Lives at risk?

 Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:6b-30

Some of today’s Gospel reading should seem familiar. Last week, I ignored the second half of the reading, which told us about Jesus sending the disciples out 2-by-2 to tell others about the reign of God.

I added it to today’s reading because it is part of a Markan Sandwich, a story telling technique that puts a story inside a story. This time, the sandwich looks like this: Jesus sends the disciples out on a mission, John the Baptist is killed by Herod, and the disciples return from the mission trip. Markan sandwiches work to make the individual stories more meaningful by their interconnection. The simple point is that being disciples of Jesus can get you killed.

… Let’s look more closely at the story of the disciples. They are sent out with nothing extra. They aren’t even allowed a personal carry-on item that will fit under the seat in front of them. They are to depend totally on the generosity of strangers for their food and housing. They also go with Jesus’ power to heal and cast out demons.  

We don’t know how long this internship lasts, but their activities draw attention to them, and creates a lot of word-of-mouth advertising for Jesus. There is so much buzz that Herod Antipas hears about Jesus.

While the disciples are out on their mission trip … Herod has arrested John the Baptizer for criticizing his marriage to Herodias as illegal. Herodias divorced her husband Philip, Herod’s brother, in order to have more power and prestige by marrying Herod. John the Baptizer railed against this as incest, and Herodias is furious. So, she insists that Herod arrest John, and then manipulates him into executing John. Now, when Herod hears about Jesus and the disciples, he is afraid that Jesus is John the Baptizer coming back to haunt him.

When the disciples return from their mission trip, and do a debriefing with Jesus, this news about John the Baptizer is high on the list of topics to discuss. They now understand that when they follow Jesus, when they go out and tell others about Jesus and the reign of God, they could be putting their lives on the line.

… This portion of the letter to the Ephesians is jam-packed with good news and encouragement. There is so much in it, it is hard to understand it. Maybe if it were bullet points … Here are a few of them.

·       We are blessed and chosen by God

·       We praise God’s grace that is lavished on us

·       We are redeemed, forgiven, and marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit

Filled with God’s Holy Spirit, we may experience earthly trouble, but we are empowered by the Spirit to act as God’s hands and voice and heart in the world. Knowing this should give us the courage to act on our beliefs, even if it means risking our lives and livelihood.

… There are so many ways to be like the disciples these days.

We can participate in demonstrations against injustice.

We can write letters or make phone calls to legislators.

We can make it known that we welcome all people, despite the risk to our property.

And here are some stories about people who are following Jesus:

… Chef José Andrés is a Spanish-American chef and restaurateur. In 2010, Chef Andrés went to Haiti after the devastating earthquake there. Because restaurant people know how to multitask, feeding lots of hungry people is easy to organize and carry out.

He founded World Central Kitchen and now groups from around the world participate in this program. A couple months ago, the world was stunned to learn that workers from World Central Kitchen were killed in Gaza. World Central Kitchen is in Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, Haiti, South Africa, and today, in the Caribbean where Hurricane Beryl caused a lot of damage.

… A family has recently arrived from Afghanistan. They aided the US, and so are at risk if they stay there. I have seen emails with people organizing to provide for this family at a moment’s notice. They do need a vehicle, and cash donations are welcome to help them get settled. Joan will keep us informed in the future of any needs we may be able to respond to. Let’s pray that they are at less risk here in the US than they were in Afghanistan.

… Our small congregation does a lot to feed hungry people, to love and welcome all people, and responds well when a need is identified. Thank you for all that you do through the congregation, and on your own with dozens of other ministries you are involved in. You may not be risking your lives, but you do give of your own time and resources, and spread God’s love in all you do. Amen