Bread or stones.
Today's hurdy-gurdy begins with Jesus leaving the synagogue with James and John. They go to Simon’s place to heal his nameless mother-in-law.
Then there is more action where the whole town gathers around Jesus to have the sick healed and the possessed… well dispossessed. Whew! What a flurry of activity. What a day!
Then very early in the morning while it is still dark, the Master gets up and retreats to a quiet place to say His prayers. It seems as if it's everyone or it's no one. And this ebb and flow, activity or infuriating nothingness is likely to be the experience of everyone here. There are times when He comes especially close. He is sometimes intimate and powerful and at other times he seems embarrassingly absent. Missing when we need Him most.
Well, when Simon and co get up and can’t find their wonder healer they go looking for Him. Everything is on the up. The sick are healed, evil is cast out, the ratings are going up and the popularity is reaching record highs.
“Everyone is looking for you”
The Master’s response must have seemed bewildering to Simon and crushing to the local community who had benefited so richly from this ministry, literally the day before.
“Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ And that’s exactly what he does. He packs up the sideshow and ‘he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.’
Now in those few scant sentences, there is lots missing. For example; Did Simon and the others go with Jesus to the next synagogue? Did any of those who were healed or exorcised go with Him? What became of Simon’s mother-in-law and the local rabbi of the synagogue? We are not told.
And for those who stayed behind, went back to work the next day and got on with their old / new lives..did they let Jesus go with resentment and anger. ‘How dare you nick off after doing so much good? Uncle Freddy was on his way over from the neighbouring village with a gimpy leg and here you are deserting us and going in the opposite direction.’ Or did they fondly farewell Him, Thank Him for his ministry and maybe hug him?
Did they throw the stones of disgruntlement and misunderstanding at him as he left, or did they pack him off with bread for the journey? Stones or bread.
I guess that there would have been both groups of people who saw him off.
There would have been those who did not understand that The Master's ministry is for all people of all places and for all time. Those who thought they had been led on only to have their hopes dashed.
And I reckon there would be those who would have hugged Him goodbye. Kissed his neck, understood that they had been richly blessed and tried to count the uncountable blessings. For a little while they had seen and heard what others had longed to see and hear. Now it was their turn to spread the good news. To share healing with others from the depths of their rich experience. ‘Here.. have the bread of my love as go. Here are some flimsy morsels of my gratitude and the yeast of my joy.
Bread or stones
Rocks or yeast.
Anger or joy.
And it is a decision for all those who encounter The Master. It is easy to be tricked into thinking that we have exclusivity over Him. We can never say that the Church has nothing to do with that group, or that race or that creed. The Church has everything to do with everyone, of every background, of every age. We are called to offer the bread of sustenance and encouragement to any and to all.
‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’
He came not for any specific clan or tribe, but to be the universal servant. He came for Simon’s Mother in law, for the crim on the cross, for blind Bartimaeus, the woman with the haemorrhage, for Zacchaeus the wealthy tax collector, for the hermit in the desert, for our politicians and our priests, for the woman who bathed his feet with tears, for those who will go to Anglicare for help this week, for those who have had bombs fall on their homes. For those who are dumping their ruined possessions on the nature strip of their flooded homes. ‘Let us go there also for that is why I came.’
Daily we are confronted by this choice. Bread or stones. By what we say and what we don’t say, by what we do and what we don’t do. As a Church, as a community, and as individuals, we can selflessly give bread from our hearts that are full of joy and thankfulness, or we can, from the place of misunderstanding and prejudice, throw stones. Sadly its quicker and more expedient just to chuck a rock. It’s so much easier that way…just to see others off and not put in the hard yards to discover who they really are. And .. well… anyway they’re all like that you know.