Jump Start # 3814
Mark 6:36 “send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
It happened twice. Different occasions and in different places, but the response was the same. In Mark 6, our passage today, which sets up the feeding of the 5,000, it was getting late, the crowds were hungry, so the disciples tell Jesus to “send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” The Lord had other thoughts. He didn’t take the advice of the disciples. Instead, he told them, “You give them something to eat.” What an incredibly impossible challenge the Lord put before them. Matthew tells us that there were five thousand men, not counting the women. Easily the crowd could have numbered twelve to fifteen thousand. Who has food to feed that group? Most of us could not even go to the store, or order pizzas to feed that massive crowd. Jesus was about to show them that the word “impossible,” is not in His vocabulary.
Later, it happened again. This time up in Gentile country, a Canaanite woman approached Jesus with a pleading heart to help her demon possessed child. The disciples begged Jesus, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us” (Mt 15:23). The persistence and faith of this woman touched the heart of Jesus. The child was cured before the mother got home.
The thread connecting these two passages is the desire of the disciples to send people away. Maybe they were trying to shelter and protect Jesus, but they revealed how different they thought than how the Lord thought. Sending away is not what the Lord does. He invites. He enriches lives. He gives second chances. He believers in people.
And, this mindset of the apostles is alive and well among far too many of God’s people today. We don’t do well when “different” enters our church buildings. Someone with a different skin color. Someone with a different accent. Someone who looks different. Someone like the Samaritan woman who had been married multiple times and was now with someone she wasn’t married to. Different colors in their hair. Multiple tattoos. Unemployed. Divorced. Addicted. Messy choices in the past.
We may never use the words, “send them away,” but we roll our eyes. We whisper when “they” come in. We don’t want “them” sitting by us. Now, we welcome those who look normal, have good jobs, stable marriages and can give money. That’s the people we run to and welcome with open arms. It’s those with messy lives that we silently say, “Go away.”
Such thinking reeks of arrogance and a country club attitude. Those on the “inside” are in and those on the “outside” will never be welcomed in. I’ve been in congregations like that. And, what is amazingly forgotten is that Jesus never acted that way. In Samaria, a place the disciples would have never gone on their own, Jesus takes them there. And, there at noon, our Lord has a conversation about living water with a woman who has had so many relationship issues and failures. Jesus never thought, “send her away.” There were a synagogue official begging Jesus to come heal his dying daughter. Jesus didn’t say, “Send him away, he’s not like us.” There was a Roman soldier who begged Jesus to heal a crippled servant. Jesus didn’t say, “Send him away. He’s not like us.”
No one ever has to say those words, “Send them away.” It’s obvious. There is a feeling in the air. There is a cold, ‘what do you want,’ spirit that prevails. Congregations in college towns that do not have any college students. Why? We don’t want them here. And the churches that are turning people away, eventually become dying churches.
Some thoughts for us:
First, those disciples had to learn to see people like Jesus did. For the closed Jewish mindset, this was huge. Jesus was going to send those apostles into all the world. They would be around those who were not like them. Pagans. Gentiles. Idol worshippers. Immoral. And, those apostles were to preach the saving message of Jesus Christ to “those” people.
And, just like those disciples, we too must learn to see people like Jesus. People have messy lives. That’s what happens when you live without Jesus. Not everyone grew up in a Christian home. The Gospel compels us to love all, teach all, and welcome all.
Second, it is imperative that we drop the “we” and “them” words and attitudes. Such language sounds as if “we” are the right ones and “they” are the wrong ones. We are all in this together. We all need Jesus. In fact, when we start pressing the topic of “them” we might be surprised that the Lord sees a better heart there than what He does in us. As long as we think in term of us and them, the them will never feel fully welcomed or accepted. Everyone is welcome. Everyone. That even includes you and me.
Third, I have friends that sell real estate. Before they will take a client to look at a potential house, they will “pre-qualify” them. It’s a waste of time for everyone involved to set up a showing for a million dollar house when the person can barely afford an apartment. The agents will “pre-qualify” people. From your finances, you can afford this price range of a house. This works well in real estate. It’s a disaster when it comes to evangelism. We pre-qualify people by asking ten thousand questions and if we find out there has been more than one marriage, we are done. Don’t waste our time. It doesn’t matter that you want to find Jesus. You don’t “qualify” in our books.
The great commission said to preach the Gospel to every person. That means everyone on every continent. That means everyone in every nation. That means everyone in every state or province. That means everyone in every city. That means everyone on every street. That means everyone in every house. Go preach the Gospel to every one. Not just those who are pretty good. Not just to those who look like you. Everyone simply means everyone.
Send them away, or take care of them. Which is it?
Roger