leftovers

Scripture: Mark 6
when Jesus arrived, he saw this huge crowd. At the sight of them, his heart broke—like sheep with no shepherd they were. He went right to work teaching them.
^35-36 When his disciples thought this had gone on long enough—it was now quite late in the day—they interrupted: “We are a long way out in the country, and it’s very late. Pronounce a benediction and send these folks off so they can get some supper.”
³⁷ Jesus said, “You do it. Fix supper for them.”
They replied, “Are you serious? You want us to go spend a fortune on food for their supper?”
³⁸ But he was quite serious. “How many loaves of bread do you have? Take an inventory.”
That didn’t take long. “Five,” they said, “plus two fish.”
^39-44 Jesus got them all to sit down in groups of fifty or a hundred—they looked like a patchwork quilt of wildflowers spread out on the green grass! He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples, and the disciples in turn gave it to the people. He did the same with the fish. They all ate their fill. The disciples gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. More than five thousand were at the supper.

Observation:  Jesus' disciples were tired and hungry.  They're ready for the day to end and for the crowd to disperse.  "Send them away to fend for themselves," they suggest.  But Jesus has another idea. "You give them something to eat."  Of course, their resources are scarce and the needs are excessive---thousands of hungry people, 5 loaves of bread and two fish (barely enough for Jesus and his disciples).  Jesus invites the crowd to sit and then he takes, blesses, breaks, and gives the bread to them.  And all are fed and are satisfied and there are 12 baskets left over!  Scarcity becomes abundance.  Resistance becomes generosity. Hunger becomes satisfaction.  An end to the day's work becomes a promise of more feeding yet to come (leftovers!)  It's amazing!

Application:  God is willing and able to provide in ways we can't imagine or believe.  Because God is the creator and giver of life.  And food is a gift of creation for all living things.  I have seen abundance appear where once there was scarcity.  If you create the conditions and the intention, God will provide.  Peter's Porch was started after some leaders listened to this story and heard Jesus command us to "give them something to eat."  By creating a hospitable feeding ministry, more resources have become available to us.  We receive generous gifts all the time that allow us to do more than we ever thought possible, to serve more people than we ever imagined we could.  Jesus is all about multiplication.  His "UP" relationship with God allows his relational mission ("OUT") to thrive.  He gives away his powers, so that others might do what he does.  Disciples are "equipped' with "baskets full of leftovers", so that they can continue the work of "feeding the hungry."   What have we been given in abundance that we are invited/challenged to share with those who hunger?  What hungers exist around us that cry out to be satisfied?   If you could ask God for more of something, what would that be? 

Prayer:  Jesus, your generosity amazes us.  Your resourcefulness surprises us.  Your commands challenge us.  Forgive our reluctance and our belief in scarcity.  Give us baskets full of leftovers to continue your mission of generosity. Amen.  
 

Rest

Scripture: Mark 6:30-24. 

^30-31 The apostles then rendezvoused with Jesus and reported on all that they had done and taught. Jesus said, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest.” For there was constant coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat.

^32-34 So they got in the boat and went off to a remote place by themselves. Someone saw them going and the word got around. From the surrounding towns people went out on foot, running, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus arrived, he saw this huge crowd. At the sight of them, his heart broke—like sheep with no shepherd they were. He went right to work teaching them.

Observation:
"God designed us to be productive.  But we build our identities around our activities.  We are not living in the truth of who God created us to be.  We have become human "doings" rather than human "beings".  We need a biblical framework for a rhythm of life that allows us to be fruitful in balance with being at rest." --Mike Breen, "Building a Discipling Culture."   He points out that God created human kind and commanded them to rest on the Sabbath day.  God established a creative/recreative rhythm that requires rest.  We are not made to work 24/7/365.  We are made in God's image, and God rests.
Mike goes on to suggest that our productivity as people of faith begins with rest.  We grow and bear fruit out of a season of abiding in the still presence of God.  This is not easy for American busy bodies like us.  We reverse the order and usually crash exhausted after a period of overwhelming busyness.  Rest comes only after we're worn out, weary, and dragging.  We are a commodity society of endless production that considers rest a sign of weakness.  And we are teaching our kids this vicious cycle by involving them in as many extracurricular activities as we can tokeep us endlessly running and constantly moving.  
In contrast, Jesus invites his enthusiastic disciples to take a break and rest after their first exciting and successful day out on mission together.  They were literally running low on fuel, with no time even to eat!  Rather than send them back out, he invites them to come away on retreat with him. 
While they rest at his feet, Jesus teaches the crowds who gathered around them.  He invites more than his disciples into his rest.  He invites crowds of people---all anxious and restless, looking for help and guidance for their lives. I suspect Jesus invited all of them to relax and trust in their creator to provide for them in every need.  No need to work now.  Rest and let God do the work.   

Application:
 We are made to live in a holy and healthy rhythm of rest and work, abiding and frutifulness (see Gospel of John chapter 15).  Jesus knows you need times for rest, reflection, restoration, and re-creation.  Every day. Every week.  Every month and season and year. This contemporary culture will work us to death if we let it.  It will devour all of our time, our attention, our physical and mental energy and reserves until we have nothing left.  Have you ever been so busy that you failed to stop to eat? I have, more often than I care to admit. 
This week, make sure you're getting to rest (not just enough sleep).  Rest includes time apart with your beloved community, your extended family.  
What restful activity is restorative to you?  What would restful worship look like?  How can dinner church and huddle be space/time of restoration for us? 

Prayer :
O Lord, you bid us come and rest awhile and you see how busy and restless we are.  Help us to choose your life rhythm.  Help us to find balance and teach us to trust you to do the heavy lifting today.  Amen.   

sent

^{Scripture: Mark 6:7-13.}

^7-8 Jesus called the Twelve to him, and sent them out in pairs. He gave them authority and power to deal with the evil opposition. He sent them off with these instructions:

^8-9 “Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No special appeals for funds. Keep it simple.
¹⁰ “And no luxury inns. Get a modest place and be content there until you leave.
¹¹ “If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.”
^12-13 Then they were on the road. They preached with joyful urgency that life can be radically different; right and left they sent the demons packing; they brought wellness to the sick, anointing their bodies, healing their spirits.

Observation:  Jesus did not do what he did alone.  He invited 12 others to join with him in the health and justice movement he was advancing.  12 people would remind the Jews of their origin story in Genesis, in which the 12 tribes of Israel were first identified.  He sent them in pairs.  This sending onto mission is what gave them the title "apostles" which means "sent".  No one goes alone. Partnership is an important characteristic of this movement. This mission required a community of friends, willing to go all in together. 
Jesus gives them power to "deal with the opposition."   And he advises them about their response to rejection, as if they ought to expect it.  These people were not well-trained experts.  They were not experienced leaders or practitioners of this work.  Jesus suggests that they don't need anything more, that their presence is enough.  It is clear, however, that they were sent to people who were sick, to people who were failing to thrive, to people who were disoriented, to people who were struggling to live "in the light." The opposition included religious people, political leaders, and those whose power came from wealth.  It also included mental and physical illness.  

Application:   Jesus chooses ordinary people to spread the good news of God's powerful mercy.  He recruits and sends people who are willing to go and share.  It is a movement of anybodies for everybody, and especially for those who desired healing and a better life.  The learning is in the doing of the work, the encounters they will face along the way.  Participants can anticipate rejection, because we are challenged to confront systems of injustice, oppression, and sin.  (Sin is the inner condition of the human heart that draws us away  from the right path, the lighted way, the good and righteous cause.  Both indifference to evil and active malice are equally sinful.  No one is exempt from it's power.)  When it's hard, we ought not to get discouraged, but simply move on.  Jesus' followers have seen and heard him in action, and are now invited to imitate him. He expected them to be able to do what he did. And they did it!  Simplicity, humility, community, and joy characterize their journey.  We have been invited to be part of Jesus' healing work, too.   

Prayer:  O Lord, we dare to believe that we can be your disciples.  Send us together to spread your compassion, your forgiveness, your peace.  Give us courage to confront injustice with urgency and hope.    Amen.

rejected

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.  

Mark 5:21-43

(I follow a prescribed daily reading that includes an Old Testament story, a Gospel story, and a New testament letter.  I’ll mostly connect us to the gospel, so,we’re becoming familiar with the story of Jesus). 
Scripture:  Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat^* to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’
While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing^* what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Observation: Jesus is becoming known in the villages around the Galilee region as a teacher and a healer.  Crowds have begun to follow him.  His activity has taken on the flow of a movement or a campaign.  His activity is both public (crowds) and personal (one-on-one).  Increasingly, he risks his reputation by actively engaging with outcasts.  The bleeding woman in the story would have been ineligible for marriage and generally cut off from community as cursed.  A sick and dying child, though tragic for her family, was not uncommon.  Most families would have known the loss of children.  Jesus walks in solidarity with the most vulnerable; women and children.  Both were facing impossible circumstances; with no other help available to them. Jesus allows himself to be interrupted in order to bring restoration.  Jesus ignores social norms and barriers to show mercy and justice.   Jesus breaks Jewish laws when he is touched by the bleeding woman and touches the dead girl.  He says, “Daughter your faith has healed you.”  And “Do not fear, only believe.” 
Application:  Jesus represents God’s intentions for humanity.  God intends for the most vulnerable to receive help and healing.  Suffering and death are not God’s intentions for us. Faith is the willingness to accept what God alone is able to give:  Life. Women and girls are still unjustly mistreated in the world, and continue to be the most vulnerable people on earth.   Who is vulnerable around us today?  How can we enter into their story to bring mercy, healing, and hope? Who is touching you or in need of your touch?  Who needs you to go with them? 
Prayer:      Lord Jesus, you came to rescue the vulnerable from suffering and death.  We pray for women and children in need of health care.  Amen.