What do WE need?

What do WE need? 070812

Psalm 48; Mark 6:1-13

Margaret Scott

All parents know their words are not always heeded. Yes? And it affects us, doesn’t it.

Every pastor knows her words are often discounted. And it affects us too.

Each one of US knows there are times when we only hear what we want to hear.  Yes?   It’s called selective deafness in my house.

Jesus found this out when he went home to preach in the town he’d grown up in.  For whatever reason, they didn’t think much of him.

And it affected him.  In fact, it so affected him that his power was diminished.  Remember last week when he felt his power leave his body when the woman touched him?  

This time it was as if his power had nowhere to go, because the cynics changed the atmosphere.   Our attitudes of hearing what God has to say affects everything around us, in church and out.

I don’t know whether what happened next was a direct result of this rejection;  but the writer Mark clearly thinks it is.  “Then” Jesus left there, but he didn’t give up; he kept going--he went elsewhere with his message. And then he does an amazing thing; he adapts his style.

He calls the disciples together and gives THEM the task of doing what he did.  He sends them to engage deliberately with the world they live in, to make an impact wherever they go, everywhere they find themselves. 

He changes from being solo charismatic rabbi to franchise builder.  Genius.  Then when the Pilate crucifies him and thinks he’s cut off the head of the movement, it doesn’t work.  Brilliant strategy that has served well for 2000 years. 

So he sends them out, not singly, but in two’s.   We all know how much easier a task is when its shared with someone who is also trained and empowered for it.

And he sends them out with authority over unclean spirits.

Unclean spirits meant all sorts of things  back then, from sickness to mental illness; stuff that wasn’t  understood was often attributed to the powers of evil.   Today we might think of all the kinds of habits and addictions and behaviors that entrap and bind people, 

demons of memory or hurt that beset us

or spirits of soul that depress us.

He sends them out WITH AUTHORITY over those things.  Jesus empowers them with the same kind of divine energy that he has.  Wow. 

Imagine: We who have the Spirit’s power have something much stronger than evil, much more powerful than the habits and spirits that bind us.

I am reminded of a benediction I received once, and have used here:

God’s goodness is stronger than your badness; God’s power to forgive is larger than your power to sin;  God’s strength is much greater than your weakness.

This is what disciples today, we the church, are empowered with!  Why on earth don’t we tap into it?

I wonder if it’s because Jesus also sends them with clear instructions about what to take and what not to take.  And we’re a bit too attached to all our stuff, or maybe our habits, to take Jesus seriously.

He sends them with power.  With each other.  With a walking stick. With the clothes on their back.   With trust in the divine hospitality that was assumed among God’s people in Galilee, trust that what they need will be provided.  That’s it. That’s all.  That’s enough.

I remember driving behind a giant RV, with bikes attached to the back of it, a loaded roof rack, and  a speedboat pulled behind it; and the bumper sticker on it said “Who says you can’t take it with you!”

Funny, but it’s an image that has stayed with me and haunts me; because I believe it’s a great metaphor for the things and behaviours  I depend on and think I need.

There’s not much space left in this crowded life for the simplicity of the Jesus call.  God provides all we need, often through our own work and the care of others, but we complicate it all with stuff—physical stuff, emotional stuff, harmful habits and destructive relationships.

Jesus sends us without baggage.  He expects us to drop some of our baggage.  That might be a lifetime’s work, or it might be a short term experiment.  Both of these we’ll discover with our summer experiment.  But with less baggage, there’s more room for what we really need….the power and the purpose.

Jesus sends us with power.  With each other.  With some kind of walking stick.  

But Jesus also sends them with purpose.  Preaching, teaching, healing, anointing….all tasks that are extensions of Jesus’ purpose.  All tasks we are called to do, and try to do, here at FUMC, and in our own lives.   Some are called to teaching (psalm tells us to share God with the next generation—plug for SS teachers!)

Some to healing ministries, some encouragement and anointing ministries.  But each of us has a godly purpose to our lives.  We are sent intentionally by Jesus to fulfill it.

Sometimes people will listen, notice them and pay attention to our life and message; sometimes not.  He learned that first hand at Nazareth, so he passes it on to disciples, to us. he says not to perseverate on a failure to make an impact, but to move on.  Do your best and leave the rest to God. 

Remember the psalm?  It used the metaphor of a city to show the complexity and strength of God, who is our guide forever.
We are not sent alone; we are together on the journey.  No more independence (sorry July 4), but we are an interdependent people; God needs us and we need God and we need each other. 

So let’s be sent out from here today,                                                                                 to follow Jesus’ call…                                                                                                      let us draw on God’s power,                                                                                              drop the baggage,                                                                                                          trust in God’s provision,                                                                                                  teach the next generation, and share the good news of God’s love for the world wherever we go.

Let’s be sent.