Faith and A Friend

Some of you are aware of the fact that my benediction has changed in recent months.  Most Sundays, I now say some variation of the following words:  “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and remember that you go nowhere by accident.  Wherever you go, God is sending you there.  Wherever you are, God has put you there. God has a purpose in you being there.
Christ who indwells you has something he wants to do through you where you are. Believe this and go in His grace and love and power, and may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, until we meet again.”    What you may not realize is that much of the wording of that benediction incorporates wording from a benediction used quite frequently by the Reverend Richard C. Halverson, who was the chaplain to the United States Senate from 1981 to 1994.  The wording of the Halverson Benediction highlights the purpose that God has for each of our lives and the master plan that lies behind all that we do in this world, if we allow God to work through us in his will and his power. 

Each week, God sends us out in his power to make disciples, just as Jesus sent his disciples out in this passage from the Gospel of Mark.  He sent them out into the neighboring villages… the little towns right around his hometown of Nazareth.  This was first record that we have of the disciples going somewhere without Jesus and having a purpose for their journey.  The Greek verb, apostelow, means “to be sent.”  It comes from the same root word as the word from which we draw the term “apostle,” which means “one who is sent.”  But there is also a deeper meaning in the Greek.  It also means one who is sent as a designated representative of another… one who has the full authority to act in the place of the one who sends him.   The disciples were sent, apostelein, with the full authority to act as Jesus in whatever circumstance in which they found themselves.  They were Jesus’ authorized representatives.    Whatever they did, they did in his name… and with his authority…and with his power.

            Each week, we, too, are sent out in Jesus’ name to be the bearers of good news and to serve others.  “Remember, you go nowhere by accident.  Wherever you go, God is sending you there.”    As Christians, our words and our actions reflect the One who has sent us… the One who has claimed us for his own… and redeemed us in His precious blood.    Many of us have heard the story of the little piece of paper that our own Dorothy Garrison carried around with her in her Bible.  Written on that little piece of paper were these words, “You may be the only Bible that some people read.”  If, as these words say, we are the only Bible that some people read, then our lives… our words and our actions…are our witness to our faith and our belief in the One who has claimed us and who sends us forth each week.    Each day, our paths cross the paths of those who are looking for something… who hunger for good news…and it is our words and actions that draw them to us… or repel them.    For better or for worse, we represent Christ to them. 

Jesus’ action in sending out the twelve were thoughtful and deliberate.  This journey was a test, though he never told them that it was.  When they returned, there would still be time for them to debrief with him… to learn more… and to fill in the missing pieces.  But it was time for them to test the waters for themselves.    Jesus’ instructions were clear:  “Travel light.”  Do not take any excess baggage with you… and it is amazing what Jesus considered excess baggage!    They were to take no bread… no bag… no money in their belt… and they were not to wear two tunics.  They were to take just the clothes they were wearing, to carry a staff and wear sandals.    Most other itinerant preachers of the day … even the Cynic-Stoic preachers who rejected worldly comforts… took some food on their journey.  They also took a beggar’s bag to carry what might be given to them and some loose change.  Jesus did not allow his disciples even a change of clothing.  They were to be totally dependent upon God for provision for their needs as they traveled.  This took faith… more faith than Jesus had asked them to show in all the time that they had traveled with him.  They knew that Jesus was capable of providing for their needs… of all of the needs of all of the people who followed him… but did the disciples know if they could exist… survive… without him?  (P)

But, even though they were on their own, they were not alone.  Jesus sent them out in pairs.    The power of this decision is immediately evident.  The two disciples would have each other to strengthen and support them in their work.  Whenever the faith of one was weak, it would be shored up by the faith of the other.  Whenever one felt lost or confused, he could have another to walk with him and guide him.  Whenever one felt tired or discouraged, he could be comforted and encouraged by the other.    In any two people, there is always one whose faith stronger… one whose perseverance is greater… one whose ingenuity can solve problems more easily.  Thus, in pairing the disciples, Jesus created pairs that were stronger than either person alone… and they could share with each other… and teach other… reminding each other of Jesus’ words on their journey. 

What can we at the First Presbyterian Church of Stephenville learn from this passage of scripture?  I think that there are four things that we can learn from this passage:  First of all, we must go out from this place, but we don’t have to go far.    Jesus sent his disciples away from him, but they only went as far as the villages surrounding Nazareth.  There were plenty of people closeby who had not yet heard the good news… and who needed to learn of God’s love… and to experience God’s power to heal them… in body and soul.  

There is an old story told about a man by the name of Ali Facid.  He and his family lived on a small farm. One day, the story goes, a Buddhist priest came by and said to Ali Facid: “You know, there are valuable stones called diamonds, and if you find one of those you could be a wealthy man."  When Ali Facid went to bed that night, the words of the old priest haunted him. He became so obsessed by what the priest had told him that he felt that he must find one of the diamonds.  He sold his family farm, put his family out with his neighbors, and went out into the world to find his diamonds. Months passed and he searched with no success. He was broken in body and spirit.  All of his money was gone. And at the Bay of Barcelona, he threw himself into the water and drowned.

Meanwhile, the man who bought his family farm was working in the fields one day when he bent over and picked up a little stone. He laid it on the mantle that night not knowing what it was. A few days later the old Buddhist priest came by and saw the stone and exclaimed, “Ali Facid must be back from his search.”  “No,” came the response. “Then where did that diamond come from?” The farmer replied, “I was out plowing in the garden and found it there.”The story, they say, is not a legend but a true story. From Ali Facid’s family farm, came the diamonds that today adorn the crown heads of Europe and Russia.  They were right in his own back yard. 

No, we don’t have to go far to find the diamonds that Jesus has scattered in the fields for us.  They are right in our own back yard.  There are people right here in Stephenville who do not have church families, who are not committed to Christ, and who are waiting for someone to bring them the good news of the Gospel.  

The second thing we can learn from this passage is to trust in God… more than we do.    There are dozens of stories in the Bible of God’s provision for those who are in his care… from a simple meal provided for thousands from five loaves and two fish… to Lazarus being raised from the dead.  There were the fish that broke Simon Peter’s nets when he lowered the nets again on Jesus’ command.  There was the storm that was calmed at a word from Jesus.  There were hundreds who were healed at a touch of Jesus’ hand.  And there were demons who were cast out of human beings at a single word from Jesus.    It was obvious that Jesus had power and authority… and, in this passage, he gave that power and authority to his disciples.    What becomes obvious to us is that we, like Jesus’ disciples, don’t always have the faith we need to do what Jesus does.  Otherwise, Simon Peter would have walked on the water, as Jesus told him he could.    Our faith, too, is shaky and we, too, lack confidence in our Lord and Savior. 

A couple weeks ago in my sermon, I shared a thought expressed by Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China.  He said, "Many Christians estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, and thus they attempt very little, and they always fail.  All giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and His presence to be with them."   We must have faith that God will provide whatever we need to do the work that he sets before us in this place.    With that faith, we will be able to do great things for God.

The third thing we can learn from this passage is that we do not need to travel this road alone.    Jesus did not send his disciples out alone, but in pairs, knowing that they would draw strength from each other.  We should also work together in any project that we undertake in God’s name.  By working together, we can encourage each other… and strengthen each other’s faith.  A task… a project that seems overwhelming to us never seems quite as daunting if there is someone working with us.    A partner lifts the load.

Finally, we need to remember that our words can encourage or discourage those around us.    It was the hometown crowd that rendered Jesus incapable of performing “mighty acts” in Nazareth.  They were so bound by their perceptions of him as a carpenter and Mary’s son that they did not see that he was capable of far more than that.  Their unbelief hampered his ministry in that town. 

We, too, can hamper the ministry of those in our midst when we limit our vision of the possibilities with our narrow concept of what we believe others are capable of doing.  As Raymond Kenny told us several weeks ago, God has given us gifts beyond our knowledge.  With God’s help, each of us is capable of so much more than we do for God each day.  And if we will believe that God can work miracles, we will learn that God can work those miracles through school teachers, pharmacists, college students, vacuum cleaner sales people, and even those who work in body shops…and even in their own hometown.  Never doubt, but believe… and see what God can do with that faith.  Amen.                 Mark 6:1-13; Psalm 48