Mark 6:7-13

8^th Sunday after Pentecost

July 26, 2009

Mark 6:7-13 (New International Version)

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

    Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil^[a] spirits.

⁸These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. ¹⁰Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

¹²They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

According to some biblical scholars, the Gospel according to St. Mark was circulated in a missionary church. As such, one of its purposes was to promote the spread of the Good News of Jesus in societies that were militantly antagonistic to Jesus Christ. Roman emperors were growing increasingly vicious in their treatment of Christians.

It’s ironic that of all the Christians of that day, John Mark should be the one to promote this work. According to Acts 13, Mark was not only one of the first to leave from Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to bring the Good News to Gentile lands, he was also the first missionary to desert his companions and return to his home in Palestine. Mark was at the center of a controversy between Paul and Barnabas regarding whether Mark was fit to be a missionary because of that desertion. Thankfully, Mark had a change of heart and later became one of the treasured companions of St. Paul. As it turns out, Mark’s words regarding spreading the Gospel are clear and concise. We could summarize them with three words:

I. Come! II. Go! III. Now!

I. v. 7. One cannot overestimate the importance of these words: “calling the Twelve to him…” It has been said that preaching, like all true religion begins in the passive voice, not the active. That fact can be summarized beautifully in Matthew’s account of the same event that Mark is speaking about. He quotes Jesus as saying: “Freely have you received, freely give.” Before a person can give God’s grace to others, he must first receive it himself.

Jesus in sending out his disciples after his resurrection said, “You are my witnesses.” That word “witness” is a term we are familiar with in connection with what we have seen in trials in a court of law. No one can give reliable testimony of what happened in a case before a court case unless he has personally experienced what he is testifying to. Hearsay testimony is irrelevant, unreliable and immaterial. To testify what you haven’t seen or heard personally is useless. So it is that the first thing that Jesus did in sending out the Twelve was to call them to himself.

To a great extent, most of what the four Gospels speak about is what Jesus did and said to his first disciples. In fact, what this 6^th chapter of Mark speaks about is a watershed moment in Christ’s ministry among the 12. They were to reach out to their fellow Jews in Palestine, but just before doing that, Jesus calls them to come to him. First, “come to me.” That is essential as a first step to reaching out to others with God’s forgiving love in Christ. It was the first step for the first apostles. It is the first step in our lives as Christ’s followers today. You will not reach out convincingly to others with God’s forgiving love unless you have felt that forgiveness yourself. You will not likely sacrifice your time, your talents or your monetary gifts unless your heart has been warmed by the Good News that Jesus loves you and gave himself for you.

“We love because he first loved us,” says the apostle John. When we experience the peace of Jesus lifting the burden of our sin from us, we find the motivation and inspiration to relieve others of their burden of sin, guilt and death. Jesus calls each of us personally today as he offers us his body and blood with the bread and wine in Holy Communion. Each of us can feel his unconditional assurance that Christ gave himself for us. He, as it were, says to each of us, “Come to me you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your souls.”

II. While true religion begins in the passive voice, it doesn’t end there. Jesus “sends them out two by two.” He says, “Go.” Truly, this is a watershed moment in the history of Christ’s church. While there is no explanation regarding why he specified “two by two,” it moves our imagination deeply. Was it done because Christians need the encouragement of companions? Was it because we need others’ comments and advice as we go forth with the Gospel? Was it to guard us against the pride that somehow we are “prima donnas” in our work as his servants? Was it to encourage us to make close friendships with our fellow believers as we go forth to bring others the Good News? Maybe it is all of these things – and maybe it has other purposes.

Clearly this two by two was not essential to all witnessing since we observe cases in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles where Christ’s followers were alone when they carried the word of salvation to others. Still, Mark makes a point of it. Perhaps it was because he at one time abandoned his companions and didn’t want others to make the same mistake. Clearly, what is essential to the command is the fact that Jesus sent them out. He wanted them to GO. As stated a few moments ago; true Christian faith begins in the passive voice of receiving Christ’s love and forgiveness. It doesn’t end there. “Freely you have received. Freely give.”

Do you remember the two dimensions of the Old Testament Passover? Recall that the blood of the Passover Lamb delivered God’s people Israel from the Angel of Death and subsequently freed them from the slavery in Egypt. It was a golden moment for the people of Israel and they were to be reminded of it throughout their history. The blood of the Lamb set them free. However, there was another side of the Passover, and every Hebrew household was to observe it. What I am talking about is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They were to sweep out every bit of yeast from their houses. Yeast was not evil in itself, but in connection with the Passover it was essential that they sweep the yeast from their houses. Remember, the Passover was the signal that they would be released from slavery in Egypt. The evidence that they were ready to go would be that they would get rid of yeast.

Have you ever heard of the advice that real estate salespeople give to their clients who are trying to sell their homes? They say, bake bread in the morning, because baking bread is one of the very appealing odors. It makes a house smell like a home! Baking with yeast takes a lot of time. Even with a bread machine it takes about three hours. Making bread without yeast takes only a few moments. It doesn’t smell as good, but it’s quick! Be ready to leave Egypt, it’s not your home.

When the apostle Paul speaks about the Passover Lamb to the Christians, he tells them to get rid of the yeast of malice and wickedness, and to keep the Feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Christ has done everything to give us release from the slavery of our sins. His blood cleanses us from all sin. We are free to go to the Promised Land – eternal life with God in heaven. Believe and be saved! That was the message of Moses to the Children of Israel. That is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But we still live in this world and there are so many temptations to carry malicious thoughts in our heads and so many temptations to do the wicked things that our own sinful flesh want us to indulge in. We are to recognize that Christ died for all, and that we are the caretakers of that Truth. We are to be active in bringing that truth to others. We are to go with the Gospel. We are to be sincere, leading the kinds of lives that by word and deed bring the Good News to others.