Year B

Mark 6:1-13

The Rev. Denise Vaughn

Go In Faith

Remember Lawrence Welk, famous musician and host of his own TV show for years, he began his life in a Dakota farmhouse with sod floors and walls. He was one of eight children born to parents of German ancestry. They were farmers, and expected Lawrence to take up farming as well. From his earliest years, Lawrence was interested in music. His father played the accordion for the family’s amusement. When he was a teenager, Lawrence bought a cheap accordion, but it soon fell apart. He saw a more expensive one, and proposed to his father that he would work on the farm for four years without pay if he could have that accordion. The deal was made.

After years of practice, he rented the local opera house and tried to sell tickets for a concert, but it was a dismal failure. No one thought that the local farm boy could be very entertaining. He tried unsuccessfully several times later, but few tickets sold. Even his own family wouldn’t come to hear him play. His father told him that music was all right as a pastime, but not as a life work. Lawrence decided that he would have to leave home to find a place where his music would be accepted. His father warned him that he wouldn’t last six weeks, but on his twenty-first birthday; Lawrence left his hometown to test his dream. It was only then that he found success, huge success, as a maker of music.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is to move on to another place. All four gospels tell us that Jesus was also rejected by his hometown and home synagogue. They all say that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown among his own relatives. According to Mark, Jesus goes home to Nazareth accompanied by his disciples after performing great miracles.  Once in Nazareth, Jesus goes to the local synagogue on the Sabbath. The synagogue is the place where Jewish teachers go to teach and this is where he goes to teach the hometown crowd. Perhaps their reaction to him is because they are taken by surprise. This Jesus who they watched grow up and who as a carpenter probably had made their tables and benches and now, he is in the role of a wise prophet of God.

This astounds them and strikes a nerve. They understand that what they see is the work of a king, “What deeds of power are being done by his hands!” But, they cannot grasp what this means. Because they find it incredible that one whose origins they know so well should be able to do such astonishing things, their questions are motivated by their unbelief which then leads them to believe that Jesus is actually a danger to their health because of his relationship with God. In Jesus’ day, you didn’t act beyond the social norms in your faith to God. Jesus acted outside all the social norms of his day so it caused quite a charged exchange between him and the people of his hometown. They expect to see the Jesus they had always known, the one who was no different from them. They were not able to see beyond their own limited view of him.

The result of this lack of faith in Jesus’ abilities, Mark tells us, renders him powerless. We know that God endowed Jesus with God’s own power. Yet, here we are reminded of the reality of Jesus’ humanity and his struggle with the limitations of being human. In truth, his powerlessness probably is not so much about him as it is about the people, about those who are unwilling to believe the great things God can do, through Jesus and through God’s people. This is why Mark in his gospel, and in all of the New Testament, seeks to answer the question, who is Jesus? “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The rejection of his own people then sets the stage for the mission of the twelve disciples. Jesus’ rejection and failures are an important lesson for the disciples to witness and experience as they will experience the potential for rejection that sharing the gospel risks.

Yet, in spite of this potential of rejection or anxiety over telling the story, this is part of what Jesus calls his disciples to do. Just as Jesus persists in his work of teaching and healing among many who did not believe, he commands his disciples to persist in their own work in his name. The good news in this portion of the text today is that we are not held responsible for the response to our ministries in Christ’s name, but only our own faithfulness to go and do. The twelve who went began a great missionary movement in the history of the faith. They were the first ones down a road that has been worn smooth by the footsteps of millions of feet. Feet made up of men, women and children who have responded to Christ’s call and who have been willing to step out for Jesus Christ. As he sent those first disciples out, Jesus advised them of the task before them; the risk involved, and the challenge of his call.

Getting ready for this task was not like the normal preparation for a trip. Today, Jesus might say, “For this trip you won’t need a suitcase; don’t even pack a sandwich. Just take your walking stick and a good pair of tennis shoes. As for money and especially a certain credit card, this is the one time you can leave home without it. Keep it simple Jesus said, “You don’t need much, and everything won’t be perfect, and you won’t have all the answers, but the important thing is to go. Their task and calling was to be faithful, to proclaim the word, call people to repentance, heal the sick and cast our demons. And they did. This ordinary band of followers sent out in pairs, brought the good news of Jesus Christ. There call was faithfulness and because of their faith they were successful in starting a movement that continues today.

To those who go in faith; Jesus shares and gives his authority willingly which comes from his absolute and obedient faith and trust in God. The disciple’s successful missionary adventure is a sign that when we respond to the gift of faith by accepting our authority alongside our king and we take up the responsibility of disciples to proclaim, to heal, and to claim victory over death, we don’t have to worry about the results. The Holy Spirit will take care of the results. We are to trust the one who sends us out; the one who has the authority over the created order, life and death, and the spiritual realm.

Jesus didn’t give up or give in but decided to go with what he had. Even as Mark brings his gospel to a close, the rejection of Jesus will grow even greater. There will be rejection not only by his own family and the people of his hometown, but by the leaders of his own nation. This rejection will take him to the cross. But that didn’t even stop him because the tomb was empty which changed the world and Jesus still sends us out today to change the world. He showed us what trust in God looks like and those who share in this faith share in his authority as disciples who are called to speak truth in love from the heart, and never give up. Christ challenges me and you to accept his task, in spite of the risks involved.  Will we accept the task and be one of today’s twelve or will we be like those who were unwilling to believe the great things God can do, through Jesus and through God’s people?  Even when we are met with resistance, we cannot get discouraged but we should obediently carry out the work with perseverance and determination together.