Scripture: Mark 6:1-6
He left that place and came to his home town,
and his disciples followed him. 2On 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! 3Is 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 offence* at him.
4Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour,
except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’
5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid
his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was
amazed at their unbelief.
Observation: Jesus has had a
successful road trip in which he has confronted illness and suffering, brought
healing and mercy to individuals and communities suffering under the weight of
oppression and hopelessness. His mission is bringing hope to a population of
people who feel abandoned by God. They are victims of imperial violence and
economic paralysis. They experience, in Jesus, the possibility that God is
still with them. They see him as a messenger from God, a prophet, the Messiah
(anointed by God to save Israel).
Now, he comes home. And he is received with
incredulity. The people who know him the best, know his story and his family,
are unable to experience him in this new vocation as a prophetic teacher and
healer. They are shocked by his authoritative teaching. Where did this come
from? They ask. He is rendered practically powerless by their disbelief. Jesus’
humanity is highlighted in this experience in Nazareth. They simply cannot
receive him as anyone other than the carpenter, the son of Mary. It’s a
reminder to us that before Jesus’ adult baptism and spiritual conversion, he was
known as an ordinary Galilean Jew. His life changed at the river and the
wilderness and he was inspired/empowered to be a teacher/healer.
Application: It’s not easy to
accept when someone experiences a significant change in their lives; when
someone goes through a kairos and comes out of it a different person with a new
set of values, goals, purpose/mission. When someone suggests that God has
spoken to them, called them, reached into their lives we may be skeptical. The
people who know us the longest or best may have the hardest time accepting that
God is doing something new with us. Jesus knows rejection and the powerlessness
of familiarity. “Isn’t he a carpenter? What’s he doing teaching people about
God? What’s this about healing and forgiving sins?” It’s audacious for any of
us to claim that God has authorized us to speak/act on God’s behalf. And yet, we believe that in baptism God has claimed and called even us to demonstrate God's way of love to others. To whom
are we being sent to bring hope, healing, and help? Who might reject us along
the way?
Prayer: Lord, help us to receive
criticism, rejection, and failure as a part of the journey of faith. Help us to
trust your invitation and calling in our lives. For you have named us as your
sons and daughters and empowered us to serve the world as authorized agents of
your merciful love. Amen.
2 comments:
so, will apologize for the random nature of my comments, but treating this a little bit like a one-sided conversation instead of a well thought out and analyzed response. No editing, you get the unfiltered me :-). Side note - glad spell check works in the comment box :-)...
So here's what I hear... People ignore what God is saying and even weirder, they ignore what he is actively doing. Jesus still healed people in his home town, but they still ignored him. Interesting how Mark phrases that verse as well, "And he could do no deed of power there, except...". Not sure about anyone else, but someone healing by simply laying hands sounds pretty "powerful" to me. It's almost like he's "channeling" what the townspeople were thinking, "meh, so what, he laid his hands on a few folks and they got better. Probably just a coincidence". Despite "proof", we will willing chose ignorance and disbelief because it's COMFORTABLE, it's my warm fuzzy blanket.
What does this mean to me... One line in Pastor Matt's (PM) observation caught my eye..., "His mission is bringing hope...". This speaks of action on God's part. This speaks to the grace that God gave to world. The danger here, though, is that I think it can also create a passive expectation on the part of the world. God, through Jesus, is bringing or brought, and I get to sit at the table to wait for it. That's not it, as shown in the Gospel, I (as shown by the townspeople) still have a responsibility to recognize the action and in turn change my behavior as a result of that action. Don't get me wrong, I'm not espousing a "born again" view here. God doesn't need my acceptance or recognition to bring hope or grace to me or anyone else (Jesus still worked God's will in that town, despite their disbelief). I would modify the description of Jesus' mission slightly as it wasn't so much "to bring" it was to show that hope never left. God never abandoned anyone, we stopped recognizing him. In the example of Christ, we are shown, not only yet another example of God's continuous redeeming love, but what it looks like when a human being "recognizes" God in everyway and in everything. Further, we are shown that God's will WILL be done, regardless of our "acceptance", "belief", or "recognition".
Ok, that was still a lot of "what I hear" and not so much what it means to me... I guess what it means to me are two things -
1. It's ok if people don't believe me or "hear" the same message that I hear, heck, it's ok if they don't even hear a message. God's work will still happen. I'm not called to "bring" anything to anyone, I'm called to be an example and through my life and actions, show what God's message is all about. It's not about getting people to agree with me, it's about living a life that models God's love and grace.
2. "Acceptance" is a crutch. This one is hard, for me. They won't get on board, they won't listen, blah, blah, blah. These are all excuses I've used, am using, and will use in the future as to why I can't do God's work. Excuses, and everyone knows they say about excuses. So I need to stop waiting for "acceptance" and trust God.
Plenty of good thinking here Jeff. Thanks for reflecting. Gave me some things to think about, especially the last couple of paragraphs. Thanks.
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