Gleanings – Really, You Want Me to Do That?
Mark 6:1-13
‘So they went out and preached that men should repent.”
This is no big deal in and of itself. They went and preached. They preached what John had before Jesus and Jesus himself preached. Men should repent.
What is remarkable is that they went out two by two with “no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;” not even an extra tunic. They went out with nothing in hand and were expected to live off the good graces of those in their audience.
Now in a mass of passages highlighting faith, this one is extraordinary. When was the last time you stepped out with no provision and only the hope that those you called to repent would provide you shelter and food?
Most of the folks in my immediate circle live fairly ordered lives. We plan and have a reasonable assurance of the outcome. We have calculated the ROI. Nothing wrong with that! So how should such a passage inform our lives?
A group of dear brothers contemplated this recently. Their conclusion was that the same faith was required of them not in trusting for provision but in actually sharing their faith as was required of the disciples. We live in a world increasingly hostile to faith and people of it. And yet we are charged with going and telling that others might follow. We must run the risk of rejection!
I met a man recently who had done sales early in life and was told to expect to hear seven no’s before a single yes and that from just one person. So if we witness to our faith to five people a week we potentially will hear 35 no’s with the hope of hearing yes just 5 times.
We have our work cut out for us. It requires faith. And it is a good thing God goes before us preparing the soil, preparing the heart.