shaking off the dust

When I have heard the passage where Jesus sends out his disciples to preach the Gospel but warns them that not everyone will be friendly I have often imagined a child in a playground crossing their arms angrily, spinning on their heels and stomping off as He tells them to "shake the dust off their feet". I always assume, when Jesus sounds kind of mean in a passage, that I have misunderstood something and that I need to think about it. Sometimes the thinking is fast but sometimes the passage sits uneasily with me for a while, even years, waiting for something to shine light on another side of it.

I do not think Jesus is ever encouraging us to be mean spirited, even when people are nasty to us. Shaking off the dust can't be about some sort of psychological payback of one-up-manship. So what is it? I think there is a very real sense in which sometimes we just have to walk away from situations, but in walking away what do we carry with us? When someone hurts us our reaction is often to get even and although we might physically walk away we stay glued to people and situations, hoping the worse, talking behind backs, using up endless energy on something which we claim to have laid down.

Shaking the dust of seems to be as much about making sure we really let go of things, allow ourselves to be OK in situations where we are rejected, as it is about walking away. Imagine if Jesus had not had the confidence to walk away from people, still love them and still know He was right. Walking away in love is hard, because it requires that we believe in ourselves and our message. If both of those things are solid it is harder for those nagging doubts and mean spirited thoughts to haunt us - after all if we have an important task to do - and sharing the Good News of Jesus is important - then we need to get our heads on straight and get on with it.

There are times when we feel beaten down, let down by God and downright discouraged. Sometimes we need help from others to get going again - I am not suggesting that we pretend. But it feels much better to me that Jesus might just have understood that when people reject us that can hit us on a deep level and He was ready for that - ready to hold and guide - understanding our weaknesses before we even identify them. I know I believe in a Jesus who knew His own path and knew it was not easy, who, it seems, knew he was choosing us and what that meant but somehow, also, was able to shake off enough of the dirt and junk which was thrown at Him to keep going.