Mark 6:1-13 (NRSV)
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
6 Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.
The Mission of the Twelve
Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
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When I first looked at the text for this week, I couldn’t have been more excited. I LOVE the stories of Jesus sending people out into the towns and villages. There are two other passages similar to this one in Matthew 10 and Luke 10, where Jesus sends out the disciples and the 72 in pairs. As someone who was sent to an entirely different country for seminary internship, I love hearing the challenge of Jesus to go out of our comfort zone and into the world. But then, I realized, there’s this whole other part of the text— the first part.
Jesus enters his home town, after being busy with healing and calming storms, and casting out demons, he decides to go home. And on the sabbath he goes in to the synagogue to teach. But he’s underestimated, he’s more or less laughed out of town. Instead of his friends and family being excited that this pretty famous preacher and teacher came back home, they decide that he has gotten too big for his britches and shame him, bringing up the fact that he’s only a carpenter, that they don’t even know who his father is. So Jesus leaves after only healing a couple of people, because the unbelief of those closest to him was too much for even the Son of God.
And at this point, Jesus calls in reinforcements. He calls the disciples— fishermen and nobodies, people with no authority, and probably very little education. Jesus calls these people who have no real right to be working on behalf of God and God’s kingdom. They weren’t prophets or well-known preachers. They weren’t even proper magicians who could fake the healings.
But there were two things that made the disciples distinct when Jesus sends them out into the towns.
You see, there were plenty of traveling preachers at the time— it might sound odd to us because we really only hear about Jesus and John the Baptist, but there were plenty of people who went around claiming authority and saying that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Sort of how we have so many people today who claim to know when the end of world will come. Or, say, so many politicians who claim to know exactly what will fix all of our country’s problems. There were lots of fake prophets with lots of fake prophesies.
But the disciples were different because even those fake prophets took a nap sack with them as they traveled. They wouldn’t be caught without an extra pair of underwear or some food just in case.
But Jesus instructs his disciples to live on the generosity of others, the generosity of God — they are to take the absolute bare minimum with them. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. To go into strange lands and preach about something that even Jesus’ closest friends and family from his home town didn’t understand or believe.
Sometimes I marvel at how the lectionary turns out. I told you, I couldn’t have been more excited when I saw the Gospel lesson for this week. I didn’t select this Gospel lesson, but this is one of the lessons I always use when talking about campus ministry. For precisely this reason. Campus ministry, especially the model for Jacksonville Campus Ministry, relies solely on the generosity of other people— people outside of the ministry altogether.
Believe it or not, we are not fully funded by college students’ offering ever week. We also aren’t fully funded by the synod or even the ELCA. We are funded by congregations, like yours, who decide that this ministry is important. And, while I’d like to say we go out two by two to ask for the hospitality and generosity of others, it is oftentimes just the campus minister.
Jacksonville Campus Ministry is distinct, too, because we aren’t just asking for money. We are asking congregations to provide meals for our students. We are asking for genuine investment and hospitality from congregations so that students can be fed, nourished, and brought into the fold of faith with one another. It’s beautiful, but it’s also scary. Because we are completely and totally reliant on others— just like the disciples were as they walked out into the towns with nothing but their staff and a tunic.
The second thing that made the disciples stand out is what I mentioned earlier.
The disciples were not special preachers or leaders of the synagogue. They weren’t necessarily charismatic or evangelical. They were “just” fishermen, “just” sinners, “just” people who Jesus happened to call. They were “only” young men following a scraggly preacher who claimed a lot of authority and prophesied a lot about his own death.
But that did not stop them from casting out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick and curing them.
I think we can often feel this way— That we are “just” lawyers, or nurses, or police officers, or teachers. That we are “only” young people, or old people, or busy people. Or “only” one person among millions or billions.
I feel that all the time— I’m constantly lamenting to God when the world seems so bleak and I can’t see the grace through the mess — I’ll call out and when God responds with “do something,” I’ll say what Moses said when he was called “I’m too young.” Or what David said when he was called by God, “Certainly you can’t mean ME?” I’m only a campus minister, I haven’t been here long enough, I don’t have the right connections.
But God ignores all of that. I mean, we see stories like this all the time:
- Young people rising to the occasion to protest hatred and violence
- Older generations standing up for what is right
- First grade teachers being examples of God’s Kingdom in their classrooms every day
- Police officers choosing justice and challenging the status quo
- Judges finding mercy for those who need it
God calls people into service every day— people who are unexpected and surprising. Churches that are small and unassuming.
But we don’t get to use the excuse that we are “just” this or “only” that. Because it is not our work that God calls us to— it is God’s work.
- God is the one empowering us to preach the gospel
- God is the one empowering us to feed the hungry
- It is God’s work, and only our hands and feet that go to visit the imprisoned
- It is not us doing the work, but God doing great deeds of power.
- Just like it was not the disciples healing and preaching and anointing people— it was God doing those things through the disciples.
And thanks be to God for that. Because if the ministry of proclaiming, teaching, and healing was reserved for only the most educated, knowledgeable, faithful, and prominent among us, if Jesus had waited until the disciples were completely faithful an stopped doubting… well then the message of God’s salvation through Jesus for work would never have been shared. No one would have ever experienced healing.
The same is true today. God chooses us. God chose each of us in the beginning through the waters of baptism and God calls us by name to follow, learn, and be sent.
God sends us out, not because of our ability, qualifications, preparedness, or even our faithfulness. But simply because we are God’s children. And because we are called to walk out into the world relying on the generosity of God and God’s people. I know that’s a scary call— it’s a call I face as reality every day when I ask total strangers, churches, and communities to reach into their pockets and donate to a ministry that is struggling but important. To give generously out of faithfulness, not knowing if we will make a difference or be what students need. It is a humbling call to rely on other people for your very livelihood. What if we are rejected? Told “no?”
But perhaps the good news is that Jesus knows what that feels like too. Jesus knows what it means not only to be rejected in his home town, but by the whole world as he was hung on a cross.
But friends, we do have one thing the disciples do not in all of this and it makes all the difference: We have experienced the faithfulness of God in Jesus rejected and crucified, yes. But we have also experienced the faithfulness of God in Jesus being raised from the dead and still alive today among us. So, we may be hesitant or even downright reluctant, but still we go forth proclaiming and practicing our faith in Christ because we know what happened on Easter morning, and we still see the Spirit moving today. Amen.
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This sermon was preached at Spirit of Life Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Florida on July 8, 2018.
