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Local Legends
by Andrew Prior
Gospel: Mark 6:1-13
He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him.
2On 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! 3Is not
this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and
Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?' And they took offence at him.
4Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home
town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.' 5And he could do no deed
of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured
them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7He called the twelve and began
to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no
bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
10He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the
place. 11If 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.'
12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13They cast out many
demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
One of the reasons we know the Gospel is true, is that Jesus was a small town
boy. He had family. He had a history; saying he is Mary's son is an insult about
his illegitimate parentage. ( Juel: Mark, Augsburg Commentary on the New
Testament See Stoffregen.) Despite the fact that he had remarkable things to
say, and clearly had been given great wisdom, (6:2) his home town “just knew” he
was getting above himself.
An expert is someone who is a long way from home. Legends sanitise their
subject. Legendary people don't have an embarrassing past; their media staff
airbrush it away, and their lawyers sue for silence. Legends fit the image.
Celsus' great objection to Jesus, apparently,
was not the claim that a human could be born of a virgin or that a human could
be divine; but the fact that it could happen to a member of the lower classes!
"Class snobbery is, in fact, very close to the root of Celsus's objection to
Christianity." Stoffregen
Jesus was lower class; a builder.(6:3) He had a past and a history. You can
imagine someone saying, “Boy... I changed your poohey nappy.” That statement
encapsulates the “mentality that geographical and heredity origins determine who
a person is and what his capacities will always be.” Ben Witherington says this
is an ancient mentality. Clearly, Americans are far more sophisticated than we
Australians are; there's nothing at all ancient about this mentality, in my
experience!
The Faith is a home town faith. It was brought to us by a home town boy. He sent
out disciples, in pairs, who were home town boys. God comes to us in the
ordinary.
The hymn says it all:
When God Almighty came to be one of us,
Sing all you midwives, dance all the carpenters,
This is incarnation. There is no other way to meet God.
How much is our longing for God, and our sense of separation from God, and the
sense of the unreality of church and faith, not due to our pride, or our lack of
commitment, or lack of prayer? How much is it due to our inability, or our
refusal, to see God acting in the common place? How much are we looking for a
legend to idolise, rather than a local who will love us?
How much do we refuse to see the power of God at work in our neighbours and
friends; after all, we know them so well? The church seems to be addicted to
experts from overseas, or at least interstate. It seems like every second Synod
we have some overseas keynote speaker.
Yet, at our last Synod, the local staff presented the Saturday resourcing
sessions. They were competent, even insightful. They highlighted a couple of
parish projects that are breath taking in their scope and achievement. Projects
run by local people like Jesus; ordinary people with histories and failings.
Tonight I am to be inducted into a new parish. I will be their .25 minister!
They are legendary. They “hit way above their weight,” I have been told. It's
true; I am hugely impressed by what I have seen and heard. I hear that those who
have interviewed me, and met me as we have negotiated, are quite impressed with
me, too.
Tonight this mild infatuation begins to end. I'm going to find out that these
legends at Hare Street, are just locals. I bet someone will tell me over supper,
that someone else in the congregation is a loose cannon, or “not quite solid.”
I've already been given the “heads up” on someone by an acquaintance in a
neighbouring parish. I'm sure Hare Street has been given “the goss” on me, and
my limitations.
As the real relationship begins, will we seek the incarnation of God within and
among ourselves, or will we look for a legend? If Hare Street seeks an expert in
me, they will be badly disappointed. And if I do not find things in which to be
disappointed, or with which to struggle, they will be unique in all the parishes
on earth! But if we will seek God in and among our hometown selves, then Jesus
will do deeds of power there. (6:5)
It says that when the disciples were sent out by Jesus , they “cast out many
demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” (6.13) Brian
Stoffregen notes the following:
Crossan compares and contrasts Cynic missionaries and Jesus missionaries. Both
groups were allowed to carry a staff. The Cynics were to carry "a bag" (or
"knapsack"). Crossan writes: "What it symbolized for the Cynics was their
complete self-sufficiency. They carried their homes with them. All they needed
could be carried in a simple knapsack slung over their shoulders" [p. 118].
By necessity, Jesus' disciples became locals. They were not self sufficient;
they had no bag, by command. They depended on the community of faith, which did
not put them up at a good hotel, but had them in their homes. The community
smelled their sweaty feet, and learned their limitations, just as they learned
the limitation of the locals. No experts here, specifying the mattress type and
bed size if they were to come and speak at Synod. The incarnation and power of
God is found, instead, in the local legends.
Masking the glory of his golden train,
Dozens of plain things shared the experience,
And they will never be the same again.
Sing all the publicans and shepherds too.
God in his mercy uses the commonplace,
God on his birthday has a need of you... (Michael Hewlett AHB 214)
See Also:
Sermons and Bible Commentaries for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost
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