees involved in the mix that had come from every village in Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. Desire of Aegis tells us that they came to spy on Jesus trying to find something to accuse him of. She also mentions that this man had come to them for healing, but they had failed and rejected him as a hopeless sinner. And they were truly interested in seeing how Jesus would handle him. Verse 4, but Jesus knowing their thoughts said, why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. Then he said to the paralytic, arise, take up your bed and go to your house. Go home. You notice how Jesus refers to himself as the son of who? Son of a man. From how often I hear him use this title, one could assume that it was his favorite. Some have said that Jesus used this title to express modesty instead of saying Son of God, but I disagree. This is a title that was used to really make these leaders think. They knew well the text of Daniel 7, 13 and 14 which says, was watching in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory, a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. Is that not an amazing description of the Jesus we find in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Jesus was giving the people a wonderful taste of the kingdom to come, what their home and eternity would be like. I couldn't leave that alone though. I had to do some looking. I looked up the word dominion in Hebrew and also be translated as authority. It's a different word than we used before to find authority, but we find authority nonetheless. The implication is the Son of Man has the authority to rule. In fact, some of your translations use the word authority instead of dominion. And this is also the word used in Matthew 9, 6. But that you may know the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, the word power is also the same Greek word we looked at a few times ago for authority. The title that Jesus uses and the way that he talks and the way that Matthew portrays Jesus all lift up his authority to eventually remove the stain of sin from my heart, from your heart, from this planet. Verse seven, and he arose and departed to his house, talking about the paralytic. And when the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God who had given such power or authority to men. Finally, someone with the authority and power to give this man what he needed most, forgiveness, which led to healing, total complete healing inside and out. But I'm still worried about Peter's roof. Did these men fix it? All five of them now? Because they all five have the ability. Evidently that part of the story is not important the things we call ours on this earth are of little consequence to what God has prepared and planned for us From the Old Testament Isaiah 64 for says this for since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear nor has the eye seen any God besides you who acts for the one who waits for him to the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 2, 9 which says, but as it is written, eye has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of men the things which God has prepared for those who love him. The people in this verse said that they had never seen anything like this. They had only caught glimpses of their heavenly home if they loved Jesus and waited for him. They would now be dissatisfied with the way that things had been before, before Jesus walked into their lives. Have you noticed that? When Jesus walks into your life, suddenly you're like, what was I thinking? What did I think was so special about this place? And then if we gradually let him ooze out of our lives, we go back to think that this world's a pretty good spot. The things of earth aren't strangely damn anymore, we tend to worship them. So the question still is, where are you from? Are you content with this world's reality? Or are you so close to God that you feel more like a third culture kid that you're not in the right spot? That this world does not seem like it should be your home? That you belong somewhere else? We have heard a lot in the media about, ⁓ no, that's just the new normal. or this is the new reality we live in. Well, I've got a good idea for a new reality. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. Welcome home. I'm tired of being a third culture kid. I want us to have a home where we truly belong. Dear Father. within our congregation. We have people in what we call mansions on a hilltop. And we have people that don't know where they're going to lay their head tomorrow night, how they'll get out of the cold. We have all everything in between. And we're looking forward to those heavenly mansions that puts everything to earth on shame. But we can already begin to live there with you in our heart no matter where we Enter our hearts now so that we can live side by side, face to face to you in the future. We long for that day. May we be ready because we love you more than anything else. In Jesus' name, amen.

Mark 2:2