“Stunned…Together”
July 4, 2021
My three college friends joke about it every time we meet up for one of our beloved reunion weekends.
Our daughter just shakes her head and Roger, who is often the most directly impacted, can never help but comment on how long we’ll be gone and directs my attention to the fairly small and lightweight bag he’s bringing.
Some would say I overpack whenever I am going away.
I like to think of it as being prepared for any possible occasion.
I can imagine that a therapist would have a theory that I want to bring home with me wherever I go.
Sometimes one of the best parts of the trip happens before we even start packing.
We imagine all of the adventures and new experiences that we’ll have.
We look forward to eating someone else’s cooking and sleeping in a bed that is not the one we make every day at home.
Jesus here is preparing his disciples for the life-changing mission they are about to embark on.
What seems surprising is that Mark, in this Gospel account, after the healing and adulation that Jesus received right before this, chooses to tell us how Jesus becomes almost powerless as part of the preparation for the sending out of the disciples.
What is not surprising is the reaction of his hometown Nazareth neighbors.
Often, we want to make sure that the conquering hero or star hasn’t gotten too big for their britches.
There are folks also for whom life is a zero-sum game and if someone is affirmed, someone else must look bad in comparison.
They knock him down a notch by referring to him as his mother’s son rather than the socially acceptable practice of identifying him as his father’s son.
In Luke’s version of this event, he changes this to remove the scandalous part where the people refer to him as the son of Joseph.
Mark describes the lack of belief on the part of his hometown neighbors as having a direct impact on Jesus’ own power.
The ability to limit God’s power seems like we have more sway with God than many of us believe.
Instead, a way to look at this is that these Nazarenes are unwilling to be a vessel for the love of God that Jesus is offering them.
Up until then, folks were clamoring to be healed by Jesus.
These familiar folks are, in their insecurity and small-mindedness, refusing to be a part of such a blessing by Jesus.
And Jesus is stunned by this.
Before the disciples hit the road, they witness firsthand the very real pushback they could encounter.
Jesus sends them out without a packed suitcase, seemingly ready for any possibility.
Instead, as Eugene Peterson in The Message describes it, he commissions them with these specific instructions:
“Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this.
You are the equipment…Keep it simple.”
This may seem pretty spartan, especially for someone like me who brings two shirts for each day they’re gone because what if I spill something on one and that extra pair of shoes just in case I get the chance to dance or hike or whatever, but we should also remember that hospitality to total strangers was the norm at that time throughout the Mediterranean region.
The expectation of honorable families was that they would make room for strangers to sleep and feed them. To not do so would be viewed as shameful.
Basic human needs were met and carrying anything extra could be viewed as a burden.
Jesus is equipping his disciples for ministry out in the world.
He invested time in creating friendships and relationships before sending them out there.
He was not preparing them to be defensive but rather loving and compassionate out in the world.
The Gospel calls us to be on the move and that means, in contrast to Jesus’ unbelieving hometown neighbors, we are meant to grow and change.
Are we willing to be changed and allow those we know to also change?
Do we seek out others with whom we can do the harder parts of living into our identity as Christians?
Who do you consider to be your partners in living as a disciple?
We are going to encounter resistance to our healing efforts.
Some will say there’s such a thing as being too kind, too generous, too understanding, too accepting of difference.
And yet, like Jesus, we can move beyond the doubters and the naysayers.
What we do, in love, toward friend and foe alike, matters. We do it not to earn a place in heaven or to stay on God’s good side but as a response to God’s invitation.
We were baptized into the faith for a purpose.
We can choose to partner with God and care for and bless God’s world or we can reject that opportunity.
And just as important as what we take with us for the journey – an open heart, a listening ear, compassion, a willingness to do hard things when necessary – so, too, consider what we should probably leave behind if we’re out in the world living into our identity as children of God.
We might leave behind our bitterness born of disappointment.
Let’s not pack a “my way or the highway” approach to the range of issues that has us divided as a nation.
Let’s leave some room in our virtual bags each day for souvenirs – memories of lives touched, words of kindness offered even on the hardest days, experiences where we were changed for the better.
As we come to the table that Jesus has set for us, may we know that this meal is meant to strengthen us for the journey.
Let us taste and see and then share the goodness of the Lord. Amen.