Jesus did not make it easy to be a disciple, but I can’t figure out why he chose such a ragtag group of nobodies to fill that role.  In their defense, fishing and collecting taxes had to be a lot easier than trying to figure out what Jesus was teaching them.  No doubt, the twelve spent most of their time scratching their heads, wondering what they had gotten themselves into. Can you imagine their private conversations when Jesus went off to be alone?

When they questioned their teacher about the purpose of using parables, this was his answer: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (the other followers) it has not been given.” (Matthew 10: 10) How frustrating when they were supposed to “get it” but couldn’t!

“Any of you guys understand what happened to that fig tree today?”

“I sure wouldn’t have hidden that treasure.  I would have grabbed that baby and run!”

“I don’t blame the prodigal son’s older brother.  Who wouldn’t be mad?”

“If we go after one sheep, couldn’t the other 99 run away?”

“How are we supposed to know if leaven is good or bad?”

“Anybody get the ‘unshrunk cloth on a new garment’ or ‘new wine into old wineskins’?”

“I didn’t sign up to pluck out my eyes.”

The twelve Jesus chose would not have been the ones I would have selected to work in my company.  Not exactly Mensa candidates, they constantly misunderstood Jesus, vied for the top position in the group, doubted what he said and failed to accomplish the tasks set before them.  They were the poster children for the adage “Everyone’s trash is someone else’s treasure.”

It’s not dissimilar from stories of people who buy some junky ceramic piece only to find it is a priceless heirloom.  How about those times when you go shopping in a second-hand store and come across a $10 pastel sweater in your size with the Niemann Marcus, $350 tag still on it?  Even if it doesn’t fit, surely someone will benefit from your purchase, right?

That’s how it was with Jesus’ chosen disciples. Some scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel from which the other apostles wrote their own accounts of Jesus’ life.  He demonstrated Jesus’ exasperation and frustration with his disciples for their slow comprehension of faith and spirituality. Nevertheless, at the conclusion of Mark’s gospel, he writes of their progress, and even though they failed at more lessons than they passed, the end result of their missionary work proved they were chosen gems.  Who doesn’t love that kind of story?

In my Introduction to Education class I am teaching this year, I showed my students the Temple Grandin movie, the true story of an autistic girl who was bullied, teased and avoided by classmates and coworkers.  Even educators mocked her inability to socialize. One of our discussions centered on how those who viewed Temple as discarded trash had to feel when they realized she obtained a Ph.D., became a professor at the University of Colorado and revolutionized the cattle industry.  How many of the disciples’ neighbors and relatives dealt with that same realization?

Just like Jesus did not make it easy to be one of the twelve disciples, Christians in other parts of the world are having to prove their faith in ways we spoiled Americans never have had to. So, before we haughtily pat ourselves on our backs for being so spiritual, maybe we need instead to ask ourselves one question:  “When was the last time I treated some discarded “trash” as Jesus’ treasure?”