Jesus' hometown didn't believe

Friday morning fun time!

This morning was a blast. Because I had been at a Young Life training in Arizona all week, Andy and Grant took over and planned an amazing Friday morning for about 60 of our middle school friends!

The start of the human knot.

Andy planned the game and it was great! He had us get into groups of 6 and then grab hands or wrists in a way that made a huge knot. The object of the game was to see which team could get themselves untied the fastest without letting go. Several teams were able to do get undone pretty quick and so we started to see who could make the biggest knot with the most people.

Andy and our new leader Chris!

It was fun watching kids and leaders work as a team to get the job done.

Some 8th grade boys trying get untied. 

After the game Grant got to share about a time when Jesus' own hometown rejected him.

He started by talking about how homefield advantage is important because you expect your home crowd to get behind you and support you. Part of the reason some teams win so regularly at home is because their fans are either so supportive and encouraging, or so distracting to the other team that they prove to be a huge asset.

But then Grant shared about how there is a team in hockey right now, the Toronto Maple Leaves, who's fans are terrible. The Toronto fans have started throwing their jerseys on the ice win their team looses. Its incredibly disrespectful and I can't imagine how hard it must be on the players. Even if the team is terrible, I can't imagine that a team would have a shot at getting better with that kind of support from the people that are supposed to cheer for them the loudest.

Jesus experienced this same kind of rejection from his hometown towards the beginning of his public ministry (the part of his live that we read about) in Mark 6.

Jesus was at home and started teaching in the synagogue (much like a local church). As he was teaching, the people there are amazed at his teaching, and it seemed they were very impressed, but soon the temperature in the room changed. They began to ask, "Where did he get this wisdom and power from?" and then they started to ridicule him, saying, "He's just a carpenter, the son of Marry."

They thought they knew Jesus, and the way Jesus was acting, and the things Jesus was saying, did not fit the image and the label that they had given Jesus.

To them, Jesus was just a carpenter. He wasn't a teacher, he worked with his hands. He most likely took over the family business after Joseph passed away, and was know as the local carpenter. Also, Jesus was born in a shameful way. Marry was pregnant before her and Joseph were married. The Bible tells us hat she was made pregnant by God, but I doubt that many of the local townspeople believed that, and to be born in that kind of fashion back then was incredibly shameful.

Jesus was anything but a teacher, and certainly not someone capable of performing miracles.

Middle school kids can certainly relate to being labeled and then not given the chance to break out of the label. Some of them may have reputations based on some of the things they have done in their past. For instance, some of them may have been clumsy and awkward when they were younger, and now they are known as that without getting a proper chance to prove otherwise. Maybe some of them have been labeled "bad kids" because of some bad decisions they made, or because they might have been mischievous before. Some may have much worse labels, and some of the labels that kids have might have more to do with their parents or family than the actual kid.

The thing about labels is, that sometimes, after being told you are something for so long, you begin to actually fit the label. If you are not ever given a shot to prove the label wrong, it might eventually become a little more true.

Jesus experienced being labeled, but he did not let the labels that people gave him define him. Jesus moved on from his hometown and trusted God, his Father, more than others. He let God tell him who he was. He was God's Son, and his Father was very pleased with him. Jesus didn't stay in his hometown for long, but left and continued teaching amazing truths, and performing amazing miracles.

Labels are like boxes, they contain, and trap. they can keep us from experiencing full lives, and as we give other people labels, we don't allow them to be who they may actually be. I know that I have incorrectly labeled people before, and it took a long time before I actually got to know the people as they really where. Jesus wants us to know that we don't have to be trapped by the label that someone, or some group gave us. He knows we are so much more than that. He knows we are more than any one label, and he wants to help us live full, rich lives, becoming the people that he made us to be. We are all unique, and we all have things Jesus loves about us that are unique.

So, if you want to talk about WyldLife with your kid, ask them what the human knot game was all about. Ask them what some of the best hometown crowds are in sports. Ask them what Jesus' hometown thought about Jesus, and then ask them if they have ever felt labeled by someone else, or if they have ever given another person a label.

Grant sharing about Jesus.