MARK 6:1-13

[6:1] He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

[2] And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?

[3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

[4] And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

[5] And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

[6] And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.

[7] And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

[8] He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—

[9] but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.

[10] And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.

[11] And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

[12] So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.

[13] And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Jesus would have made a great flight attendant.  That thought occurred to me a couple of weeks ago when I flew to North Carolina.  First of all my fear of flying would have been greatly relieved if I had known that God’s only begotten son was on the plane with us as a flight attendant.  The way I see it if Jesus could keep a boat from sinking on the Sea of Galilee he could also keep a plane from falling out of the sky. 

I definitely suffer from aviophobia.  That’s the fear of flying. How about you?   

If you hate to fly then the last thing you want is to have a conversation similar to the one that a little old lady had one day with her flight attendant.  The conversation took place after the passengers were all seated on the plane.   Instead of taxiing out to the runway though they just sat there.  Eventually the little old lady asked the flight attendant what the reason was for the delay.  “Oh,” the flight attendant said, “the pilot was bothered by a noise that he heard in the engine.  He said he wasn't going to fly the plane till they fixed it and it took us a while to find a new pilot.”

Yes, Jesus would have made a great flight attendant.

Not only would he be there with a miracle in the event of an emergency but Jesus was also an expert on how best to travel.   You see Jesus was a firm believer in the one carry on per person rule.  Usually when you think of the one carry on rule you think about your physical baggage.  However, Jesus knew however that you also need to apply the one carry on rule to your emotional baggage.  That a problem for some people.  They go through life carrying a lot of excess emotional baggage.  How about you?  Do you do that? 

When Jesus sent the disciples out to spread the Good News he  gave them some instructions. Jesus said that if anyone “will not receive you and…will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

In other words get the anger out of your system.  Then let it go and move on with your life. Some people don’t do that. They go through life carrying all kinds of excess emotional baggage. Sometimes the emotional baggage comes from an elderly mother who really knows how to push your guilt button.  Sometimes the emotional baggage comes from a friend who is always dumping her problems on you.  Sometimes the emotional baggage comes from an overly critical father who left you feeling like you weren’t quite good enough.  It’s called low self-esteem and  if you carry that emotional baggage then you can probably identify with some words that playwright Jules Feiffer wrote many years ago.  His short essay appeared in “The Village Voice.”  This is what he wrote:

“I felt like a fraud. So I learned to fly an airplane.

At 50,000 feet I thought, ‘A fraud is flying an airplane.’

So, I crossed the Atlantic in a rowboat.  I docked at Cherbourg.

And I thought, ‘A fraud has crossed the Atlantic in a rowboat.’

So I took a space shot to the moon.

On the way home I thought, ‘A fraud has circled the moon.’

So I took a full page ad in the newspaper,

And confessed to the world that I was a fraud.

I read the ad and thought -  ‘A fraud is pretending to be honest.’”

Are you carrying any excess emotional baggage?  Jesus knew all about excess emotional baggage.   In fact, just look at what the people in his home town of Nazareth did to him.  They dumped on him big time. They refused to believe that he was the messiah.  They looked down on him and said,  “‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.”  Their negativity was so bad that Mark tells us that Jesus couldn’t do any miracles there.  So what did Jesus do?  Did he smile and say, “Thank you everyone.  Feel free to give me all your excess emotional baggage and I’ll be happy to carry it for you?”  No. Instead of doing that he moved on to the next village.   Mark tells us that, “he marveled because of their unbelief.  And he went about among the villages teaching.”

When you look at what’s happened to Jesus and the instructions that he gave to the disciples the conclusion is simple. Only one carry on per person. If the excess emotional baggage is yours put it down.  If the excess emotional baggage belongs to someone else put it down. All you have to do to put down that bag full of anger is say, “I forgive you.” All you have to do to put down that bag full of guilt is say “I’m sorry.”  And you know that bag with the “you’re not good enough” tag on it?  You’ll be able to put it down when you go to the Cross and remember that God really does love you.  

Jesus was a firm believer in the one carry on per person rule.  That’s why, you can be sure that the Lord will always be there to help you put down that excess emotional baggage.  A woman found that out one day when she put down her bag full of sadness and sorrow long enough to let the Lord fill her heart with laughter and love.   I wish I knew who wrote this story but unfortunately the author is unknown.  However, this is what she wrote,  “Consumed by my loss, I didn’t notice the hardness of the pew where I sat.  I was at the funeral of my dearest friend – my mother.  She finally had lost her long battle with cancer.  The hurt was so intense, that I found it hard to breathe at times.” 

Does that sound familiar?  Have you ever felt that way yourself?  The woman goes on to say that her grief was suddenly broken by the sounds of a late arriving mourner.  She writes, “I heard a door – open and slam shut –at the back of the church, and footsteps quickly hurried along the carpeted floor.  An exasperated young man looked around briefly and then sat down next to me.  He folded his hands and then placed them on his lap.  His eyes were brimming with tears, and he began to sniffle.  I’m late,’ he said.   Then after several eulogies, he leaned over to me and said, ‘Why do they keep calling Mary….Margaret?’   ‘Because Margaret was her name.  No one ever called her Mary,’ I whispered.  ‘No, that isn’t correct,’ he insisted… ‘Her name is Mary Peters.”   The two of them went back and for until the late comer finally asked, “Isn’t this the Lutheran church?”   “No, the Lutheran church is across the street.”  “Oh.”  “I believe you’re at the wrong funeral Sir.”   Well, the two of them got to laughing.  The woman goes on to say, “I imagined Mother laughing. At the final 'Amen,' we darted out the door and into the parking lot…And that very afternoon began a lifelong journey for me with this man who even though he attended the wrong funeral, was still in exactly the right place at the right time. A year after our meeting, we were married at a country church where he was the Assistant Pastor.  This time we both arrived at the same church, and we were right on time. And after all these years, I realize that...In my time of sorrow, God gave me laughter and in place of loneliness, God gave me love. This past June, we celebrated our twenty-second wedding anniversary. And whenever anyone asks us how we met Rick just tells them, ‘Oh, her Mother and my Aunt Mary introduced us and it has truly been a match made in Heaven.’”

Yes, life is always better when you follow the one carry on per person rule and it’s really easier to do than you think.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

July 8, 2012