JESUS DIDN’T SEEM TO CARE MUCH ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF HIM, DID HE? … HE DID NOT SEEM TO MIND WHEN EVEN HIS HOMETOWN FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS, HIS FAMILY ACQUAINTANCES, HIS LONG-TIME COMMUNITY TOOK OFFENSE AT HIS MESSAGE & REJECTED HIM… HE DID NOT SEEM TO MIND WHEN THEY DOUBTED THAT WHAT HE HAD TO SAY MIGHT BE OF ANY INTEREST TO THEM AT ALL... HE WAS SIMPLY AMAZED AT THEIR UNBELIEF…

ALL THOSE HOMETOWN FOLKS COULD SEEM TO REMEMBER WAS THAT JESUS WAS THE SON OF THEIR NEIGHBOR MARY, AND BROTHER TO A NUMBER OF BROTHERS & SISTERS… A HOMETOWN GUY WHO COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY TO THEM! HOWEVER, THE LACK OF BELIEF & THE DOUBTS OF THIS HOMETOWN CROWD DID SEEM TO IMPACT JESUS’ ABILITY TO PERFORM AT HIS BEST...

JESUS MUST HAVE BEEN A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED, DON’T YOU IMAGINE? PERHAPS EVEN A LITTLE SAD… AFTER ALL WE ALL LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SHARE OUR GIFTS & SKILLS WITH THOSE WHO KNOW US… ONCE JESUS UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO GET BEYOND BEING THE “HOMETOWN BOY” (EVEN IF HE WAS THE HOMETOWN BOY MADE GOOD) HE JUST PREPARED TO MOVE ON!

AFTER CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT HE WOULD NOT BE WELCOME OR UNDERSTOOD JESUS SIMPLY MOVED ON… JESUS KNEW THE WORK GOD HAD CALLED HIM TO DO; HE KNEW THAT THERE WERE “OTHER FISH TO FRY” SO TO SPEAK… AND SO HE CONTINUED ON HIS MISSIONARY JOURNEYS & OFFERED HEALING & WHOLENESS TO OTHERS – OTHERS WHO WELCOMED GOD’S WORD!

THIS EXPERIENCE OF BEING REJECTED BY HIS HOMETOWN SEEMS TO INSPIRE JESUS MORE… JESUS CONTINUES ON HIS TEACHING WITH OTHER VILLAGES & NEXT WE HEAR HIM CALL THIS 12 DISCIPLES FORTH TO GO OUT TWO BY TWO ON THEIR OWN MISSIONARY JOURNEYS.

THE GOSPEL WRITER MARK SHOWS US THAT JESUS UNDERSTANDS THAT CONFLICT & LACK OF BELIEF WILL BE PART OF THE DEAL… AND JESUS THEN GIVES HIS DISCIPLES INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO HANDLE CONFLICT THAT WILL (WITHOUT A DOUBT) ARRISE AS THEY CONTINUE TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS!

THE 2ND PART OF TODAY’S READING SHOWS US HOW JESUS GIVES THE 12 DISCIPLES THEIR MANDATE - TO GO OUT TO PREACH AND HEAL. AND HOW DOES JESUS DIRECT THESE DISCIPLES FOR THEIR JOURNEY? HE SAYS SIMPLY: TRAVEL LIGHT AND KEEP MOVING!

NOWHERE DO WE SEE HIM SIT DOWN WITH THE 12 WITH A MAP, OR A SNAKEBITE KIT, OR A STORE OF PROVISIONS, OR A FEASIBILITY STUDY, OR A SPECIFIC SET OF GOALS, STRATEGIES OR OBJECTIVES. INSTEAD JESUS SIMPLY GIVES THE DISCIPLES THE AUTHORITY THEY NEED TO PREACH & HEAL USING HIS NAME … AND HE ADVISES THEM TO CARRY A WALKING STICK...AND NOT MUCH ELSE… NOW THAT IS TRULY TRAVELLING LIGHT!

NOW I LOVE TO WALK! AND I’VE TRIED WALKING WITH A WALKING STICK NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGH THE YEARS – I CONFESS THAT I HAVE NEVER QUITE GOTTEN THE HANG OF IT. I HAVE OFTEN WONDERED WHAT THE PURPOSE OR ADVANTAGE OF HAVING A WALKING STICK IS… CLEARLY A WALKING STICK CAN BE QUITE HELPFUL WHEN WALKING ON REALLY ROUGH OR SLIPPERY TERRAIN…THREE ANCHOR POINTS ARE BETTER THAN TWO IN SOME SITUATIONS! AND I GUESS A WALKING STICK COULD BE USED TO FASHION A SHELTER IN THE EVENT OF BAD WEATHER OR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY’S SCORCHING HEAT... I ALSO IMAGINE THAT A WALKING STICK COULD BE USEFUL TO DEFEND ONESELF AGAINST AN ATTACK BY A WILD ANIMAL OR A SNAKE…

LET ME SHARE A STORY FROM WHEN MY DAD WAS STILL ALIVE: MY DAD WAS AN EDUCATOR & HE RETURNED TO THE CLASSROOM AT MID-LIFE BECAUSE HE LOVED TO TEACH MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE… HE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER. AND AFTER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL TEACHING HE EARNED A SABBATICAL YEAR… ONE OF HIS GOALS FOR THAT SABBATICAL YEAR WAS TO WALK THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL, STARTING IN NORTH GEORGIA & WORKING HIS WAY BACK HOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE.

NOW IT SO HAPPENED THAT I WAS LIVING IN NORTH GEORGIA AT THAT TIME & SO HE CAME DOWN AND WE DROVE HIM UP TO THE VERY PLACE WHERE THE APPALACHAIN TRAIL BEGINS. WE DROVE UP SOME PRETTY RUGGED TERRAIN TO GET TO THIS OBSCURE MARKER WHICH STARTS THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL WHICH RUNS FROM NORTH GEORGIA ALL THE WAY UP INTO MAINE!

MY DAD WAS ABOUT 55 YEARS OLD & HE SET OUT ONE FINE DAY IN EARLY SPRING WITH A HUGE BACK-PACK, LOTS OF THE RIGHT SUPPLIES, AND… YOU GUESSED IT - A LARGE WOODEN, ELABORATELY CARVED WALKING STICK...

AND WHO KNEW WHEN HE DEPARTED THAT DAY THAT IT WOULD BE THAT WALKING STICK WHICH PROBABLY SAVED HIS LIFE!

ALTHOUGH HE WAS QUITE AN ATHLETE AND IN PRIME SHAPE - IN JUST A FEW DAYS ON THE TRAIL IN NORTHERN GEORGIA ONE OF HIS KNEES COMPLETELY GAVE OUT. HE MANAGED TO HOBBLE OFF THE TRAIL TO REACH A PAY PHONE WHERE HE CALLED US TO RESCUE HIM & TAKE HIM TO A LOCAL HOSPITAL. (THIS WAS IN THE DAYS BEFORE CELL PHONES!) THAT WALKING STICK WAS LITERALLY A LIFE-SAVER FOR MY DAD… HIS KNEE HAD GOTTEN SO BAD THAT WITHOUT THAT WALKING STICK HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO SIMPLY WAIT ON THE TRAIL UNTIL ANOTHER HIKER CAME ALONG TO GET A RESCUE TEAM IN THERE TO LUG HIM OUT… THAT BAD KNEE PROVED TO BE THE END OF MY DAD’S APPALACHIAN TRAIL EXPEDITION. HE HAD TO HAVE KNEE SURGERY AND MANY MANY MONTHS & MONTHS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY BEFORE HE COULD EVEN WALK EASILY AGAIN...

SO I DO KNOW THAT WALKING STICKS CAN BE PRETTY USEFUL THINGS!

WHAT SEEMS STRANGE TO ME ABOUT THIS TEXT FROM MARK’S GOSPEL IS THAT JESUS SPENT MORE TIME STRIPPING DOWN THE DISCIPLES OF TRAVELING NECESSITIES THAN HE SPENT OUTFITTING THEM FOR THEIR MISSIONARY TRIP… I SEEM TO THINK THAT THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT JESUS GAVE THESE DISCIPLES WERE EVEN A LITTLE FOOLHARDY, WEREN’T THEY? TAKE "NO BREAD, NO BAG, & NO MONEY"? (NOT EVEN AN AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD?) JESUS EVEN TELLS THEM NOT TO WEAR AN EXTRA TUNIC… THE ONLY EQUIPMENT JESUS ADVISES THEM TO TAKE IS THAT WALKING STICK!

BEFORE THEY DEPART JESUS DOES MAKE IT CLEAR WHAT TO DO IN CASE THERE WAS ANY CONFLICT OR REFUSAL TO WELCOME THEM… JESUS TELLS THEM: “SHAKE OFF THE DUST THAT IS ON YOUR FEET AS A TESTIMONY AGAINST THEM.”

WE ARE GIVEN NO REAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHY JESUS CHOOSES THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT TO SEND HIS DISCIPLES FORTH ON THEIR FIRST "SOLO MISSIONS"… IN MARK’S GOSPEL WE HAVE LITTLE EVIDENCE THAT THESE DISCIPLES HAVE SHOWN ANY GREAT INSIGHT INTO JESUS OR HIS MISSION… MORE OFTEN THAN NOT THESE DISCIPLES SEEM TO BE BUMBLING ABOUT TWO STEPS BEHIND EACH PUNCH LINE IN JESUS’ PARABLES… THEY SEEM TO BE THREE STEPS BEHIND IN RECOGNIZING THE MEANING OF JESUS’ MIRACLES. THESE DISCIPLES DO NOT REALLY SEEM TO UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS’ VISION IS ALL ABOUT… YET JESUS SENDS THEM OUT, TRUSTING THEM TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT GOD’S LOVE…

AND MAYBE THAT IS THE POINT… MAYBE JESUS UNDERSTOOD THAT THESE DISCIPLES (AND WE TOO…) HAVE TO LEARN TO TRUST GOD…

JESUS MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT BY SENDING THOSE DISCIPLES OUT INTO THE REAL WORLD THAT THEY WOULD LEARN QUICKLY WHAT IT MEANT TO USE GOD’S AUTHORITY TO HEAL THOSE IN NEED… JESUS KNEW THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO DISCOVER FOR THEMSELVES HOW TO LEAN ON GOD FOR STRENGTH AND POWER & TO TRUST IN GOD… AND THAT IS OUR TASK AS WELL – TO LEARN TO TRUST GOD AND TO RECEIVE GOD’S POWER IN OUR LIVES…

JESUS SENDS THE DISCIPLES OUT ON A MISSION TRIP… HE ENTRUSTS THEM WITH GOD’S AUTHORITY…. AND HE HAS TO TRUST THAT WE WILL LEARN TO FLY... WITH GOD’S HELP.

THE DISCIPLES HAD TO JUST GET OUT THERE - ON THE ROAD! THEY HAD TO CLAIM THEIR AUTHORITY… THEY HAD TO LEARN HOW TO PREACH THE SAME MESSAGE THAT JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD TAUGHT - A MESSAGE OF REPENTANCE. AND MARK SUBSEQUENTLY TELLS US THAT KING HEROD HEARD OF THE WORK OF THE DISCIPLES… JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES MADE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES… THEIR REPUTATION & THEIR MESSAGE EVENTUALLY EVEN BECAME A THREAT TO THOSE IN POWER IN THE REGION…

DO YOU IMAGINE YOURSELF AS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST?

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS ONE “SENT OUT” ON A MISSION TRIP?

WHAT DO YOU CARRY WITH YOU IF YOU ARE CALLED FORTH ON THIS MISSION TRIP WE CALL LIFE?

DO YOU LEAN ON GOD’S POWER IN YOUR LIFE?

MAY WE BE OPEN TO GOD’S GUIDANCE & LEADING…

MAY WE COME TO THE TABLE THIS MORNING TO BE RENEWED AND NOURISHED FOR EACH OF OUR JOURNEYS… AMEN