July 12, 2009 15th Ordinary Sunday of the Year Amos 7:12-15; Eph. 1:3-14; Mk. 6:7-13 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/071209.shtml                 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     As we look at the story of Jesus sending out the disciples in the gospel of Mark, there are three barriers to the mission which they encounter. We can learn from their experience because we will encounter the very same barriers if we take seriously the commission of Jesus Christ to "...go into all the world."   1. The barrier of unbelief When Jesus went to do ministry in his home town of Nazareth, he encountered an unbelief. "A prophet is not without honour except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household." One of the barriers we will face when we enter our world as sent persons is the unbelief of the world. Many of us have been raised in the Christian tradition. To say that we believe in Jesus Christ "goes with the territory," as they say.  But, in an increasingly un-churched culture, acquaintance with Christ is generally nominal at best. Believing in Christ is not a passive concept, but an active one. To believe in Christ means to place our trust in Christ. It includes the idea of a commitment to be a follower of Christ.   2. The barrier of resistance There is more than unbelief in our world. We will also encounter resistance to the whole message of Christ. Jesus' hometown folk not only did not believe, "...they took offence at him." Jesus warned his followers from the very beginning that the world would give his followers the same treatment he had received. "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you” (Jn. 15:18). If you take seriously the fact that you are one of the sent ones of Christ, you will encounter resistance.   3. The barrier of temporality  Jesus warned his disciples, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." [Matt. 8:20]  Now he sends them out without the support of the world. They are to depend solely upon their trust in him and on the provision of those who receive their message and ministry. We are limited, temporal beings and the most important things in life are not the fading treasures of this world, but the forever treasures of spiritual things. When we become the sent ones of Christ, we turn away from the world's standards of success and well being to the standards of Jesus Christ.     <<   Previous: 14th Sunday of the year  |   Next: 16th Sunday of the year >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)