Date: 03 Jul 2000
Time: 00:14:43
It was about two years ago that a friend of mine told me that I had to stop trying to do it all. I would hit a glass cieling in the churches I served. They would grow to about 100 in worship and stop growing. My firend told me to multiply myself. Train the people to do the things that I enjoyed doing and get my hands off of the church as much as possible. When I started a lay pastoral care team and by having extensive training sessions on this and other subjects, the ministry began to grow.
I read this scripture and I realize that my friend was more Biblically based than I thought. Even Jesus couldn't do it alone, why should I? I still fight the tendency to do all the "Real Ministry" myself. The people are ministers and it lights me up when I see them claim the faith in doing their ministry. My job is to start programs that give them a chance. I just wish I could learn to keep my hands off!
Ran in DFW
Date: 03 Jul 2000
Time: 12:08:00
Just a few early thoughts for the week. No, we can't "do it all", and a previous saint in my life used to say, "you don't have to bring in the kingdom all by yourself" when I took too much on at once. It is by stepping back that others are allowed room to grow. Looking at 2 Cor. and this, recalls Nouwen's "Wounded Healer" image, where through our weakness and limitations we are able to be used more effectively.
Blessings, Bootheel Rick
Date: 03 Jul 2000
Time: 20:35:32
The parallel story of Jesus returning to Nazareth in Luke quotes Jesus' test as Isaiah 61: preach the good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind,liberty to the oppressed and the acceptable year of the Lord. The reaction to the crowd in the Mark and Luke accounts is similar: We know who he is and who his family is. Who does he think he is? As I read the lection from 2 Samuel 5 I noticed that it skips verses 6-8. They tell of the Jebusites thinking their city is so well fortified that it can be defended by the blind and the lame. The story implies that after David's conquest the disabled were not welcomed in Jerusalem. It is a hard passage to deal with so I do not wonder about the lectionary folk leaving it out. What I wonder about is if it is possible to put it in the reading and then use turn it inside out with the Mark passage. Mark says the only thing Jesus could do at home was some healing. He did not reject those the disabled as the 2 Samuel text suggests David did. (This does raise questions about how we understand our heroes of the faith). Jesus then sends out his disciples and tells them not to get bogged down and worry about the people who reject them, but go to the places they will be received. I don't have to worry about the answer to the question: "Who does he think he is?" Rather the question this week is "Who do I/we think he is?" Joel in Atlanta
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 00:37:44
Dear friends,
This short Mark cycle in the Gospel readings almost emphasizes peoples' reactions to Jesus more than it does Jesus' identity. It's really rather remarkable in this week's reading: Jesus is rejected in his hometown, and what do his followers do? They go out and risk the same rejection. Jesus even warns them to expect it. In my opinion, the disciples are at their all-time best here, at least until Pentecost. They get it right! It makes their eventual desertion of Jesus even more profound. The home folks just flat-out reject him.
Mark likes to emphasize contrasts. A friend remarked the other night that Mark's Gospel practically preaches itself. It's impossible not to be drawn into the story and be forced to see ourselves as either the Nazareth folk or the disciples...or maybe, just maybe, as Jesus. (Since we're called to be his body, I figure that's fine!) I've about decided that it's that combination of the contrasts and the "immediacy" that make these passages come to life.
Just my early-week percolation of the text. "This'll preach."
Peace,
Mary in TX
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 12:16:59
Wow! do I relate to this text. I'm pastoring in my home town (10,000 population) for the past 7 years. Some in my congregation I grew up with. One lady I even dated once. I think it is more of a problem for them than me. Those that know me well have difficulty referring to me as Pastor. So I'm not sure yet what I'll do with this passage. Any suggestions?
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 12:18:32
Sorry... I'm new at this. That 'hometown guy' is Don from Ontario.
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 12:37:38
It would seem that this is one of those scary talks of Jesus. Take nothing with you? Who goes on a trip without days of packing and repacking?
Is this call to simplify our lives just a 1st Century idea or can it speak to us too?
I am also thinking about talking about how we too are called and sent like they were....we just do not go...we stay......why? Our own fear of rejection....and the fact that we have too much "stuff" in our lives to leave behind...or even to leave alone for a few days..
It is early...we shall see where this leads...
Vance In NC
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 13:20:33
Don in Ontario:
from: John 4:44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)(NIV)It seems being a pastor in one's own home town is difficult. revup
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 15:02:58
My sermon for this week is titled "Just Who Do You Think You Are?" The people in Jesus' home town asked him that question and I'm pretty confident that some of those whom the disciples met did the same to them. Yet the disciples knew the answer; they could respond "I am a disciple of Jesus." Look what happened when they did. They were able to report that healings had been done and demons exorcised. Like St. Paul's reference in the 2 Cor. text, the bragging that needs to be done is for God's sake, and for what Jesus is doing not for self-glorification. Today is July 4, Independence Day. We want to celebrate our freedom in the US by declaring independence, except that our true freedom comes in becoming free from our sins so that we can be DEPENDENT on God. I hope that my congregation will respond to the question "Just who do you think you are?" with "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ." In that they can see that God can use even them, because it's God's power that makes changes. At the end of my sermon, I intend to have each one, put their hand on the shoulder of the person next to them, as I lead them through a prayer. There are many who want to be disciples but are afraid of the consequences and others who just need permission to be disciples. The hymn following the sermon is "Whom Shall I Send" and I'll be telling them to sing it as the rhetorical question that it is. Although I've got my opening and closing worked out, any suggestions for the middle would be appreciated.
Mark in Chicago
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 17:03:36
Hi Friends!
How simple and relative Christ's teachings are.I can't imagine myself in Don's shoes,I would never want to preach in my home town. Jeses knew this when sent the diciples out. I don't think when he sent them without baggage he meant just personal care items. We all need to get rid of our old selves when we take Jesus as our savior.
I shared in a birthday party last week for a congregational member who just turned 90, imagine she gave herself to Jesus 70years ago.
Her son gave a little talk on behalf of the family The one thing that really stayed with me is that he wished he had realized what a freind he had in his mother earlier in life. How about it pasors I think its a rule rather than an exception that the most difficult place for us to minister is in our own homes.
And now have you ever seen the case where some people in our church's have a difficult time supporting some of our members that they have known. Though the ministry may be great the response is less than had it been the pastor or a perfect stranger. Have you ever made a suggestion to a spouse to have it only accepted some time latter when made by someone else.
God's Peace!
jc in nny
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 20:07:56
I hear you, "jc in nny". Maybe people we are closer to (especially family members) don't always want to accept suggestions/ideas we might share right away because they know us beyond those words. They may know some of our strengths in character, but they definitely know our real and imagined weaknesses in character.
It gets me to wondering if part of Nazareth's rejection of Jesus had anything to do with his leaving home (and, presumably, the family carpenter business) at the age of 30, and at a time when his community probably figured that his aging mother (Joseph dead by this time?) needed him most for financial support. Is Jesus not, they might have asked, honouring his mother? If my pure speculation has any kernal of truth to it, then it bears out in many of life's other situations. How many families have had a son or daughter decide to go off to a mission field or to a United Nations development project instead of going out to chase the dream of earning a high income? Heads wag, parents and the extended family commiserate, and pray that the son or daughter will come to his/her senses before it's too late.
I have many clergy colleagues who left other "successful" careers (one of them was a high-powered and extremely successful investment broker) to journey towards ordination after perceiving a call from God. Some of their families had a real struggle with that. They couldn't identify with that sense of call. They figured that it was just some kind of delusion.
The disciples in this part of Mark's passage are on safer ground than Jesus is concerning their relationship with the Nazarenes. They don't have the same history/baggage with Jesus' community, and they are freer to travel around in his territory and effect Jesus' mission.
Some musings on a Tuesday afternoon.
RevIan in Québec
Date: 04 Jul 2000
Time: 20:40:23
My denomination's lectionary resource for this Sunday suggests a couple of things to reflect on when preparing topreach on this Gospel text:
When have you felt disempowered,or notlistened to? When did you first feel sent out as a Christian disciple? To do what?
Hope these questions for reflection are helping in getting the juices flowing.
RevIan in Québec
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 00:52:47
I much prefer Luke's version of this story. No doubt the crowd in Nazareth were limited by their preconcieved ideas but it makes more sense in Luke. In Luke Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah, speaks powerfully but it is too much at the point that Jesus says "Today, this is fulfilled in your presence".
In Luke Jesus is giving us his mission statement which is striaght from Isaiah. IN Mark's story things seem more petty. I have to go with Luke. Manzel
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 03:18:45
From time to time I have had members of the congregation express a desire for me to be more specific in telling them how to live. I resist, preferring instead to keep the vision and the message of the gospel before them but trusting them to make the applications in the particular circumstances of their lives.
It seems to me that something similar is occurring in Mark 6:7-13. The disciples were not sent out by Jesus with instructions to cover every situation they would encounter; they were sent out with the spirit (Spirit) of Jesus. The gospel is not an elaborately crafted set of rules or solutions to every problem in life but rather the good news of the "new heaven and new earth" to which each and all of us are being called. Each of us needs to work out our salvation in the midst of the particular journeys that comprise our lives. Same with communities of faith.
"For freedom has Christ set us free. Do not, therefore, submit again to a yoke of slavery." We are sent out as messengers and heralds of the gospel, not as "experts" who know what other people should do in their lives but in and with the Spirit of Christ- a spirit of justice, hope, joy, compassion, love. What is required of us in any circumstance is whatever love demands.
One of the reasons we need to be linked in gospel community is to help us to learn to love in the way and manner of Jesus.
Tom in Jamestown, New York
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 04:21:18
To Don from Ontario,
Don, I am also pastoring in my home town - 15 miles from the house I grew up in to family friends and family members. I suggest you at some point playfully identify this conflict that is obvious to everyone. Ignoring it or pretending it is not what it is will not help.
I also suggest Edmund friedmanns Generation to Generation for your reading and personal growth.
Be playful and honest and let others know that while you are from Ontario, you are seeking a new home that has sure foundations - this place is no longer my home!
I've been here 9 years and will hopefully e here dozen more God willing.
Just one Hometown boys thoughts for you.
Pastor Bill in NY
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 05:09:46
In verse 3 "the son of Mary" should attract special attention in Jesus's home town. If Mark is refering to Jesus as Mary's son, isn't he refering to a person who was born out of wedlock, and wouldn't this person be more demeened than just a home town person?
rog k'bach Morrison, Il.
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 05:44:03
I've been wondering about v.5 where Jesus is unable to perform any great works because of the unbelief of the hometown folk. Is this a case of Jesus' being limited by human expectations? Coudl it be a warning to any reader not to limit God with our own expectations unless we too might miss out on great works? Would apprectiate any thoughts on the matter!
Robyn (Australia)
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 14:21:12
Dear "Robyn (Australia)":
I believe you're right about Jesus being "limited by human expectations." There are so many instances where Jesus commends the faith of those who have experienced healing (including last week's gospel lesson). But perhaps the limitation is that that God will never force himself in when a choice hasn't been made by a person to at least allow the possibility of God doing a great thing. Jesus' hometown crowd were not willing to make that choice. They chose, rather, to stay within their own petty assumptions about Jesus. Their choice, within that exercise of their free will, became their own stumbling-block.
RevIan in Québec
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 17:12:04
As I read this passage, its relevance to our society today is staggering. I am the founding pastor of a new church in TX, and after 4 1/2 years and two capital campaigns, our congregation is finally making the shift from looking inwardly and asking questions like: "how big should our building be?" and "what is our church (the physical plant, that is) going to look like"... The questions being asked today are: "How can we effectively minister to the community at large?" "What can we offer to the poor and downtrodden?"
I applaud this shift. And it seems to me that this text speaks loudly to my congregation at this particular point in time. Jesus preaches to a people who were first astonished, then offended, then unbelieving. And as has already been pointed out, Jesus then sent his disciples into a world that would have, in many respects, the same reaction.
The question that comes to my mind as I consider a message that is, in a word, a "call to arms" to the witnessing community is: "What are we offering to others?" Oftentimes, we offer a watered down message that requires no change whatsoever in the hearer. In my experience, no one will be astonished, offended, or unbelieving. In fact, if it is easy enough, people might actually buy into it.
But Jesus' message isn't "easy." In fact, the gate is a narrow one, and the cross heavy. Only a radical change opens the gate and makes the carrying of a cross seem possible.
I am rambling here, but that's where my thoughts are today. Jerry in College Station
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 18:12:04
Jerry in College Station, HOWDY, We are somewhat in the same boat and I also share some of those hometown concerns as Don and Bill. I left the Bryan/College Station before I started dating and came back safely married, so at least I don't have to worry about that strange scenario!
Reaching out to the poor and downtrodden in your community is rather more difficult than most as College Station does a good job of covering up the existence of such people. They are present yet hidden.
How much of your congregation is made up of students? I was thinking about verse 8. In your 4 ½ years as pastor in College Station have you ever checked the dumpsters at semester end to see what the Aggies unload and consider worthless. They have no problem throwing away new appliances, furniture or what have you as they make their way into the corporate world. I think there is a sermon here.
Deke in Texas - sweating in the Brazos Valley - Pace e Bene
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 18:34:15
Greeting Friends, As I read this once again, I am struck by the words in the 6th verse "And he was amazed at their unbelief" Didn't he know these people of his own home town? What a suprise that the very people that he had grown up with and thought of as people of faith, now he takes a little closer look at them and sees that they are not so easy to teach or to convince that he is not just the son of the carpenter. I have seen that quite a few times in my own life. I once was asked to preach in my home church after having served churches for several years and after having served my conference in many leadership roles. I was still the child that they had watched grow up and received as one who could give a "nice talk", rather than one who would bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. It can even happen within the church that I currently am serving. People get comfortable with you, or begin to see you as the friend and not as the "Pastor" and then begin to discount what you have to say on Sunday morning. Jesus was amazed when he returned home and found that the reception was very different there than it had been in so many other towns and villages. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we took on a different appearance in the pulpit than we do at table during coffee hour? For me it has meant a return to the Roman Collar when I am "working". But for Jesus, there was no way to seperate the "home town boy" from the One with the message. Thanks for all of your good words, this has proved to be a good place to get ideas. J.D. in Blue Island
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 19:29:40
I can't help but use the old practice: "Where am I in this story?" Am I one of the locals who is blowing off Jesus? Am I one of the twelve sent out with nothing materialistic? Or do I have an unwelcoming home? We Christians tend to get so high up on our horses that he sometimes cannot bear to see our own reflections. Are we going through the motions as believers, or do we truly believe? How many of us are willing to give up everything for the sake of the gospel?
Southern Belle
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 19:58:43
Just reading this passage in Mark today and the discussion already about our limitations that we place on Jesus. I am wondering if, we as the believers, are the ones who sometimes place the great limitations on Jesus - are we the "hometown crowd?" I remember doing CPE and walking into a room of a patient who was Hindu. I started to explain that I was there for all the patients of the ICU and the husband of the patient stopped me and said, "Jesus Christ was a wonderful man, would you please pray to Jesus for my wife?" Next day I walked onto the unit and the man called me over to his wife's room where she lay now without all the machinery that she had been hooked up the previous day. "See what your Jesus did for us??? Please pray again." I'll admit, he forced me to stop and think about how much I thought my prayers to Jesus did. . . maybe I was the "townie" in that case. Laura
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 19:58:49
Just reading this passage in Mark today and the discussion already about our limitations that we place on Jesus. I am wondering if, we as the believers, are the ones who sometimes place the great limitations on Jesus - are we the "hometown crowd?" I remember doing CPE and walking into a room of a patient who was Hindu. I started to explain that I was there for all the patients of the ICU and the husband of the patient stopped me and said, "Jesus Christ was a wonderful man, would you please pray to Jesus for my wife?" Next day I walked onto the unit and the man called me over to his wife's room where she lay now without all the machinery that she had been hooked up the previous day. "See what your Jesus did for us??? Please pray again." I'll admit, he forced me to stop and think about how much I thought my prayers to Jesus did. . . maybe I was the "townie" in that case. Laura
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 20:13:09
I just returned from the Presbyterian (PCUSA) General Assembly in Long Beach, CA. If you heard anything about it through the media, perhaps it was about its controversy. But that is not what I plan to preach on.
I plan to pick up on the scripture's line that Jesus sent them out "two by two" to do the Lord's work. I do that because there were many positive things that happened at the convention, many things that fill me with me joy and hope for being a disciple. We heard, for example, from our ecumenical partners in South Korea, in Argentina, in Ghana. We did a lot of visioning about the future of the church. It was literally an experience where you were lifted out of the local church and into something much larger. You got to see the church express itself in all of its joys and concerns. And I think for this week's sermon you could see it as a way of preparing ourselves for being better disciples, for hearing Christ's words of instructions to go out "two by two".
ALex in OHio
Date: 05 Jul 2000
Time: 22:19:44
Hi everyone: thinking about the prophet-without-honor syndrome, I remember something I noticed a few times in the years I worked in the private sector before my call to ministry. The company I worked for went through a phase (it lasted several years) of thinking that outside consultants could turn the whole lackluster business around with a word. Accordingly, one gaggle of gray-suited consultants after another came in and poked and prodded and proclaimed our ills. I had opportunity to read the executive summary that one of these teams produced, and it was little more than a list of very basic observations that probably any junior or middle-management employee could have provided off the top of their head, had they been asked. Somehow, the one who is near just doesn't have the credibility of the outside expert. I believe that a strong theme of this text is that we Christ's servants today would do well to remember that blindness comes in many forms.
Aaron in Appleton, WI
Date: 06 Jul 2000
Time: 03:29:14
I find myself confronted in this passage by the instructions Christ gives to the twelve on the manner in which they are to deal with those within the community who will not receive either them or the message. This confrontation is taking me on a path toward the manner in which we should be dealing with those within our community who have become so blinded by the entrancements of popular culture that they no longer want to here a scriptural truth. There is a clear link with david's reaction to the bling and lame of the Samuel passage as well. I hope that I can find a core message of grace here.
Date: 06 Jul 2000
Time: 04:08:40
I have been focusing upon the second half of the text where Jesus limits the amount of baggage the discipes can take. I think we have a lot of unnecessary baggage that we take along on the journey of life, Some of it is guilt over past sins; guilt related to abuse we experienced in the past; mistakes; etc. Some of it relates to what we think is important and essential in life like, house, always wanting more; needing to have the popular designer clothes to fit in; going to the right schools; getting our children in to the right activities; etc. When Jesus tells the disciples they don't need certain items we may think He is ridiculous because we don't trust that He can provide for us on the journey. Holding on to Christ, we get to get rid of our unnecessary baggage. He takes it on Himself and returns to us freedom and the power of His Spirit; the Meal of His loving presence; and all that we need to be His loving people. Relying on His promise still works in this stressful world of ours and focuses our attention on Christ who is all we need. I know I have found that to be true in my life.
Tom in St. Charles, Missouri
Date: 06 Jul 2000
Time: 04:48:49
Re hometown ministry...I have returned to my "hometown" as honourary assistant priest...(so not working for pay, but for the honour of it!...am elsewhere employed as a SW). I first came to my church at 23 and was "called out to ministry" from the parish..so there are a lot of long time relationships...some even tell others...brag to others..that they have known me since kindergarten! I have learned to take that as a statement of affection. Now that I've been here 4 years...there is less "treating me like a grandchild" (I'm 50 but look younger). I find that my gifts are being more appreciated...it just takes a bit longer. ..Rev. Sarah
Date: 06 Jul 2000
Time: 05:09:18
I'm just now, after an hour of slow prayerful mulling over these Scriptures and the comments, just beginning to get an idea. Something that connects the two Christian Scriptures together...Beginning thoughts...Why do we so easily reject the "hometown" authority..we prefer the "outside" speaker/teacher. I think it has to do with knowing each other..strengths and weaknesses together...and the tremendous amount of denying/hiding/trying desperately to overcome weaknesses in order to appear "perfect" to each other. Along comes Paul and he takes a differnt approach to weakness..mind you he "boasts" ..but he has a way of allowing his weakness (without being named...I note) to exist along with his strenghts..somehow knowing that God uses both..and uses both in ways beyond our awareness and comprehension. This seems to be the grace..no Grace that we sometimes experience in "being accepted" and in "accepting that we are accepted" (Tillich?) It seems part of the dualistic approach we have inhereited from the Greeks..the good/bad graced/evil image of humans (even strengths/weaknesses is part of the dualism). Now the witness of Jesus the Hebrew to us brings about a quite different view of humanity..a more wholistic approach...dare I say. I don't have the best words yet...this'Ill be working on. Rev. Sarah
Date: 06 Jul 2000
Time: 13:05:11
Wonderful contributions again from everyone and to be honest I didn’t have a clue how I was going to develop my sermon for this week until I read all your comments and now the framework of my sermon seems to be almost done.
I want to talk of how we identify with the various people in the story (with Jesus, with the hometown folks, with disciples going out etc) but then I think I’ll maybe focus on the reaction of the hometown folks to Jesus.
I intend asking in the sermon if their response to Jesus would be the same as the people in his home town - and then extending this to asking how we treat those who are close to us, well-known to us, in our family groupings, in our group of friends, in our church. Do we take people for granted, do we wave a wet blanket of discouragement when they have new ideas, do we delight in pulling them down because of their faults and failings or have we got so used to them that we don’t even notice them or listen to them - I’d like to develop on the theme that some of you have mentioned above about the strange way we tend to respect the wisdom of strangers and reject or ridicule suggestions of those we know well (children scoffing at parents and vice versa, husbands, wives, friends, relatives often not listening to each other , ridiculing each other, lacking respect - and in demeaning ways putting each other down in public - some of them even on chat shows).
I intend using the wonderful story “The Rabbis Gift” from Scott Peck’s book “The Different Drum” (text of story included below if you are not familiar with the story) and then emphasising that if we take those around us for granted or ridicule or ignore their views, then we are acting exactly the same as those who rejected Jesus in his hometown. I want to use this illustration and the sermon to help us to redevelop a vibrant and active interest in each other thus strengthening Christ’s body. Some may attack the story of the Rabbis Gift on the grounds that it might say that we are tricking the person into being on their “best behaviour” in case the person is the Messiah - thus not accepting the person as they are - leading to the question “What if we discover he/she is not the Messiah, how should we treat them.” The question is hypothetical because I believe that in each person we will most definitely find the Messiah (if we look hard enough).
STORY: THE RABBIS GIFT: It concerns a monastery that had fallen on hard times. “Once it had been a great order, but over time it declined until there were only five monks left, and they were all very old. Clearly it was a dying order. In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut that a rabbi from a nearby town used as a retreat. One day it occurred to the abbot to visit the rabbi and ask if, by some possible chance, he might offer any advice that might save the monastery. The rabbi welcomed the abbot at his hut. But when the abbot explained the purpose of his visit, the rabbi could only sympathise. "I know how it is," he exclaimed. "The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore." So the old abbot and the rabbi wept together, read the ancient scriptures, and spoke of deep things. When the time came for the abbot to leave, they embraced each other. The rabbi said, "I am sorry I have no advice to give you. The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you." When the rabbi returned to the monastery his fellow monks clamoured to hear the rabbi's response. "He couldn't help us," said the abbot. "But he did say something strange just as I was leaving. He said the Messiah is one of us. I don't know what he meant." In the days and weeks that followed the old monks pondered this and wondered whether there was any significance to the rabbi's words. The Messiah is one of us? Could he possibly have meant one of the monks at the monastery? Maybe he meant the abbot. He has been our leader for more than a generation. On the other hand he could have meant Brother Thomas. Everyone knows he is a man of light. Or maybe brother Elred. He is kind of grumpy at times but when you get down to it, Elred is a wise counsellor. Certainly it isn't Brother Philip. He is so passive. A real nobody. But then, he has a mysterious gift for always being there when you need him... As they contemplated in this way, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one among them may be the Messiah. And on the very remote chance that each monk himself might be the Messiah, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect. Because the forest surrounding the monastery was so beautiful, people occasionally wandered by. Some even went to the chapel to meditate. As they did so, they began to sense a new awe and respect that now surrounded the monks and began to radiate out from them. It seemed to permeate the atmosphere of the place. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back more frequently, bringing their friends to this special place to picnic, to play, to pray. Some of the younger male visitors began to interact with the old monks and soon many were asking to join. Within a few years the monastery once again became a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi's gift, became a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the realm. “
Many thanks for all the ideas - I started with a blank mind this week and now I’m inspired. Blessings Rev Shirls Edinburgh, Scotland
Date: 06 Jul 2000
Time: 20:15:56
"I survived the Great Depression" he told me, as I sat by his hospital bed. Times were tough and you did what you had to do, whatever you could find to do, in order to get by."
"Like the time I realized that the neighboring farmer I'd been working for when I had to quit school and help Mom and Pop would probably never have the money to pay me the weeks of back waged he owed. So I grabbed up my clothes and razor, announcing to my parents that I would be heading into town to get myself a job. They protested that my hands around the home farm would be missed while reminding me that jobs were few and far between but I insisted that felt compelled to try. 'I'll stay overnight with cousin Clem' I informed them. Then I set off walking. It took me all afternoon to get there and when I arrived Clem informed me that I was welcome to stay as long as I needed, but I'd have to carry my own weight as there was simply no extra money or food to be had.
I ended up staying a all week, and actually beyond. But that is getting ahead of myself as I tell you my story! You see, every morning I went down to the mill and stood in line with all the other people looking for work. There must have been at least 50 men there each time! Eventually the superintendent would come out at the door in the yard ahead of us. He would say nothing, just look at the crowd and shake his head no. I was told this meant he had no jobs to offer. Everyone would simply turn away then and leave. Well come lunch time I was back at that mill, waiting along with everyone else. Same thing in the afternoon just before supper time. You see, it was too far to walk back and then return, and I had nothing else to do with myself anyway. And every time it would be the same way: he'd come just outside the door, look down at the folks there, and shake his head at us.
Friday came. Morning, afternoon, and finally evening. This time when he came through the door he stood there for a second looking at me. Then he called me aside while shaking his head no to the others and waving them away. 'How many damn times have you been here now today?' he demanded. Every time you have come out I replied…of every day this week.' 'You really want a job, don't you?' he asked. 'Yes sir, I do. I really need this job badly.' 'How long and hard will you work for me if I hire you' he inquired. 'As long as I can, I'll give you satisfaction for your money' I promised.
And that was the beginning…the first thing I did to get by through those times."
He continued his sage with tales of the many kinds of jobs he'd worked at, the skills he'd learned and polished in order to marry and take care of his growing family. He talked of the war years. Of how he'd gone away, seen and done some horrifying things, and how glad he had been to return home and pick up where he had left off. Then he delivered the punchline. He revealed to me the core of what lay behind the strength which he and many of his generation exhibited as they paved the way for mine. "And preacher, you know what? Through it all Jesus was there with me. He showed me the way, gave me patience when I didn't have none and hope when I felt inclined to dispair. I thank God for helping me do what I could never have done alone."
Suddenly my own concerns seemed so pathetically small. How dare I wallow in self pity, closing myself off to HIS comfort as I grieved my relocation to a new ministry which took me hours away from the child and grandchildren with whom I'd enjoyed four years of close proximity. What right did I have to forget that I could rely on HIS strength when my own aging body reminded me that this moving stuff didn't get easier as we grow older.
You know, when we the people are willing to have ears to listen…sometimes a prophet (a very ordinary seeming one) really can preach in his own hometown! Rev She in NC
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 03:09:32
Thanks so very much for the wonderful postings and thought provoking material this week.
Aaron in Appleton WI - we say folks who are brought in as hired guns come with "Geographic Credentials"
I began thinking as I read and refected on everyones postings, Is it possible that our communities take our Main Line denominational churches for granted because we are too familiar? The new upstart independants have no reputation and are "mystical". We are sometimes old and cold.
I really enjoyed Rev. Shirls story of the Rabbi's Gift. I think I'll work at developing these two ideas into a Sunday offering.
Thanks again.
Pastor Bill in NY
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 04:33:48
Hi Everyone! Here are my Friday thoughts on the text:
I too feel almost like I am in my home-town. I'm actually in the church my mother, and her family grew up in, and my grand-mother still is. In fact if you don't mind tredging out to fifth cousins, I can lay links to a quarter of the congregation! But then, I think my status as student minister makes it a lot easier as well.
I think the link to Jesus being rebuffed, and then sending out the disciples is really crucial for this text. In fact it's the third time this has happened in Mark.
Have a look at Mark 1:-16-34, Mark 3:1-19 alongside this text. In all three times we have a stories of rejection/conflict,some example of Jesus withdrawing from the current situation and going out to minister in some sort of lower profile type ministry (or at least away from populated places), and a story of Jesus calling or sending the disciples.
Three times those three things happen next to each other. It speaks to me of hope. That in the face of failure we can go on, knowing that Jesus is with us. calling us, sending us onwards.
It is often commented on that in Mark Jesus acts as the model of discipleship, where in the synoptics esp. it's the disciples that do that. But as Mary from TX has noted here already, this time in Mark the disciples get it right. They do a GREAT job.
I see a lot of hope there.
Blessings to you all. Luke
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 13:50:41
Hi everybody, reading the comments this week I'm am shocked at all the stories or feelings of rejection. I have a hard time relating to not being accepted in one's hometown, not that any persons feelings aren't leggit, but lets not make a blanket analysis or generalization. Being United Methodist every year I have to be reaffirmed by home church to continue in ministry until I reach ordination. For 3 years now at my home church's annual conference they celebrate my reappointment (to another UM church). Each year they ask me to come back to speak and share how Christ has helped me grow. Once I delievered a sermon and then received several requests for copies because they enjoyed the content. I started as a lay speaker in the church and my calling grew out from there. I was a successful sales manager, close to six figures, and walked away to fill a pulpit as a student pastor. Everyone I know rejoiced - not critcized.
Maybe the rejection of Jesus wasn't so much because of who he was, maybe it is because he made no effort to establish his creditials by signs or miricals as is the custom in Mark.
I find it hard to believe that God would send his son and knowingly reject a whole region. I see that's why Jesus sent out the disciples - he knew that he needed another way to reach the people in his home region. That's why we are sent out because Jesus needs another vehicle to reach people of this region.
That's what I believe, but I could be wrong.
DM in OK
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 14:21:56
I have enjoyed and been inspired by all your contributions.
I really liked the question--Just who do you think you are--I am a disciples of Jesus.
When I was called, I received extraordinary support from my small rural church. But, I know of many who did not. Not only were their calls questioned, but it seemed like all their inadequacies were pointed out. (isn't he just a carpenter?). It certainly could have been true for me in my local church. I wasn't always a regular church goer, I didn't alway participate in bible study, etc. They could have thought I was inappropriate for the 'call.' I think back and I think it takes alot of courage to stand up and say "I am a minister, disciple of Jesus."
But isn't that we are all called to be, and isn't that what the disciples are called to be, ones sent to spread the good news. And it takes courage to be sent in your hometown--that's where we ask our congregations to go--to their workplaces, their schools, their town committees, etc., and there proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ--right where they live. And every time that they stand up and identify themselves as disciples of JC, they are vulnerable to the same stuff that JC was--ridicule, aren't you just a local teacher/administrator, mother, father, etc.--I know your faults,--just who do you think you are.
The good news, i.e. 2nd Corinthians--God uses our weaknesses. If I, with my faults, inadequacies, am called to be a disciple for JC, if I am 'good enough' for JC, aren't we all.
Just a long thought,
Michelle Groton VT saper@together.net
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 16:34:46
I found a very helpful translation of this passage: www.vashti.org/sermonnext.htm A few ideas: The townspeople rejected Jesus because they thought they knew everything there was to know about him. They were his playmates, babysitters, teachers, customers. Their minds were closed to what their eyes plainly saw. If any people can claim to know Jesus, it is the church. We know his mother's name, where he was born, his mission, etc. Perhaps, because we have heard the stories so many times, we have tuned out. Our minds are closed. And we wonder, while we wait for God to display his power, why there's no change in our lives, no renewal in our community. God is calling his people to action. If we wait for just the right time or resource, it's not going to happen. Our communities are crying out for meaning and peace. They're not going to find it in new cars, bigger homes, more money, better schools. We have the answer to life's deepest needs - Jesus.- God's blessings on all. RevDawn
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 18:10:41
The stories of preaching in your home church made me think of a funny stroy that a priest told. He was home visiting and the pastor of his family's church offered for him totake the mass that the family normally attended. In the middle of the homily his 6 year old neice stepped out in the center aisle and said in a loud voice, "Uncle Michael, You don't know what you're talking about!"
Stunned to silence with his face reddening with embarasment finally uttered, "Katheleen, Grandpa always told me never to argue with the women of this family, you must be right." And with that he left the pulpit to continue the service.
The posts have been wonderful this week. I thought I was going to preach this text next week (our lectionaries are out of sync for some reason), but I realized that I will be on retreat next weekend. Thanks for all the excellent thoughts on this gospel.
Pastor Bill's thought about becoming too familiar, old and cold, as he put it is always a problem. We Catholics used to have parish missions once a year. This practice has become rare, at least locally. The missions were preached by often excellent preachers who speciallized in stirring up people. They were free to be contoverial and tough because they were leaving after a week or ten days. Some really opened up peoples hearts to the Good News and others made them appreciate their old safe pastor. This practice gave something new in the old. I suppose the missions are similar to a revival, just with a Catholic flavor. Does anyone host these kinds of events anymore?
Deke in Texas -- Pace e Bene
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 19:41:07
I'm planning to look at this passage from two perspectives: 1) Jesus. It would have been very easy for an insecure Jesus to drop out of ministry after his disappointing experience in Nazareth. After all, if the home folks won't accept you, who will? But there was the power of his call. He was willing to suffer disappointment, and follow the divine call. I'll refer to John Maxwell's book: Failing Forward. Talk about how we handle disappointments in life. There are always lots of illustrations in the world of sports about athletes who overcame disppointments and obstacles to go win an Olympics medal or something.
Second, the most obvious principle of the passage is that we can limit God's work by our negative attitudes. God looks to us for faith: positive response to God's initiatives. If we are negative and critical, we can be sure God's work will not be done in our midst. But if we can respond with faith, we can be SURE God WILL WORK in our midst.
Thanks for all the good material!
Clare in Iowa (I've been absent from the postings for some time. It's good to see your stuff again!)
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 20:44:28
To add another experience to that of Don and others: I too am a "hometown" pastor, having been called and served for a year as Assistant in the parish I have been affiliated with for 15 years, which was my sponsoring parish for ordination, in which my child was raised, which has for all those years been right down the street. I felt called to be here but had some trepidation about "going home again". It has been a year of wonder and grace - I sense that knowing the history and knowing the folks makes preaching and pastoring not easier to do, but somehow more direct and easier for folks to hear. Blessings. H in NE
Date: 07 Jul 2000
Time: 21:14:35
"He was not able to perform any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them." My friend Mary (also a pastor) points out that healing sick people is a MIRACLE. Teaching and healing is the same awesome work that Jesus has been doing other places. The problem is not really that Jesus can do no acts that reveal God's power in that place. The problem is that people's expectations BLIND them to the revelations that are before them. We all receive miracles, but are they miracles to us or do we give God's awesome acts "explanations" based on our "expectations" that dimish their effect in our lives? DL in ME
Date: 08 Jul 2000
Time: 13:16:40
I think as pastors or in my case a student we all try to do it all. We put ourselves in the position of mr. or ms. fix-it. When it is all said and done we either get burn out . We wonder what went wrong, when a realization of we can't do it all. jesus was a man and God but because of his humanity he even had to call on the Father, so why shouln't we? Pat in N.C.
Date: 08 Jul 2000
Time: 16:41:24
It's amazing that even the miracles of Jesus do not produce faith in this passage from Mark. It seems to be saying that just as faith has positive effects when present, so the absence of faith takes away from the glorification of God & the realization of God's saving power. Faith in God's ability seems to be what is at issue here. I'm struggling with how my faith community can hear this story, see God's presence anew & at work among us. The "Gift of the Rabbi" story was a huge help. Everyone's thoughts grease the wheels & this first-time contributor (former lurker) is grateful. Peg in NJ
Date: 08 Jul 2000
Time: 17:45:21
Late Saturday greetings . . . I am a new pastor struggling with what will be her second sermon in a first parish . . . and I was hoping to bounce an idea off some of you more seasoned folk . . . I am working with idea of discipleship and how, like the disciples, Jesus does not send us alone but two by two . . . In Mark, Jesus instructs his disciples to take nothing except a staff . . . might the same instructions speak to us--that we are to take nothing except a staff (our "staff" being the cross of Christ)? If the idea seems workable, might someone be willing to help me fill out the thought a bit?
Date: 08 Jul 2000
Time: 17:46:20
Sorry - forgot to add my name . . . staff related question posted by . . . JS in NJ
Date: 08 Jul 2000
Time: 17:46:31
Wonderful contributions...A blessing to be here. It's as if we are around the blessed Table itself with Jesus among us, as we stumble forward towards the Day of Resurrection preaching task. Rev. Sarah (Oh, yes..I was a former "lurker" and now a first time contributor)
Date: 09 Jul 2000
Time: 02:11:47
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What I most "hear" in this text (and your comments) is that we humans do stop the miracles of God around us, maybe, because we'd rather stick with what we know than change. And, I also "hear" Jesus' acceptance of our fear -- for he tells the disciples to move on if the folks they preach to can't let that good news in. He knows our humanity. I'm entitling the sermon -- WWWD "What Would We Do?" so that we can ask ourselves (myself included) how open we are to a good God who works to heal, liberate, and grant us wisdom -- even when we are scared to be changed. Blessings to you all in the last minute work of preparing a sermon! Kathryn in OR
Date: 09 Jul 2000
Time: 02:12:28
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What I most "hear" in this text (and your comments) is that we humans do stop the miracles of God around us, maybe, because we'd rather stick with what we know than change. And, I also "hear" Jesus' acceptance of our fear -- for he tells the disciples to move on if the folks they preach to can't let that good news in. He knows our humanity. I'm entitling the sermon -- WWWD "What Would We Do?" so that we can ask ourselves (myself included) how open we are to a good God who works to heal, liberate, and grant us wisdom -- even when we are scared to be changed. Blessings to you all in the last minute work of preparing a sermon! Kathryn in OR
Date: 31 Jan 2001
Time: 12:36:59
god was sad in manny ways