Collaborator
Elaine Poproski Download: Audio
Scripture: Mark 6:1 – 13
He left that place and came to His hometown, and His disciples followed Him. Read more…
Looking to Sunday
by Elaine Poproski
Did you ever have to do group projects in school? Do either of these memes speak to you?
One time I had to co-write a research paper with a classmate. I worked really hard on my part of the paper before passing it to him so he could add it to his part of the paper before turning it in. When we got the paper back from our teacher, nothing of what I’d written was in the paper. We got a C+. I hated group projects in school.
I wonder if God feels that kind of frustration working with us.
Sunday’s scripture reading from Mark 6:1 – 13 reminds me that God is all about collaboration and partnership. He’s all about working with us rather than working alone. In the first part of the passage, we discover that Jesus’ ability to do miracles like He’d been doing other places was severely hampered by the attitude of the people in the town where He was. In the second part of the passage, we read of the disciples’ success working miracles when they were sent out two-by-two by Jesus. I’m reminded that all through Scripture we see God choosing to work through people, even seriously flawed people, to accomplish His mission of reconciliation and redemption in the world. This is an astounding reality. Wouldn’t it be easier for God if He just did things Himself? Surely our world wouldn’t be in such a mess! But this is the way God chooses to work, which means there must be something inherently good and important about working with and through us.
As you prepare for Sunday, perhaps spend some time considering the benefits of collaboration – even collaboration with flawed group project partners. From what you know of God, whether that’s only a little or a lot, why do you think God chooses to work with us and through us rather than alone? What are the ramifications of this truth about how God works, for those of us who are followers of Jesus?