The Narrow Path: Mark 6:6-13, Take Only A Staff

Mark 6:6-13, Take Only A Staff
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Pastor Andy G. on 01/25/2012 07:00:00


Mark 6:6-13 = And he was amazed at their unbelief.  Then Jesus went from village
to village, teaching the people.  And he called his twelve disciples together
and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil
spirits.  He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking
stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. He allowed them to wear sandals
but not to take a change of clothes.
“Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. 
But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from
your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their
fate.”
So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and
turn to God.  And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people,
anointing them with olive oil.
You know, normally when you look at verse 6, you'd think they should be 2
different verses.  But I believe there was a reason they kept them together...in
fact, I'm willing to believe that Jesus' going out from village to village, and
then sending His 12 out to continue and help with the spreading of His Word, may
have been sparked by the disbelief of those in His hometown.
Imagine, "if they won't listen to me at home, I'll take My message to the rest
of the world" (as was what Paul did when his people, the Jews, rejected the
Gospel...'since y'all continue to reject this awesome news, I'll take it to the
Gentiles.').  OR, maybe it was sparked by Jesus' amazement of their disbelief. 
Figure, His own people don't believe, how much worse or far gone the people not
from home?  Notice, the only miracles Jesus was able to do were healings.  Why? 
Because of all who He is, and of all the great words He spoke, all He was known
as by people was a great healer.  So if Jesus, God's Promised Messiah, has
finally come, and is only recognized as a healer, then something needs to be
changed in His method of sharing His message, and something needs to be done
fast, for His ministry would only last 3 years.
So to cover more ground, Jesus called His 12 to Him.  I wonder if also, maybe
the reason Jesus sent out His 12 so early in their time with Him, was that He
figured with the new message, if people wouldn't listen to Him because they knew
Him growing up, maybe new faces would help the spreading of His message and
teaching.  Also, Jesus was training His disciples for future missions.  And so
sending them out so early in their discipleship training would also express the
urgency of getting out there to share.
Now here's the tough part:  Take nothing for the journey except a staff.  Don't
take any bread (food), no bag (possessions), no money for your belts, no extra
clothes, and wherever you go, stay with somebody until they kick you out,
basically.  All you may take with you are the sandals you're wearing, a staff,
and the clothes on your backs.
That's a tough order!  Do you think you could do that?  Especially in a world of
technology, right?  Have you ever attempted to pry a teens' fingers off their
phone, or the eyes of even adults off the many aps of their smartphones?  Have
you ever set down your phone for a full hour and not looked at it or any other
piece of technology during that time?  How about not carrying any I.D. on you? 
How about not taking at least a backpack of things with you on a week to
month-long trip?  Also no credit card, cash, or debit card...nothing to buy food
with.  And finally, finding somebody who will not only listen to your message,
but also take you in during your stay?  Maybe if they know you, but what about
total strangers in other towns?
Though they didn't have the technology back then that we have today, I'm sure
each of these things were distractions in their own sort, maybe not like texting
while driving, but in that it totally challenged them to fully focus on the Lord
for their provisions.  We've often heard that the more focus you have on your
stuff, the less focus you have on Jesus.  Jesus wanted them to live as ones who
not only talked the talk, but also walked the walk...practiced what they
preached and made an impact by the way they not only spoke, but also lived. 
This would also separate them from the Teachers of Religious Law (Pharisees),
who Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew as ones who enjoy walking around in
their splendor, showing off their stuff and holiness, and often work real hard
to look holy, but who are really just putting on a show.
You know, for over 15 years now, I've been reading books and talking with people
who continue to talk about how Christians don't do well at representing God as
He's portrayed in the Bible, don't stand for anything, and really don't stand
out among the rest of the people of the world.  I mean, seriously, if God is
really so much more different from everything out there, every religion, every
faith, every doctrine, every god, etc., then you'd think that His people would
reflect these differences also, and totally stand out among the rest of the
world...but many of us don't, do we?
When the people in Jesus' home town rejected Him as being nothing more than a
healer, He realized a need to change His strategy, or approach.  A new urgency
was revealed, and Jesus plowed at it full force, not by Himself, but by sending
out His disciples. If you've given your life to Jesus, then you too are one of
Jesus' disciples, and He has called you also to Himself and to take on the
urgent mission of telling people about Him.  Not in the passive way that many
Christians in America do today, but in a bold manner, as the Christians we read
about other countries.  As the people in Jesus' day, people today also see Him
only as something so much less than what He is.  And if our own friends and
family won't listen to us, then we need to go out and tell others in other
places where they don't know us.  And when we do, we need to be sure that there
are no distractions to the ministry, so that when we explain about relying on
Jesus for everything, we can represent Him as so much more than how people have
been told about Him already.  He's not just a healer, He's not a genie in a
bottle, He's not way up there watching from afar, He's not just a great teacher
with awesome advice...He's God in the flesh; 2nd person of the Trinity; Savior
to all who accept His free gift; Lord to all who love Him; Provider to those who
trust in Him...and so much more!  He accepts all, but demands a response from
us.  He loves us where we're at, but loves us too much to let us stay there. 
We're to be (become) Holy as HE is holy.  He offers costly grace, the grace that
bids us to come and die, and only those who deny themselves (their ways, their
lives, their pride, their sins, their lifestyle, their distractions, their
culture, etc.) are worthy of being His disciples.  He offers the free gift of
salvation, but one must take hold of Him with both hands in order to receive it.
 Jesus is not how the world sees Him, but is SO MUCH MORE!  And it's up to us,
His disciples, to go out there and show this to them, and share the Truth about
who Jesus really is.
Discussion / Reflection Questions:
*Can you imagine being without your cell phone for a whole week, month, or even
day?  How hard do you think that would be?  Why would it be so difficult? 	*What
do your friends say about who Jesus is/was?  How is this different from what the
Bible says?  How is it similar? 	*Do you think we really understand the urgency
of sharing Jesus with others?  Think about/discuss some ways that you
could/should represent Jesus better to the world.  How could you help them
understand the Truth about Him?
---Pastor Andy