Where Do You Belong? As One.
A reading for Tuesday, March 25, 2014: Mark 6:1-13.
Borrowing from my friend and colleague in ministry, Aaron Howard from As One, today's lesson is about belonging and the power of the gospel.
We all struggle for a place to belong. We hope for a place where we will be known and loved. Perhaps that's the image of Jesus' hometown in our lesson for today. It's the place where we are supposed to be accepted for who we are. This is not just about the physical, geographical place known as the place of our birth or rearing, but all the places we hope to belong. Race, class, gender, religious affiliation... all these and so many more are the places we hope to belong.
Truth is, however, often we find that we don't belong to any of these, at least not fully. Like Jesus we discover we are not accepted here or anyplace. Those that are supposed to love us the most and know us best don't. We don't belong. We aren't loved. Not even Jesus could do his work without being known and loved. When we don't belong someplace we are lost. Jesus could do no deeds of power there.
The good news is that Jesus has a way forward. He calls the twelve together. He gives them a place to belong. They will belong to him. More than anything else, they will be known and loved by Jesus and one another so much so that they will be given power to do great things. They will go out two by two. The disciples will take nothing with them to sustain them, but instead will be sustained by Jesus Christ. They will go to towns and villages and will do many great deeds of power in the name of the Lord.
We are the same. We are disciples. In Christ is where we belong. We may live in other places, identifying ourselves in other ways and that's okay, but only in Jesus Christ are we truly known and loved as God intends. Only in Christ can we truly become who we were created to be. We too can do many great deeds of power in the name of our Lord.
Only in Jesus Christ can we truly live "As One!" Thanks Aaron for your witness and your ministry...
Borrowing from my friend and colleague in ministry, Aaron Howard from As One, today's lesson is about belonging and the power of the gospel.
We all struggle for a place to belong. We hope for a place where we will be known and loved. Perhaps that's the image of Jesus' hometown in our lesson for today. It's the place where we are supposed to be accepted for who we are. This is not just about the physical, geographical place known as the place of our birth or rearing, but all the places we hope to belong. Race, class, gender, religious affiliation... all these and so many more are the places we hope to belong.
Truth is, however, often we find that we don't belong to any of these, at least not fully. Like Jesus we discover we are not accepted here or anyplace. Those that are supposed to love us the most and know us best don't. We don't belong. We aren't loved. Not even Jesus could do his work without being known and loved. When we don't belong someplace we are lost. Jesus could do no deeds of power there.
The good news is that Jesus has a way forward. He calls the twelve together. He gives them a place to belong. They will belong to him. More than anything else, they will be known and loved by Jesus and one another so much so that they will be given power to do great things. They will go out two by two. The disciples will take nothing with them to sustain them, but instead will be sustained by Jesus Christ. They will go to towns and villages and will do many great deeds of power in the name of the Lord.
We are the same. We are disciples. In Christ is where we belong. We may live in other places, identifying ourselves in other ways and that's okay, but only in Jesus Christ are we truly known and loved as God intends. Only in Christ can we truly become who we were created to be. We too can do many great deeds of power in the name of our Lord.
Only in Jesus Christ can we truly live "As One!" Thanks Aaron for your witness and your ministry...
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