What a story!

What a story!

Looking at this passage this week I felt like this was a series of stories like a string of beads; each one different, but all combined to be something amazing.

A quick run through of the five parts:

Part 1:

Jesus has been travelling around Galilee and goes back to Nazareth;
where he is son of, brother of ….
these people watched him grow up,
and they take offense at this upstart who speaks of a new way of living.

Have you ever been in that place –

where people see you as

the awkward teen,

the frazzled young parent,

the learner driver.

Sometimes it is hard to grow out of the box we are placed in by others.

The people in Nazareth think they know who Jesus is,

they don’t notice all that he is,

and all he has to offer them.

And he is unable to display the power he has in other places.

Part 2:

The sending out of the disciples

Jesus says:

Take my power with you

Pack light

Accept hospitality

Don’t stay where you are not wanted.

The disciples have been with Jesus for a while, they have seen him heal and cast out demons, and now it is their turn.

“The apostles returned from their mission and gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.”

Just like coming home from an adventure and wanting to tell people what has happened.

Part 3:

Herod heard about Jesus and what he was doing. People wondered who Jesus was?

Elijah

Another prophet

John the Baptist

Which brings us to Part 4:

a looking back

Herod and Herodias and John the Baptist.

This is where this passage gets really ugly.

Herod is concerned about how popular John is,

that could lead to unrest, so

Herod puts John in prison,

And hopes that will keep him out of the way.

Herodias is furious. She wants this ‘holy’ man out of the way.

Herod is hosting a lavish party

And the daughter of Herodias is dancing for his friends

Remember Esther approaching the king looking to secure her people’s lives?

Some of the same words are used in this passage.

This time it ends with the death of John the Baptist.

Part 5:

There are people everywhere, Jesus takes the disciples away for rest;

And the people follow.

Jesus is filled with compassion and teaches them

And then the question about dinner for a crowd.

The rest of the chapter tells of everyone being fed

the disciples get in a boat crossing the lake – again.

Jesus going up the mountain to pray

Jesus sees the disciples struggling as the wind gets stronger

He walks to them on the water

They are terrified

He tells them who he is, the wind calms down, they get safely to shore.

When they get out of the boat, another crowd of people looking for healing.

What a story! And that is just one chapter!

What to take away from all this.

·         Some people will see you as a five-year-old or a thirty-year-old and not the person you are today.

·         Ministry is dangerous, both John and Jesus died for teaching about a new way of living; and living it out.

·         The people with power in the current system won’t thank you for challenging the status quo. Leaders, especially those who are insecure will do anything to stay in power and can be often easily manipulated.

And there is plenty more in this passage that resonates with life today.

I will focus for a moment on the section where Jesus calls and sends the disciples.

There is much good advice in here

If you are a leader, share authority

When you travel, pack light

Rely on hospitality and stay in the same place – don’t go looking for better quarters or fancier food.

All this happens in the midst of rejection and business.

Jesus knew what it was like to be rejected, “In between calling the 12 and sending the 12, Jesus is rejected by his family, legal experts, foreign people across the lake, and his hometown.” ^[i]

I know for many of you your energy levels are depleted through poor health or an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

One thing that comes through passage for me is about relationships.

relationship with Jesus and each other.

Jesus didn’t send the disciples out alone, they went with another disciple, they stayed with people who offered hospitality

they went with the authority of Jesus.

If Jesus said to me go and cast out demons, I am not sure what I would do.

But Jesus hasn’t asked me to do that, or maybe I should say not yet 😊

Jesus asks each of us to be faithful to our call,

to bear witness to the love and grace of God.

That could be through teaching school

or being an accountant

or delivering parcels

or cutting hair

or packing lunches

or flying to the moon ……..

Jesus calls us to follow and sends us out to be in mission

I think this passage reminds us that Christianity is not a series of rituals and prayers

Christianity is a lived faith, a way of living and that means participating in God’s re-creation of the world.

I know many of you will tell me that why you can’t be part of bringing about of the kingdom of God.

But ‘what if you are exactly what is needed in a situation’ [ii]

it may be that God has given you the gift that will help someone feel welcome or included or safe or forgiven.

When we each use the gifts we have, for the kingdom of God, amazing things can happen- remember the disciples were fishermen and a tax collector and a zealot, and they turned into healers and teachers.

What might we do with God when we all work together with Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit?

Also remember that when we upset the tyrants of the world

when we march for justice

picket for fair wages

hold our political leaders to account

they probably won’t thank us for it.

The Uniting Church, along with most churches in Australia continues to call on the Federal Government

to act on climate change

to treat refugees and asylum seekers with dignity

the Uniting Church is part of a group calling on the State Government to treat drug addiction as a medical and social issue rather than a criminal issue.

The Uniting Church speaks on issues of justice, recognising the inherent dignity of each person.

Throughout the Gospel of Mark we see power being challenged, used and abused.

This morning we read of

the abuse of power by Herod and

the healing power of Jesus.

We saw places where the people could not see past the problem.

But when we work with God in bringing about a kingdom of grace and justice, we also know that the answer may not be the one defined for us.

Jesus almost always gives a different way:

a new way of living

another kind of power

one that is not focussed on our own status or pride.

I see it happen on Friday morning. People come to playgroup with their children, or grandchildren. They feel welcome, and in turn welcome others. One grandmother stayed and helped in the kitchen for two years after her grandchild had gone to school.

I see it in the relief in the faces of parents when someone listens to their concerns

I see it when one of the volunteers sews on a button or mends a hem or sews a strap back onto a favourite dress.

I see glimpses of the kingdom of God each Friday morning as people are welcomed

hospitality is offered

comfort and prayer provided

hope given

a smile and a cuppa can mean so much when life feels like a continual struggle.

There is a lot in this story, a story of

relationships

mission

power

life and

death.

It is a story not unlike our own

Where do we see glimpses of the growing of the kingdom of God?

Where do we participate the growing of the kingdom of God?

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[i] https://www.pulpitfiction.com/narrative-notes/2-23

[ii] https://bibleworm.podbean.com/e/episode-024-mark-61-29-jesus-sends-out-the-twelve/

violence as usaul

Proclamation of the Word part 1

Many of you will have seen in the news this week that a woman was shot in Afghanistan for alleged adultery. It reminded me of the passage from John’s gospel where a women caught in adultery is about to be stoned. I wonder what happened to the man.

In Biblical times women were regarded as possessions, and it many places still are. The practice of the Father of a bride giving her hand in marriage, comes from this idea that a woman is a possession of her father, and then her husband.  

And in the case this week, I wonder what happened to the men. One report says that :

“Salangi [Provincial governor Basir Salangi ]said two Taliban commanders were sexually involved with the woman in Parwan, either through rape or romantically, and decided to torture her and then kill her to settle a dispute between the two of them.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/08/afghan-woman-accused-adultery-shot-dead

this was a dispute between two men, about a woman, and the woman was killed.

In the gospel reading we heard this morning, another example of violence as a way of dealing with complicated relationships. John had called Herod on his relationship with Herodias, his brother’s wife.  And John is beheaded.

It got me thinking about violence in our world.

The Psalm begins with

“The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

How is violence respecting God’s creation?

Violence in the home, violence when people are out for the night, violence as a way of solving our problems.

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

It seems that the abundance of God is made available to some more than others. Does that mean some of God’s creation is more important than other parts? Are people living in the Horn of Africa less worthy than Northern Europeans?

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

How do we treat the earth and all that is in it?

What do we say about God and creation when we allow the Great Barrier Reef to be destroyed for the sake of bulk carriers moving to ports nearby?

What do we say about God and creation when we allow some people to live in poverty, to be oppressed, to be tortured, killed?

What do we say about God and creation?

Whose voices do we hear and whose are not heard?

A reflection including song and prayer. Please remain seated and join in with the singing.

Hymn/prayer: Kumba Yah – from Bread of Tomorrow p 74-5

Proclamation of the Word part 2

What voices do we hear,
who do we see dying,
who do we hear crying,
where is the shouting,
and who do we join praying?

The voices we hear in the media are often about the price of petrol; interest rates – too high or too low depending on how you are effected; housing affordability; traffic snarls; government stuff-ups. The voices we hear in the media feed us on a diet of self-interest, and negativity.

There are other voices we regularly hear, friends or family talk of their pain, their loneliness, their illness, their grief, their broken relationships.

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

 It is not only one woman who was killed in Afghanistan this week, just one which made the news more than others. And it happens in other places, not only in Afghanistan, not only in war zones, not only in one religious group. Since time began, people have been killing each other, because they don’t want to be challenged, or found out, or because they want something that belongs to them, even when that something is a human being.

What can we do?

It seems that our society tells us to look after ‘number one’, and that means our self. But what does God say?

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

What can we do?

We can speak. Silence can be part of the conspiracy of oppression and violence. Remember the US soldiers who were ’found out’ for torture? Silence and secrets allow the violence to remain hidden. Secrets have allowed abuse to be remain hidden in the Catholic Church – but like most secrets they eventually come into the open – someone has the courage to speak out one more time.

The death of the woman in Afghanistan this week may have remained a secret except someone videoed the event.

We can speak, with words, but also with our lives. We can live as part of God’s abundant and amazing creation. We can live as if others are part of God’s abundant and amazing creation.

We can speak,
we can listen to the voice of ‘silenced’
we can name the dying,
we can comfort the crying,
we can acknowledge the shouting,
we can join with the praying?