What do you really need?
In today’s Gospel passage from Mark, Jesus summons the twelve and instructs them. These two action words, summon and instruct, are playing out in the larger context of what we have come to know as the Gospel written first, before the other three.
Perhaps you have heard me refer to this Gospel as ‘Stark Mark.’ It is the shortest of the four, and because it was written first, the early movement of Christianity had not spread to the extent that it had when the other three were written later. Mark’s Gospel is more factual and to the point, but interestingly uses fewer words and has greater detail. Throughout the Gospel, the disciples are depicted as not understanding Jesus. This is a literary device that conveys Jesus often admonishing them for their lack of faith, but also explaining his parables and methods and sayings so that they, and WE, can understand them better, and increase OUR faith.
In this passage he summons them. We use the word “summons” to respond to our mandatory civic duty, a call to serve on a jury. We potentially play a part in the judicial process leading to a fair trial, which every citizen is entitled to.
As Jesus summons the twelve there is a sense of urgency and purpose. The church term for this is mission. What if we looked at the celebration of the Eucharist as a summons from the same Lord Jesus Christ? How would that add to our reception of the grace of gathering, listening to the scriptures proclaimed, participating in the acknowledgement that the Holy Spirit changes something ordinary—bread and wine—into something truly EXTRAORDINARY—the Body and Blood of Christ? How does it inspire us to carry out our mission?
With the summons of Jesus, the disciples receive authority over forces of evil in the world. Do we feel a sense of clarity and strength facing evil in our world as a result of being fed by the Eucharist?
The passage continues with Jesus instructing the twelve. He tells them to take only a walking stick and sandals, apparently two essentials needed for lots of walking and navigating uneven, strange and even dangerous terrain. What do these items symbolize for us, and in response to a similar summons from the Lord, what are the essentials for our journey? What unfamiliar, even dangerous territory might we be headed into? What are the walking sticks of our lives that stabilize us? What are the sandals that keep us grounded, or protect and support us?
Jesus instructs them to journey without food, sack or money. I don’t think many of us can imagine venturing out without those essentials — something to eat, some money for survival and no luggage.
What Jesus does encourage them to do is trust the welcome and generosity of those that the disciples will encounter. He places such a high priority on this welcome. He indicates that if they do not receive a welcome, or if people they encounter do not heed their message, they should move on until they do experience welcome and reception.
Ignatius of Loyola wrote words that might have been encouraging to the twelve, but he wrote them many years later. I believe they are encouraging and challenging for us at the same time as we consider what we really need, especially in the spiritual adventure of our lives
Take Lord, receive, all my liberties.
My memory, understanding, my entire will.
You have given all to me, now I return it.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that’s enough for me.
Your love and your grace are enough for me.
The passage this week goes on to tell us that the twelve, after receiving a welcome and hospitality and openness to their message, were able to drive out demons, anoint the sick with oil and cure them.
Evidently the summons and instruction of Jesus and the grace that flowed from how they carried out his instruction was enough for them.