Welcome to our Worship on the fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday. Our Parish Eucharist is at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, and Revd David Halford will be preaching and presiding. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Our first hymn this morning is "Brother, Sister Let Me Serve You"
Today's Gospel
Mark 6: v1-13 “A Prophet without honour”
Jesus came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 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! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 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.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Reflection
“Jesus said, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” Mark Chapter 6: v 4.
Some years ago, a young woman living and working in the South East of England, was preparing for her marriage in her northern hometown. She had been a committed Christian for many years, and she had grown used to her family and friends reacting with amused tolerance or barely concealed irritation whenever she mentioned anything to do with the Church. One day she phoned the vicar of her northern church about some of the wedding arrangements – and towards the end of the conversation the vicar said, “By the way, did you know your brother has been talking to me about the possibility of him coming to the church?” Needless to say, she did not know.
It seems to be that one of the paradoxes of life that the people we are closest to – our family and friends – can be the very ones with whom it is hardest to share the deep things of God. When the love of God does connect in a meaningful way with those we love, it is often not through us, but through a different source.
That Jesus also struggled in this way is evident, not only from this reading from St Mark’s Gospel, for there is similar evidence in other Gospels too. His rejection at Nazareth has been seen by some in a similar way. By returning to Nazareth as a prophet, healer and teacher, Jesus, a carpenter, and the son of a carpenter, was stepping outside the role and status he had known in his hometown. Galilee was prosperous at this time, and as carpenters, Jesus and Joseph were far from being the most impoverished in their society. Nevertheless, the status of a craftsman was considerably lower than that of the educated classes, whose chief work was to learn the law.
In Mark Chapter 3, the attempt of Jesus’ family to curtail his public preaching seems to suggest that they too shared the town’s sense of concern about his teaching and behaviour. Attitudes were so set against him in Nazareth that he could do “no deed of power there”, except to cure a few sick people.
How different is the public response to Jesus’ message in the passage that follows? After the failure at Nazareth, Jesus travels amongst the other villages, teaching. He sends his disciples out in pairs with the authority to proclaim God’s message of love and repentance and to cast out unclean spirits. And what did they achieve with this authority? “They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” What a contrast to Jesus’ experiences in Nazareth! Jesus had found his power there as limited by the hostility and rejection of his own people. Where that power and authority found acceptance, however, the disciples were able to do great things in Jesus’ name.
The pressures we sometimes experience within our own families and local communities can be very subtle and can be exercised for good and ill. On the one hand there can be pride and pleasure in our achievements, and an encouragement to go on. On the other hand, contrasting feeling that go along with that. There can be intense pressure to stay within the boundaries our communities believe to be acceptable, which may cramp our style and impose limitations upon us.
Jesus’ attitude to his disciples is very different. He is not jealous of the authority he has, but seeks rather to share it with the people whom he has chosen to be his closest followers. Jesus does not confine – he liberates. As a result, the disciples were taken beyond their human limitations, and began to live and work to a potential they never dreamed they had.
Perhaps we need to reset our compasses towards the divine. Then we may have the freedom to grown into the unique person God has created us to be – and maybe we could help to enable others to do the same.
David H.
Our prayers
Heavenly Father,
We praise and thank you for the teachings and wisdom
shared with us by our saviour Jesus Christ
We give thanks that through your church
we can worship together in our community
and share our belief in Jesus with those we know.
Compassionate Lord,
We pray for courage when people are rejected for following you
and confidence to continue to proclaim your Gospel.
Hear our prayer for those who do not yet believe
or people who ridicule those that profess your faith.
We pray with hope that they too will come to know you
And feel Jesus’ overwhelming presence in their lives.
