Marching Orders
4 Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. (Mark 6:4-9)
After moving from town to town - healing the sick, cleansing the demon-possessed, and raising the dead - Jesus, with his disciples, returned home. While the people there were astonished by Jesus' powerful teaching, they could not reconcile the wisdom and authority he exuded with the boy they had watched grow up - born under scandalous circumstances to a headstrong girl and a carpenter. He wasn't supposed to be anything special. So they expected nothing of him, and their expectations were met. Jesus was only able to heal a few sick people there. Perhaps only a few people came, or were brought, to him since most didn't believe that
Jesus could do anything to help them.
Immediately after this disappointment, Jesus dispatched his disciples in pairs to go and do exactly what he had been doing - giving them the authority to heal, cleanse, and restore. He instructed them to take no provisions and seek no glory - having only the clothes they were wearing, and staying in the home that first welcomed them rather than moving if "better" accommodations were offered. Because the disciples had seen how Jesus was resilient in the face of rejection, they were prepared for the fact that they would
not be welcomed everywhere.
Our marching orders are the same. We already have all we need to fulfill God's mission. Loving God and neighbor empowers us to restore life, cleanse spirits, and heal hearts. Encouraged by Jesus' example, we need not be disheartened if the message of God's love is rejected - we can leave it in the dust and keep moving forward
to the glory of God.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes forever. Selah 9 We ponder your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. 10 Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with victory. 11 Let Mount Zion be glad, let the towns of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. 12 Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers, 13 consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation 14 that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever. (Psalm 48:8-14)
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