Monday, December 9, 2002
He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." Mark 6: 1, 4

Last summer I was reflecting on what I would write for the devotional on theme Light into the Darkness. After an outdoor worship service on a hot, sticky Sunday in July, I was struck in the head with the corner of a large wooden cross. It knocked me quite literally, albeit momentarily, from "light into the darkness" and branding me with what is now a small, pink, triangular scar above my right eye. Colleagues suggested that I "put on the whole armor of God" (Eph. 6:11 )! The plastic surgeon advised that the scar would be pink for six months to a year or for a lifetime if I did not keep sunscreen on it. Sunscreen is a sort of armor for my pale, quick-to-burn-and-freckle, Irish skin. He also suggested (in jest, I think), that was it was a sign from God that I should become a Jew. It seemed important that I not outwardly bear this "mark of the cross" Yet, as disciples of Jesus, we all bear the mark of the cross in some way. Surely Jesus' early disciples experienced rejection because they were "marked "for following him; the rejected one. The "armor of God" does not protect us from the mark of the cross. Instead, it empowers us because we carry that mark. The whole armor of God (belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes to proclaim the gospel of peace, a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and a sword of the spirit) empowers us to walk into the present darkness, carrying the light. Just as we bundle up to face winter in Wisconsin, so too must we put on the whole armor of God, to go out even into our own hometowns.

"When you reach the end of all the lightness that you know and are about to step over into darkness Faith is knowing that one of two things will happen. Either there will be something solid there to step onto, or you will be taught to fly." Author Unknown

Kate Jones


All contents copyright 2002 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Permission is granted to United Methodist congregations, individuals and groups to reproduce and distribute this devotional without charge. All other use requires the advance permission of the editor.