“Free to Fail” 

Mark 6:1-13 

Introduction.  A new pastor moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his parishioners. All went well until he came to this one house.  He could tell that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he knocked several times. Finally, he took out his calling card, with his name and phone number on it, wrote on the back "Revelation 3:20," stuck it in the door, and left.  Revelation 3:20 reads: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he will with me." 
 

The next day, after worship, as the pastor was counting the offering, he was surprised to find his card in the collection plate. Below his notation of “Revelation 3:20”, the following was written: “Genesis 3:10.”  The pastor grabbed a nearby Bible, looked up Genesis 3:10, and read this: “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked.” (www.beliefnet.com/dailyjoke/) 

Move 1. Sometimes, a person can find it difficult to be able to share faith.  A person can find that the door to faith sharing is closed.  He or she can find that door is not usually a physical door, but instead a mental, emotional, or spiritual closed door.    

Jesus found it to be so, and it was so for those with whom he was the closest.  He and his teachings were not accepted in the place he had grown up, his hometown.  He found that his kinfolk and neighbors took offense at him, perhaps asking, “Who does he think he is, this mere carpenter, this boy who was once a snotty-nosed kid just like all the other kids, but who is now trying to teach us?  Who does he think he is?”  Jesus went other places, outside his hometown, and did many deeds of power, but there at home he could do nothing except cure a few people, presumably because most of the townspeople rejected Jesus, did not believe what he was saying much less believe in him.   

When a person attempts to share faith in today's world, he may find it most difficult to share with someone he knows well--a friend, a work-mate, a family member.  Maybe he finds it difficult to share because he is wondering, will the friend or family member react unfavorably?  Maybe he is concerned about bringing in an unfamiliar discussion topic, like spirituality, into what has become a familiar relationship.  He might be rightly concerned, because such things so easily can be rejected, sometimes especially by those with whom we are close, who might be saying, “Who does he think he is?” 

A pastor once gave her annual give-up-something-for-Lent sermon.  She ended her sermon by saying, “As an example of repentance to the rest of the community, this congregation will worship in an unheated church for the whole season of Lent.”  Now, this pastor led a small church in northern Minnesota, and the start of Lent in early March was still a chilly time, if not down right cold.  As the parishioners made their way out into the damp, late winter chill after the sermon, the pastor asked one of them, “Ah, Mr. James, and what have you decided to give up for Lent?”  She heard the blunt reply: “Church!” and further mumbling as he walked away, “Who does she think she is?”  (Leonard Budd, sermon, “Walking the Familiar,” www.sermons.com) 

A person can sometimes find, like Jesus did, that the words and actions of Christian faith can be rejected, and it can happen sometimes especially when it is with those we know and love.   

Move 2. Nevertheless, sharing faith in an active way in a fallen world is what we are called to do.  It is what Jesus did.  It is what Jesus asked his disciples to do.  And it is what we who are his followers today are called to do.   

In the passage from Mark read today, this faith sharing takes several forms.  First it takes the form of calling for repentance.  Calling for repentance often brings to mind a frothy preacher banging his Bible on the pulpit--“Repent, sinner!”  It can be that, but it is much more than that.  It is a request that we turn from our selfishness toward God.  It is a request that we turn from our own importance and see the importance of all God's children.  It is a request that we make a lovely noise rather than add to the chorus of curses so prevalent in our world today.  Calling for repentance, a change of heart and a change of ways, not just for others but for ourselves, is part of faith sharing.   

Second, it takes the form of casting out demons.  Such casting out conjures up Hollywood images from “The Exorcist,” or fanged, clawed, little devils running around creating utter chaos.  Whether or not demon possession in such fashion is believable, isn't it the case that the demons of hatred, bitterness, lust, addiction, self-loathing, and more haunt people?  The casting out of such demons is nearly impossible without trust in God and help from others.  Indeed, such work is to be done in community, perhaps one reason that Jesus sends out his disciples in pairs instead of alone.   

Third, faith sharing takes the form of healing the sick.  Such a directive brings to mind the scene of a lame person being smacked on the forehead by a faith healer, falling backward, but then standing up again and throwing away his crutches.   Perhaps healing can happen this way, but healing really is a matter of overcoming disease.  Disease “literally means 'not at ease.'  Disease is disharmony, disturbance, dysfunction, derangement, or disunity in the parts of the whole person.  Healing means restoration of the unity of the body, the mind, and the spirit. The disease which seems bodily may be mental at root; the disease which seems mental may be spiritual; the disease which seems individual may be social at the same time.”  Healing is about the human spirit being reunited with God's divine Spirit.  It is about wholeness being restored.  (Ron Lavin, sermon, “The Sending Plan,” www.sermons.com)   It is something that we need to understand more about if we want to share faith.   

Sharing faith by calling for repentance, casting out demons, and healing the sick, are important parts of our Christian callings, and an important aspect of what we do in our church and throughout the world.  Such sharing calls each of us to learn about and understand how we can be part of God's plans.   

Move 3.  We may be reluctant to pursue such callings because, as in so many other areas of our lives, we don't want to make mistakes.  What if we try to share faith, or try to help someone, and we aren't successful? What if we are rejected?  Well, guess what?  Failure is acceptable.  We are given permission to fail.   

Some years ago, a woman golfer who had a “never say die” attitude played in the Shawnee Invitation for Ladies in Pennsylvania.   When she teed off the sixteenth hole, she hit a drive directly into a nearby river.   “She gamely set out in a rowboat to play the ball. When she finally succeeded in stroking it out of the water, it landed (in dense woods.)  From there she drove the ball into the rough, then into a sand trap, then back into the rough. Two hours later she arrived on the green, having taken 166 strokes on a four-stroke hole. She had perseverance, but was it a virtue?”  On the other hand, “W. C. Fields once said, 'If at first you don't succeed, then quit. There's no use in being a fool about it.'”  (David Rogne, sermon, “You are Free to Fail,” www.sermons.com)   

Perhaps we might discover that the way of Christ is somewhere between these two extremes.  We hear Jesus give instructions to his disciples on how to handle sharing faith and how to handle rejection.  Hear again these instructions, this time from a modern version of the Bible called The Message: “Get a modest place and be content there until you leave.  If you're not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw.  Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.”  (Eugene Peterson, The Message, Mark 6:10-11)  We might hear Jesus say, “Share your faith as best you can, but don't keep swinging your club when you're way over par.  Move on to the next hole.”   

We are free to fail.  We see that many didn't accept Jesus when he was living on earth.  We may or may not fare better, but we are given permission to walk away when we are not welcomed.  Indeed, we need “to make peace with the possibility of failure, because there are times that we are going to meet up with it.”  Harry Truman was once asked by a reporter if he was afraid of making mistakes.  He “answered, 'No. If I were, I could never make a decision. I have to make a decision every day, and I know that fifty percent of them will be wrong. But then, that leaves me fifty percent right, and that's batting 500.'”  Truman was asked by the reporter, “'How do you handle the fifty percent wrong?'”  “Truman replied, 'I laugh at them, and at myself, and so does Bess.'”  (Rogne) 

We might note that Jesus does not overwhelm people, in terms of being forceful or arrogant.  We see that Jesus teaches and heals, makes a huge impact on some, and doesn't browbeat those who do not accept him or his words.  In the sense that Jesus does not convince the majority, we see that he fails.  Likewise, we are free to fail.   

Conclusion.  In the sharing of faith, however--in word and in deed--doors will open, and some people will be impacted eternally.  Some of these will be impacted immediately and ecstatically.  Others will be impacted slowly, over time.  In either case, when Christ is present, when we can help shine the light and love of Christ through our very selves, lives will be changed for good.  Indeed, those lives may be, first and foremost, our very own lives; and indeed, our lives are a good starting point for the sharing of faith in our world.  And when we fail, even our failure can be redeemed.  After all, we are followers of the one who suffered failure, on a cross, out of which sprang, and continues to spring, faith and life.   
 
 

July 9, 2006

Rev. Dave Hedgepeth

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah