Matthew
9:35-10:23.
No gold, silver,
or copper, no extra tunics or sandals, and no staffs. It’s a good thing Jesus
says nothing about jeans, work boots, and sunscreen, not to mention M&Ms,
Chex Mix, and Gummy Bears: we have five vans loaded up with such supplies as we
prepare to leave on our youth mission trip today. So we may not exactly imitate
those first disciples, but then again, we’re not heading out into 1st century
Palestine; we’re going into 21st century Kentucky. And besides which, getting
bogged down in the details of travel packing misses the point of this Gospel
passage. Set aside cultural and geographical concerns for a moment, and focus
on the essential message. When Jesus sends his friends out, he makes it clear
that they don’t need a lot of stuff to do great work. Actually, they just need
two things, the two things he has: love and faith.
Jesus looks
around at those crowds, and he feels compassion for them: he loves those people
and sees their needs. And he believes, he trusts, that his heavenly Father will
work through him and his followers to bless those people. And that’s it: he
doesn’t need loads of supplies, and neither do his friends. They don’t need
advanced theological training. They don’t need gimmicks. They just need to love
— and believe that God’s love and power will flow through them. If they have
those two essentials, Jesus assures them, they will change the world . . .
because the world desperately needs what they have to offer.
Do you believe
that? The other day I was walking through the downtown mall, and apparently I
looked happy because a woman with big glasses and long dreadlocks approached me
and said, “I hope you’re smiling because you’re praying for me.” And I said,
“No, but I can.” She told me she would like that, so I stopped, asked what her
name was, laid my hands on her and there, in front of the Nook and the Taproom,
I prayed that God’s love would flow through her that very day and bless her as
she needed to be blessed. I finished by saying “I hope you have a great day,”
and she replied, “I will now.” It brought to mind a visit I had in the
hospital. I was anointing and praying for a parishioner, but I noticed that his
roommate kept looking at me. So, when I was done, I asked him, “Would you like
me to pray for you?” And he said, “I’m an atheist.” And I said, “Great. Would
you like me to pray for you?” And he said, “Yes, I really would” and I did.
That kind of thing happens frequently, and that’s my point: everyone wants to
be loved. Everyone wants to experience the touch of a loving God who really
knows them and cares about them. Everyone. The harvest is plentiful.
But let me be
clear: that plentiful harvest is always and only about love. Everyone does not
want more angry believers walking around and telling people why they stink. The
world does not need more self-righteous prigs preaching that you better do
these 356 things and you better do them right and you better do them as members
of this or that particular church or you’re going to hell because God is really
ticked off at you. Look at this Gospel. Do you hear any talk of hell or
damnation? Do you hear any talk of God hating anyone? There is none. Even the
passing reference to judgment refers only to regret, to missing out on an
opportunity to experience love. Here are Jesus’s instructions: Proclaim the good news . . . Cure the sick,
raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons . . . as you enter a house,
let your peace come upon it. Go out and love these people. For God’s sake,
love them. That’s the message and that’s why we’re here. The church is not a
club for the righteous, not a self-improvement society that, as an act of
charity, has decided to let some other people in on the secret. No, the church
only exists — we, Church of Our Saviour, only exist — to share the good news of
God’s love as we have experienced it through Jesus Christ and in the power of
the Holy Spirit.
That is our sole
reason for being; it is our mission. Our parish mission statement says it
clearly: Growing a community in Christ and sharing Christ’s love with the
world. To be in Christ means to do just that. Fun fact: do you know what the
actual legal name of the Episcopal Church is? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not
“The Episcopal Church.” Our official, legal name is “The Domestic and Foreign
Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of
America.” If you belong to this church, you belong The Domestic and Foreign
Missionary Society. To be a Christian is to be on mission always, to share
God’s love always.
And, Lord knows,
the world needs it. Yet another senseless attack in Alexandria this past week
just adds to the ongoing toll of hatred, division, and violence that causes so
much misery and suffering, both here and around the world. When Jesus says the
harvest is plentiful, he’s not kidding. And he is also not being a Pollyanna:
he knows he is sending his followers out like sheep into the midst of wolves,
as lovers into a world that hates all too easily. But, of course, that’s
precisely why the world needs his followers so badly. That’s why the world
needs us to proclaim the Good News and demonstrate by our words and our actions
that God is love.
And to do that,
we need only what those first disciples needed. Our youth community is heading
out to Kentucky with supplies for the week, but all we really require are
compassionate hearts and faith that God will use us in some positive way. And
that is true for all of us, whether we go on a mission trip or not. When I walk
into a hospital room or talk to someone in my office or encounter someone on
the downtown mall, I may put my talents to work, but all I ultimately have to
offer is love for others and faith that God will work through me. When you
leave here today, whatever gifts and resources you may possess, what you
ultimately have to offer is your love and faith. So use them. The harvest is
plentiful . . . but the laborers are few. The Risen Christ continually calls
new workers into the harvest and we don’t have to look far to see who he’s
calling. It’s not the folks at the church down the street from us; it’s not the
person sitting down the pew from us. Christ is calling you and me. If we love
others even a little bit, if we believe that God will work through us even a
little bit, and if we act on that love and that faith, then one person at a
time, one event at a time, you and I will change the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment