Ezekiel 2: 1-5 Psalm 123
2 Cor. 12: 2-10 Mark 6: 1-13
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
There is a story told of a bishop who was interviewing a senior seminary student prior to their placement in a first call. “Where do you see yourself serving?” the bishop asked. The seminarian replied “Oh, just about anywhere except New Caanan.” “Why is that?” the bishop countered. “Well” the seminarian concluded boldly “I am from New Caanan and everyone knows that prophets are not without honor except in their hometown.” “Don’t worry” muttered the bishop, “I don’t think anyone will mistake you for a prophet!”
Jesus was not having a good day in his hometown synagogue. Oh, we like to think that Jesus had nothing but good days in ministry. Especially when we think about him preaching. C’mon, if we heard that Jesus was going to be the preacher wouldn’t we be sure to be in worship? In the Gospel reading for today, though, Jesus was there in the synagogue teaching and we can assume preaching and, the people…the people from his hometown who were there that day, took offense at him. Can’t you just hear it now….the conversations after they left? Jesus just didn’t do it for me. We know where he came from. We know his family. Who does he think he is? Or even worse yet….the all encompassing critique “I just didn’t get anything out of it.”
So instead of staying in the synagogue, Jesus takes his ministry and his message out…out to the villages. And when he sees the magnitude of the needs, he calls his twelve disciples together, gives them some instructions, and sends them out equipped and empowered to do the work as well.
The church as it exists today, our beloved church whose mission is to share the Good News of this very Jesus…the church very often sees ministry as something very different from the way Jesus described it to the twelve that day. Very often we describe our ministry in terms of inviting people in here. But Jesus is clearly sending the twelve out there.
Jesus gave the twelve a list of very specific instructions.
First, Jesus said…don’t go by yourselves. Go two by two. It was the apostolic buddy system. This is good advice for us as the church today. Not just because it’s a safe plan…every elementary school teacher will tell you that having children go two by two is a good idea. There is a better chance they’ll stay out of trouble. There is less of a chance they’ll get lost and if they DO get lost there is a better chance that with a friend they will find their way again. If one of them becomes frightened or sick or uncertain, having a friend along is always a great support. Two by two.
Jesus gives the twelve authority over the unclean spirits. Already in his ministry Jesus had experienced the many ways that various unclean spirits impacted the people he encountered. However unclean spirits were understood in this time in history, Jesus had seen lives that were difficult, families that were fractured, people were unable to make a living for themselves. He had seen parents grieving for their children and he had seen people so possessed by whatever spirit had overtaken them that they could no longer function. It is not so different today. The only difference is that we have the scientific and medical understanding to offer names to some of what possesses people, to identify addictions and illnesses. We can name poor choices for what they are and they are often no less than unclean spirits. And they exist and live among and in us. Jesus doesn’t ever condemn the people who wrestle and struggle with the unclean spirits, nor should we. All of us are affected in one way or another by them, by the havoc they wreak and the sorrows that run deep. And Jesus knew that giving the twelve authority over them would be important for their ministries. Perhaps not just for those they would encounter, but for themselves as well. It is a measure of comfort to us that Jesus shares this authority with the twelve and with us. That within us and within our world there are those places where we can find help for ourselves and for others. That when we are wrestling with something that feels so powerful…or when we accompany others in this way, Jesus says the unclean spirits do not have the last word.
Then Jesus offers some packing instructions, if you will. If you’ve ever been in Rick Steve’s Travel Store in Edmonds you know that this good Lutheran brother also offers packing advice….he has all of these clever ways that you can fit exactly what you think you’ll need into your suitcase. And I confess to being a contingency plan packer. That is, I believe that I need to have an outfit or the shoes for every contingency! And by George, with Rick Steve’s help I can fit them into my suitcase! But Jesus today offers another model. Take nothing for the journey, except for a staff he says. You can wear one pair of sandals and take one tunic. Really, Jesus? One pair of sandals and one tunic? What if the weather changes or the tunic and sandals don’t really match or you break a strap on the sandals? Haven’t you ever heard of contingency packing?
Of course, apparently Jesus has also not heard of snacks for the road. Or making sure you have your wallet. Because he tells the twelve not to take any food or any money or even a bag. In short, he lets them take what they’ll need to travel…a staff to guide them as they walk, sandals for their feet and a tunic for their bodies. But for all of their daily needs they will be dependent on the hospitality of others.
Granted, this is a different time in history – a different society – one where the arrival of a stranger at your door did not mean that you locked it or instructed your children not to open it. The communities of this time practiced radical hospitality. They welcomed everyone and they shared ALL that they had and they tended to the needs of others. Even though they most certainly did not have much, what they had they shared.
This text, friends in Christ, lets us love Jesus even more. Because just as surely as Jesus was equipping the twelve for the work they had ahead of them, he was also preparing them for what they would receive on the journey. He was preparing them for the gifts that would come from traveling two by two, from packing lightly, and from receiving radical hospitality. They would be part of a community, they would not have to worry about taking care of their possessions or about how to pack more. They would be unencumbered by their own baggage, literally, in order to care for the needs of others.
Pastor and theologian Brian Stoffregen notes that “The “job” of the church is not to convert the world, but to love and serve the world as Jesus did. This would also indicate” he says “that our “job” is not primarily to “get new members,” but to love and care for people in our communities.”
This is also the mission statement of this congregation: Actively Sharing Christ’s Love in Community. I think Jesus would approve of this mission statement for it embodies what he sends the twelve out to do. To offer words of healing, to share comfort. To depend on the hospitality of others so that we might also receive care and receive the many gifts that others have to share. Our task then, is not first to increase the membership rolls of this congregation, our first task is to increase the ways we love and care for those in our community. Our task, or mission, as we have defined it is to actively share Christ’s love. Not passively, not half heartedly, not as it is convenient for us or as we can fit it in our schedules or as long as it doesn’t fall on a day when we have something else planned. Our mission is to actively share Christ’s love in community….side by side with one another and…
out there.
Here at the water we are washed of our sins and here at the table we are fed and nourished for the journey. Here in our worship we hear and sing the stories of our faith and we are reminded of what it is that we have been called to do. Each week as we end our worship we offer a great sending that deserves more than our half hearted response….Go in peace. Share the Good news. Love as Christ loves us. And our response as we joyfully go?
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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