Mark 6:1-13 Panzer Liturgical Service
We
Are Not in This Alone
In the last few weeks, we have seen Jesus preaching,
teaching, and healing in the regions outside of Jerusalem. People are amazed at
the things that Jesus can do. They follow him, far and wide. They compel him to
bring peace and healing to desperate situations. Last week the reading ended
with Jesus asking that the onlookers not tell anyone what they had seen… the
secrecy motif is strong in Mark’s gospel. But the truth is that it’s just too
amazing to keep it secret. Word spreads far and wide, sprinkled with an understanding
number of questions… again and again, people ask, “Who is he?”
My family always called me “Debbie.” I didn’t think
anything of it – it was my name. And that was true until it wasn’t. When I went
to my first appointment as a UMC minister, the senior pastor decided that
“Debbie” was too childish – he was going to call me “Deborah.” Now, I’m not a feminist
rebel, but it only took about half a second for me to reply, “Yeah, I don’t
think so.” Always the people-pleaser and peacemaker, I offered, “How about me
just going by “Deb? It’s short, sweet, and to the point.” He agreed – thinking
he had a choice. And that’s how I got my name. Funny thing though. It doesn’t
matter how many times I remind the people of my youth – 30 years later I’m
still “Debbie” to them. I don’t hold it against them – and for many of them, it
will never change. It just doesn’t feel like my name anymore.
Jesus ran into a similar problem. When he was
traveling throughout the region, he came upon his hometown. It doesn’t sound
like it was the destination, just a stop along the way. And there he met his
mother and at least four brothers and some unnamed sisters – was their meeting
filled with the obligatory small talk of relatives who haven’t seen one another
in a while? Then on the Sabbath, he went to preach in the local synagogue… Jesus
standing in among the people of his youth… they were not impressed. Instead of
asking, “Who is this?” as previous crowds did, they asked something totally
different, “Who does he think he is?”[i]
And in the process, they aired all the dirty laundry:
1- Referring to Jesus as “Mary’s son” could be considered a slur against Jesus’
questionable birth narrative; 2 – recalling his training as a carpenter,
following in Joseph’s footsteps, they show their disdain for his current calling
- now he’s just one of those crazy prophet guys out on the road; 3 – He left
his mother here, all alone to keep the family together – that’s not what a good
son does.[ii]
Thomas Wolfe’s quote feels appropriate for these first
six verses - “You can’t go home again because home has ceased to exist except
in the mothballs of your memory.” Jesus’ version of that: "Prophets are
honored everywhere except in their own hometowns, among their relatives, and in
their own households." And because of their unbelief, Jesus was unable to
perform any miracles there, except for a few who came to him specifically, and
he was appalled by their unbelief. So, he left.
And in the process, he gave his followers a new,
expanded understanding of what it means to be a member of the family and
kingdom of God. Instead of closing ranks with his followers, he engineered an
expansion of his ministry. He sent the twelve disciples out in pairs to
proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, and to bringing healing to lives
in desperate need of change.
They were called to travel light. No extras – no “just
in case” items allowed. While they preached faith, they would also be called to
exercise it. They would have to depend on the very people they were ministering
with to provide them what they needed to survive. They were to stay with people
as long as they were welcome, and if rejected, they should shake that off and
keep going until they found those who could receive their ministry and offer
them a place to stay.
The message they brought wasn’t just about believing –
the disciples were asking people to change their hearts and their lives. This
wasn’t a revival tent ministry inviting people to come forward for prayer. This
was a pilgrimage, where people incorporated the message of God’s love and made
that love bear fruit as they lived every day.
This isn’t the first time that Jesus is rejected –
it’s actually the fourth time just in Mark’s gospel alone. But this time feels
different, because Jesus is more established in his ministry, and because it’s
clear that Jesus is never coming home again. Fortunately, Jesus doesn’t stop
here. The sending forth of the twelve sets up a new model, one that will be
implemented permanently after Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and the day of
Pentecost. After this event, Jesus begins his long journey to Jerusalem,
already aware of what will come ahead.[iii] The good news is that by
the time he is gone, they will already know what to do.
As we watch the disciples begin their journeys, we
realize that Jesus is already setting up what he wants to church to be when he
is gone. We are not just called to be believers. We are called to be
proclaimers and doers of the Word. Jesus isn’t in this alone. Jesus is the
ringleader, the instigator, the chief enthusiast, the head of his body, the
Church. But he knows that he can’t change the world alone.
His disciples, even all of us, are called to live out
faith in the world. We are called to believe that with love, we can change the
world. And we do this by trusting others. We do this by offering and receiving
hospitality. A growing, living church isn’t defined by the number of people
sitting in the pews. We aren’t just called to get filled up every Sunday
morning to talk about the lessons we learn. We are called to live out – act out
– our faith in the world - in our offices and families, in the way we drive and
shop and stand in line at the post office.
For the last few months, several adults in our
congregation have been reading together the book, Liturgy of the Ordinary
by Tish Warren. Tish is an Anglican Priest in Austin, Texas, and wrote this
book to help work through the ways that our worship liturgy connects to how we
live every day. It is her belief, and I enthusiastically agree, that what we do
on Sunday mornings has a direct correlation to the things we do every day –
things that give our lives structure and meaning. Brushing our teeth, drinking
coffee or tea, sitting in traffic, making the bed… all of these activities
relate in some way to our liturgical activities of singing, reading scripture,
celebrating the sacraments, passing the peace.
In this week’s chapter, we discussed the idea of
calling a friend, and how this relates to the parts of worship where we respond
to one another. Whether it is reading the psalm responsively, participating in
the Great Thanksgiving, or praying together at various times in the service,
these all have more impact because we do them together. We stumble through
unfamiliar words together, but even then, we find a cadence for speaking in
unison, always ending with the familiar “Amen.”
Tish Warren reminds us that while we are called to individual
relationships with Jesus, it is not the sum total of the Christian life. When
we pray the Nicene or Apostle’s creeds together, we assert that it is not
possible to have a full relationship with Christ outside of a vital
relationship with Christ’s body, which we call the church. We are called to be
sent to one another. And when we worship Jesus, we not only gather with those
in the room with us, but also with a global and historic church, bearing
witness with countless others who have for the last 2000 years uttered these
words with us, “I believe…”
Opening ourselves to this reality can be hard. We love
comfort and familiarity. We want to like everyone we come in contact with,
especially in church. But the reality is this – people annoy us, just as we
annoy them. We work beside people who are irritating and awkward, people who
hold different opinions about important matters, people who seem to have
nothing in common with us outside our relationship with Jesus. By sending the
twelve out in the world to preach and teach and help everyone, Jesus set up a challenging
model that still calls us today.[iv]
We are drawn to people who are lovely and likable. But
Jesus hung out with people who are mostly not like that. So all those people
that irate and annoy me – they have as much right to be as I do. Rachel Held
Evans put it this way: “This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of
outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy
or good, but because they are hungry - because they said yes. And there's
always room for more.”[v]
The Highwomen singing group is made up of country
singers Amanda Shires, Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby. They get
it just right when they sing this:
[If we want a garden / We’re gonna have to sow the
seed / Plant a little happiness / Let the roots run deep / If it’s love that we
give / Then it’s love that we reap/ If we want a garden / We’re gonna have to
sow the seed]
I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we're young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done
Recorded and released just as the COVID-19 pandemic was shutting down the world, “Crowded Table” must have spoken to a lot of people… it not won the Grammy for Best Country Song in April 2021, but has also been arranged as an anthem with 3- and 4-part harmony for church and school choirs to add to their repertoires this fall. In the music world, that’s a special kind of success.
When we live our lives as sent disciples, we are called to love people as Jesus would love them, to serve one another, and to come to his table – his very long, crowded table. We are called to work out our faith together, despite and because of our differences. It’s messy, lackluster, boring, taxing work. Sometimes it’s painful and we think we may never recover. But Jesus’ good news for me is good news for everyone. British theologian Leslie Newbigen reminds us, “None of us can be made whole until we are whole together.”[vi]
I’ve never preached on July 4th before, and
while our national Independence Day is not the focus of our lesson, I will say this.
In 1776, a band of similarly minded men constructed and argued over a document
that declared the 13 colonies of America independent from the King of England.
They were not one in their understanding of what that would look like and painful
compromises were made on all sides. Clearly, they were not proclaiming their
independence from everyone or everything. We didn’t leave England behind to
form 13 individual countries. Instead, they worked together to form a new
government, new relationships, with new expectations.
It hasn’t always gone well. Our history is marked with
times when we have lost our way, of what it means to be the United
States of America. Fortunately, it is possible to be grateful for all the
opportunities we have as citizens of our country, even while we grieve and ask
forgiveness for the mistakes we have made and are making along the way, always
looking for a way to make things better.[vii]
This leads me to believe that our celebration of independence
is not complete until we realize that our belief in our interdependence –
becoming a community – is a necessary part of understanding who we are. Jesus
sent out the twelve to expand their understanding of what it means to be a part
of the Kingdom of God. He sends us out, too. Thanks be to God.
Peace, Deb
(c) Deb Luther Teagan July 2021
Almighty God, you have called the church into
being and have gathered us into one family. By the power of your Holy Spirit
help us to live in unity and peace with all of your children. May our actions
this day be the fruit of our faith in your kingdom. In the name of Christ. Amen.
From A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and
Other Servants, Upper Room,
190.
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-highwomen/crowded-table
[i]
Will Willimon, Pulpit Resource, July 4, 2021, The Birth of the Church, Volume
Vol 49, No 3, Year B
[ii]
Robb Mccory and Erik Fistler, Pulpit Fiction Podcast Proper 9B, July 4, 2021,
www.pulpitfiction.us
[iii]
Ibid.
[iv]
Tish Harding Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary, “Chapter 9: Calling a Friend,”
2018.
[v]
Rachel Held Evan, Searching For Sunday, Chapter 21: Open Table, 2017
[vi]
Leslie Newbigin, The Household of God, pg 147.
[vii]
Derek Weber, “Your Bone and Flesh,” Lectionary Planning Notes: 6th
Sunday After Pentecost (B) , www.umcdiscipleship.com
[viii]
Lloyd Stone ad Georgia Harkness, 1934.
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