Pentecost 8            July 14, 2024
Mark 6:7-13             Pastor Wolfe

God Prepares His Preachers

Today we continue our worship series on the meaningful ministry that God has given to every believer. On the one hand, our service this week seems to speak specifically to those who are called publicly to preach. Amos was plucked by God from the ranks of the shepherds to be a prophet speaking to kings. Paul’s letter to Timothy describes the qualifications for pastoral ministry. Jesus sends disciples out publicly in this reading. But I hope you all recognize that, in a very real way, the preaching ministry is much broader than that. You heard Jesus’ great commission in the children’s sermon. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…and teaching them.” Those are directions for all of us. As we saw last week, every Christian is a preacher, blessed with God’s Word for themselves and for others.

So how does God take regular people and make them preachers? He prepares them. In different ways at different times for different situations, but God always prepares his preachers. Here in Mark 6 we see Jesus send out the Twelve Disciples to preach in his name. And what he did for them, he does for us. He prepared them, and he gave them power to preach in the Word he sends with them.

Our Gospel lesson continues right where it left off last week. Jesus was in his hometown, but when he went to preach the people rejected him. They couldn’t get past seeing him as Mary’s little boy. But maybe you recall that instead of quitting in the face of rejection, Jesus just turned to preach to others. But even Jesus couldn’t preach to all Judea, so now we find him sending out his disciples, two by two.

Now there more than 12 disciples. (In Luke 10 we see Jesus send out 72 at a different time.) But Twelve of his disciples were closer. They had seen Jesus do incredible things. Even though this was early in Jesus’ ministry they had heard him preach with authority that no one ever had before. Two weeks ago you heard Pastor Enter preach on the time when Peter, James, and John saw Jesus raise a little girl from the dead. But still, I imagine they felt they weren’t ready when Jesus told them to go out on their own. It’s one thing to speak boldly when you’ve got backup. (Especially if it’s Jesus!) It’s quite another to stand up for something when you’re out on your own.

But everything Jesus had done to that point prepared them for the mission he was sending them out to do. The miracles Jesus did didn’t just show his power to the crowds, they convinced his disciples too. At the end of the account of Jesus changing water into wine, John writes, “He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” These twelve who were going out had studied at the seminary of Jesus. They heard him preach and knew his mission, at least part of it. They were trained and ready to go.

Now, we have to be careful in comparing the call Jesus gave to his disciples to our calls today. After all, God calls each of us for a specific time and purpose. And elsewhere Jesus tells even these same disciples in a different situation to prepare for preaching differently. Here they take nothing. Later he’ll tell them to take supplies with them.

The Twelve here receive their call directly from Jesus, the same way we saw God call Ezekiel directly last week. God calls pastors today through the voters of a congregation. But it’s still God in charge of the call. One of the most important practices we have in the Lutheran church is that no one gets to just decide to be a pastor and take control of a church. It is the Holy Spirit, working through a group of Christians, who calls men into public ministry.

And we put a lot of work into preparing men to serve as pastors. Just like the Twelve, our pastors are trained before we unleash them on our congregations. If you look over the list of qualifications in our reading from 1 Timothy you’ll notice that most of them have more to do with Christian character than classroom knowledge. Our minister training system takes time to teach future pastors for that very reason. A typical pastor in the WELS has eight years of training after high school before they can put on the stole and be ordained as a pastor. We learn Hebrew and Greek. We read and study the Bible. We learn the Lutheran confessions that summarize the teachings of the Bible. We spend a whole year working under another pastor to grow in the practical aspects of being a pastor. But just as importantly we also give our future pastors time to grow in faith and character. Time to become not just Christian pastors, but also Christian men of God. Our training system for pastors is perhaps the crown jewel of what we do together as a synod. It’s a blessing that is the envy of other churches. We have four members of our own church in that system right now. Reese Collins and Alexis Gosch going to MLC for teacher training, Andy Raasch at MLC for pastor training, and Caleb Raasch going into his last year at Seminary. God willing, he’ll be assigned next May as a fully trained and qualified pastor. Pray for them and for our schools. Support them in every way you can.

Recognize too though, that God prepares every one of us for meaningful ministry too. Now, if you’re not going to preach publicly as a pastor your training might look different, but the preparation is there. Every hurt and heartache you experience is training to help the hurting you see around you. Every trial and difficulty makes you more ready to speak to someone else in their moment of need. In those moments we might ask why, but as Paul says, “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” See in those times of trouble that they are also times of training as you see God work for you. And learn that God will work for others too.

Our time here together in worship is part of that training as well. Here Jesus prepares us by reminding us what the message is. What does Jesus want us to preach? That our sins separate us from an almighty and holy God. But that this God in love and mercy sent his Son Jesus to live perfectly and die innocently in our place. To declare us fit for heaven, freed from guilt and shame and condemnation. That’s what we want you to walk away with every week. And if that’s the truth you trust, you’re walking out of church each week with a certificate of approval to go out and share that faith. You are prepared to preach. In your homes to your children and your spouse. At work to your coworkers. At softball games and at the store. You’re prepared for meaningful ministry.

Back in Israel, Jesus gave some peculiar instructions for the disciples as they left on this particular mission trip. They couldn’t take any bread. No traveler’s knapsack. Not so much as a small copper coin. Not even an extra shirt. They were allowed the necessities of sandals and a staff, but the Twelve were not to take anything extra. It’s a strange order, especially when we read the details that Matthew adds in his account. Jesus told the disciples that he was sending them out like sheep among wolves. Yet he told them to go unarmed and unsupplied.

The reason is simple to see. He wants them to rely entirely upon God. They didn’t need to make special preparations – God himself would prepare them and give them what they need. And look at what God did for them and through them. We see people repenting, demons being cast out, miraculous healings performed. It’s after these mission trips that Jesus ends up teaching and feeding the 5000. Where did they come from? In part because the Twelve went out preaching. God blessed the work they did and the Word was shared.

It’s not that their message was unique or exceptional. Mark says simply, “They went out and preached that people should repent.” That simple message though, when shared by God’s authority, changes hearts for eternity. Brothers and sisters, you know this message. And you know it well. You don’t need an advanced degree in theology or remember dusty Latin words to do this work. You just have to trust that the God who has done all this for you wants to do it for others too.

In this short little account we learn that God’s people can do great things in ministry because he has prepared us and he sends us out with great power and authority. Do you believe that? Satan would have us forget. To think that our words are too small. Too imperfect. Too uninformed. But that old father of lies is lying again. And I can prove it. In our Bible basics study right now, we have four nonmembers digging into God’s Word, eagerly, every week. Of those four, would you care to guess how many are coming because I as pastor reached out to them first? None. They were invited by a family member or a friend. A teacher in our school. Someone who preached, with just as much power as I can. Someone who God used to perhaps save the eternal soul of someone they already cared about.

Now that’s what meaningful ministry is all about. Pray this week that God would open your eyes to your chance to speak. Know that he has prepared you in faith and empowered you with authority. God has called you for a purpose. Praise our God of glory, and share our God of love. May he bless us in our meaningful ministries. Amen.