Embracing our Dependency

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Embracing our Dependency

Herb Montgomery, July 13, 2024

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Our lectionary reading last weekend from the gospels was from the gospel of Mark:

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions: 

“Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.  (Mark 6:1-13)

This reading begins with the statement that a prophet is without honor among those most familiar with them. Most Jesus scholars believe this is one of the earliest statements actually made by the historical Jesus. Our reading states that Jesus wasn’t able to do many miracles in his home town because of their lack of faith. Did no one brought there sick to him as they had done in all the previous locations Mark described? The story doesn’t say. It only says that Jesus couldn’t do in his home area what he had done elsewhere. 

What really grabs my attention this week is Jesus’ instruction as he sends out the twelve disciples (Mark 6). This is not a plan of individualism, or a plan of self-reliance or self-sufficiency. This instruction makes the twelve completely dependent on the ones they will be ministering to. There is a lesson here for us today, and we’ll get to it in just a moment. But first, consider there are actually two versions of this instruction in the Jesus story. One version is here in Mark. Luke’s gospels contains both versions (Luke 9:1-6; Luke 10:1-12). Matthew’s gospel combines the two versions in Matthew 10:1-15.  

Again, this is a plan of dependence, and it may be difficult for us in our culture to get our heads around. From the very first moments of our lives, those of us living in Western cultures today are acculturated into an individualist way of relating to those around us. We place a high value on being independent or self-reliant—being able to take care of take care of ourselves without being dependent on others. 

In nature, though, we are actually dependent on much that is around us including others in our various communities. It is this dependence in our community and our communities’ interdependence with other communities that Jesus’ instruction to the twelve calls us to lean into. Stephen Patterson describes it this way:

What does it actually mean for the empire of God to come? It begins with a knock at the door. On the stoop stand two itinerant beggars, with no purse, no knapsack, no shoes, no staff. They are so ill-equipped that they must cast their fate before the feet of a would-be host. This is a point often made by historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan. These Q folk are sort of like ancient Cynics, but their goal is not the Cynic goal of self-sufficiency; these itinerants are sent only for dependency. To survive they must reach out to other human beings. They offer them peace—this is how the empire arrives. And if their peace is accepted, they eat and drink—this is how the empire of God is consummated, in table fellowship. Then another tradition is tacked on, beginning with the words ‘Whenever you enter a town.’ This is perhaps the older part of the tradition, for this, and only this, also has a parallel in the Gospel of Thomas (14). There is also an echo of it in Paul’s letter known as 1 Corinthians (10: 27). Here, as in the first tradition, the itinerants are instructed, ‘Eat what is set before you.’ Again, the first move is to ask. The empire comes when someone receives food from another. But then something is offered in return: care for the sick. The empire of God here involves an exchange: food for care.” (Stephen Patterson, The Lost Way: How Two Forgotten Gospels Are Rewriting the Story of Christian Origins, p. 74-75)

Individualism too often denies the reality that we are connected to each other. What one does affects others. What affects one affects others. Many struggled to grasp this reality in the recent Covid pandemic in relation to mask-wearing and vaccinations.  Independence, individualism, and a resistance to being told what to do came face to face with us having to work together and do what would be safest for our communities. The needs of the many were at times in opposition to individuals’ wishes and we all made choices revealing where our priorities and values really were. 

Jesus’ instruction to the twelve in our reading this week points us toward community rather than individualism. Consider this commentary by James Robinson:

[Jesus’s] basic issue, still basic today, is that most people have solved the human dilemma for themselves at the expense of everyone else, putting them down so as to stay afloat themselves. This vicious, antisocial way of coping with the necessities of life only escalates the dilemma for the rest of society . . . I am hungry because you hoard food. You are cold because I hoard clothing. Our dilemma is that we all hoard supplies in our backpacks and put our trust in our wallets! Such “security” should be replaced by God reigning, which means both what I trust God to do (to activate you to share food with me) and what I hear God telling me to do (to share clothes with you). We should not carry money while bypassing the poor or wear a backpack with extra clothes and food while ignoring the cold and hungry lying in the gutter. This is why the beggars, the hungry, the depressed are fortunate: God, that is, those in whom God rules, those who hearken to God, will care for them. The needy are called upon to trust that God’s reigning is there for them (“Theirs is the kingdom of God”) . . . Jesus’ message was simple, for he wanted to cut straight through to the point: trust God to look out for you by providing people who will care for you, and listen to him when he calls on you to provide for them.” (James M. Robinson, The Gospel of Jesus: The Search for the Original Good News, Kindle Location 138)

Jesus was shaping a community that was a community of dependence as soon as it arrived on a person’s doorstep. It called a person to embrace taking responsibility for making sure others had what they needed as the first step in embracing that community. It was a test. And if someone was not willing to embrace the ethic of mutual aid and resource-sharing, the disciple was to shake the dust off their feet and move on to find those that would.

I’m reminded of the work of Peter Kropotkin, a Russian activist, writer, revolutionary, and philosopher who lived in the late 19th and early 20th Century. In his book Mutual Aid, he commented on Darwinism’s survival of the fittest with remarks relevant to our our point here:

“While [Darwin] was chiefly using the term [survival of the fittest] in its narrow sense for his own special purpose, he warned his followers against committing the error (which he seems once to have committed himself) of overrating its narrow meaning. In The Descent of Man he gave some powerful pages to illustrate its proper, wide sense. He pointed out how, in numberless animal societies, the struggle between separate individuals for the means of existence disappears, how struggle is replaced by co-operation, and how that substitution results in the development of intellectual and moral faculties which secure to the species the best conditions for survival. He intimated that in such cases the fittest are not the physically strongest, nor the cunningest, but those who learn to combine so as mutually to support each other, strong and weak alike, for the welfare of the community. ‘Those communities,’ he wrote, ‘which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring’ (2nd ed., p. 163). 

Lastly this week’s reading says the twelve went out and preached that people should repent. It helps me to remember that Christianity didn’t exist yet so this is not a call to join a group. Rather, this call to repent should be understood in the communal context that Hebrew prophets would have used rather then the individualistic way many sectors of Christianity later interpreted it. 

The Hebrew prophets called for societies and communities to experience group repentance to stop social injustices (Isaiah 59:20; Jeremiah 5:3, 8:6, 15:19; Ezekiel 14:6, 18:30-32; Hosea 11:5). They called communities to consider how they were relating to the most vulnerable among them and to rethink how their society was shaped. They called them to repent by embracing justice and making sure everyone in their society was cared for. 

This calls me this week to reassess my own understanding of Jesus-following. Is my Christianity all about getting to heaven and saving my own individual soul? Or does following Jesus call me at the very first to be concerned with someone’s present material need? Are there any in my community that have “no bread, no bag, no money, no clothing”? And if so, how does following Jesus inspire me not just to act through charity, but to also make sure everyone has enough to thrive and charity becomes obsolete? The very first test for someone who encountered one of these twelve was not how they responded to a gospel presentation on Jesus’ death, heaven or hell, or whatever gospel topic is too often the soundbite version of sharing Christianity today. The very first test was how would this person respond to someone on their door step with no bread, no money, and no extra clothing. 

There’s a lot here to consider.

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. What are some of the ways you perceive us to be connected to and dependent on one another for our well being? Share and discuss with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone? 

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate. 

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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You can watch our new YouTube show called “Just Talking” each week. Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.

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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 2, Episode 20: Mark 6.1-13. Lectionary B, Proper 9

Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be “just” talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week we’ll be inspired to do more than just talking.

If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out.

New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice. 

This week:

Season 1 Episode 13: Embracing our Dependency

Mark 6:1-13

“Is my Christianity all about getting to heaven and saving my own individual soul? Or does following Jesus call me at the very first to be concerned with someone’s present material need? The very first test for someone who encountered one of these original twelve was not how they responded to a gospel presentation on Jesus’ death, heaven or hell, or whatever gospel topic is too often the soundbite version of sharing Christianity today. The very first test was how would this person respond to someone on their door step with no bread, no money, and no extra clothing.”

Available on all major podcast carriers, 

Or at this link:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/embracing-our-dependency

Now Available on Audible!

Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

by Herb Montgomery, Narrated by Jeff Moon

Available now on Audible!

After two successful decades of preaching a gospel of love within the Christian faith tradition Herb felt like something was missing. He went back to the gospels and began reading them through the interpretive lenses of various marginalized communities and what he found radically changed his life forever. The teachings of the Jesus in the gospel stories express a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of those in marginalized communities. This book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, and presents a compelling argument for a more socially compassionate and just expression of Christianity. Herb’s findings in his latest book are shared in the hopes that it will dramatically impact how you practice your Christianity, too.

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