Sunday, July 15, 2018

Unwelcome




Amos 7:10-15
10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jerome of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. 11For this Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.”

12And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

14Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ”

This is the Word of the LORD
Thanks be to God

Mark 6:1-13
1[Jesus] left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? This is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands of a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11If 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.” 12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

This is the Word of the LORD
Thanks be to God.


Do you know Jesus?

I remember the question. I was in late middle school or early high school, and each Friday in the summer, the city of Morganton put on a concert on the town square. There being, at the time, a dearth of things to do in my hometown, Mom and Dad would take my brother and me out to the concert and we would wander around downtown Morganton with our friends trying to find that right balance of shenanigans to entertain ourselves but not get in trouble with the cops.

Do you know Jesus?

Standing in front of that question was an older man, older compared to the nerdy teenagers among whom I counted myself. He may have only been as old as I am now. He was wearing a clean t-shirt with some religious cliche printed on it and some bluejeans. Not creepy or dangerous or anything, just a mite presumptuous. He saw teenagers acting like teenagers and assumed that they needed saving.

Do you know Jesus?

Listen old guy, I’m 15 years old, I know everything. What’s more, I’m a preacher’s kid. I’m a Presbyterian preachers kid. If you want to knock doctrines with me you may find yourself outmatched. O street preacher, go, flee away to the land of turn-or-burn, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophecy at me and my friends.

God I was insufferable back then. Lord save me from a son who grows up to be just like me...

Do you know Jesus?

The way we answer that question bridges the distance between astounded and offended. “On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? This is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.”

Sure I know Jesus, I grew up with him! My parents went to book club with his mom. I used to babysit his little brother Simon. He used to work in his dad’s wood shop before he left on this teaching tour. I’ve know Jesus my whole life.

Now he’s back from his little speech-circuit and he’s come back here telling us to change our hearts and lives, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand? I’m glad my buddy is back in town, but he’s out there acting like he walks on water. That kind of stuff is just unwelcome here. I mean, he was a good friend, but telling me how to live my life? I take offense at that.

Jesus responds with a lamenting proverb, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” In the face of their amazing unbelief, Jesus is unable to show them who he is. “The unbelief of Jesus’s own people had a stricture, dampening effect on his work in their midst. It also marked the end of his work there. Rather than stay to argue with his own people, or to try to convince them by further mighty works, Jesus moved on.” In the middle of verse six, he goes from amazed at their unbelief to going about among the other villages.

Knowing Jesus is no guarantee that he is at work in one’s life. In Jesus’s hometown, his transformative message was unwelcome because the people there had the relationship backwards. Jesus didn’t belong to them, they belonged to Jesus. The difference there is pretty significant. When Jesus belongs to us, we try and tame him, try to remake him in our image. When we belong to Jesus, we are the ones who are transformed. If we only see Jesus as friend, and fail to see him as Lord, then we may miss the deeds of power he could do. If we stopping at knowing who Jesus is and do not follow him, then the good news he brings may end up unwelcome among us.

But if we do follow Jesus, as the twelve did, then Jesus will equip up for ministry. Jesus sent them out to spread the same gospel he was teaching, and “They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” The twelve are not known for their great faith, but they understood that their calling was from the Lord, and like Amos, they had to go even if they lacked the traditional qualifications.

Do you know Jesus?

Because the Jesus I have come to know since I set away my adolescent arrogance welcomes you to his table no matter how many times we tell him that he is unwelcome. Because he was unwelcome, no one else has to be. The Jesus I know went to his death to save the same hometown that rejected him. He saved us too, even if we make him unwelcome by ignoring his transformative love. Flawless faith is not required to find a place at this table. We come at the Lord’s own invitation, and gathered around this table we can come to know Jesus better, and see his deeds of power all around us.


No one is unwelcome.

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