Too familiar.

"And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own home.' 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."

(Mark 6:3b-6a)

There's an old saying, 'You always hurt the ones you love.' It's something about knowing someone... being familiar with someone... being comfortable around someone... and yet not treating them the same way that we treat strangers. We're often more critical, judgmental, and dismissive of those we know well.

Early on in Jesus' ministry, he came back to his hometown to teach. They couldn't get past the fact that they knew him... (that's Mary & Joseph's boy, isn't it!?!?)... so they couldn't appreciate what he had to offer. In fact, Mark tells us, "he could do no deeds of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief."

Jesus, the all-powerful Son of God, couldn't do much because of the scoffing cynicism of his hometown peeps. Which made me think that it's kind of like jumper cables... both ends must be connected to something for the power to flow and charge a battery. You can put one end to a fully charged battery, but unless you hook the other end up to the batter in need, nothing will get to the dead battery.

Sometimes we in the Church are so familiar with God that we forget just how powerful God can be. May our "unbelief" not be the reason God cannot fulfill what God wants to do with (and among) us.