I’m
afraid I’m too old to remember the first time my mom and dad let me drive the
family car alone, after I got my drivers license, but I can recall that
each time my three daughters asked for the car keys to make their “first solo
flight,” I was filled with fear and trepidation. After all, I had been the one who spent the
most time teaching them to drive. I had
tried to remain patient each time they hit the curb parallel parking, and all
the times I said “slow down you’re going too fast.” But my fear was strong and I couldn’t help
wondering - had I taught them well enough?
And now, some years late, this fear isn’t really any less whenever my
girls get in the car to drive now hundreds of miles.
I
imagine that Jesus must have felt some fear and trepidation as well, sending
out the apostles in these six groups of two, to go and preach repentance, drive
out demons, anoint with oil and heal. To
go out without him there to watch and guide them. “Have I taught them well enough?” he must have thought to Himself. But our Gospel tells us that He had – for
they met with great success in their healing and preaching.
This
successful trial, if you will, is a foreshadowing of the great commission at
the end of Mark’s Gospel, when Jesus sends the eleven out into the whole
world to “go and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” When He instructs them, “whoever believes and
is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
What
we have here, in fact, is a foreshadowing of the Church! For Jesus didn’t leave us alone to take up
His mission and preach His word by ourselves.
And Jesus didn’t leave us a book to read either. What Jesus left us was a Church – such as it
was. He entrusted to this ragtag group
of apostles and disciples – sinful men and women each – to them he entrusted
his word, his legacy and his entire mission! If you stop to think about that
–you just have to laugh and wonder if the Lord lost his mind!! John Eldredge says it well in this book I’m
reading, Wild at Heart – Eldredge
writes:
Have
you thought about his handling of the Gospel?
God needs to get a message out to the human race, without which they
will perish…forever. What’s the plan? First, he starts with the most unlikely group
ever- a couple of prostitutes, a few fishermen, a tax collector. Then he passes the ball to us. Unbelievable!
Did
he lose his mind? No, of course not. He sent His Spirit! And empowered by the Holy Spirit, made
fearless by Christ’s spirit within them, this motley crew went forth to become
the foundation of His Church, which has stood for 2,000 years.
And
just as the twelve were sent out in this Gospel, you and I are now entrusted
with his word and sent forth to carry on his legacy, to live out his
mission! Think about that – you and
I! And no, the Lord has not lost His
mind, for He is still with us – in the gift of His Body and Blood and He
continues to send us His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, to give us together the
power and strength and courage to go forth to be His living and healing
presence in our world.
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