i can see you now, clear as a bell
with you arms full of thorns, & your heart like a well
In the Gospel today Jesus’ hometown crowd take offense at him.
And why?
Simply because they think they already know him. In their hearts, the hometown crowd thinks they already know all there is to know about this Jesus…
That ought to serve as a warning for us today; us who gather regularly, us who are all too prone to imagine we already know all there is to know about Jesus.
After all, it is this presumed familiarity of the crowd that, not only astonishes Jesus, but makes it impossible for him to do some truly incredible feats…
Today, in only the sixth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus sends the twelve to carry out his ministry. It’s a pretty bold thing, all in all.
After all, Jesus and the disciples haven’t been together all that long…
But not only that; because there is that scene after Jesus told the parables, how these twelve had to come to him asking for an explanation. These disciples Jesus is sending out couldn’t make heads or tails of Jesus’ sayings. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget that night on the boat, when the storm came up - how these twelve come to Jesus full of accusations, “don’t you even care that we’re perishing?” And how Jesus reprimands them, “have you still no faith?
It’s more than fair to say that when Jesus sends these twelve out he is putting more trust in them than their behavior warrants.
And then, then when you hear the marching orders Jesus gives these disciples for their mission, you have to wonder if Jesus has lost his last bit of sense.
Jesus tells the disciples to travel light!
Well, actually he tells them to travel with nothing at all; no bread, no bag, no money - just sandals and a staff; nothing more than that one shirt on their back…
It’s as if Jesus has chosen some of the most unlikely candidates and then gone and made it even harder for these twelve to succeed with his instructions.
The whole plan seems destined to go south before it even gets started!
…As we finish reading the Gospel, however, Mark notes, “So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”
Mark, in his characteristic terse way tells us these twelve do succeed.
Apparently, these twelve, unlikely though they may have been; and their provisions, paltry though they may have been; were more than enough to set people free from their demons, cure them of their ailments.
It’s as St. Paul heard that day in prayer, “God’s grace is sufficient, power is made perfect in weakness.”
For followers of Jesus, the security or success of their mission will not be found in any place other than how closely it resembles Jesus’ own mission. Which is just to say how much their journey relies upon nothing other than God.
In other words, what the disciples need for their mission isn’t some thing, rather it’s some-one: God. That’s what Jesus is up to when he tells the twelve to go out empty handed.
Jesus sends the disciples without anything, not to make things harder, but to help them, actually; to equip them, to give them what they really need.
Now, there certainly are lessons for us as Christ’s church to take from this scene. Today, though, today I’d like for us to consider our own lives…
Each of us, we all have things in our life that we cling to, don’t we?
Those boxes in our basement full of stuff we know we really don’t need, but can’t bring ourselves to part with. That tool in the junk drawer we haven’t used in years, but held unto it anyway because we might need it. That relationship we keep going back to, although it only brings regret and sorrow…
None of us have to think very long to come up with some thing that’s in our lives that we know we should let go of; but for one reason or another we can’t bring ourselves to…
Each of us, at one point or another grasped some thing, hoping it would provide us with happiness or security or love or peace or acceptance or joy.
Only now, now in some cruel twist of fate, those things actually grasp us. We’re possessed by them…
Those things we’d love to be free from, but we just can’t imagine our lives without…
In fact, truth be told, it isn’t even so much that we don’t know how to let go of these things, it’s just that we can’t imagine doing it; so held are we by those things.
Take a moment to think; think about that thing, or things, in your life that have trapped you, those things you’d love to be freed from…
Have it in your mind? …Okay.
Think how good it would to be freed from it, to be able to go on with life without it, to not be trapped by it…
See; Jesus doesn’t send the disciples without provisions to make some kind of point.
No, Jesus forbids the disciples to take any provisions because he is actually, in the upside down ways of God, giving the disciples what they need. By removing all those things they imagine they need, Jesus is freeing the disciples. Jesus is giving them them what they really need, what will never fail them, what they can truly rely on: God.
That’s true for you too, today.
I’m not talking about just decluttering your spiritual-life; I’m proclaiming that Jesus come to you and gives you what you really need; today.
A life of simply depending on God, freed from all those other things that end up trapping us sounds good, doesn’t it? The rub, though, is that we can’t bring ourselves to let go of everything that ends up trapping us.
See, that life isn’t some goal to be achieved some day; it’s a promise Jesus makes to you, to all of us; right now. It’s a life Jesus delivers to you, here.
That isn’t an easy thing to trust; believe me, I sympathize with you all. The thing, though, is today’s Gospel doesn’t leave any room for us to sit here and sympathize. The Gospel will only allow one thing to be done; just Jesus sends the twelve out, and with nothing other than reliance upon God to cast out demons, they heal the sick; so you are sent.
In the name of this Jesus who sent out the twelve +, you too are sent.
Those things that you’ve been trapped by, they don’t have a thing on you now; Jesus comes and sends you; you too are free. You can walk away from all those things that have trapped you. Easy as that.
Don’t lose your nerve. Remember that warning at the beginning of the sermon? The locals amazed Jesus with their unbelief, their skepticism kept them from being truly healed.
We’re kind of like the hometown crowd, aren’t we?
We think we know what to expect, too. So when Jesus shows up, declaring we’re free - we take offense, we’re scandalized, we’re tripped up by what he says.
That’s what the Greek word means; “scandalon.” A rock right in the middle of the path, a rock that trips you up.
That’s Jesus’ promise to you today. As you gather, thinking you already know what to expect, the rock of Jesus’ promise is planted square in the middle of your path.
And that, sisters and brothers is the Good News; that Jesus, unexpected, yes; turns up, right in your path.
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