May the eyes of the blind be opened
The poor hear good news
Those in prison be released
And Gods justice be seen in our lives.
The Lords Prayer in our own language
Song “I danced in the morning”
Reading Mark 6v1-13
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206%3A1-13&version=NIV
Sermon “Regroup, change your strategy”
Life is complex so we have to work out what is of vital importance. This passage is about what was vital for Jesus task on earth.
There is growing trouble after the raising of Jairus’s daughter. Jesus leaves Capernaum to preach in the villages of Galilee and begins twenty-five miles away in his hometown of Nazareth. At first his teaching in the synagogue astounds them (a Mark word!) but they cannot forget that though he is a good teacher now, and popular, he grew up with them and was a carpenter like his father. There is a shift of mood as Jesus' ministry begins to deepen.
In the early part of Jesus' ministry he went to the local synagogue and was invited to speak. This amazement quickly becomes rejection and unbelief. They become scandalised by his teaching. There are references to Jesus brothers and sisters and his mother Mary, and then to his father Joseph and his own trade, a carpenter-builder. They are local. They are suspicious of
him. Jesus is insulted by the crowd, his neighbours. He is only Mary’s son, perhaps indication Joseph was dead or that he was illegitimate; A carpenter, whose mother, brothers and sisters we know. The brothers are named. The sisters are not.
So they refused to believe in him and his teaching. "A prophet is not without honour except in his own country." Would you accept someone you knew from childhood telling you how to live your life! Even Jesus had limitations and could not do anything there except heal a few people by laying hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. So he changed his strategy! He left the synagogues and moved to the villages. This was the last time he went to his hometown Nazareth or to the synagogue. He called twelve of his inner circle of disciples and sent them out in pairs to give the good news, taking a walking stick, no bread, no bag, and no money in their pockets. "Wear sandals, but only take only the clothes you are wearing", he told them. "When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.
If the people in a certain place refuse to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place. Shake its dust off your feet as a warning to them." So he regroups and his apprentice disciples are sent out to exorcise demons and heal the sick. Sometimes we need to regroup and change strategy. So the disciples went out. They encountered many disturbed people disturbed they anointed them with oil and healed them. The disciples were completely dependent on being housed and fed by people in the villages they were visiting. A model of hospitality. No salary, no houses, just hospitality. Its inherent in their mission that there will be rejection. They are to take just a walking stick and their sandals. Sandals are a logo of discipleship in Mark. So it is houses and villages that are the basis for mission, not the synagogue or the church.
So maybe we need to look at this model.
1. Maybe we need to focus on healing more
2. Maybe we need to focus on homes more
3. Maybe we need to focus on hospitality more
Discipleship consists of calling/naming/sending. It depends on hospitality for sustenance-we could be entertaining angels unawares. Amen
Song “Beauty for Brokenness” https://youtu.be/08utbDFP9AE
We pray for our world, our country, our communities, our families and friends.
May the God of peace inspire us
The God of Justice give us strength
The God of Hope encourage us
To be the Good News. Amen
