The Sign Outside Of Town

"The Sign Outside Of Town"

Mark 6:1-13

On the outskirts of many small towns across Kansas there will be a sign.  Maybe a couple.  We have some of these signs outside of town on the east and west side.  They are signs hailing the famous people who grew up in that particular town.

One guy traveling through a small town, stopped at the diner to eat.  He asked the waitress if any famous people were born in that town.  She replied, "Nope; just babies."

When I was living up in Colby, there were two signs outside of town.  One said, "Home of Opera Singer Sam Ramey.  He's one of the most well known baritone opera singers in the world.  Most famous male opera singers are tenors.

The other sign says, "Home of Mark Schultz, Christian Singer Song Writer."

Outside of Salina there's the sign that says, "Home of Steve Hawley, Astronaut."  Steve was the son of the Presbyterian Pastor in Salina at that time, back in the late 1980's.

It's fun to see how a town links part of its identity with the people who grew up there, who eventually became famous for one thing or another.  It's like that town is trying to say, "Hey, we are a great place to live because this or that famous person grew up here."

So, you'd think the same would be true of Nazareth.  Nazareth was a tiny, one-horse town at the time of Jesus.  I can imagine a sign on each end of town (which might put the signs back-to-back) that read, "Home of Jesus the Savior and Son of God."  But it doesn't appear that happened.

Instead this story in Mark says, "And they took offense at him" (vs. 3).  The word in Greek translated "offense" literally means they "stumbled" over Jesus.  There was something about Jesus that tripped them up--that wasn't quite right.

What was tripping the people of Nazareth up was what they knew about Jesus from the time he grew up there to the present when he had come back to his home town, preaching about the Kingdom of God.  The two pictures of Jesus just didn't mesh.  "How could the kid we knew who grew up here, turn into that!?"

Evidently, the leaders and believers in the early church had the same problem.  Paul wrote in the second letter to the Corinthian church:

From now on, then, we do not regard anyone in a purely human way.  Even if we have regarded Christ in a purely human way, yet now we no longer regard Him in this way.  (2 Corinthians 5:16, Holman)

The people of Jesus' home town of Nazareth were regarding Jesus in a human way--from watching him grow up with his brothers and sisters.  From seeing him interact with his mother Mary and his father Joseph.  Notice that they do not say, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" but, "Isn't this the son of Mary?"  It's believed that Joseph had died and was no longer in the picture.  If that is so, the small town, like most small towns would rally around Mary and her family and endear them even more.

But now, the oldest son--Jesus--who, because he was the oldest son, should have stayed in town and shouldered the responsibility of providing for the welfare of his family, but who ran away to God-knows-where, now has come back spouting this religious hooey about the Kingdom of God, with a ragtag bunch of fishermen in tow.  In their mind, Jesus should have stayed and taken care of his mother and his siblings.  Those are the human standards by which they judged and regarded Jesus.  You can begin to understand why they were "stumbling" over Jesus.  And why no one was quick to put up a sign on each end of town.

It's something Jesus faced throughout his life as well as long after the Crucifixion and Resurrection.  Here were a people in Nazareth who were intimately acquainted with Jesus as a human being.  That's all they saw of him.  Evidently they never saw him heal himself when he banged his finger with a hammer, pounding in some wooden pegs.

But there were others who had just seen Jesus once--when he healed them of leprosy, or of a withered hand, or a flow of blood, or a dead 12 year old daughter brought back to life.  Those people saw Jesus as the divine miracle worker.  They probably had a hard time seeing Jesus the human being, the man, because human beings don't do what he was doing.

Again, as I said a few times when I started out on the preaching series of Mark's gospel, there is a question that Mark is forcing his readers to ask themselves.  Do you remember what that question is?  Who is this Jesus?  After giving us three amazing healing miracles (the crazed, demon man; the bleeding woman, and Jairus' daughter), now Mark throws in this story of Jesus back in Nazareth, being seen as just a guy, trying to get all religious with them.

So who is this Jesus?  This question will become even more pivotal in the next part of this story.

Imagine you are one of the 12.  You've been following Jesus around for the past year or so.  You've heard him preach.  You've seen him heal.  You've seen him exorcise demons.  You've seen the opposition, the controversy Jesus has caused.

Now you've seen him get no respect from even his home town people in Nazareth who saw him grow up.  At this point, Jesus is the main show.  You've just been standing around to collect the offering--the coins people flip into your kafia for watching the show.  You really haven't had to do anything up to this point, except listen and learn.

And then Jesus surprises you one day and says, "OK, now it's your turn.  You are on your own.  At least on your own with one other disciple.  I want you to now go out and do what you've seen me doing.  I want you to go out and tell people about me and see if you can make me more followers.  Ready.  Go!"

What do you do?  Do you take off running, because you can't wait to tell people about Jesus and make them his disciples?  Do you go home and turn on the TV set, veg out and avoid what Jesus asked you to do?  Do you tell Jesus, "Let me go home and think about it"?

This is different, now.  You aren't just fielding a few questions on the side for Jesus, and if a tough question gets asked you can call Jesus over and have him answer it.  No, now you are it.  You have to find your own way to talk to people and see if you can convince them that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.

In order to convince others, you have to be convinced yourself.  Here is the tie-in with the previous story from Nazareth.  None of them were convinced that Jesus was nothing more than a hometown boy who now thinks he's something.  You have to ask that question of yourself that Mark, all through this gospel is forcing you to ask:  Do you believe it?  Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God?  Are you thoroughly convinced?

If you are, then you have to be comfortable walking up to people and tell them something unbelievably amazing.  You aren't bringing them to Jesus so Jesus can convince them of his validity as Messiah and Son of God.  It's on you.  You have to convince them to follow Jesus.

This is more than just asking someone to come to church.  That's easy.  Get them to church.  Let the others envelop the newcomer with hospitality.  Let Steve give the message that will convince them.  You may think, All's I have to do is get them here.  No.  You tell them about Jesus.  You have tell them about your belief in Christ.  You preach the gospel to them.  You introduce them to Christ.

When Jesus told the disciples to go do that, and you are thinking about that, wondering if you were one of the 12 who just got those instructions, you're probably thinking, "Oh, I couldn't do that; I'm just not good at that sort of thing."  

Raise of hands:  How many of you know how to talk?  How many of you have been Christians for some time now?  How many of you have attended church for longer than three years?  Guess what?  You've had more training, for a longer period of time than Jesus' disciples!!  Time to get out there.

There was a lady in my congregation in the Colby church.  She took Bible Study Fellowship classes for decades.  Probably had gone through the whole Bible at least twice.  Her head was full of Bible stuff.  She knew the Bible probably better than most preachers.

I asked her to teach Sunday School.  "Oh, no," she said.  "I couldn't do that."  I admit I got a little peeved.  I said, "Merna, you've been taking Bible study classes for decades.  You know the Bible inside and out.  What are you ever going to do with all that knowledge?  Who are you going to share it with?"  She still balked and never really did anything about going out and telling others about Christ, making new disciples, even to our church's own kids.

Most of you have decades of sitting in here listening to sermons.  Many of you have added years of going to Sunday School.  Others have been reading Scripture and praying daily.  Go.  Make disciples.  Don't just go ask people to come to church.  Tell others about Jesus.  Introduce them to your Savior and Lord.

Just like my children's story about Toby and the juice, we talk to people every day about other stuff that doesn't ultimately matter.  We talk to people about work, sports, a book we are reading, something you saw on Facebook, juice--things we're passionate about.  So why can't we talk to others about Christ, and how we are passionate about him?

I went home for lunch this past Monday and there was a little tie-on label attached to my screen door.  It was from the Friends Church, up in my neighborhood.  I was invited to a block party at the church.  Free hot dogs and sno cones.  A music program.  And I'm sure someone is going to share the gospel.  

You could do that on your block.  Invite people into your home who live in your neighborhood.  Invite them all.  Feed them.  Maybe a little program.  Then share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and why you are a follower of Jesus.  Don't invite me to share the gospel.  You do it.

I have some booklets titled, Lifestory Conversations, that teach you how to share the gospel of Christ through getting to know people and listening to their experience.  I can lead you through that booklet, and then send you out.

Right now, you are the 12, and Jesus is asking you to Go.  Get out there, and make disciples for Jesus.

You may not get anywhere with people.  But this isn't a keeping score kind of thing.  It is simply being faithful to Christ and being willing to share the gospel.  Be faithful to that command.  As Paul wrote to Timothy, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season."

Now is the time; now is the season.