1 shake off the dust the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 5, 2015 Mark 6: 1-13 This week, we start off with a homecoming of sorts. Jesus comes home to Nazareth, a town of about 300 people, historians think, so it s the sort of place where everybody knows everybody. According to Jewish custom, any Jewish male could be invited to speak in a synagogue and Jesus, a local boy come home, accepts the invitation. At first the reaction to his speech is amazement. Here he is, a tekton, which is translated as carpenter but really might be better translated as construction worker. That word referred to anyone who worked with his hands building things. The amazement at the words and power of this local boy quickly turns to suspicion. The ones gathered in the synagogue know who Jesus is: a construction worker, son of an undistinguished local family. And we know, from our reading a couple weeks ago, that even Jesus family thinks he s gone a little crazy. They label Jesus not by his father, as was the custom, but by his mother hinting, in a vulgar way, at illegitimacy. And so they dismiss him- he couldn t be a prophet, because he s just a lowly carpenter. All too often, we are tempted to do the same, reducing someone who challenges us to a single attribute about that person whether skin color or age or orientation in order to dismiss them and thereby fail to receive the wholeness of the person God has created and redeemed and offered to us as a gift. Here Jesus speaks one of his most famous lines: a prophet is not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house Prophets have notoriously have it bad because they say the hard things. Prophets don t shy away from what they feel called to say, even when they know it will get them in trouble. And what Jesus was saying to the crowd gathered in that synagogue was no different. His message over the weeks was this: the kingdom of God is coming and it will look nothing like you think it will. And it was more than what he was saying: it was also what he was doing. He was healing people with one touch, casting out demons and calming a storm with just his words, eating with sinners and calling outcasts to follow him, breaking down the status quo every step of the way.
2 But people could not hear what Jesus had to say, because it wasn t what they expected to hear from him. And I think that still rings true today. The expectation that I ve bumped up against most recently is that I shouldn't talk about race and racism because I am a privileged, upper middle class white girl. I think those are exactly the reasons I should be talking about race and racism. Because I want to take responsibility for the racism that infects me and my culture so that I can be part of breaking the cycle. Because I have benefitted from racist structures, I have long been blind to them 1 and I feel like I can be blind no more. Like any person speaking out, I ll make mistakes and I ll be afraid, but I feel like I can t not speak anymore. Jesus, a lowly construction worker, was different than what they expected a prophet should be, and so the people of Nazareth dismiss Jesus with contempt. This episode in Nazareth is a turning point in Mark. Jesus hometown, his family and the leaders of his people all reject him. After this, healing and exorcisms come only with some sort of struggle. After this, Jesus never enters a synagogue again 2. And after this, Jesus sends the Twelve out on their own. They are no longer observers and followers but speakers and doers of the word. They are charged to go out depending wholly on others hospitality; radically dependent on charity. Such life presumes radical faith: you are doing what God has called you to do, and God, through the care of others, will take care of you. After emphasizing the unbelief in the first half of the text, I find it surprising that it is not what Jesus emphasized in the second half. The towns the disciples are to visit are not judged based on whether they believe the disciples or whether they are morally upright; but whether or not they welcome the strangers in their midst 3. Since one of a host s first duties was to see to the washing of a guest s 1 - See more at: https://sojo.net/articles/dear-white-people-why-i-am-racist-and-so-areyou#sthash.8skezhpy.dpuf 2 Placher, William. Belief: A Theological Commentary (Mark). Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY 2010. Pages 89-91. 3 Placher, 91.
3 feet, the disciples dusty feet themselves testify to the failure of the town s hospitality. So Jesus encourages the disciples to take that dust and shake it off; I picture Simon Peter or James taking off a sandal and shaking it in someone s face. I have to admit, I m all with Jesus this week, until this point. But here, when he tells his disciples to shake the dust off their feet I just don t know about that. We live in a divided society. If every time we bumped into someone we didn t agree with: neighbor, co- worker, church member, we just shook some dust in their face and moved on, what would the world look like? The Capitol building would be drowning in dust, the Supreme Court would be encompassed in a cloud. The Supreme Court decisions that have been making news these last couple weeks have been very, very close. The one that got the most space on my Facebook newsfeed, making same sex marriage the law of the land, was decided in a 5-4 decision. Five to four! It just barely got through, or didn t get through, one single person made the difference in the decision. That s the story of the world we live in, we live in a 5-4 world. Conversations with the folks we disagree with are HARD. Anyone who has found themselves engaged in a lively Facebook debate with their high school lab partner or former co- worker can tell you that. We are likely at a point in our lives where we are not going to convince someone else that we are right and they are wrong, but we can remind them that no matter what, we are all loved by God. I don t think we need to walk away from those hard conversations. I do think it s ok to say I agree to disagree, because I think that what s most important to God is not that we are theologically or politically perfect, I think it s important that we are able to look at each other and say I am a person, created and loved by God. You are a person, created and loved by God. My life matters. Your life matters. Our lives matter to God. We both deserve the same love, care, respect, dignity, treatment and justice. The homes where the disciples visited were not judged by whether or not they agreed with the disciples, they were judged by how they welcomed the disciples, how they lived into God s call (which originated in the Jewish faith and continues for us as Christians) to WELCOME THE STRANGER.
4 It is tragic how doing so can go so horribly wrong, as it did at Emanuel AME Church; but still our call to welcome the stranger continues. The members of that church, the families of the victims and the members of the eight black churches that have been burned over the last two weeks are like those faithful disciples who went out to share the word. Does it make you uncomfortable when I talk about this stuff from the pulpit? It makes me a little bit uncomfortable too, but I truly believe that this community could and should be a place where we are having those difficult conversations. Why do I believe that? Because that is what Jesus was doing. He was saying the unpopular, unexpected thing. He was busting up expectations. And where was he doing it? The synagogue, the church. Many folks would say "well not in the church, we're not supposed to talk about blank at church." But I think many more would agree that the church is the place to have those conversations. Not the place where you re told what to think or how to vote, mind you, but where we take the task of Christian formation seriously enough to offer perspectives on how the Scriptures and our faith help us navigate this very challenging world. And what better weekend to talk about that than this Fourth of July weekend, when we celebrate the ways our country s founders spoke out for freedom and justice, even when it was unpopular. If we ignore what's going on outside our church walls, who are we serving? Not Christ. We re only serving our need to feel safe and comfortable, which is exactly what Jesus did not want for his followers! Especially it seems important to talk about it in the church because that is the place where we proclaim that we believe that all are one, united in the body of Christ. And although we are all one in Christ Jesus, we all have different perspectives, and I don t want those differences to draw a line between us 4. Because the steps we may take the steps most of us actually want to take toward greater acceptance, even when it means uncomfortable moments and difficult conversations are easier to take when we don t walk this path alone. And so we turn for help and courage to Jesus, the one who still sends disciples out equipped 4 http://www.davidlose.net/2015/06/pentecost-6-b-independence-and-interdependence/
5 with the power to face down the unclean spirits of hatred and prejudice and racism in whatever form they appear. And we take these steps together, because that s what it means to be the Body of Christ. (David Lose) This passage ends with healing and anointing- we are all anointed as God s own. It gives us a little glimpse of the kingdom: The demons of racism, of prejudice, of hatred and intolerance will be cast out. Along with the demons of cancer, Alzheimer s disease, mental illness. Those who are sick will be anointed as God s beloved. Those who are weak will be made strong. For, as Paul, another prophet who was also fairly unpopular, said in his letter to the Corinthians, in our weakness God s power is made perfect. It s not up to us to be perfect, it s up to us to be human and humane to one another. Every single one of us in the family of God are a mix of saint and sinner, of struggle and victory, of lost and found. None of us, singularly, have it all figured out. We need each other, the people who think and act like us, but maybe even more particularly the people who are different from us. For it is in our difference and diversity that the body of Christ finds its true strength 5. Here at this table Jesus was revealed to two hard- headed disciples who didn t get who he was. Here at this table we are all fed the same bread and cup, no matter who we are, how we voted, what we ve done. There are lots of things I want to stand up here and prophesy about But maybe the most important thing I can say is this, from Ephesians 4. May we all be rooted and established in love, completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Remembering that there is one body and one Spirit, and one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. And where do we meet this incredible God? Where do we get to see and feel and taste and touch this healing and holy presence? Right here. May it be so. Amen. 5 http://www.travisgarner.net/being-a-pastor-in-a-5-4-world/