Room for all!

"When they found (Jesus), 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 to do.'"

(Mark 1:38-39)

Mark's gospel is for those with short attention spans. It's the shortest of the 4 gospels in length, and scholars believe it was probably the first gospel written. Mark doesn't spend time with lofty introduction. There's no birth story for Jesus. Mark jumps in with Jesus' baptism and wilderness time (40 days), then is off-and-running with Jesus' ministry. And from the get-go, people flock to him.

After healing a number of people, Jesus gets up early one morning to pray. The disciples find him and tell him how "everyone is searching for you." How wonderful to feel wanted, right? Jesus could've set up shop and settled down among his adoring fans. But that's not the tact he chose. No, he told the disciples that it was time to move on. He wanted to get to "neighboring towns" to share his message. That's his focus in life. To keep sharing the good news of the Kingdom. With everyone.

We humans, for the most part, love stability. Granted, some of us are wired to crave new experiences and new communities more than others. But I'm personally a "long commitment" kind of guy. Which is kind of weird, since we moved a lot as a kid (my father worked for the National Park Service and I lived in 4 different states by the time I graduated from High School)... AND I'm a United Methodist pastor, who has a "one year at a time" clause built into my profession.

But even more than physically moving, this passage from Mark 1 reminds me that God's message of the Kingdom is meant for all - not just for those who are "already in." Jesus was all about connecting with everyone. "The good, the bad, and the ugly" (okay, truth be told, we probably all fall in the last 2 categories!).

As a pastor, I need to be continually asking, 'Who's not here?' Who isn't part of our community of faith here at Palmdale UMC? How can we begin to reach out to them? I firmly believe there's room for EVERYONE in God's family! No time to rest on our laurels and be content with the status quo.