According to the Gospel of Mark it seems that Jesus was on a pretty good roll until he got to his hometown. There in the synagogue he had grown up in, he stood up to teach. Of course all those who knew him since he was a child were amazed . . . amazed at the tenacity he displayed in teaching them. There was mumbling and grumbling . . . lots of questions, but mainly they were offended. The writer of the gospel tells us that Jesus was unable to do much of anything in his hometown. Disappointed, he and his disciples moved on.
Eventually Jesus decides to send the twelve disciples out for a trial run. Prior to leaving he gives them instructions about what they are to take with them—pretty much nothing, where they are to stay, and what to do when they encounter anyone who is not interested in what they are sharing. Jesus is fairly explicit in what they are to do to those who do not care to listen . . . “And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
Those are some blunt words. There are those who will tell you that such an action . . . shaking the dust off of one’s shoes . . . is meant to be an insult. Which if we cling to this understanding seems to make Jesus seem hard and vindictive. Others believe that the phrase conveys a more symbolic meaning of being done with something and moving on . . . the washing of one’s hands. I imagine that with any group of people there will be different understandings of what Jesus meant with this phrase . . . and, our group will be no different. Since I cannot picture Jesus being passive-aggressive in his statements, I lean more to the idea that in this situation that he speaking about in our reading this morning is more along the lines of “let’s move on.”
We should be able to handle such an understanding after all, we are the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). One of the early mottos or sound bites of our movement was” “Let’s agree to disagree and move on.”
It is quite plain to see that in the doing of ministry Jesus believes that one should travel and minister unencumbered with a whole lot of baggage . . . physical or spiritual. With such an understanding it is not difficult that Jesus wants the disciples—including us, to set aside that which might hinder the task at hand whether it be actual baggage or mental/spiritual baggage.
As always . . . it is good advice.
How often have we burdened ourselves in the pursuit of accomplishing something that we want to do? How often have we sat there spinning our wheels . . . getting nowhere because we won’t let go of something that we really don’t need? How much time and energy have we wasted in debate and argument in situations where nothing is ever going to change? Why do we insist on carrying so much baggage . . . baggage that hinders and slows us down? Baggage from which we can be buried and never accomplish anything.
Jesus says, “Dust . . . dust it off and move on.”
As a parent I watched my children spend a whole lot of time arguing. In particular they seemed to like to argue with their mom and me . . . especially when it came to doing chores or jobs around the house. I always believed that our children should have been on the speech and debate team because they spent a whole of time doing it at home with us. Often what was asked of them took a minimal amount of time to do . . . take out the trash, clean your room . . . that sort of stuff. Ten to fifteen minutes tops! Instead of just doing what was asked, they argued. Arguments that they rarely—if ever—won. So the fifteen minute task then ended up taking an hour and fifteen minutes because they chose to argue for an hour. If they had just done the task they would have saved an hour . . . it was an hour they could never get back.
If they had only taken an attitude of dusting.
Ever talk to someone who has different opinions and ideas than you do . . . especially when it comes to things like politics, religion, and sports? Ever catch yourself arguing the same points over and over again because neither person is going to budge and change their mind? But you keep arguing anyways? Social media is a good one for that. A friend posts some statement up that you don’t agree with and the next thing you know everyone is spending hours trying to change the minds of others. No one gets anywhere. No minds are change. The arguments are still there.
What a waste of time that cannot be returned. If they had only taken an attitude of dusting.
Jesus told his disciples: “And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” This was not meant to be a condemnation. Instead it was a simple statement of realism. Jesus did not want his disciples wasting time on things that did not make a difference. Jesus wanted his disciples to use their time, resources, and energy on that which was going to make a difference. Jesus wanted them to stop arguing and move on . . . put the effort into something that was going to make a difference. Besides . . . and get this . . . it is not the disciples’ role to convert others. No one can convert another. That is an individualistic thing between individuals and God. Only they can make the choice. It is up to the individual. The disciples present, individuals decide.
And that is what the disciples did. They shared their experience of God through what they had learned from Jesus. They shared it with whoever they encountered. If those they encountered were receptive, they were successful. If those who were non-receptive wanted to argue with no intention of ever changing, they hit a road block . . . nothing was accomplished and to sit there and argue was a waste of time. Shake the dust off your shoes and move on.
Sometimes we are all own worst enemy as we make our way in our spiritual journeys. We forget what the purpose of our journey is. It is to love the Lord with our whole being and to love others. We often burden ourselves with carrying too much baggage as we journey . . . we carry a lot of stuff that is not necessary that only slows us down. Especially when it comes to that which weighs us down spiritually and psychologically. Jesus tells us to take what is necessary. The goal is to share the Good News . . . share. That is all that we can do because we cannot decide for anyone else. That is up to them.
Life is too short to burden ourselves with that which we cannot control. Instead we should focus on the journey and rid ourselves of that need to control. All we can do is share . . . share the story of Jesus, share his words, share his compassion, share his love . . . the Spirit will do the rest of the work. In the story we heard this morning, Jesus could not change the minds of those who did not want their minds changed. He had little success in his home town. Yet, the disciples went out as strangers to share and found great success. They did not waste their time spinning their wheels with arguments or debates. They moved on and tried elsewhere.
Jesus has some great advice in our story this morning and it starts with dusting. Our spiritual journeys are toward greater intimacy with God and others . . . towards deeper love for the Holy and others. We are not to burden ourselves and others with that which hinders that journey for ourselves or others. We are to share . . . share our experience of the Holy, our experience with Jesus, and to open a door for others to enter into the spiritual journey for themselves. Some will be receptive, some will not . . . and, that is okay. Maybe someone else will have better luck. We are to move on. Remember . . . God moves in mysterious ways. Who are we to argue? Amen.
