This is a copy of my talk given at Saint Stephen’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 7 July 2024. The Bible reading was Mark 6:1-13.
Prayer
Heavenly Father
I thank You for Your word
By the power of the Holy Spirit
May You speak to my heart
And change my life
In the precious name of Jesus I pray
Amen.
Introduction
The early verses of Mark 6, echo Mark 3:20-35 – I preached on that few weeks ago with the title: Dealing With Difficult Relationships so I’m going to focus on verses 6b-13.
Rather than hang around where he wasn’t welcome “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home (Mark 6:4),” Jesus, and his disciples, moved onto another town.
One of the most amazing features of the ministry of the Lord Jesus, is the men He chose to be His disciples! These are probably not the kind of people we would choose to represent us. Several were fishermen. One was a former tax collector for Rome. A couple of them were quick tempered. One of them was a revolutionary. One was a traitor. All were very common men. They lacked spiritual understanding, humility, faith, commitment, power and, most of all, theological training!
(This is a fun read on this theme Disciples Personality Evaluation )
In spite of their weaknesses and theological limitations, the Lord used these men to turn the world upside down for His glory. If He can use them, surely, He can use us too! That gives me hope today.
There’s only so much you can learn sitting in a classroom or in a Zoom meeting! I know when I attended Prison Service college, it all seemed so theoretical (and easy) but when I was posted to Wormwood Scrubs the reality of what I’d let myself in for became a very sudden and, at times, an unwelcome, reality. At some point, we need real life experience.
If you want to be a teacher, you need real life experience of working with children. If you want to be a mechanic, you need experience of working on cars. If you want to be a nurse, you need real life experience of working with sick people! If you want to be a Prison Officer, you need the experience of working with real criminals. If you want to be a priest, you need experience of working with parishioners along with theological training. Our education isn’t complete until we get out there and put into practise what we’ve learned.
Jesus has been teaching his disciples how to do the work of ministry and now it’s time to for them to put into practise what they’ve learned. He is saying:
“OK! You’ve heard me preach. You’ve seen me perform healings and drive out demons. You’ve seen me love people that have never been loved. You’ve seen me do the things that a servant of God should normally do. Now it’s time for YOU to do it! It’s time for YOU to get some experience!”
The word ‘send’ in vs7a is translated apostello in Greek and gives us our English word apostle. It means ‘to send someone with a special commission to represent another and to accomplish his work.’ Jesus gave these twelve men both apostolic authority and the divine ability to do the job he sent them to do. They were not ‘on their own’ they represented him in all that they did and said. They were apostles, but also ambassadors – just as we are. And in these verses, Jesus gives five instructions to how they/we can do that.
- You Can’t Make It On Your Own
The first thing Jesus does is to pair them up. Those of you who were teachers will have done this in Primary School when on an excursion or a school visit.
It was customary in both Jewish/Greek culture to send messengers in twos. That way, if something went wrong, there would be two witnesses to testify on behalf of the sender. There is no such thing as a lone-ranger Christian. Being a follower of Jesus is too hard to go it alone. We need his help and presence. But we need each other’s help, too. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says:
Two are better than one, because they have a better return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Thursday was Independence Day – a strange event for ex-pats to celebrate, I think. Whilst I celebrated 27 years of being ordained on 29 June 1997, I celebrated 26 years of being Priested on Independence Day 1998. It certainly felt that way for me. I’d passed my diaconate year, and I was now able to preside at Holy Communion. I was independent at last! But the truth is that I/we are not independent. We are very dependent on God: on our Creator, for this world in which we live; on our Saviour, who came to rescue us from our sin and brokenness; and on the Holy Spirit, who was given to us to help us in the mission to which we are called.
- Remember, Jesus Is In Charge
In vs7b, we find our second instruction: “Jesus gave them authority over the unclean spirits.” Which means that when we go into the world, we go because Jesus has given us the authority to do so. Jesus is in charge.
He’s the Boss! As Jesus said when he gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-19: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations …” We go in confidence (literally, with faith), because Jesus has given us the authority which is only his to give. He’s the boss, but he’s put us in charge. So now we have the authority to go in his name.
And he is in charge of our world, which we are certainly thankful for. But he has entrusted us with his work. That is the mission of the church: To do what he has commanded, in his name, with the trust and confidence that we are doing what He wants.
For you older siblings here today, maybe you remember back when your mam and/or dad would go out and leave you in charge. I have an older sister and she constantly reminded my brother and I she was in charge. This meant she was in control of the TV and could decide what time we went to bed. I can’t remember that being part of the deal! As Christians, we are something like the older children of the world. We have been put in temporary charge.
- Travel Light
The third instruction Jesus gave is in vs8: “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.” In other words, we are to travel light when we go on the mission that Jesus sends us on. Why? Because travelling light means that we are trusting in Jesus. Travelling light means that we don’t need a back-up plan. We only need to follow instructions and trust Him. Travelling light means that we already have everything we need to serve our Lord.
I guess many of you have travelled with a budget airline and, because they charge exorbitant amounts to book suitcases into the hold, many try to pack squeeze everything into their hand luggage.
Preparing for a long trip, a traveller said to his friend: “I am just about packed. I only have to put in a guidebook, a lamp, a mirror, a microscope, a telescope, a volume of fine poetry, a few biographies, a package of old letters, a book of songs, a sword, a hammer and a set of books I have been studying.” “But” the friend replied, “You can’t get all that into your bag.” “Oh, yes,” replied the traveller, “It doesn’t take up much space.” And with that he placed his Bible in the corner of the suitcase and closed the lid.
- Don’t Get Discouraged When You Fail
The fourth instruction Jesus gave is found in verses 10&11. He said to the twelve: “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.”
We go on this mission, in other words, with a caution: Not everyone will accept us, or our message, with open arms. There will be some that will refuse to hear us, for whatever reason. All we can do with them is entrust them to God and move on. It is our task to enter a community, do as Jesus asks, and if we are not welcomed there, to shake the dust off our feet and move on. Street Pastors.
So, what’s the lesson here? Don’t get discouraged when we fail. If the twelve apostles were told that they would sometimes fail, then we should expect to fail, too. But it’s worth remembering that failure in the eyes of the world might just be overwhelming success in the eyes of God.
- Don’t Be Afraid To Tell The Truth
The final instruction was that disciples were to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Notice how the disciples were to do two things here. In vs12 we see them ministering to people’s eternal needs through proclaiming repentance and in vs13 to minister to people’s physical needs. It seems to me that God calls us to minister to the whole person! He’s not just concerned about our eternal destiny – although that is the most important need in anyone’s life – He’s also concerned about our immediate wellbeing: Body, Soul and Spirit.
Conclusion
Our Saviour is in the life-changing, soul-saving business and He desires us to have a part in His ministry. That’s why these five simple instructions should be helpful to us: Don’t try to be a Christian alone. Remember that Jesus is in charge, thankfully. Travel light, trusting that Jesus has given us everything we need to accomplish his mission. Don’t get discouraged when we fail. And don’t be afraid to speak the truth.
Five simple instructions and my prayer is that we can faithfully put into practise these instructions until the Lord Jesus returns and takes us home. Amen.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.
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