Ezekiel
2:1-5
1 He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet,
and I will speak with you. 2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me
and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, Mortal,
I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have
rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to
this very day. 4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to
them, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord God." 5 Whether
they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know
that there has been a prophet among them.
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen
years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the
body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person—whether in the
body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise
and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast,
except of my weaknesses. 6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I
will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think
better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7 even considering the
exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too
elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me,
to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I appealed to the Lord about
this, that it would leave me, 9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient
for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the
more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10
Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and
calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
Mark 6:1-13
1 He left that place and came to his
hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 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? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What
deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 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. 4 Then Jesus said to
them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among
their own kin, and in their own house." 5 And he could do no deed of power
there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And
he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages
teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and
gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing
for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9
but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them,
"Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If
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." 12 So they
went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons,
and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
"My grace is
sufficient for you”
·
There is a
common thread in all three reading this Sunday, and it’s not a happy one. In
fact, it might be seen as a theme of failure.
·
The prophet
Ezekiel is given a mission to preach to the people of Israel. He isn’t given a
choice in this. In fact, he’s been made an offer “he cannot refuse” as you’d
find it in The Godfather. He cannot
expect a successful ministry because the people he’s sent to preach to are “a nation of rebels who have rebelled
against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very
day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn.” If he does what he
is commissioned to do, at least the people will know that a prophet has come
their way, which means God has not forgotten them or given up on them. Too bad
for Ezekiel, though.
·
The apostle
Paul writes of a wonderful spiritual thing that has happen to him. (He says “I know a person in Christ…”
which might be an expression humility or it could be taken as the New Testament
equivalent of the so-called wise guy’s “I know a guy…”) Then he says he
received “a thorn… in the flesh… to
keep me from being too elated.” He goes on to say that he is
content with whatever happens to him “for
the sake of Christ.”
·
If we turn
to the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus in his hometown, where he is not accepted.
The people who know him from his childhood are not ready to accept him or what
he is doing. He is so distressed at their lack of faith that he “could do no deeds of power there.”
·
He and his
disciples move on to the surrounding villages. He sends the Twelve out in pairs
to preach, giving them both authority over unclean spirits and an interesting
set of instructions on how they are to travel and what they should do if they
are not heard.
·
These
readings might be hard for us to hear since they speak of the difficulties
involved in speaking – and hearing! – the Word of God. The Israelites are
stubborn, impudent, and rebellious; they will not hear, and Ezekiel is to speak
to them anyway. Paul suffers for the sake of the Gospel, suffering both
externally by persecution, insults, and hardships and internally by “the thorn in the flesh” that
keeps him humble. Jesus is rejected by his own people, who respond with an
attitude akin to “Who do you think you are? We’ve known you forever.”
·
This
apparent failure does not stop Jesus, who then sends the Twelve out in pairs to
preach, to heal, and to drive out evil spirits. Sending in twos might be for
safety (be careful out there), accountability (Did you really say that?),
humility (not I, but we), and community (ministry can be a lonely thing.)
·
In the case
of the Gospel, what seems to be a failure leads Jesus to go forward with a
fresh ministry. The people he sends are most likely unprepared, physically or
any other way. Yet they do what they were commissioned to do – preach
repentance, cast out demons, and heal the sick.
·
Interesting,
isn’t it? Despite all of these things in all of the readings, there is no
stopping of the Good News. Ezekiel might be ignored. Paul might suffer. Jesus
might be troubled by unbelief and the Twelve might be unprepared and quite
dependant on those to whom they go to proclaim the Good News, yet there is no
stopping God’s salvation.
·
Let’s
listen again to the words of Paul: but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power
is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
·
So here we
are, called by Jesus to be his disciples, despite suffering, illness, exile,
doubt, confusion, and unworthiness. To each of us in entrusted the Good News,
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both for our good and for the world’s. The Good
News cannot be stopped and there is no telling how it might break through to
those who hear it.
·
There is
one more thing to know: There is no getting away from the Cross. Those who accept the call of God and seek to
follow him may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness,
hardship and persecution, insults and rejection. These are not transient
conditions, but are the common situation of those who serve the Crucified One.
He rejected the way of glory and found glory in obedience and death.
·
Hard words
to be sure, and that might be the only way we know we are following Jesus – if
we are misunderstood, if we are insulted, if we find our faith and the way of
living it brings ignored. We might even find ourselves persecuted in some way
or other.
·
Through all
this, we’d do well to remember what Paul was told in the midst of his
sufferings: "My grace is
sufficient for you” It is God’s grace that will see us through and
it is God’s grace that will get the Good News through to others. We may fall
short in many ways, but remember - "My
grace is sufficient for you”
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