Mark 6. Community Conflict and Multiplying Mission

I still remember the first time my dad let me mow the lawn on my own.  I guess I was 12.  I think I wanted to try it for about 2 years.  It was a riding mower.  I had seen him mow hundred of times.  He showed me how everything worked, talking to me about the gears and throttle, the mower deck and blade.  I knew how to be safe before I ever sat in the seat.  I had even driven it in his presence several times.  He corrected me more than once as I failed to turn off the blade or missed a spot of grass.   Then one day, he handed me the keys.   
Jesus' rejection in his hometown causes a shift in his ministry strategy.  Did  you see it?  First, he becomes more itinerant, traveling to more villages.  Second, he sends the twelve out to do what he has been doing.  They become spirit-filled practitioners of his gospel work.  He is not so interested in growing a single community of believers or followers.  He sends them out like a scattering of seeds in the rich soil of Galilee.  What they do in those villages and homes and communities brings life and hope to people that one man couldn't possibly accomplish alone.  His mission spreads like an infection.  It is passed on through person- to- person contact.  It seems like his rejection there motivates him to move in a new direction. Why?  His movement is bigger and broader in scope than he can build alone.  He is building a culture of disciples, a culture of shalom, of life and health and peace.  And he is not a one-man show.  He knows that the mission's long term sustainability must not depend on him.  Because he will die.  So, the movement must be passed on to others, who can learn to do what he does.        
Just when this new strategy unfolds, we hear the story of John the Baptist's death.  The significance of which we can begin to understand in retrospect.  John's movement in the wilderness, like the Essene community of desert dwelling ascetic Jews of which he was likely a part, dies with him.  There is no longstanding Jewish community observing baptism for the forgiveness of sins, even after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.  What does this teach us?  Jesus practiced a discipleship that apprenticed people into his ministry and mission.  John did not.  His mission was to identify Jesus and to prepare the way of the Lord.  Jesus mission is to change the world by making disciples who make disciples. When faith communities become leader dependent, they live or die with that leader.  When faith communities become leadership schools, the mission long outlives its founder. 
The story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is more than a feeding miracle.  The real miracle is that the disciples become agents of God's divine power and grace.  They get to become part of God's daily feeding miracle, as the creator provides food for the earth and all its creatures.  They get to be part of God's grace economy.  And, their work does not end with one day's feeding.  Twelve baskets of leftovers remind them that their work, the mission continues. They are invited and challenged to join the mission of God to take, bless, break, and feed, the hungry world.  They are called to bring the healing, to bring the peace, to bring the kingdom to a suffering world.  This whole chapter reveals the intention of discipleship---to multiply the mission, to feed more hungry people, and to strengthen our faith in Jesus.  He is not absent.  He is observing us to correct us.  He has not abandoned his followers.  He did not abandon them then.  He has not abandoned us now.  He has just given us the keys and said, "You do it.  Keep going.  It's your turn."    It may be that, like the 12, we fail to understand our role in God's just and peaceful rule.  But we have one.  We must discover it.  Our calling.  Our gifts.  Our tasks. The good news is that we get to discover together and see the Jesus movement unfold before us.