Success/failure

A meditation on Mark 6

Jesus returns to his hometown
No parades
No keys to the city
No pats on the back

Mark says, "He could do no deed of power there... except he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them."

Wow... Jesus failed! Let that sink in. Jesus failed... rejected by those who were most familiar with him.

The locals had questions:

Isn't this the "son of Mary"? [No father is mentioned. Could it be that they're speculating, "He's a bast--d!"]

Don't we know his brothers and sisters?

Somehow they couldn't get beyond their prejudices. And Jesus [!] couldn't do anything about it.

I've reached the point in life where I've known a good amount of failure. As a Christian, I've experienced profound disappointments. Broken relationships. Unsuccessful reconciliations. People I've ticked off, let down, or hurt- even when I've tried my level best. It seems that faith does not automatically equal success. Frequently, for me, faith means failure, not an unending series of successes.

Back to Mark 6. Jesus sends the disciples out two by two, pairing them up in mission teams. He prepares them for both success and failure. They'll cast out demons. They'll proclaim God's invasion, turning the world upside down. They'll heal people- and be welcomed by many. At the same time, they'll also experience rejection and failure. People will kick them out, tell them to get lost, throw sticks at them, swear at them. Jesus offers some advice, "Shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. Move on. Don't dwell on it."

So I'm trying to learn to shut off the dust. But it's tough. I don't like to fail.

But who am I kidding? I follow One who was crucified as a Loser, a Failure, and a Reject. Jesus cried out to the abyss, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

To review. A member of Jesus' inner circle, Judas, betrayed him. Peter, when confronted by an illegal alien cleaning lady, publically denied him. The other disciples completely abandoned him. And then... Jesus was killed as an Enemy of the state. The Ultimate Failure.

Of course, that's not the end of the story. Yet failure was a huge theme in Jesus' story.

So I'm learning that following the Jesus who died on the cross means that there will be profound failure. Nevertheless, God is faithful, and one day there will also be resurrection.

And so... my final learning. It's time to relax a bit, to befriend failure, to embrace it, to go through it. Then maybe, just maybe, there will also be resurrection!

Peace, Tim