Midweek Musings for Sunday, July 5, 2015

  

This week's reflection comes from
Rev. Gregory Tennermann, Assistant to the Bishop
Reflecting and Dwelling in the Word

GOSPEL                                                                    Mark 6:1-13

 

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

 

He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On 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! Is 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 offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Prophets are not without honor, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.'And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

 

The Mission of the Twelve

 

Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, 'Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.'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. 

 

Reflection

This Sunday's Gospel has two separate story lines, and wise preachers may well choose to focus on one or the other, as the connection between the two is not readily apparent.  However, I have been known to strain a text from time to time, and I am always curious about why Mark runs these two stories together and why the people selecting lectionary pericopes kept them together.  So, here goes.

 

Common wisdom about the rejection at Nazareth would say that "familiarity breeds contempt."  The home town folks remember Jesus when. . . before he was a rising phenomenon.  They know the real Jesus, warts and all, and there is no obvious reason for all of the excitement around him.  I think more is going on.  Jesus'world was very structured and stratified.  Notice what is said about him: son of Mary, not Joseph as custom would dictate.  Isn't that a way to raise questions about his birth and standing?  A carpenter or builder is a member of the artisan class, but in the layers of that society that was just one level above the expendables.  He certainly wasn't one of those who were educated well; he wasn't a military leader or a merchant; he wasn't even a peasant who produced food for the populace.  The people didn't dispute his ability to do mighty works, they just wanted to know who he thought he was.

 

That brings me to the fishermen and tax collectors and other n'er-do-wells that Jesus now decides to send out with the Gospel into the world.  If this group was qualified to share the good news and heal people and cast out demons, then certainly most of the people in our congregations are more than ready to take up the task.  I have often heard someone respond to the invitation to service with words like, "but I'm just a . . ."  Fill in the blank however you would like - housewife, janitor, lay person, beginner, kid.

 

It seems to me that these two stories come together with our own story precisely because it wasn't Jesus'social status that determined his purpose and it also wasn't the disciple's qualifications that made them effective.  The Nazareth rejection reminds us that doing God's work does not always go smoothly, even for Jesus,  but when the people are able to see Jesus as the one chosen by God to bring life and power into the world, great things happened.  The disciples, too, were properly prepared for towns that wouldn't have them but when they were welcomed as strangers, yet children of God they brought unbelievable transformation with them.

 

God calls all of us, with all our worldly limitations, to be the agents and conduits of grace for all his children.  On this weekend, when many will pay homage to our independence, we should also proclaim our utter dependence on God's love and our interdependence with each other as we receive and share God's good news.

 

Let Us Pray

 

Almighty God, healer and renewer, help us to see that who we are matters little in the face of who you have made us and who you yet call us to be; through Jesus Christ our savior, Amen 

 


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