Born and raised in Germany, Raphaela Mueller was ordained in early 2022, and is
currently the pastor at Montvale Congregational Church in Woburn, MA, and the associate
pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Cambridge, MA. She lives in Woburn with her cat Sushi, and is always looking for recommendations on parks and trails to walk and enjoy God’s creation.

Scripture: Mark 6:1-13 (NRSV)

He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 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 offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Reflection: Jesus Experienced Failure Too

Failure is hard. It is hard, and in our world of “work, achieve, succeed” it is often close to impossible to admit or discuss (although we might be making some progress). And yet, failure is almost omnipresent; we fail all the time. Many of us have lost jobs, friendships or other relationships. We get passed over for promotions, lose out on an award that we were competing for, or a project or dinner party that we were so excited for doesn't work out the way we had hoped. Often – though not always as there are many reasons for failure – we fail out of fear. I failed to send in this devotion on time, because I was afraid; ironically afraid of failure, of having misunderstood the assignment, of doing it wrong. I could name many other instances of failure; this is just my most recent. But Jesus experiences failure too. In this Sunday’s Gospel text, Jesus returns home, perhaps to rest for the weekend and visit his family. After all, he’s just had a pretty strenuous journey across the Sea of Galilee and back, and healed several people that quite literally drained him of his energy (when the hemorrhaging woman touches his cloak, we read in Mark 5:30 that "power had gone forth from him"). He’s home, hoping for a warm welcome and maybe some time to sleep in, and instead he gets, “isn’t this Mary’s boy? Who does he think he is?” That opposition seems to completely sap whatever energy he had left, and he only manages to “[lay] his hands on a few sick people and cure them.” What embarrassment, in his own hometown no less! So apparently without resting at home for the weekend he continues traveling, and finally sends out his twelve friends in pairs to participate in God’s work. And fascinatingly, before he dismisses them into this work, he prepares them for failure as well! He is fully aware that not every place, village, or person will accept his students, and he makes certain they know what to do in those situations. They are not supposed to linger, desperately hopeful that somehow, someone will listen to them and follow Christ. They are not supposed to force themselves into other people’s lives, compelling or scaring the people they meet into following Jesus. The disciples’ task is to release the need to control the ministry they share with Jesus, and simply to trust God – even in their “failures.” We are Jesus’ disciples in our time, and in the 21st century, too, we are often tempted to try and grab the reins from God. “If we do this, we’ll get all the families and young people to come to our church.  It worked for the other church across town…”   “Let’s completely revamp our worship service, music, and liturgy; we need to be more modern.” “Maybe we should talk about hell more so that people know that’s where God doesn’t want them to go.” “Should we move worship and church activities so that they don’t interfere with sports and other school things?” This is only a short list of things I have heard in UCC congregations and other denominations; I am sure you can add more. And sure, the circumstances in which we live in the 21st century are vastly different from the circumstances in which Jesus and the first Christians lived, so sometimes adjusting to new realities is necessary. But our task is to trust and follow God – nothing else. Sometimes we will get it wrong, and often our communities (and even we ourselves) are not as receptive and ready as we would like for them (and us) to be, so failure is inevitable. And still, all God wants from us is trust – faith – that God loves us and leads us. God will provide the rest.

PRAYER

God, you sent out the first disciples to share in your work. Give us the courage to
relinquish control and follow you, fully trusting in your goodness, mercy, and love, through
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

New Prayer Requests:

We ask churches and church leaders to join us in the following prayers either by sharing them during worship, printing them in bulletins, or sharing them in some other way. To make a prayer request, please contact Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane at cochranem@sneucc.org.

Prayers of Intercession:

• Prayers for peace as wars and conflicts continue to escalate around the world. Injustices and inequalities manifest as racism, discrimination, gender-based violence, economic disparities, and other issues.
• For those grieving or suffering due to the ~8,200 gun violence deaths that happened in the US since the start of the year.
• For those who fear the sharing of their faith to others.

Prayers of Joy and Thanksgiving:    

• For the 500 attendees who were inspired by the Annual Meeting.
• For the those who take on ambitious, faith-based projects that may seem financially daunting, and for those who help the projects become feasible and help churches grow.
• For the ability to pray together. (You are invited to participate in Pause for Prayer, Wednesdays @ 12:30, Live on Facebook. Add your prayers through the chat feature, and recordings can be found on the SNEUCC Facebook page or our webpage.)

This Week in History:

July 2, 1964 (60 years ago): U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law the historic Civil Rights Act which prohibited racial discrimination in employment and education and outlawed racial segregation in public places such as schools, buses, parks and swimming pools -- and laid important groundwork for a number of other pieces of legislation. [History] 

“Study the past if you would define the future.”
— Confucius