Mark 6 7-13 2006
Pentecost 8
Mark 6: 7-13
July 30, 2006
“Just a Stick and A Word”
Introduction: There’s only so much you can learn sitting in a classroom. At some point, you’re going to have to get some real life experience! If you want to be a teacher, you need to practice working with real kids! If you want to be a mechanic, you need to practice working on real cars. If you want to be a nurse, you need experience working with real sick people! Your education is not complete until you get out there and use what you’ve learned!
The same thing is true with the Christian life and witness. In Mark chapter 6, Jesus is teaching his disciples how to do the work of the ministry. And now, he’s taking them to the next level. He’s saying, "Alright. You’ve watched me preach. You’ve seen me do healings. You’ve observed me driving out demons. You’ve watched me love people that have never been loved before. Now it’s time for YOU to do it! I didn’t pick 12 apostles so that you could stand around and watch me do all the work! You are not spectators you are participants. Christianity is not a spectator sport!
And in our reading, Jesus gives them a model for ministry. Verse six says that "Jesus went around teaching from village to village." You know what I like about that? I like that Jesus leads by example. Before he tells the disciples to go out there and do the work of the ministry, he was out there doing it first! Jesus didn’t hide up in heaven and tell us what to do from a distance. He came down here and SHOWED us what to do! How does he do it? How are we to do it? Notice that Jesus doesn’t wait around for the villagers to come to Him. He left Nazareth and went to them!
There is a lesson here. Christians talk a lot about getting people to come to church. That’s not how the mission works. Rather we need to talk about getting our church to go out to the people, to where they are at. That’s what Jesus is talking about here! He doesn’t say, "Wait in the sanctuary, and pray for people to come in and fill the pews." He’s saying, "I want the people in the pews to go to them!"
Most of the ministry that God calls us to do is outside the church. It happens when we reach out with God’s word to the people in our own towns and cities. When we teach our kids right from wrong at home. It happens when we discuss Bible stories around the dinner table. It happens when we reach out in Christian friendship to coworkers, reaching out with the love of God beyond the walls of this building. Then we invite them to come here, to our church, because this is the place that we are ministered to, we confess our sins together and receive forgiveness. Here, we come sick and suffering, even tormented by the devil, and we receive God’s healing touch, and comfort for our souls. But, after being ministered to, we go.
How does Jesus send us out? He sends us like He sent the twelve apostles. Verse seven says "Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two." It was customary in both Jewish and Greek culture to send messengers in groups of two. The bottom line is that God never intended you and I to do the work of the ministry by ourselves. We need help! We need encouragement!
We all need it. I had always hoped to go into the pastoral ministry, even though I was reluctant about it at times. But it wasn’t until one night, laying beside my wife, waiting for sleep to come, that my wife said, “So, when are you going to go to seminary.” At that moment I knew that she too, was ready to go, willing to bear the cross and the joy that would follow. The Lord knew that I couldn’t do this job by myself. He knew that there would be tough times ahead. He knew how much I would need her.
And look at the apostle Paul. As great as he was, when the church sent him out on his first missionary journey in Acts 13, they didn’t send him out there all alone. Does anyone remember the name of the friend that went him? Barnabas! Do you remember what the name ’Barnabas’ means? It means Son of Encouragement! We all need sons of encouragement in our lives. We all need people who will build us up when the Christian life gets tough. 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!"
So far, we have seen that Jesus gives us a model for ministry and companionship for ministry. And he also gives us power for ministry. The second part of verse seven says that He "gave them authority over evil spirits." Sometimes people think that they aren’t good at sharing their faith in Jesus. They believe that they won’t say the right things, won’t have the right words. They say "I just can’t serve the Lord that way! I’m not strong enough! I can’t do it!"
We’ll you know, they are right! None of us are strong enough or good enough. But Jesus is not asking us to do this with our own strength and our own skills. He’s not asking us to minister with our own power. He’s not asking us to battle the forces of evil all by ourselves. He gives you HIS power for ministry! If we were in this thing on our own, then I would probably quit myself. But we are not alone! Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!"
Empowered by our loving Savior we go, but what do we take. Most of us like to do a little preparation before we do something or go somewhere. Before vacation my wife makes lists, one list for this, and one list for that…I think she even makes up a list to keep track of the lists. Me, on the other hand, I bounce around the house, from one room to another from the garage to the basement to the upstairs, grabbing anything we might need. Then I throw them all together. I guess we all prepare in our own ways. But what does Jesus say about ministry? "These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff, that is a stick - no bread, no bag, no money in your belts." And according to verse nine, they could take the clothes on their back and a pair of sandals. And that was about it! At first glance we might just pass over these words and say, “OK” I’m fine with that. But when I was in Thailand I really started getting concerned when I ran out of clean underwear. Well, the Lord provided. That is His point here. If He is sending us, if He has given each other, if He has given us His power, certainly then He will provide for us. We can count on Him! In Luke 22:35: Jesus said, "When I sent you without purse, bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?" And the disciples said, "Nothing." In other words, "there was never a time when they didn’t have what they needed. God always took care of them." He will take care of us!
Then in verse ten, Jesus said, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town." In other words, "don’t go running around looking for the nicest possible accommodations. Stay wherever you are welcomed." Now this doesn’t seem to apply to us, but it does. When we went to Thailand and visited the Hmong villages in the mountains. We were welcomed into people’s homes. Sometimes they were the homes of Christians but not always. We cheerfully received what we were offered. Unfortunately, some of the people that have gone on the Thailand mission have not acted in accordance with Christ’s word. Some have refused to stay in people homes because they didn’t want to sleep on the ground. Some left the village to take a shower at a motel where there was warm water, refusing the shower in the village of cold mountain water. What kind of impression do you think that made? It probably made the impression that what was offered was not good enough. Perhaps that left the impression that their ministry was all about them, rather than about God and about the people. Jesus said don’t do that.
So far, we’ve seen that Jesus gives us a model for ministry. Companionship for ministry. Power and provisions for ministry. And lastly, he gives us the most important thing – His Word, His message…and what is that all important message - repent." Are you ready? Are you prepared? There is a life and death message that must be heard, a life-and-death message- that of eternal life or worse-than-Sodom-and-Gomorrah-death? Repent!
Repentance is not a glamorous word these days; when we think of "Repent" we may picture a sign that a crazy man holds up on a downtown street corner, or a word we learned in confirmation class that has no great bearing on real life. However, for Christians, repentance is at the center of life. According to Scripture, repentance has two parts: Contrition, or sorrow over sin; and faith that Christ has redeemed you from sin. Both parts are necessary for salvation: If you are deeply sorry for your sin, your sorrow does not earn forgiveness. Judas was deeply remorseful for betraying Jesus; but because he failed to believe in Jesus, his sorrow only led him to despair and death. On the other hand, belief in Jesus without contrition is useless: If someone says, "I believe that Jesus is my Savior, but I don't have any sins to be saved from," it is a false confession that leads to death as well.
Put it another way: Repentance is the work of Law and Gospel, the two principal doctrines of Scripture. The Law shows us our sin and causes sorrow for it. The Gospel then declares that Christ has redeemed us from our sin, and for the sake of His death on the cross we are forgiven. God has given His Law and Gospel to produce contrition and faith; in other words, God has given His Word specifically to bring you and all people to repentance.
Many Chrsitian Churches have chosen to go easy on talk of sin. After all, people don't like to hear about their sin, whether it be false doctrine, greed, living together outside of marriage, whatever. We are often encouraged to tread lightly on the Law and not inform people of their sin; why? Because in doing so, we might well offend them and chase them away.
This kind of preaching may not sound "loving," but it really is. If we do not rightly point out sin with God's Law, then sinners will see no need for forgiveness. If they see no need for forgiveness, then they will see no need for the Gospel. No matter what the outreach or mission program is, it is doomed to go down in flames if it is not built upon the preaching of repentance.
We must clearly proclaim both Law and Gospel. It is a warning of impending doom. Wouldn’t you warn a person if they were about to fall off a cliff? This message of warning was always the message of the prophets. “Repent, Return, and believe in the name of the Lord. This explains why Jesus made the astonishing statement that, for those who reject the disciples' message, "it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city." To reject repentance is to deny the guilt of one's sin, and to reject the forgiveness that Jesus has won means eternal damnation. The citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah were a wretched, perverted lot; but if any of them repented as the firestorm fell, they could avoid the curse of hell forever. But for the one who persistently refuses to repent and trust in the Lord, there is no hope at all.
May this, then, be our mission, life and our message. We go out together, perhaps with a stick in our hand, with the sweet commission from our Lord to go and proclaim His Word. That word is "Repent." It is the soul's equivalent of Jesus saying to a sick body, "Be healed." By His Law, you know your sin and need for a Savior. By His Gospel, you trust in the Savior who has redeemed you. By His grace, you rejoice to repent, because repentance brings you this marvelous news: That you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. This is the message that we share with the world. Amen