7/5/20 Mark 6:1-13 “Hometown Boy Makes Good”

03 Jul 7/5/20 Mark 6:1-13 “Hometown Boy Makes Good”

7/5/20   Mark 6:1-13   “Hometown Boy Makes Good”

This is our 4^th of July weekend and I hope that you have all enjoyed it as best you can.  It is a time when people come home from afar and meet with family and friends.  It is a time when we reflect on the founding of this country.  It is a time when we get the grill all fired up and we eat our American favorites, hot dogs and hamburgers.  It is a time when we play games outside such as softball or Frisbee.  I think that it is also a time when we come to church and are thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ that we are able to do these things and more.  No matter what anyone says, it is Jesus who is responsible for all of this.  Jesus founded this country so let’s help Him keep it.  Today we are going to look at a coming home for Jesus.  We are going to look at how He wasn’t really welcome in his home town.  Then we will see what He did after He had been there.  Let’s see if we can find a thread of ourselves in this passage.

Peter Loughman tells this wonderful story of a woman named Billy who lived out in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma.  She had been born in a sod shack, had very little education and had spent her entire life in the area.  And yet at least twice a year she would get a visit from Gourmet and Bon Appétit magazines.  It seems that she was a great cook and these people came to her for a fantastic feast and to talk to her about cooking.  Everything she cooked was unbelievable.  She knew the secrets of spices and flavors and how to put them together into something great.

Peter Loughman remembers going to her house for a pastoral visit.  She served him some chocolate cookies that we out of this world.  She told him that everyone gives her the same kind of response when she serves them.  But the funny part of all of this is that her neighbors and friends didn’t treat her as anyone special.  Most people had tasted her cooking and knew how good it was.  But to them she was just Billy and nothing special.  Maybe they were too familiar with her or maybe just jealous.  Whatever the reason, she would always be just Billy, nothing special.

As we begin to look at today’s reading, we see that Jesus had a very similar situation.  According to the Bible experts this is the second time that Jesus came back to his hometown.  The first time was about a year prior to this and they tried to physically evict him from the town. This time He goes to the synagogue to read and teach the Scriptures.  The people are astonished by the wisdom that He has.  After all, Jesus spent about 30 years here and all the people knew Him and his family.  He must have been quite ordinary in those first years.  He learned carpentry from his father, Joseph.  He had brothers and sisters still there.  And now he comes back to teach in the church and the people will not believe that their own Jesus had become so smart.

I think that this type of thing happens quite often in our world.  I would bet that many of us could think of someone who had really been quite ordinary as a child.  Then they had gone away to college or someplace else and not only learned a trade or skill or knowledge but had become very superior to everyone else in this area of expertise.  What is our natural tendency when this happens?  Often times it is that we knew him/her when they were growing up but we don’t really know this person at all.  We want to remember them as the people that we knew when they left.  Our minds have a very hard time to comprehend that now this person is not at all like the one that left us.  They have changed.

This also happens a lot when someone comes to know Jesus, especially when the person was a bit of a problem in their youth.  The first thing we do is remember the way that they were.  If that is what you remember, then you are not paying attention to the Scriptures.  When a wild child comes to know Jesus, then he/she leaves that old person behind and becomes a new person, a child of God.  Why don’t we accept these things?  We can accept total strangers as messengers of God when we know nothing of their background, but we will be the last ones to accept someone we have known all their lives.  It shouldn’t be this way.  Sometimes I think that we are surely a funny people.

I would like you to notice two things that Jesus does here.  First, He tells us that a prophet cannot go home to his friends and family and be effective.  The text tells us that Jesus could not do any miracles here.  We have to be very careful when we read this because we could accidently put Jesus in a box and make him much smaller that he really is.

We need to remember that Jesus is part of the Trinity.  He has all the power of God and the Holy Spirit.  He can move mountains, He can calm storms, and He can talk gently to our hearts.  Just by mere definition, we know that Jesus is all powerful.  Yet he could not do miracles here.  And why is this? Here is the reason.

When God made us, He gave us free will.  We are free to choose Jesus or to reject Jesus.  This is basically what free will is all about.  It is not about being able to do whatever you choose to do; it is about allowing God into your life.  And God will not interfere with this freedom to choose.  He will force no one to follow Him including people of His home town.  If God did interfere, then He would be going back on his word and He would become a liar and we all know that this is not possible.  God cannot lie just because of who He is.

This is why I can stand up here and tell you that God does not put anyone in hell.  We choose to go there on our own.  This is our choice.  So, the next time you hear someone tell you that they cannot follow a god who would put them in hell, then go ahead and correct them.  Tell them that this is their choice and not God’s.  God loves us too much to put us in such a terrible place.  He also loves us too much to take away our free will.  We have a God of love and all that He does is a part of this tremendous love that He has for us, for you.

This is why Jesus couldn’t do any miracles in his home town.  His family and friends did not believe in Him.  Jesus had already told them about himself and had shown them that He was indeed the Messiah that they were waiting for.  But they didn’t believe and Jesus would not force himself upon them.  If you look at all the miracles Jesus did for people, you see that He did them because of their faith.  No faith, no miracle.  It was their choice.

I think that it is easy to see that if God had done this a little differently, then evangelism would be a lot easier.  If we didn’t have free will, then we could just go out with the power of Jesus and tell people to follow us.  It would be a done deal.  However, it doesn’t work this way.  The only way to help people to make the right decision is for us to go out and try to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.

We do this by going out and feeding the people who are hungry.  We do this when we go to a mission field somewhere and feed the little children there.  They can’t hear us when they are hungry and cold.  We do this when we help people in our own area who are too poor to have heating in the winter.  We have many people right here in North Dakota who go to bed cold in our harsh winters.  We do this when we go about our everyday lives in ways that are consistent with our Scriptures.  People are watching you all the time and waiting for you to fall.  Then they can point at you and say that you are terrible sinner because you swear too much or you cheat the government in your taxes or farm programs or you sit in a bar every night after work.  People are watching.

Sharon and I had of a terrible blow to our faith a few years back, from a little church in the lake country where we would attend when we are on vacation.   We really don’t know what happened.  That is ok because it is really none of our business to know the details.  All we know is that the church was ready to fold up financially because its former pastor stole all the church money and moved to Hawaii.  Only bad things happen when we take that first step down the slippery slope of sin.  There is no one who is immune to this.  It can happen to pastors.  It can happen to bishops; it can happen to Popes and it can happen to countries.  So, don’t ever think that you are immune to the temptations of sin.

This leads me to the second thing that Jesus did here.  He left.  Jesus was amazed at the disbelief in his hometown.  So, he left.  He didn’t go far but He knew that He had to leave so that the ministry could move forward.  He couldn’t do His miracles there because of the unbelief of the people.  So, He sent his disciples out in twos as was the custom of the day.  He also told them to take nothing with them.  He tells them to stay in the house that welcomes them until they leave.  They were to be satisfied with their lodgings and not look for something nicer.  And if they were not welcome in a place, they were to shake the sand off their sandals as they left.  This was a custom in those days.  When Jews left Gentile country, they would shake off their sandals so that none of the Gentile dirt would spoil the Jews.  So, Jesus is telling them to do this to the Jewish people who don’t believe.  He doesn’t want non-Christians to contaminate his new believers.  This is a lesson that we really need for today’s world.

Jesus was showing them and us how to do ministry.  The first thing I want to mention here is how not to contaminate our churches.  This is a huge problem in today’s churches.  It is also an extremely hard issue to address.  You are called to go out and find the sinners.  You are to be gathering them up and bringing them to church.  You are to welcome all who come through your doors.  However, you are not to change your behavior and beliefs so that they coincide with the sinners.  The Bible tells us in several places to go to the sinner but not to live with the sinner or as the sinner lives.  This is a hard lesson especially for young people.

What many people fail to understand is just how strong and powerful the devil is.  He is far stronger than any of us or all of us put together.  He would like nothing better than to lure us into a false relationship with his sinners.  He knows just how weak we are and he knows just where these weaknesses are.  He also knows just when and where to attack us.  If you think that you can go out and live a lifestyle of alcohol or drugs or any other sinful behavior and come out again unscathed, you are wrong.  You will be ruined.  You need to be going out to these people and coming back here again.  You really need to be coming to church every Sunday just so that you can recharge our batteries against Satan.

We even see this in our own communities.  We like to think that we have such a nice community, and often we do.  But look at all the unchurched people you have amongst you.  Look at all the people who only come to church twice a year.  Look at all the people who only come to church once in great awhile.  These people are in danger or they might even be already lost.  You cannot stay away from God and still be an effective witness.  I don’t stand up here and tell you over and over again to read your Bibles daily, pray at least once a day, or come and fellowship with our fellow believers just so that I can look good.  I do it because if you do not kick the sand from your sandals, your life will become contaminated.

One of the greatest problems in following Jesus is that it is too easy.  All you have to do is tell Jesus that you will surrender yourself to Him and ask Him to guide your life.  After you have done this, all you have to do is stay connected to Jesus is to pray, study and read the Bible, worship and have fellowship.  This isn’t very hard.  If you do these things, then your life will become easier and more fruitful.  There is no work involved in coming to Christ and these few things that you do after you know Him will become a joy and not work.

Now look what happened when Jesus sent out these disciples.  They preached the repentance of sins just like I have just told you about.  They were able to cast out demons and heal the sick.  They became powerful in the ways of Christ.  Great things were happening to these disciples and it would continue and I am sure that it continues in heaven today.

The same can be true for us also.  We can go out and win people for Christ.  We can feed people.  We can clothe people.  We can help people with shelter in the winter. Then we will feel good about ourselves after we do these things.  This feeling good is God rewarding us.  Many of us feel good after helping a neighbor who has suffered loss from a fire or death.  These are some of the ways that Jesus rewards us.

And this is basically all that Jesus has ever wanted to do.  He wants to give us all that He has.  But it is your choice as to whether you accept this or not.  Everything is there for you if you only accept.  Today we have seen how Jesus will not force himself upon us.  We saw that He wouldn’t even force himself upon His home town.  He loves us too much to do this.  So, He moved on to the next town and kept on preaching.

I think that the lesson here for us is to keep on serving Jesus even though the times get a little rough.  You might even be rejected by your home town.  You might be rejected by all who know you.  This is hard, but the joy comes by not quitting.  It comes by moving ahead and by continuing to serve Jesus.  Jesus wants to give you all that He has.  His love for you is so immense that He has done all these things throughout history just for you.  Go now and take this love and pass it forward.  This love of Jesus is for everyone.  Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.