Take Me Home, Country Roads

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and shouting. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp; the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

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For our first Sunday of our August series: "The Gospel According to John Denver," we will be taking a look at the hit-classic "Take Me Home, Country Roads” sung by John Denver. Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., more commonly known as John Denver, was a singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, humanitarian, and activist. Throughout his career, Denver would record numerous chart-toppers, one of them being the well-known classic, "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Funny enough, this beloved anthem of the State of West Virginia and the West Virginia University was written on the back roads of Maryland while reminiscing about a childhood home in Massachusetts. A reminder that a home is a place that can be anywhere, and the routes by which we arrive home can be as numerous and varying as the places where we settle. Our hearts long for the nostalgic and familiar but do they long after the things of God and the pathways that bring us to a sacred home, a sacred community? 

Bill Danoff and his wife, Taffy Nivert, were the authors of this song that would be added to the John Denver collection. Nivert, originally from the Washington D.C. area, and Danoff were driving through a rural part of Maryland to visit family when Bill Danoff started singing a song with a particular ring. Having grown up in Masassacheutetts, Danoff recalled lyrics he remembered hearing on the radio. Still, his home state didn't have the sparkle of West Virginia (a state he never visited before writing the song), not to mention the Bee Gees already had an album titled Massachusetts. After workshopping the music, the couple planned on selling it to Johnny Cash, but after meeting John Denver, he insisted that he buy the song from Danoff and Nivert and play it. Once finished, Denver performed it for the first time at a place called The Cellar Door, where he received a 5-minute standing ovation. That's a glimpse into how a longing for home would become one of the most recognizable tunes that would transcend cultural boundaries. 

And when I say "transcends cultural boundaries," I also mean temporal boundaries as we hear the prophet Isaiah speaking to a people in exile who long to return home. For various reasons, the people of God find themselves in a strange land, far away from landscapes painted in their songs, far from the familiar scents and foods, and far from people who might have remained. Yet as the people of God wrestle with the complexities of their topsy turvy lives, the prophet Isaiah speaks a word of hope about what the future will bring. God will not only lead the people back to their homes but will also lead them to the heart of God. It is a road that God prepared for all and a road that God will walk with us to ensure we follow the path that will bring us home. Even the foolish and the unclean can tread on this path because God has cleared the way; all we need to do is follow with hearts that yearn for God.

What are the roads that your heart long to travel? Where does your heart yearn to return to at the end of the day? Of course, we can long to go home, our place of comfort, but it's the final destination that matters. The roads that bring us "to the place where we belong" are not marked solely by stories of success, failure, joys, or sorrows. Instead, they are country roads that offer us a chance to reflect and listen to the voice of God that calls out to us and reminds us of our home found in God's love. And most of all, on these roads, we remember how our life has been a journey, as we heard in the poem by Rabbi Alvine Fine: 

Until, not looking backwards or ahead, 
We see that victory lies not
At some high point along the way
But in having made the journey
Step by step, 
A sacred pilgrimage. 
Birth is a beginning
And death a destination
And life is a journey. 

We may not be a people in exile as the ancient Israelites were. However, we are a people still emerging from years of stress due to pandemic woes, concerns about justice, and the alarming increase in disasters our natural world is experiencing. So let us walk on the roads that bring us back to the place where we belong. Let us listen to God's voice that guides us along the path. And let us renew our understanding of what it means to be a living embodiment of the love of God our hearts long for so that when we arrive, we too might sing loud songs with everlasting joy.