Hometown Jesus Mark 6 1 12

Mark 6:1-12  New International Version

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

 “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

 Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

They went out and preached that people should repent. 

We have known Jesus in the American church for a long time. Have we known Him well? Why then is it that we cannot recognize Him when He shows up in different garb?

Matthew 13:53-58 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 58And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

We have become the 21st Century hometown of Jesus where we think we know Him and can control Him and He will not comply.

Just being in the presence of Jesus is compelling to the garden variety sinner and offensive to the self righteous. We still drive Him away.

Without raising His voice or asserting His position, the strength of His words and the power of His love cause offense.

No wonder we are offended by Jesus. He won't behave the way we want Him to. He won't sit quietly in a corner and be religious.

He disturbs our thinking, disrupts our comfort, disengages our biases, and distances us from our respectability.

What if our boxed-in, over-defined, socially acceptable Jesus is a our attempt to avoid the real Jesus who disturbs our thinking?

How much more could we be experiencing if we did not take such offense at the one we have grown accustomed to calling, "Lord?"

Matthew said he worked miracles at home, but called them few, implying that there could have been so many more.

Has the American church become the familiar & contemptuous hometown of Jesus where few signs are wrought for our lack of faith?

Jesus keeps showing up in the culture in ways we don't expect Him and we continue to reject Him. Sadly, that rejection usually comes first from His own people.

Our problem is not that we know Him too well; it is that we have known Him so long and only superficially.

What sort of faith in Him might bring again the mighty signs?

F - Faith that takes us FARTHER than we have been before in our capacity for imagination and service.

A - ACCEPTANCE of His authority to do more than amaze us.

I - INTENTIONAL resolve to continue our quest to discover the depths of who He is in intimate relationship.

T - TESTED faith that is constantly putting itself to the test.

H- HONOR, the quality sadly lacking in Jesus' hometown. 

Does Familiarity Breed Contempt?

" The expression familiarity breeds contempt was first used in English in the 1300s by Geoffrey Chaucer, in his work, Tale of Melibee. The first use of the phrase is credited to Publilius Syrus, a Roman citizen who began life as a Syrian slave and lived around 50 B.C. His master was so impressed with his intellect that he freed Publilius Syrus and educated him." - https://grammarist.com/proverb/familiarity-breeds-contempt/

 Son of Mary

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.“ - Mark 6:3

 Some folks are motivated by a deep, sometimes pathological desire to impress the people of their hometowns, families, and neighborhoods. All the folks who once put us down will have to acknowledge that they were wrong. The critics of our childhoods and youth will eat their words.

“Don’t count on it,” Jesus says.

"Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." 

Mary was flesh and blood and Jesus was her son, flesh, blood, and connected with her people.  We think very highly of Mary through the window of sacred history, but others saw the designation of Jesus as her son to be a justification for derision.

It was not her reputation for having conceived him out of wedlock at this point that framed their curses. That would come up at some point, but this was subtler. They accused him of being common and familiar. They knew him and his brothers and their familiarity bred contempt.

He was common and He was uncommon.

As the son of Mary, Jesus had history and culture, family and traditions. He was given the gifts of language, nuance, familial customs, memories, and relationships, but he was always, also the Son of God and that reality was easily obscured to those who knew Him best as a carpenter.

We must be careful not to allow familiarity to obscure holiness to our view. The ordinary may not be so ordinary at all. Our familiarity with the things of God can be a liability if we forget to seek the sacred amidst the profane. 

So They Went Out

And they went out and preached that men should repent. – Mark 6:12

On July 4, 1776, a group of men gathered in a room, to sign a document that, under the laws of their motherland, would be considered an act of treason. They decided to rebel against England and start a new country with new laws and a new way of governing. That was fine for the moment, but it would be followed by years of commitment, bloodshed, war, and action. Then, when the war was over, it would take decades to build the nation for which they were declaring independence. If it had all ended with the signing ceremony, we would not have been celebrating ]each Independence Day.

What comes after a call, a decision, and a commissioning ceremony?  A reception with glad hands, punch, and cake? A warm feeling?

What about the next day? Activation! You, like the disciples who were sent, go out. You embark on your journey.

That is what sending is all about. Disciple, pastor, missionary, teacher, minister, servant, and leader are not just titles. They are not honorary designations. An "apostle" is literally one who is sent.

The one who is sent must, then, go. It is in the going that we find our purpose and effectiveness. It is in that activity that we find the fountain of meaningful activity. It is through that initial movement in faith that we tap into resources we never knew we had.

When we go, doors of opportunity emerge in front of us. Conversations turn into moments of great significance. We become engaged in the work of God. But we must move, out and move forward.

It is very hard to turn a vehicle of any sort that is not moving. Lives on the move turn with greater ease. Jesus was usually walking when he asked people to follow him. You had to move to keep up and you had to keep up to hear what he had to say.

This time, he is not asking them to come to him but to go out from him, later to return with reports of men and women who have joined their following.

Because they were turning, they could encourage people to turn. That was their key message, "Repent," That means "Turn around."

Turn around and start moving in God's direction. That is what they were doing and inviting others to do. This strategy has not changed in 2000 years.

Offering

Today's Offering Appeal - as God leads and enables:
City Without Orphans
https://pastortomsims.typepad.com/the_dream_factory/2024/07/city-without-orphans-a-plea-or-help-for-a-great-cause.html