A Theology Of Failure

Have you ever gone back to your home town after being away for years?  Did things change?  Did they remain the same?  I remember going back to my home church to be ordained in 2006.  I was excited.  I just finished seminary, got my first job as a pastor, and all my family came into town to attend my ordination.  A lot of the people from my home church who guided me through my spiritual life were there: Sunday school teachers, youth workers, pastors, family, and friends.  The ordination service was beautiful and touching for everyone.  It was the culmination of years of preparation for ministry.

As the excitement continued on into the reception afterward, one of my Sunday school teachers came up to me and said: “Boy, what a day!  I remember when you used to be in my Sunday School class.  You were such a little trouble maker!”  Wow.  I hope that Sunday school teacher remembers my ordination day more than the day I poured glue on someone.

Coming back to your home town or home community is never easy.   In our lectionary Gospel text, Mark 6:1-13, Jesus comes back to his home town.  He tries to do some great things for the people, but they reject him.  Imagine you are Jesus.  You just spent a few months do some pretty amazing things.  You have traveled from town to town and people are shocked at what you are doing: healing people, driving demons, and feeding the poor.  You come back to your home town and you do the same great stuff that you have been doing elsewhere and you fail.  How could this happen?  How could the Son of God fail?  If you are the home town boy, the people in town  remember the time when you tripped running to your house and everyone made fun of you.  They remember when you were picked last to join in on a game.  And they remember all the humiliating and humble things that you did growing up.   Jesus was a home town boy that came home and failed.

Did you ever think about that?  Jesus, God, failed that day in Nazareth.  The anointed who was supposed to be King failed.  In the Old Testament, we have David being honored by his own kin in 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10.  In the New Testament, we have Jesus being disrespected by his hometown.   But, why does it make us feel uncomfortable to know that Jesus failed?  This points to the fact that Jesus was really human, but was still God.  Christ went through the same stuff we go through.   Suddenly, our minds are trying to understand the dual nature of Jesus.  Also, we begin to see that God can work through our failures.  Failures can led us to a new direction.  In Mark 6, Jesus’ failure led to the disciples to heal and to drive out demons.

Jesus’ failure sparked the disciples into miracle workers.  That is the power of God.  God takes our failures and turns them into new avenues of ministry.  Next time you fail at something think about what you can learn.  What can you take away?   Where could this failure lead you to?  In scripture, when people fail God does what God does: turn failure into success.