Sent Out to Tell – sermon on April 3, 2016
Mark 6: 7-13 Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.
“Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have left those people to their fate.”
So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with oil.
Sermon: Sent Out to Tell by Rev. Doreen Oughton
The story of Jesus’ commissioning of the twelve this morning comes fairly early in Mark’s gospel. He has been preaching and healing and casting out demons. Crowds have been flocking to him, lowering sick people through the ceiling, reaching to touch the hem of his robe. He’s been challenging the authorities, sure, but the people are loving it. What an exciting time for those that followed him, those that sought him as teacher and healer. Those would have been considered his disciples. But then there were these twelve chosen by Jesus to be apostles. What an honor it must have been for them. While a disciple is one who follows and learns from a teacher, an apostle is one who is sent out. So even earlier than this commissioning of the apostles we hear about today, Jesus’ plan has been to train them and send them out. He is confident in their abilities, and conveys that to them with his instructions to take nothing with them. He knows they will be provided for. And the work is a success. The apostles preach the message of repentance, cast out demons, and heal.
I tell you, friends, this was the pinnacle for these twelve. After this trip, things just get worse and worse. They understand Jesus less and less, and he is increasingly frustrated with them. Sure there are momentary flashes of insight, such as when Simon Peter acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah, but they quickly drop the ball again, trying to argue him out of his plans to go to Jerusalem to die. They show they don’t understand when they try to send away the crowds even AFTER Jesus fed 5000 with just a few loaves and fishes. They show it when they are terrified over his calming of the storm. They don’t understand his parables. They shoo the children away. Their powers for healing and casting out demons seems to be failing them as Jesus comes down from the mountain and has to clean up their mess. They bicker among themselves as to who is the greatest, and think that ruling alongside Jesus means sitting on a throne rather than serving God’s people.
And then of course there is the debacle of the arrest, where one of his followers pulls a sword and slices off the ear of a slave. Then they all abandon him and Peter denies him three times. What a mess they’ve made of it. And yet, after the resurrection Jesus returns to these bumbling fools. He goes back to them and commissions them again. He blesses them and eats with them. He continues teach them, and tries to prepare them for another departure, as he’d tried to prepare them for his death.
This absolutely amazes me. All the commentary I read on these passages talks about how we are called to be witnesses for Jesus, to be apostles, sent out to bring the good news. And while I love the idea of it, and I love to tell YOU to go do that, when it gets down to the nitty-gritty, I struggle. Do you? I mean, I even have the advantage of having a pulpit from which to declare the good news, but you all have just your day-to-day ordinary lives. And preaching from the pulpit is not “going out,” so I am not fulfilling that obligation of discipleship.
I mean how, exactly, are we supposed to do this witnessing? Is inviting people to church the same thing as being witnesses for Jesus? Are we supposed to talk about Jesus to strangers, or to friends who are not Christian? How do we start the conversation? I’ve had people knocking at my door to tell me about their faith and to try to get me to repent. I suppose they are doing better in apostleship than I am, and yet I find it intrusive, even offensive. I hear them saying that the way I know Jesus is the wrong way, and that I will be punished for that. I’ve been “held hostage” in a sense at funerals when, rather than comforting the bereaved, the preacher uses the occasion to threaten damnation to any non-believers or “unsaved” that are present. Is that person just being a good Christian, following the commission of Jesus? And beyond the question of how we witness, I have questions about what message we are supposed to share. Is it about promoting an intellectual belief in Jesus – that he lived, died for our sins and was resurrected, or is it about living a certain way? If it’s about living a certain way, what way is that? Do we focus more on Jesus’ wide welcome, or on avoiding sins – especially sexual ones?
I don’t know. But I tell you that Jesus’ willingness to entrust those bumbling, clueless disciples with the job of witnessing gives me such comfort and hope. They received the Holy Spirit, which seemed to help them tremendously, but still, I’m sure they continued to bumble their way through their commission. They went to different places, they did different things, they emphasized different aspects of the faith. Sometimes we lose sight of how diverse the early Christian communities were in their practices and beliefs. It was only when it became the official religion of Rome and became more institutionalized were there efforts to make it consistent. It was only then that ideas and practices became considered righteous or heretical. But when Jesus turned this mission over to the apostles, I’m guessing he did not expect them all to say the same things and do the same things.
We’ll be hearing more from the book of Acts in the weeks ahead. We’ll hear how some “witnessed” by serving the widows, others by starting churches. Some followers all lived together, pooling their resources, and maybe others traveled as Jesus told them, carrying nothing and relying on the kindness of strangers. Surely there is room for diversity in how we witness and what we witness to. Maybe our making sandwiches for Worcester Fellowship is a good form of witness. Maybe singing with the Christian Community choir counts, or hosting a scripture story-telling performance. Maybe our involvement with social justice causes is a form of witness. Maybe just loving your family or friends or strangers in a self-sacrificing way is making Jesus all verklempt with gratitude for such witness. We all may well be doing plenty of good witnessing, but I think it is also worthwhile to be intentional about it. Let’s really ponder the question, do I witness to the good news of Jesus Christ? If so, how, and how can I be more aware and maybe even more adept at it? If not, what is keeping me from it? Do you want to but don’t know how, or do you get a little squeamish at the thought? If that’s the case, I’d be happy to talk to you more about it.
Thinking about Jesus’ trust in the disciples also invites me to be more gracious to those who witness in ways that rub me wrong. Maybe instead of feeling offended by them, I can bless them and trust that the spirit is moving in them. There is room for diverse beliefs, there is room at Christ’s table. May it be so.
