Two Chosen People
Mark 6:1-13
Do you remember the sermon last time? We're going to begin this week with a quiz. Last time there was a woman who had an issue of blood. How many years did she have the illness? (12) And there was a little girl who Jesus raised from the dead. Do you remember how old she was? (12)
So far in the Bible story, if you think about the number 12, what comes to mind? (Twelve tribes) And after this point, what else is there 12 of in Bible? (Disciples) This is a critical point [a point of change] in the Bible. Jesus' message is rejected by the Jews, God's chosen people, and then Jesus sends out the twelve disciples.
Why has this happened? What has gone wrong? I think two things went wrong. Actually they are two things that are connected.
The first problem was the way they saw Jesus. They were impressed with his teaching, and they were impressed with his miracles. But being impressed with Jesus was not enough.
When they saw Jesus, they looked at his family - they said, isn't this Mary's son? And they can't imagine that someone who came from such an ordinary family could be anything special. Sometimes people look at us through our families. I was talking to one of our other missionaries recently, and she said that her mother now gets people talking to her in church. They come up to her mother and say ``Oh, you're Henrietta's mother.'' They know her through her family, but they don't her any other way. But your real identity is not in your family.
Then they look at Jesus through his factory, through his job - they said, isn't this the carpenter? They can't imagine that someone with an ordinary job like that could be the Messiah. Sometimes people look at us through our jobs. Especially in Japan, in the big companies, people used to find their identity in their job - they would introduce themselves and say ``I'm Mr Tanaka from Mitsubishi.'' But your real identity is not in your job.
But Jesus wanted them to look at him through their faith. Because they did not have faith in who he was and his relationship with God, the Bible says he could not do any miracles with them. Sometimes it is hardest to share your faith with the people who know you best. They know where you come from. They know your weaknesses and the problems you had. They know what you were like when you were growing up. In Christianity there is a strong connection between the message and the messenger. Jesus was God's messenger but he also was God's message. What he said and who he was went together. He opened his life to people. When his first disciples asked him where he was staying, he took them and showed them. But even Jesus had difficulty getting people to see him for who he was. People got too caught up in the messenger. They started looked at his work or his background. They couldn't believe that he could be God's messenger. If it was difficult for Jesus whose lifestyle was perfect, it is so much harder for us who are not perfect! That's why it's sometimes easier to go and preach the Gospel in a different place; a place where people can see the faith and not the family or the factory.
The Bible says that Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. Do you know, the Bible only says that Jesus was amazed at two things. This is one of them. He is amazed at the lack of faith of the Jews. The other is in Luke 7, when Jesus is amazed at the faith of the Roman centurion, who was not a Jew.
You see, this is the second reason why they went wrong. Because the Jews were supposed to recognise the Messiah. They were meant to know that he was part of God's plan to reach the whole world. Instead, they were happy just to be the ``chosen people''. They did not want to be involved in mission! There was an English missionary called Leslie Newbiggin. He said that there is always a problem with religions that have one God. The people who follow that religion end up seeing themselves as ``the chosen people''. They forget that they were chosen to go out in mission. They forget that they were chosen to bring the message to the whole world. This is where the Jews went wrong in this passage.
And so Jesus does something radical. He chooses a new people. Twelve disciples, just like the twelve tribes of Israel. If the ``chosen people'' will not enter into mission, then he will choose more people. And he sends them out into mission.
I find this really scary. Do you find it scary? You should. Because the Christian church has the same danger. It has the possibility to think that it is the chosen people. It has the possibility to forget that it was chosen for mission. And if that happens, God will choose someone else for mission. He has done it before. He can do it again.
Actually, Jesus changes the meaning of the ``chosen people''. When the disciples go out, he tells them many things that they cannot take. But he tells him two things that they must take. They have to take a staff and sandals. In the Jewish Law, you cannot go into the Temple if you are carrying a staff, and you cannot go into the Temple if you are wearing sandals. Jesus is sending them away from the Temple.
And if people reject the disciples, they are to shake the dust off their feet. When Jews came back from another country, they used to stop at the border of Israel and shake the dust off their feet. They made a division between Jewish soil and non-Jewish soil. But here the disciples go around Israel, and when people do not listen to them, they shake the dust off their feet. Jesus is saying that if Israel does not listen to him, then it is not really Israel! He changes ``the chosen people''. God's ``chosen people'' are only chosen when they part of God's mission. The church is only the church when it is engaged in taking God's message out of the church. And if we do not do this, God will choose other people to do it.
How do you see Jesus? That is the biggest question about this passage. Is he just an impressive teacher? Or do you look at his background? Do you think he was too long ago or too far away to be relevant to you? Or can you put your trust in him? Will you let him choose you? Will you take his message out to the world? Will you join his chosen people?