Sent out Two by Two

Below is the sermon I preached this morning on Mark 6:1-13. Click here to read the scripture passage.

Sent out two by two

I recently received one of those email forwards, and although I’m sure many of you have heard it before, I think there’s so much truth in it that I want to share it with you.

A man writes, “I am writing in response to your request concerning clarification of the information I supplied in block number eleven on the insurance form, which asked for the cause of the injury. I answered, “Trying to do the job alone.” I trust the following explanation will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the injury, I was working alone, laying brick around the top of a five-story building. When I finished the job, I had about 500 lbs. of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to put them into a barrel and lower them by a pulley that was fastened to the top of the building.

I secured the end of the rope at ground level, went back up to the top of the building, loaded the bricks into the barrel, and pushed it over the side. I then went back down to the ground and untied the rope, holding it securely to insure the slow descent of the barrel. As you will note in block number six of the insurance form, I weigh 180 lbs. At the shock of being jerked off the ground so swiftly by the 500 lbs of bricks in the barrel, I lost my presence of mind--and forgot to let go of the rope.

Between the 2nd and 3rd floors I met the barrel. This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body. Fortunately, I retained enough presence of mind to maintain my tight hold on the rope and proceeded rapidly up the side of the building, not stopping until my right hand was three knuckles deep in the pulley. This accounts for my broken thumb (see block four) despite the pain; I continued to hold tightly to the rope. Unfortunately, at approximately the same time the barrel hit the ground, and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighted about 50 lbs I again refer you to block number six, where my weight is listed at 180 lbs. I began a rapid descent.

In the vicinity of the 2nd floor I met the barrel coming up. This explains the injury to my legs and lower body. Slowed only slightly, I continued my increasingly rapid descent, landing on the pile of bricks. Fortunately my back was only sprained. I am sorry to report, however, that at that moment I lost my presence of mind--and let go of the rope. This explains my two broken legs. I trust this answers your concern. Please note that I am finished trying to do the job alone.”

Have you ever tried to do a two person job by yourself? I know that I have, and perhaps that’s why this story seems to continuously circle around. Clearly this story is an exaggeration. But its exaggeration just makes it a little easier for us to see the truth in it. There are simply some things that are best done with more than one person.

Have you ever tried to move a mattress or a box spring up a staircase by yourself? Just a few months ago I tried to move our queen size box spring by myself. I got it just far enough to get it sorta wedged around a corner. Moving that box spring was a two person job and by trying to do it myself, I only made it more difficult by getting it wedge.

We all do this in so many different ways. Not only do we do it in our jobs or projects around the house, we do it in ministry as well. So often we think that we have to do a service project or ministry alone. We think in terms of “what is God’s will for MY life?” “what is God asking ME to do?” “What can I do?” One the one hand those are good questions to ask but they are detrimental when they make us think we have to do it all alone. That’s not how Jesus intends us to be in ministry but so often we act like we have to do it all alone.

In the scripture passage today from the gospel of Mark, Jesus sends the disciples out in twos. Jesus didn’t send the 12 disciples out alone, he sent them out two by two. This isn’t the first time in the bible that we see God sending people out in pairs. It wasn’t just Abraham that was told to leave his home, but Abraham and Sarah. When Moses was sent to the Israelites, God sent Aaron with him. When Jonathan attacks the philistines he takes his armor bearer with him. David, the king of Israel, had Nathan the prophet. Even Paul, who is credited with writing most of the letters in the New Testament, travelled with other apostles.

There’s a lot of good reason to go in groups of two or more. For one thing, safety was an issue. In Jesus’ time it was dangerous to travel alone. The disciples were better able to look out for one another when they weren’t alone. It’s like the old adage that there’s safety in numbers. But Jesus’ way is the way of the cross, of suffering and persecution so I think there has to be a lot more to it than just a safety issue.

The way of the cross is hard, and it’s discouraging when people are not receptive to the ministry we are a part of or when our plans don’t work out the way we had hoped they would. We know that all will not be receptive to what we offer. Even Jesus was rejected by some. Jesus was rejected by the very people he knew the most. And Jesus’ instruction to the disciples being sent out in pairs, includes what to do when we are not well received.

Sometimes life is discouraging. Having a partner in ministry to encourage you is sometimes the only thing that keeps us going. When we try to go it alone, we are like the ember that gets pulled out of the fire. Pretty soon, we’re just a cold discouraged piece of coal that has lost its fire and its passion. But when we are in partnership, we burn brighter and hotter and longer. We need the energy and passion of other Christians in order to sustain long term ministry.

Having a partner in ministry also keeps us accountable. It gives us accountability for both the ministry God sends us on and for personal growth. When Moses was gone too long on the mountain, Aaron gives into to the wishes of the people and makes an idol for the people to worship. It’s only when Moses comes back down from the mountain that Aaron is called to account for his actions.

The same thing happens with us. When we are left to do things on our own, it’s easy to stray from the path, and to stop short of the ministries God has in store for us. We need to be accountable to someone who will tell us when we are going in the wrong direction, someone who will speak the truth to us even when it hurts. So Jesus sent them out two by two.

Or what about David, when he got Bathsheba pregnant and then had Uriah, her husband, killed to cover it up. It was Nathan that calls him out for his misconduct. Nathan helps David see that he has become more concerned with his own desires, than he has with the needs of Israel. Without Nathan to hold David accountable, who knows what else David would have done. Maybe David would have had anyone killed that he didn’t like, or maybe he would have slowly taken foreign wives and lead Israel away from worship God alone.

While our transgressions are often not as big as David’s were, we still stray from the life God intends us to live. We still have moments in life where we put our wants before the needs of those God has called us to serve. We need a partner who will call us back to faithful living, who will keep us from wandering farther and farther off the path. So Jesus sent them out two by two.

We also need partners because we all have different gifts, no one person has every gift. We need to be in ministry with one another so we can compliment one another’s gifts. On one level we know this, and we often talk about how we are called to different ministries. But we are also called to different roles within the same ministry. It’s like the man who sold Christmas trees. He noticed a couple looking for a tree. Both of them wore clothes from the bottom of the bin of the Salvation Army store. After bypassing trees that were too expensive, they found a scotch pine that was ok on one side but pretty bare on the other. Then they picked up another tree that was not much better, full on one side, scraggly on the other. They offered the man $3 for both trees. The man figured neither of the trees would sell so he agreed.

A few days later the man was walking down the street and saw a beautiful tree in the couple’s apartment. It was thick and well rounded. He knocked on their door, and they told him how they had pushed the two trees together where the branches were thin. Then they tied the trunks together. The branches overlapped and formed a tree so thick you couldn’t see the wire. The man described it, “As a tiny forest of its own.” “So that’s the secret,” the man asserts.” You take two trees that aren’t perfect, that have flaws, that might even be homely, that maybe nobody would want. If you put them together just right, you come up with something really beautiful.”

None of us are perfect. No one person has every single spiritual gift there is. We need one another to balance each other out. We need each other, so one person can be full where the other person’s gifts are sparse. So often in life we try to hide our bare spots, or try to get the sparse sections to grow so we can be everything ourselves. But that’s not how God intends us to be in ministry. We’re not supposed to do it alone.

So Jesus sent them out two by two. Who is it that Jesus is sending you with? Who is your partner in ministry? Who is God calling you to be in partnership with?

Sometimes we are called to be in ministry with our spouse. Sometimes, even if we are married, we are called to be ministry partners with someone else. Your ministry partner should be someone who is passionate about the same things you are. It should be someone that has different gifts than you do, someone whose gifts compliment your gifts. Your ministry partner should be someone who isn’t afraid to, in love, tell you when you have messed up, someone who isn’t afraid to push you not to stop short of the goal God has set for you.

But your ministry partner should also be someone who encourages you, someone who will walk beside you, who knows when to speak words of encouragement to you. And who knows when to just walk with you in silence. And just as importantly, your ministry partner should be someone for whom you can do all of these things. The partnership should be a mutual thing.

If you don’t know who you should be in ministry with, then pray about it. Don’t just assume that God forgot to make you a ministry partner. We need partners in ministry. It’s not something we do alone. So pray about it. Ask God to help you discern who you are being called to be in partnership with.

Jesus sent them out two by two. Don’t try to go it alone.

Amen.

Healings

The following is a sermon I preached yesterday on Mark 5:21-43. Click here to read the scripture passage.

Healings

This past Sunday, I found out that one of my friends died. She was young, only about a year older than I am. She was a diabetic and had been for most of her life. Apparently she went into a diabetic coma, a process that left her brain dead although alive with the help of life support. She remained in a coma for 9 days before she passed away.

This week I have found myself going through the very normal process of grief. One moment I am fine and going about my normal routines of life. The next moment I’m overcome by the sense of loss and find myself in a messy ball of tears. Other moments I just can’t manage to focus on much of anything and feel completely numb. As frustrating as that is, I know it’s a normal thing. At least it’s as “normal” as grief can ever be. Grief is a messy and unpredictable process.

So it is, in the midst of this process, that I find myself reading the text for this week. This week we read from Mark’s gospel the story of two healings by Jesus. First, there’s the woman who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years. Jesus is on the way to the house of Jairus, a Jewish leader whose daughter is sick. A large crowd is following Jesus to Jairus’ house and one of the people in the crowd is the woman with the hemorrhage. She reaches out, touches Jesus’ robe and is immediately healed. Jesus stops to talk with her during which time we find out that Jairus’ daughter has died. But Jesus remains undeterred and continues on to Jairus’ house. Once there Jesus proceeds to raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead.

The reading today is two interwoven stories of the incredible healing and restoration that Jesus is able to accomplish. As much as I know the story of these two women have brought comfort to countless people over the ages, I didn’t find comfort in them this week. As I read them over and over again, I just felt a deep sense of pain and loss. And like most people in grief, I found myself with a lot more questions than answers. I wondered why it is that Jesus saved this woman who had been bleeding so long but let my friend die. I wondered why it is that Jesus would raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead but wouldn’t wake my friend from the coma she was in. Jesus even says to the skeptical mourners at Jairus’ house that the girl is just asleep. If Jesus could wake her from the sleep of death, then surely he could wake my friend from the deep sleep of a coma.

But he didn’t. He didn’t wake her. He could have. But he didn’t. Jesus, who has power over the wind and the sea, who has power over 12 years of bleeding, who has power over even life and death, surely he has power over the body’s ability to produce insulin. He could have healed her from her diabetic condition, but he didn’t. So I find myself asking all the why questions. Why her? Why now? Why like this?

But I know I’m not the only one grieving this day. Maybe it’s just that when you’re grieving you notice death more. But it certainly seems like there have been a lot of deaths this week. Among the famous people who died this week were Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. There were also several members of Calvary who had extended family members die this week. I’m not the only one grieving this day so I know I’m not alone in asking these questions. Many other people who have experienced the death of a loved one, or the death of a relationship, or the death of a dream, ask many of the same questions. For every story we hear of a miraculous healing, we hear another story of a faithful person who wasn’t healed.

So between my grief and the passage that is assigned for this week, I find myself wondering, why are some people healed and others are not? It’s a question that has plagued me this week. It’s a question that drove me to scour this passage for any hint of an answer. It’s a question that drove me to read countless number of commentaries, and to spend hours discussing this passage with friends and colleagues. And after all that, it’s a question that I still don’t have an answer for.

I imagine it’s a question that we won’t ever have an answer for. At least not an entirely satisfactory answer anyway. But as much as I want an answer to that question, I know it’s not a question that this passage seeks to answer. That’s not what this passage attempts to address.

This passage doesn’t tell us why some people are healed and why others are not. But it does tell us that some ARE healed. It does tell us that we worship a God who has the power to heal, who has power over even life and death. But more than just tell us of the power of Jesus, this passage tells us of the immense care and compassion Jesus has for all of God’s children, including those who are sick and dying.

From the very beginning of the passage we can see the concern Jesus has for those who are sick. Jairus pleaded with Jesus to come heal his daughter and the gospel of marks says, “so Jesus went with him.” So Jesus went with him. No questions, no discourse about faith and healing. Jesus stops what he’s doing and just goes. He could have healed her from a distance but instead he takes the time to go with Jairus.

And yet according to the value system of society at the time, Jairus’ daughter was nothing. For starters she’s a girl. She’s her father’s property, considered to have the same status and value as cattle. Not to mention that Jairus is part of the Jewish leadership and very probably a part of the same system that has been persecuting Jesus and trying to find a way to trap him.

Yet Jesus doesn’t see it that way. He doesn’t tell Jairus he’s too busy to heal her. He doesn’t tell Jairus that his daughter is sick because the Jewish leadership, of which Jairus is a part, has rejected Jesus. He doesn’t ask Jairus who he thinks Jesus is. Nor does he tell Jairus that his daughter isn’t important enough, that maybe if she were a son Jesus would go. Jesus doesn’t say anything at all, he just stops what he’s doing and goes with Jairus.

As Jesus is making his way to Jairus’ house, a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years comes up behind Jesus and touches his cloak. She is immediately healed and Jesus knows immediately that it’s happened. So Jesus once again stops what he’s doing and takes the time to speak with the woman. This woman, we’re told, has been bleeding for 12 years. That means she’s considered to be ritually unclean and anything she touches would become unclean as well. It was taboo for a woman to touch any man she was unrelated to but it would have been even more scandalous for her, a person who is unclean, to touch Jesus and thereby make him unclean as well.

But Jesus doesn’t reprimand her. Instead his response is gentle and compassionate. He calls her daughter. Daughter! As someone who has been unclean for 12 years, she’s probably been socially isolated for those 12 years. People would have been afraid to get to close to her or to touch anything that she had touched for fear of becoming unclean themselves. And now Jesus calls her daughter, affirming her worth and value as a child of God. In doing so Jesus restores her not only to physical health but also to her relationships within the community.

While Jesus is still speaking with the woman, some messengers from Jairus’ house arrive. They tell Jairus that his daughter has died and not to bother Jesus anymore. It’s at this point in the story that I can most identify with Jairus. Because most of us know through personal experience that sometimes healing doesn’t happen until after death. Sometimes the person that we love and care about does die, despite our prayers and our pleading. It’s at that point that I find myself thinking, “What’s done is done. Why bother the teacher any more?”

But Jesus whispers to Jairus and to me, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead. He didn’t wake my friend from the coma she was in, but I trust that he raised her to life with God after death. And I know that Jesus cares for all of us just as much as he cared for these two women.

This day I grieve the death of my friend. I feel the pain and loss that accompanies that. But I find comfort in the words of Jesus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Just believe that Jesus loves and cares for my friend even more than I do. Just believe that Jesus absolutely wants healing and restoration for her. Just believe that Jesus knows the pain and loss that I feel. Just believe that her healing came after her death, but it did come. Just believe.

If you are grieving this day, I pray you will find comfort in Jesus’ words. They don’t take away all the pain or make your grief any less intense. But I pray that you can just believe that Jesus loves and cares for your loved one even more than you do. Just believe that Jesus knows the pain and hurt that you feel. Just believe that Jesus knows the condition of those that you care for, of those that are sick and in need of healing. Just believe that Jesus sees each one of them, and cares for them. Just believe that Jesus intends to heal and restore them, whether in this life or in life with God after death.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pray for someone. We absolutely should pray for those who are sick and in need of healing. We should pray with the same persistence the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years showed in her search for a cure. We should lift up in prayer all those that are in need of healing and believe that Jesus wants healing and restoration for them. Sometimes healing happens in this life. Sometimes that healing happens after death. In the end we are to trust and to just believe that Jesus will heal them in one way or another.

Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”

Amen.

Frogs

Yesterday, Scott and I were out moving a pile of lumber left over from building our fence. When we picked up a pile of boards we found this HUGE frog. It is the fattest frong I've ever seen in person, outside of the ones you see at an aquarium. Scott and I took a bunch of pictures of this frog because we just couldn't believe how big it was.

I took a picture of the frog on my cell phone and sent it to a friend of mine who takes care of frogs at an aquarium. I thought she'd get a real kick out of a frog that big hanging out in our driveway.

It turns out that frog was a nudging from God. Maybe it's shear size was just a way to get our attention. I don't really know. But I sent that picture to my friend. A few minutes later I got a message back from her phone. The message said it was her mum, that my friend has passed away on June 12th. My friend is originally from Australia, even though she has been working and living here in the states for several years. Her mom is heading back to Australia today (she came in due to my friend's sudden illness and subsequent death) and when she leaves my friend's cell phone will be discontinued. So if it hadn't been for that huge frog in our driveway, I probably never would have found out what happened to my friend.

I don't know for sure if God sent that frog to get me to text my friend so that I would find out what happened before her phone was discontinued. But it seems like a big concidence. I don't know why she died at such an early age from a managable condition.

This day I have no answers. Only a deep sense of loss and a longing, a longing to know that God is near. A longing too deep for words.

Silence

I started this blog in hopes that it would be a place for dialogue and discussion about life and faith. A place where people could share their thoughts and questions in a safe and even anonymous way if they wanted to. I knew it would take awhile for people to get into it or even find out about it. So at first I wasn't too discouraged when people didn't comment.

Now, over 100 posts later, I feel like I'm talking/writing into the silence. I've heard a few people say that they read the blog, which is a bit encouraging. But the point was discussion, conversation, dialogue, questioning, wrestling with our faith together. I was hoping people would comment and enter into the discussion.

Right now I find myself wondering if this is a worth while endeavor. Is this something that is meaningful for people? Am I just rambling in the silence?

Let me know if you think I should keep this blog going or not.