Ministering Together
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Mark 6:1-13
The New Testament in a Year sermon series
Rev. Brian North, Westminster Presbyterian, Chehalis, WA
October 23rd, 2011
This morning brings us to a momentous occasion in Jesus’ life as he returns home to the town where he grew up. Homecomings are always important events. We long to be home. We long to be welcomed home. We have a special day and football game in high school and college commemorating “homecoming.” For Jesus, however, returning to Nazareth proves to be more difficult than expected. And from this difficult reception he gets, the ministry that takes place in his hometown, and then the ministry that happens through his disciples right after it, we’re going to see the importance of ministering together – with Jesus and with each other. So, let’s join together in the reading of God’s Word as we look at Mark 6:1-13…
Mark 6:1-13
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 offence 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.
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.
We see a stark contrast in these two paragraphs. In the first, Jesus’ ministry is not accepted. He preaches, but no one listens. They aren’t receptive. In fact, they’re critical. Mark lists several rhetorical questions that the people were asking – if not as he preached, at least soon afterwards. They remember Jesus from when he was a boy, growing up, and as a young adult. He was a carpenter. To their way of thinking, he’s no different than any of the rest of them. In fact, he’s the brother – or we might more rightly say “half-brother” – of several people who still live there in Nazareth, some of whom were there at that moment. And as a result of this skeptical, resistant attitude toward Jesus and his preaching, He was not able to do much ministry. This is probably the lowest point in Jesus’ public ministry: few miracles, few people putting their trust in him, little growth in God’s kingdom.
Then there’s the ministry of the disciples. Jesus sends them out two by two. And unlike Jesus’ ministry in Nazareth, their ministry goes well in the places they visit, as evidenced by the healings and driving out of demons in people’s lives. Actually, the first thing we’re told about their ministry is that they preached a message of repentance. It’s not so much that it’s their message, but it’s the message that’s been to given them. We don’t with our lives or by our mouths preach something that’s from us. You and I, when we are sent by Jesus out into the world, are simply bearers of his message. And that message is to repent.
Literally, repent means to “turn around.” Biblically, it means to respond to God’s generous act of grace in the person of Jesus Christ, change your mind and fit your life into that new mindset. The proof of repenting and following Jesus as his disciple is seen in how a person lives. So, a question worth asking ourselves is, “Does my life look anything like the life of Jesus?” For followers of Jesus, the answer should be “yes.”
If the answer is “no, my life doesn’t look much like Jesus’” it’s probably because of our attitude toward Jesus. We haven’t really repented, and changed our mind about some facets of our lives. The light of Christ hasn’t illumined certain closets we’re trying to keep shut. Maybe we haven’t flipped the switch in our brains from “selfishness” to “selflessness” or from “hate” to “love” or from “apathy” to “action” or from “lies” to “truth” or from “indifference” to “compassion” or from “arrogance” to “humility”. We’re still hanging onto those old ways of thinking, which impacts our living. That’s why Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Oftentimes, even more than the heart, the head is where we need to start. Maybe this morning some of us need to start right there, too, so we would get on track with the love of God and forgiveness in Jesus.
So that’s the message they took out to the towns – to repent. The proof that the message was received is seen in the casting out of many demons, and healed the sick. And so Mark shows us the stark difference between the ministry that Jesus had in his hometown, and the ministry that the disciples had when Jesus sent them out two by two.
Besides our own need for repentance, what does this mean for us today? What can we learn from Jesus’ experience in Nazareth, and the contrast of the experience of the disciples’ experience in other towns? I want to highlight three things.
First: No one can be healed who refuses to. Mark tells us that Jesus was “amazed at their lack of faith.” Simply put, that is something I don’t want Jesus to ever say about me, or about any of the rest of us. I know it happens, unfortunately…because I struggle to live by faith, just like we all do. But: I want my life and my ministry, the ministry for each of you and for this church – and for Christians and churches everywhere – to look more like the ministry that the disciples had than what Jesus had in his hometown. It didn’t happen there, though. And this isn’t to blame Jesus. It’s not like he had an off day in the pulpit or the powerpoint failed or the choir sang off-key or anything like that.
The lack of ministry by Jesus in his hometown was because of their lack of faith. Whatever the underlying attitude was, the result is that they refused to put their faith in him, and partner with him. Rather than repenting, allowing their minds to be renewed and have a new mental attitude, they stay in their callous, judgmental, and skeptical mindset. And so Jesus wasn’t able to heal but a handful of people because most of the people didn’t want what Jesus had to offer.
It’s the same for us. If Jesus is going to make a difference in any of our lives and in our church, the only response that will enable that to happen is the response of faith. That’s an incredible opportunity that we have! What a gift to receive! Let’s say your marriage is struggling, or maybe you have some other relationship that’s not going well. The only way that marriage is going to get better is if you repent – change your mind – and then live into that changed mindset. Is that easy? No. Repentance is never easy. But it’s the only alternative if we want to experience true life. As long as we continue in the same mindset that’s gotten that relationship to the place that it is, we see here that Jesus cannot bring about reconciliation, forgiveness, healing, and everything else that’s needed in order to get it going in the right direction. The grace and power of God is unbelievable and can transform and change lives…but if we don’t respond to God in faith and trust, we see here that there’s not much he can do. So no one can be healed who doesn’t want to be.
Second: Real preaching only takes place in the right atmosphere. And that atmosphere is set by the listeners. In his hometown, the people were skeptical and negative toward him. They weren’t open to the message Jesus was giving. With the disciples preaching, we’re told that they healed many and drove out many demons. Clearly, the response was more favorable. So we see here the necessity of the response of the people, if the sermon is really going to preach. One author puts it this way, “Our Churches would be different places if congregations would only remember that they preach far more than half the sermon.”
Now, to be sure, the preacher certainly has to do his or her part, and this includes me. I make no claims to giving a good sermon every Sunday or any Sunday. You all are very kind and generous in your comments! But I definitely make sure I’m prepared and have something to say that I believe and pray is faithful to the text. I’m reminded of the preacher who decided that instead of putting in hours of research and writing during the week he decided one week he’d just get up in the pulpit on Sunday and say whatever the Lord told him to say. No notes, no manuscript. Nothing. Just pure inspiration in the moment. So that Sunday came and he stood up before the congregation after the text was read, and he realized that the Lord was telling him right then that he should have put some work into the message during the week!
So God inspires all the time, not just on Sunday morning, and the preacher plays a part, in being faithful to God and His Word. But we as worshipers have a part, too: And that’s to come to the sermon, and to all of worship, or the rest of the life of the church, with an attitude of expectancy. Expect God to give you something in the sermon. Expect the singing to be joyful and exuberant. Expect the fellowship to be warm and friendly. Expect God to move you in the prayers. Expect the Sunday school class to be engaging. Expect the mid-week ministry to be worth the effort. Expect the mission trip to be a blessing. Expect the church to impact its community. Expect God to change people’s lives through you, and your church. If we don’t expect any of that, then we’ll have an experience of Jesus kind of like they did there in Nazareth: A couple small miracles hardly worth mentioning. But that’s not a very full experience of God. Maybe we already come with that sense of expectancy. Maybe we don’t. Each of us has the opportunity to examine ourselves and see where we are in relationship to Jesus on that. So let’s partner with Jesus and with each other in the preaching, and in the ministry of the church, expecting great things from God.
One final, brief observation, and then we’ll tie this all up. The third thing to take away from this is that: In His house, Jesus is honored. Jesus makes this statement about a prophet is without honor in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house. The word for “house” is the Greek word “oikos”. In its normal usage it means a house like where a person lives, and by extension, the people there. But in the gospels, Jesus uses it to refer to the church building, and by extension, the people of the church, too. For instance, in Mark 11, and in the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke, Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7, the great Old Testament Prophet “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” The Greek word is the same word as he uses in this statement about a prophet without honor in his own house. And when he says that a prophet is without honor in his own house, I think he meant the place of worship where he was right then, not his house that he grew up in. I think he means the house of prayer, his church.
And so there’s a message there for you and me, for our houses, and for this house, his Church: In His house, Jesus is honored. In His house, Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. Jesus is Savior. In our Worship, in our discipleship, in our missions, in our evangelism, in our fellowship, in our marriages, in our parenting, in our friendships, in our jobs…everywhere, really, Jesus is honored – when our minds are renewed, we put our faith in him, and our lives reflect that change.
So: Let’s come to Jesus open and expectant to what he’s saying to us, and let’s live by faith as we follow him and go where he sends us. I don’t know about you, but I want my life and this church to be more like the ministry that the disciples had when they were sent out. I don’t want a few miracles and a bad attitude toward Jesus in my life. I want to live by faith, and do ministry together with Jesus. And I pray that’s true for all of us. Are we open and expectant, desiring for the healing presence of Jesus in our lives? Are we in ministry together with him? I pray so. Because when we repent and Jesus is Lord in our homes, in our churches, in our preaching, in our worshiping, in our ministry, in every facet of our lives…then amazing things happen. You can expect it. Let’s pray…Amen.
