Friday, March 5, 2010

Read Mark 6:1-29.

Ticker tape parades mark the return of successful athletes to their hometowns. Yet, Jesus, the Son of God was not received in Nazareth with such celebration. Jesus had just returned to Nazareth after teaching crowds of people, raising Jairus’s daughter from death and healing the hemorrhaging woman. Although He was treated with reverence in other parts of the country, He was treated with skepticism by the Nazarenes. Jesus lamented that “a prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown…” Although He spoke with wisdom and power, the Nazarenes were more concerned that his origins were from the working class and not from royalty and, as a result they rejected His teachings.

How are we like the Nazarenes? Often we reject friendship from people that we consider to be “too different from us” without recognizing how God may use them in our lives. Unfortunately because of the Nazarene’s rejection, Jesus was unable to do any mighty miracles for the very people who should have loved Him the most. How much of God’s blessings have we blocked when we reject people and situations because we do not approve of their “packaging”? By doing so we rob ourselves of the goodness that God seeks to pour into our lives.

Jesus instructed the disciples on how to deal with rejection. First he encouraged them to go out in pairs. This underscores the importance of partnering with fellow Christians for accountability and support. He also encouraged them to “travel light”. When we are spreading the news of the gospel we should free ourselves from the distraction of those things that would hinder our ability to focus on imparting the message to others – or that might similarly distract the listener from our hearing our message. Finally, if our message is rejected, we must have the courage to walk away from the situation, relinquishing control to God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please free us from our prejudices so that we would be able to receive the blessings that you are trying to bestow upon us. Please also show us how to be a blessing to others and grant us the humility to shake the dust off our feet, when your Word is rejected.

Amen.

Marcia Cort