July 13, 2003

“Two by two”

Mark 6:6-13

I have been following with interest President Bush’s recent travels in Africa.  I find that I respond differently about him when he is abroad as compared to when he is at home.  Partisanship ceases at the water’s edge; however I may feel about his politics, when he is in Africa he represents me – or rather us, our nation as a whole.  He embodies our dignity as a nation, and he speaks with authority for us.  He is just a man, of course – just an ordinary person like you or me – but he is vested with the authority to speak for a great nation.

He has had a particular message to bring:  he speaks of the desire of our nation for good will and closer relations with the peoples of Africa.  He speaks of the United States as a compassionate as well as a powerful nation.  He promises special efforts to bring healing for those afflicted with HIV/AIDS.  He speaks of a desire for reconciliation from the historical wounds of slavery.  And he contemplates efforts for peace, particularly in joining other nations to send peacekeeping troops into Liberia. 

He brings promises of healing, reconciliation and peace, and his promises have been well received.  Now, of course, the people of Africa as well as we at home will be watching for actions to follow words.  We expect to see these promises carried out in a way that makes a real difference; we want to see conditions changed on the ground.  We want to see lives changed.

I say all this as a way of helping us to understand Jesus’ mission, especially as it is presented in the gospel of Mark.  Jesus comes as a kind of emissary – not of a nation, but of a kingdom: the basileia, the reign and the realm of God.  He speaks with authority for this kingdom, announcing the intentions of God.  He is just a man – a person like you or me – and yet he speaks with authority for the reign of God.  He announces that God’s reign – where “mercy and truth have met each other; justice and peace have kissed each other” – has come near.  This is an announcement of cosmic proportions:  God’s power will at last unseat and overthrow the powers of sin and death.  This is not a distant promise but a present reality, and he calls upon people to repent, receive the good news and enter God’s realm.

Jesus speaks of healing, reconciliation and peace, but his words are not empty promises; they are accompanied immediately by actions that make a difference, that change conditions on the ground; that change lives.  He heals Peter’s mother and others; he feeds thousands who hunger; he forgives the sins of a paralyzed man; he welcomes outcasts to the table.  These actions have significance far beyond their particular circumstances.  They are confirmations and enactments of the announcement that he has made:  God’s reign of reconciliation, healing and peace is breaking into the world.

Jesus makes clear that his own words and actions are just the beginning:  after his resurrection, the church as his emissary will carry the power and presence of God’s reign to the ends of the earth.  But while he is still alive he commissions a kind of dry run for the church, sending his twelve disciples out two by two into the surrounding towns.  He sends them out with a double authority.  He gives them authority to speak the intentions of God: to proclaim the gospel of God’s reign and to call for repentance.  They speak with authority for the realm of God, though they are just men – ordinary people like you and me.  Jesus sent them two by two in order to make it clear that they are witnesses to what they proclaim – Jewish law required the agreement of two witnesses to establish the truth of any testimony.  They were not speaking for themselves; they are not giving their personal opinions; they are bearing witness to a truth that has been made known to them.

In the same way we, too, are commissioned as witnesses and given authority to speak for the reign of God and to call people to repentance and faith.  We may well shrink from the responsibility of the charge; who are we, after all, to speak with this authority?  We may respond as Amos did, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son.”  And yet it is not ourselves that we proclaim.  We are not out to impose our own beliefs or point of view on the world.  We are simply telling of what we have seen and heard, what we have experienced in our own lives, however humbly, of the power and presence of God’s reign:  some experience of healing, some grace of reconciliation, some glimpse of peace.  Our own particular story, when we share it with others, will bear all the authority of God’s reign.

Jesus gave his disciples authority to speak, and authority to act as well.  He gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits and so to show forth the power and presence of God.  And so we too are commissioned with the authority – to cast out spirits?  There are Christians in the world today – not least in Africa – who know exactly what this means, but we, perhaps, need some further interpretation.

What can it mean for us to have authority to cast out evil spirits?  Simply this: that the reign of God will be at work in and through us to bring healing, reconciliation and peace into a world still suffering under the powers of sin and death.  We will be instruments of the reign of God, and through us God will act to make a difference in the world, to change conditions on the ground, to change lives.

For some of us, this is our meat and drink – we know the joy and freedom that comes of offering our lives for God’s intentions in the world.  For others of us, the idea may seem overwhelming, beyond us, and we hardly know where to begin.

Begin here:  The next time that someone you know – at home, at work in the neighborhood – the next time that anyone should share with you some concern that they have – for a loved one who is ailing, for a friendship that is struggling, for a marriage that has become embittered, for a job that has been lost, for a child who has become estranged – whatever it may be – simply say to the person, “I’ll pray for you.”  Say it simply and sincerely looking them in the eye, so that they know that you mean it.  And then do it.

By these simple words you will have proclaimed the reality of God’s work in the world, as you have come to know it, and by the simple act of praying you will make a difference.  First of all, just by knowing that someone is praying for them, your friend will know that they are not alone.  That in itself will be a comfort; that in itself will bring a modest healing to the situation.  And beyond that, there may be other consequences, other results of your prayers - - which you cannot know until you try.

In this simple way you will begin to live the commission that Jesus has given to us as his disciples:  to speak with authority for the reign of God and to act to bring God’s healing, reconciliation and peace into the world.

--The Rev. Steven Bonsey

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