2 Samuel 5.1-5, 9-10 Mark 6:1-13
Theme: Jesus sends out the disciples to preach and heal in his name.
We’re going to be looking at the second half of our reading from Mark’s gospel.
Who likes to go on holiday? Well, its that time of the year when the summer holidays are almost here and many will be looking forward to some time off, doing fun things and eating ice cream 
So, what do you have to do before you go on a holiday? Preparations! Yes, it takes quite a lot of preparation. What are some things we might need to sort out? (eg. organise someone to feed pets if you have them, sort out bins, any deliveries like newspapers or milk, plan your route, buy plane tickets if you’re flying overseas and many other things). Perhaps one of the most important things is to pack your suitcase or bag. You try and work out all the different clothes you’ll need on your holiday, shoes, tooth paste and brush, that all important phone and charger, and lots of other things. Have you ever felt like you’re taking half the house with you? We’ve often felt like that when packing to go camping.
In our reading from Mark’s gospel, we see the disciples being sent on a journey by Jesus.
Mark’s gospel is action packed and fast paced. So far, he’s been telling us how Jesus had been travelling from village to village, teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God, calling people to repent – to turn back to God. He had compassion on people, healing the sick and casting out demons. He raised people from the dead, calmed the storm and fed more than five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, besides performing other miracles.
In chapter 6 Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth, but the people there are not interested in him or his message. You might expect them to throw a party to welcome him back and be eager to listen to his teaching. Sadly, that was not the case. They refuse to believe in him, effectively rejecting him. If only they had not become too familiar with the carpenter’s son and recognised who was in their midst.
Jesus moves on. He now calls his disciples and sends them out in pairs to preach the gospel. He gives them authority to cast out evil spirits. The disciples are to be Jesus’ ambassadors, acting in his authority and speaking his message to the people as they travel from village to village. I wonder how the disciples felt as Jesus spoke these words to them. Perhaps they thought its time to go home and start packing for the journey.
But then, Jesus gave them some further, specific instructions about what they can and can’t take on the journey. Basically, Jesus says to them “take nothing for the journey except a walking stick – no food, no traveller’s bag and no money. Wear your sandals, but don’t take any extra clothes.”
What? No food, no money, no extra clothes! How would the disciples manage without these things? Well, the disciples were to leave at once, without extensive preparation, trusting in God’s care rather than in their own resources.
And that’s what they do. They go. Verse 12 & 13 tells us they went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
So how did they do it and what can we learn from them?
Quite simply, they trusted in God’s provision for them. In Jesus’ time it was customary to provide hospitality to strangers. This is still the case in many parts of the world today. The disciples would have found people who welcomed them into their homes and provided food and lodging and anything else they might have needed. There were not Air B&B’s or Premier Inns back then! Ordinary people in the villages opened their homes to the disciples and took care of their needs. And in this way God took care of all their needs.
For their part, the disciples brought Jesus’ message to the people wherever they stayed. When they went out to preach, they didn’t create a message, they brought a message. They didn’t tell people their opinions or their thoughts – they told people what Jesus had told them. They simply shared God’s truth as Jesus had taught them. They were being Jesus’ ambassadors, carrying out his instructions. They brought the King’s message to the people – a message of repentance, of turning back to God. The message was accompanied by miracles of deliverance – casting out many demons and healing many sick people in Jesus’ name. They were acting under the authority and instruction of Jesus.
That’s what ambassadors do today. They represent and carry out the instructions of their sending country wherever they are sent. They exercise authority that has been given to them.
Today we are Jesus’ ambassadors. He calls us to share and tell others about his saving love. He wants us to share his message of mercy and grace, of reconciliation and new life that is found in Jesus.
Its not always easy to do this, especially when people are hostile and don’t listen to you. And Jesus knew that. That’s why he said to his disciples they were to shake the dust off their feet if any place or people didn’t welcome and listen to them.
So, what’s with the shaking the dust off your feet?
Well, back in Jesus’ time the Jews considered the Gentiles unclean. They did not want to have anything to do with Gentile people. There was a separation between the two groups of people. If a Jew happened to pass through any Gentile territory, they would shake their feet after they had passed through to get rid of any dust.
When the disciples shake off their feet after visiting a Jewish town, it was a clear sign that they wished to be separate from people who had rejected Jesus and his message. What is shocking about this is that the disciples were travelling in Jewish territory!
Jesus is making it clear that the listeners were responsible for what they did with the gospel. How they responded to the message of Jesus was their responsibility, not the disciples’. The disciples were simply called to share the good news of Jesus. They were not to blame if people rejected the message as long as they had carefully and faithfully shared it.
This is a great encouragement for us today. Sometimes we can feel as if everything depends on us. The good news is that it doesn’t. Whether people accept or reject the gospel is between them and God. Our responsibility is simply to share it faithfully in a winsome manner. The rest is up to God!
As we seek to share the good news of Jesus with our family, friends and neighbours, we are to prayerfully trust and depend on God to provide all that we need. We are to be faithful ambassadors who truthfully deliver his message of love and forgiveness freely available to all in Christ Jesus. Amen.