Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Christ the King-Epiphany, Wilbraham
The Rev. Martha S. Sipe
July 7, 2024 / Seventh Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 14B
Mark 6:1-13
Their friendship started in 1963, in a 7th grade gym class at Merrick Ave. Junior High School on Long Island. They met running on the track, where, according to Cohen, he and Greenfield were the two slowest, fattest kids in the class. Their relationship solidified during their high school years, but as often happens with kids of that age, their lives began to diverge at graduation in 1969. Greenfield had chosen to pursue a pre-med curriculum at Oberlin College while Cohen enrolled at Colgate and also did some studies in pottery at another school. He dropped out of college after his sophomore year, however, and tried to make a go of it in the art world. Problem was no one would buy his pottery. Meanwhile, Greenfield graduated from college, but couldn’t get into med school in spite of repeated attempts. In the summer of 1977, the two friends ended up living together in Saratoga Springs where they considered opening a bagel shop together, but opted instead to complete a Penn State correspondence course on ice cream-making. In 1978, the two friends, now business partners, made their way to Vermont in search of a suitable location for their business. They purchased a dilapidated gas station in Burlington and fixed it up themselves. It became the first Ben and Jerry’s. Yes, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were definitely better together.
In a society that glorifies the rugged individual, the self-made person, and in a culture that increasingly isolates us from one another, it is refreshing to hear a story that reminds us that we are better together. Sometimes, when we put our individual imperfections together, we create something greater than we ever could on our own. We see this throughout the biblical narrative:
It would seem that Jesus knew that, like Ben and Jerry, disciples are better together.
I should note that some scholars believe Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs because of the Old Testament law (Deuteronomy 19:15) requiring at least two witnesses to convict someone of a crime. While the disciples weren’t being sent out to convict anyone of a crime, they were sent out to convince others of the love and power of Jesus. And two witnesses would have been more convincing than one. But I still prefer to think that Jesus sent them out two by two for the support and strength that each would be for the other. Because the challenges they faced would have been considerable. Remember, Jesus himself seemed powerless in his hometown because of the poor reception he received from those who already knew him. And the story that follows this one (which we’ll hear next week), is about the death of John the Baptist at the hand of King Herod, reminding us that not everyone welcomed the good news of Jesus. It can be scary “out there,” and in the words of Robert Fulghum, just like we learned in kindergarten, we would do well to “Hold hands and stick together.” The disciples, working in teams, were better together.
I even wonder if this guiding principle of “better together” was why Jesus sent them on their mission without supplies. Remember, he instructed them to take no food, no luggage, no money, no extra clothes, and to depend upon the hospitality of strangers. Food and luggage and money and clothes make us feel self-sufficient; without them, we have no choice but to rely on one another. That can be an uncomfortable place to be – in a position of dependence. Even if we’re stoic and self-reliant New Englanders; even if we were raised to think it’s weak to rely on others; even though we live in an age of digital connectivity where we can find everything we need by ourselves on our devices – the truth is that we need one another – for comfort, for support, and for strength. Relying on one another, working together, is how the body of Christ functions best.
It can’t always have been easy for the disciples to stick together, though. Don’t you think the pairs of brothers probably argued about who should take the lead? Can’t you see Philip reminding Bartholomew that he introduced him to Jesus? And can you even imagine the arguments that Simon might have had with Judas Iscariot? It wasn’t always easy to stick together, I would imagine. But they did. And I’ve got a hunch they might have been able to stick together because of something Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew. He said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Because they went out in pairs, Jesus was with them – and they did great things to witness to the power of God’s love. In the same way, Jesus is with us in our work together as a church, in spite of our differences of background, differences of family structure, differences of opinion, and particularly as we approach the election, differences of political affiliation. We can stick together, even though forces are at work to divide us, to convince us that we don’t need one another, to place one interpretation of what it means to be a Christian in opposition to another. We can stick together as long as we continue to gather in his name, for he has promised that where two or three gather in his name, he’ll be there. We’re not all of the same mind, it’s true. But just imagine how we can witness to the world by sticking together in spite of our differences and sticking to our mission of loving and serving the world in Christ’s name.
So as we enter the heart of this election season, let’s continue to honor Jesus in our midst, and Jesus in one another, even across ideological divides. Let’s hold hands and stick together. Maybe eating a little ice cream would help, too. It couldn’t hurt! Let’s work together so that our witness to the love and mercy of Jesus Christ can be seen by all. And let’s trust that Jesus is with us and that, because of him, we are better together.
References:
1: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-entrepreneurial-partnerships and wikipedia
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