I have a job offer for you. It means
going on the road and traveling away from home. Show up tomorrow, empty-handed.
Don’t bring a wallet or have money in your pockets. Don’t carry a backpack or an
extra jacket. You’re going to talk to people and more likely than not, when you
do, they’ll turn and walk away. Even your relatives will reject you. The people
you meet will slam the door in your face and spread rumors about you. They may
beat you. They may even arrest you as a troublemaker and execute you.
Now that the expectations are clear,
raise your hand if you’ll take the job.
If I had been with the apostles listening to Jesus, I think I would have gotten very busy very quickly, certain there was someplace else important where I needed to be immediately! Jesus’ words are pretty bleak and disheartening. They make this business of following Jesus and going out into the world as disciples sound pretty risky. Dangerous. And maybe even pointless.
So why do it?
In a word, faith.
In his gospel, Matthew says, “When he saw the crowds, [Jesus] had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, …”
Sending his disciples into the world with the Good News is how Jesus responds to the people who are hurting and vulnerable.
The crowds have heard Jesus teach and watched him heal. They are hungry for food, like we will hear later this summer in the Feeding of the 5,000 in chapter 14. But right now, they are hungry for something besides bread and fish. They are hungry for relationship, for comfort and for salvation or redemption.
The disciples are sent to be Jesus among them. Jesus gives them the same authority and equips them with all they need – the knowledge that God accompanies them every step of the way. Prepared in this way for the journey, the disciples go out into the world to be Jesus to the people they meet.
As he describes what their ministry will look like, Jesus cautions them not to be in it for money or accolades. He is forthcoming that following in his footsteps and bringing the Gospel to their neighbors will not be easy. He cautions them even as he encourages them to endure because Jesus knows what is at stake.
There is urgency in his words. Not the urgency of end times or impending disaster, but the urgency of an expanding chasm between the troubled world where we live and the promise of God’s kingdom – that every person is beloved and valued and knows the abundant love of God. The urgency of wanting more people to experience the peace of Christ through God’s presence, healing and acceptance.
So, the disciples go.
We know they are not perfect. This original group of twelve apostles include Judas who betrays Jesus to the empire, and it includes Peter who will deny Jesus at his arrest. Simon is called a zealot, one who would have stoked rebellion over peace before he met Jesus. And we’ve already heard about Matthew the tax collector.
But they go where they are sent by God, to be with the harassed and helpless wherever they find them.
There is so much Good News in
today’s gospel:
First, I want to say a word about the harvest. I’ve never been a farmer and my thumb is about as brown as one gets. I have killed cacti and even an air plant. So, it’s really good news that the harvest that God plants is all God’s. It’s not my harvest. Whether it flourishes, or whether it becomes fertilizer for something in the future, it’s not mine, or yours. We haven’t been called to control the rain or temperatures, the soil quality or even which seeds are sown. We are called to the harvest to share God’s abundance.
For the harassed and helpless, out there amid the weeds and the stinging or biting things, Jesus sees you where you are and reaches out to you through the hands of those he trusts and sends to walk alongside you;
And for the ones who are sent, and will face challenges and even opposition, as tempting as it is to bring your all-weather gear and raise your defenses to protect what’s been entrusted to you, remember Jesus’ instructions. Show up. Unencumbered. Confident God is with you.
Jesus knows the burden of standing with people who the powerful would prefer to forget or ignore. Jesus knows that “where the work of God meets the trajectory of the world resistance is greatest.”[i]
Jesus knows what he asks, and he knows
its cost, because he bore the cost for every one of us in his death on the
cross. So great was his love for us that he endured the agony of crucifixion to
show the power of love over evil.
Let us pray…
Good and gracious God,
Thank you for showing your love for us and,
by Christ’s death and resurrection,
freeing us from death’s grip and giving
us access to grace and peace.
Make us confident that your Spirit
accompanies us as we go out to proclaim the good news of the nearness of God;
and call all who will hear to wholeness,
to life, and to holiness.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
[i] Colin Yuckman, Commentary on Matthew
9:35-10:8, [9-23]. Working Preacher, Luther Seminary.
No comments:
Post a Comment