Year B
Ezekiel 2:1-5
Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13

May the words of my mouth, O God, speak your truth…

Most of the time…  for most people…  the changes we experience are slow…  the growth we experience is gradual…  so slow and gradual that it may seem like we’re drifting in a boat…  and when we arrive…  we may wonder how we got from where we were…  to where we are…  for example…  I never could have imagined…  that as a closeted teenager…  who according to Ancestry DNA is 100% Ashkenazi Jew…  could never have imagined that I would end up as an openly gay Episcopal priest…

Some of the time…  the way we move from where we were…  to where we are…  is determined by choices that are made for us…  but most of the time…  the way we move from where we were…  to where we are…  is determined by the choices we make…  individually…  but also collectively…  and some of our choices require serious discernment…  otherwise…  we may ask ourselves later on…  either with welcome…  or regret…  how did we end up here…

On June 6…  we heard the story about how the Israelites wanted a king…  so they could be like other nations…  and God told Samuel to tell them…  to make sure they understood…  what having a king would mean for them…  and their children…  and their possessions…  but in spite of God’s warning…  they anointed Saul king at Gilgal…  and God said that one day they would cry out because of the king they had chosen…  and God would not answer them…  not that God would not hear them…  so while we can say that God ultimately saves us from ourselves…  we can also say that God allows us to experience the consequences of our choices…  that’s why Ezekiel was sent to the people Israel…  who had been taken into exile in Babylon…  who God called an impudent and stubborn nation of rebels and transgressors…  God sent Ezekiel so they would know that a prophet had been among them…  so they had an opportunity to learn God’s ways and repent of their own…  God’s Word can be hard to hear…  and because Ezekiel spoke God’s word…  I wonder if they took offense at him…

Because in his home town… they took offense at Jesus…  they took offense at Wisdom itself… at the Word…  who in the beginning was with God…  and who was God…  they took offense not because Jesus did or said anything offensive…  but because Jesus’ very presence illuminated their darkness…  highlighted where and how they missed God’s mark for them…  and he was amazed at their disbelief…

And the Gospel says that he went to the surrounding villages teaching…  as the disciples were called to do…  and Jesus sent them out…  two by two…  gathered in his name…  in the midst of them…  so the power of the Spirit would be with them…  so they would not be alone in ministry…  and Jesus first tells them what not to take…  no bread…  no bag…  no money in their belts…  but to take only one tunic…  and sandals…  and a staff…

Now a staff is also known as a “scepter”…  and indicates authority…  for example…  in the book of Esther 8:4…  the queen could only approach the king’s throne when he held out his royal scepter to her… in Psalm 45:6…  the word scepter is used to symbolize God’s rule…  Your throne…  O God…  will last for ever and ever…  a scepter of justice…  will be the scepter of your kingdom…  in this verse the scepter represents the absolute and eternal supremacy of God’s justice…  and a broken scepter…  as referenced in Isaiah 14:5-6…  represents lost authority…  when it says…  The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked…  the scepter of rulers…  who struck the people in wrath with unceasing blows…  and who ruled the nations in anger…  so when scripture uses the word “scepter” as it relates to God…  it is talking about God’s absolute rule over creation…  God’s scepter is simply one way the Bible describes God’s authority over kings…  peoples…  and nations…  that in spite of the chaos around us…  God reigns supreme…  and that God’s scepter will never be defeated…

And so by instructing the disciples to take a staff with them…  Jesus is bestowing God’s royal authority on them…  affirming that the only thing they need to bring into each village with them…  and take out with them…  is the authority Jesus gives them…  so they can cast out demons…  and anoint and cure the sick…  so they can restore some order to the encroaching chaos and disbelief…  and by instructing them to shake the dust off their feet…  Jesus may also be telling them to leave behind even the finest particles…  of the places which reject God’s justice…  so they don’t carry that rejection with them…

The Gospel is hard…  it’s a challenge to apply Jesus’ 1st century truths and values…  indeed…  God’s eternal truths and values onto 21st century realities…  it’s difficult to peel away the peculiarities of our social and economic and political realities…  so that we can see God’s eternal Word more clearly… in every time and place and circumstance…  but that is what we are called to do…  and both the individual…  and the corporate choices we make…  require some deep discernment…  and in every generation we must ask some hard questions…  do we see God’s justice being done for all people…  are the sick being healed…  the thirsty being slaked…  the hungry being fed…  the naked being clothed…  and when state legislatures promote laws which make it more difficult for eligible voters to vote…  so it becomes easier for some elected officials to stay in power…  do we think that’s God’s will being done…  is that power being made perfect in weakness…

Entropy is defined as a gradual decline into disorder…  it can be like being set adrift in a boat…  and at some point…  we’ll look around…  and see where we are…  and wonder how we got there…  but God created order out of chaos…  and we’ve been given the scepter of authority to restore that order where and when it is lost…  and so we must be honest with ourselves…  are we a rebellious nation… impudent and stubborn…  and if we are…  we must do what’s needed to undo that…  you see…  God will allow us to reap what we have sown…  but God’s scepter will never be defeated…

And as Amanda Gorman recited at January’s presidential inauguration…  we’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace…  and the norms and notions of what just is…  isn’t always just-ice…  somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken…  but simply unfinished…  and yes…  we are far from polished…  far from pristine…  but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect…  we are striving to forge a union with purpose…  to compose a country committed to all cultures…  colors…  characters…  and conditions of man…

Holy God…  help us to make these bones live…  and enflesh them…  and embody these words…  Amen.