Pentecost 4

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Pentecost 4
PROPER: 6A – Father’s Day
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: June 16, 2002


TEXT: Matthew 9:35-10:15 – When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. . . . . . . Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.

ISSUE: Matthew’s reading is another story for Pentecost. It tells of another incident in which the disciples are authorized to carry on the good news of God. They become instruments of grace in the world that will receive them.
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We are moving along in the church’s long season of Pentecost. The reading from Matthew is another kind of Pentecost story, where the disciples of Jesus are selected and authorized to accept his ministry of healing and compassion. He brings good news of the kingdom. Another way of saying that is that he bring the good news of God’s realm.
The authorization of the disciples and the fact that various people have been called upon to proclaim Good News is not limited to the Christians Scriptures. Matthew’s Gospel is based on Hebrew Scriptures, and how Jesus is another renewing presence of God’s compassion and caring that is really quite vivid. In the reading from Exodus, the Israelites under the leadership of Moses are wandering in the wilderness. Moses is called up on a mountain and God reminds Moses it was as if God had lifted them up on eagle’s wings and delivered the nation from the evil oppressive Egyptians. In their deliverance (or salvation as a nation) they are called to be a priestly nation and a holy nation. (The role of a priest is to offer sacrifice on behalf of others.) This redeemed people are to be instruments, proclaiming the glory of God for the world.
St. Paul’s writing in the Letter to the Romans is the continuation of the proclamation of Good News. The crucifixion of Christ, that is his death on the cross, was a sacrificial offering of God’s love that is freely given. Because of Christ’s complete devotion in love, that love is bestowed on all folk that were sinners, that is, people alienated from God in any way. Christ dies for sinners, before they even repent. Normally no one gives up their life for people even if they are good. But Christ intending to reveal the love God dies for sinners, and not because they have deserved or earn it. It is merely free grace. Sinners are reconciled. Turn in faith and trust so far as this message is concerned and enjoy the free love that comes from God through Christ.
Here’s the Good News for us. God seeks the redemption of his people from oppression, and in spite of sinfulness, the grace of God’s love is bestowed, upon Moses, upon Christ, and upon Christ’s disciples.
Jesus comes to the world, and sees a harassed and helpless people. “They are like sheep without a shepherd.” Incidentally, that phrase “They are like sheep without a shepherd” comes from the Hebrew Scriptures (Numbers 27:17). When Moses had brought the people of God to the boundaries of the Promised Land, and Moses knew he could no longer carry on he offers a prayer, ‘Lord, appoint a man who can lead and command. So your community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.’ Matthew’s gospel likes to make Jesus look like a new Moses, who will deliver the people of his time. Jesus ministry is seen a messianic fulfillment from Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus is a healer: the blind see; the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and all kinds of other diseases are cured. What is happening is that people who are seen as no good, expendable, worthless sinners are restored to the love of God through the love and the compassion that Jesus extends to them. Again people are liberated from alienation, and meaninglessness. They were harassed and helpless folk who are now given new place and hope in the community of God through Jesus Christ. They haven’t had to earn it, and do good, or follow the letter of the law. Jesus simply bestows the grace of God and his ongoing dynamic ministry.
Then Jesus gathers to himself the twelve disciples. Tradition and scripture name twelve disciples that formed Jesus’ inner group. Some scholars might say that he had twelve to represent the twelve original tribes of Israel, the house of Jacob. What is important is that they become authorized to carry on the ministry of Jesus. They are to do what he himself is doing: Cast out the unclean spirits, cure every disease and sickness, and proclaim the good news, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven has come near.’ In other words, the realm of God is present. God’s redeeming, reconciling love and compassion are in your midst. In Matthew’s gospel, he doesn’t like to say Kingdom of God, because Jews were very hesitant about and avoided the name of God because of its extreme holiness. Kingdom or Realm of God, is more often stated as ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’ The disciples are now authorized to carry on Jesus’ ministry of healing and proclamation of love and liberation. Sick people are announced as not alienated or separated from God. The dispossessed and expendable people are reassured of their belonging to God. Sinners are loved and worthy of the grace of God, simply because God made a creation that was good, and says that it is good. No one or thing is condemned by the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
The disciples are sent to the House of Israel to carry on the ministry of Jesus. There is a problem in the passage. We might well wonder why it was that Jesus supposedly tells the disciples not to go to Samaritan or Gentile territory, but to stay with and among the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Some argue that originally Christianity was a sect of Judaism and there was an attempt to maintain their purity by not association with Samaritans and Gentiles. Others think that since this authorization came early to the new disciples that it was intended to limit the playing field. We can only guess. But keep in mind that by the time Matthew’s Gospel is complete, Jesus is telling his disciples to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The base gets completely broadened in the end.
The disciples are sent out quite simply. No money or packs, simply accept the hospitality that is provided. No force or manipulation is tolerated in this ministry. Proclaim the Good News and perform the miracles where you can. Where you can’t, move on. This attitude is reminiscent of The Parable of the Sower: Spread the good word and the miracles. Where they sink-in fine. What falls on rocky ground gets eaten by the birds and tread upon, just forget it. God’s ultimate harvest will be grand. The disciples are to participate simply in the mission with Christ Jesus.
In our own baptisms, we are all also authorized to join in the ministry with Christ. “Receive the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share in his royal priesthood. Unfortunately many of us have been greatly influenced by the world’s thinking. Many people have come from background where the scripture was seen in a literal sense. We become frustrated by the gospels because we think we can’t perform miracles. We can’t heal, and we’re not good at proclamations of God’s grace or at proclamations of anything else, much less the Good News. There is also the belief that Jesus was God, Son of God, Messiah, the Anointed, and we simply can’t measure up to that standard. Still others enveloped by the science and technology of our time, see the story of Jesus Christ as a great story, but full of a by gone mysticism to which it is very hard to relate.
I really think that Jesus’ authorization of his disciples was really quite simple. Go do what you can to the best of your ability. They were only fishermen and tax collectors. They were sent totally unencumbered. They were to be themselves, and where ineffective they were to move on.
One of the truly great miracles of our time was the work that Annie Sullivan did with Helen Keller. There was no magic that Annie had. She simply persevered with a child that could not see, hear, or speak. She simply poured out love, sometimes-tough love, in handling Helen, until the day came when Helen could spell and identify “water!” It was dedication and faithful assurance that characterized the life of Annie Sullivan. She took and expendable Helen Keller: deaf, dumb, and blind, a non-thinking person and raised her up to life.
We all need to find our ministries. Some of us are good with older people, and visiting them in nursing homes, and providing a on going life giving caring. Maybe that gets limited to just family, the household of Israel, and not to others. But it takes time to grow beyond our boundaries and the callings of God.
Some may be skilled at tutoring youngsters. What a wonderful gift to provide to some children in need of additional help. I can well remember some teachers who gave extra time after school to do some tutoring with us slower kids out of genuine caring.
We must not underestimate the power of worship and the place of a spiritual life in our lives. A community of worshippers speaks to the world that doesn’t know God. It reveals another dimension that gives a sense of being a part of a grand creation, of being on a journey for peace, compassion, understanding, and non-violence. It is our witness to God. How many times in my own life have I been so grateful to my Father for his simple devoted spiritual life that led me to Jesus Christ, to God, to the ministry, to a meaningful life. It is a wonderful thing to be a strong man and father and convey love and mercy, and great compassion to our children.
To be a Christian person, a lover of God, and of Jesus Christ is to convey forgiving and loving grace. It gives hope and peace to the violence of the world. God’s power revealed in Christ has been freely given to us, in spite of ourselves, to be embraced and manifested.