Discipleship
February 7, 2021
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. -Mark 1:35-39
Indeed, who are our neighbors? I am currently reading the book, This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the troubled History of Thanksgiving, by David J. Silverman. It describes the interplay between the New World’s indigenous people and the English settlers during the last half of the 17th Century centered around the King Philip’s War. When I read the scripture for today, I was immediately drawn to the descriptions of the interactions of the natives and their new neighbors. Some came to practice their faith as they understood it, having been persecuted for their beliefs in England. Some of the European immigrants did bring the stories of Jesus to the tribes and greeted them as equals. They were the exception. Others taught their ideas and claimed to save many of the natives’ souls. They were called the praying Indians and afforded some special treatment. At the close of the King Philip’s War, they got to be slaves of the white people rather than being slaughtered. Is there anything in the four gospels that justifies such behavior?
I also am a fan of PBS’s Finding Your Roots series. The most recent show told the stories of two people whose ancestors were Irish arriving in the USA in the late 1800s. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the star of the show, shared copies of newspaper ads for maids and nannies that included the phrase, No Irish Need Apply. He commented that every group of new immigrants to the USA was greeted with similar discrimination. How can we go into all the world and make disciples* if we treat our neighbors like this?
People who need to be better than others feel inferior in some way. How do we erase this misperception from our culture? How do we cleanse ourselves of not recognizing that we, along with everyone else, were created in the image of God with unique skills and talents? All are necessary and important in God’s Kingdom.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for forsaking your call to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Make who whole in our relationship with you, to enable our wholeness in our relationship with our neighbors. Amen.
*Matthew 28:19-20
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.