Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
Br. Bernard Delcourt, OHC
Proper 6, Year A - Sunday, June 18, 2023
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In today’s gospel, Jesus extends his ministry of announcing the Kingdom of God to others who will minister under his authority.
His closest friends will be “sent out” (which is the origin of the word apostle). They are sent out like a letter with a message inscribed on their heart (“apostle” and “epistle” share the same etymology). The message is that The kingdom of heaven is near. The writer of the gospel according to Luke will even say: the Kingdom is within you.
In the earlier chapters of the gospel according to Matthew, the apostles have heard Jesus’ teaching. They have seen his healing.
By now, they know his message well. Jesus’ message is a message of compassion. God is near. God is here. God cares.
At this point in his ministry, Jesus encourages his apostles to pray for more laborers to come into God’s harvest. The next thing you know, the apostles turn out to be the answer to their own prayer. They are to be God’s harvest hands. Jesus makes them, simple Galileans peasants, instruments of his love for a world thirsting to be redeemed.
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But before Jesus sends the apostles into the world by pairs (according to Mark and Luke’s gospels), he gives them guidance on how to conduct a mission the Jesus way.
Hang on; it gets challenging. The guidelines are easy to understand but exacting to apply.
Offer ministry without expectation of monetary compensation.
Don’t build up monetary reserves for the road.
Don’t lose time on those who don’t want to hear you out.
Focus on those who are receptive. Stick with your audience.
Be a blessing to those who welcome you.
This isn’t the easy way. It’s the ethical way. This roadmap for ethical mission causes pause for most of us, not least of which for monks like us. How can we get closer to this demanding simplicity?
Jesus doesn’t send the apostles uninformed about the difficulties. He warns them that his way will be challenging.
Opposition and retribution can be expected from the powers that be. But these struggles will give the apostles an opportunity to testify to Jesus’ redemptive way.
The Holy Spirit will inspire them. They don’t need to be anxious about it.
And in the face of adversity, if they can, they are to move on to others who are more amenable to their message.
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Despite all the difficulties, just like the apostles, we are to be the messengers of the good news in our lives today. We are sent out into our various communities to be living testimonies of God’s Love. In our cultural context, luckily, few of us will be challenged to the point of suffering bodily harm. But still, it will be a demanding path.
So, where to go? What to do? Just like for Jesus and the apostles, our compassion is to be our guide of where the message is needed.
The Hebrew “Racham” is what is usually translated as “compassion.” It is the love a mother has for her child while still in the womb. Our gut instinct can tell us who needs us to be the instruments of God’s love.
Loving-kindness and tender compassion can be our guides of where our mission is to be.
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Now, a textual caveat. Matthew is the only gospel writer to, at first, restrict the annunciation of the good news to the Hebrew people. But Matthew himself, in the last chapter of his gospel, has Jesus (Matthew 28:19) tell the apostles: “... go and make disciples of all nations…” So I’ll take the resurrected Jesus’ advice on this matter.
I think the post-resurrection Jesus sees how a restriction to heal and redeem only the Israelites is not large enough for God’s love. Hence his mandate to extend the mission he has given to his apostles and disciples. Our compassion should not know the boundaries brought about by stereotyping the other.
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Regardless of where they are going, in our passage today, Jesus enjoins the apostles to find receptive audiences and focus on them. He tells them to walk away from those who do not receive their peace.
This can resonate painfully in our ears. Where do we find receptive groups to share our good news in Jesus Christ? Do we even still look for those groups? Or do we look inward to the few who still gather with us?
When was the last time you bore testimony to God’s love for you and to your love for God? What would it take for us to dare do that? Surely, we could pray for the Spirit to invigorate us to do it. We could pray for Jesus to give us authority to minister to all creation and bring healing to it; starting with the people and creatures at hand.
We Episcopalians are famously resistant to evangelizing which we fear is proselytizing. This gospel passage today warns us of the difficulties. But it challenges us to be daring witnesses of God’s bounty in our lives to a world that is still thirsting for the good news of creation’s redemption (humans included).
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We are God’s harvest hands. Let us feel our compassion and loving-kindness. Let us consider how we can let our communities know that God is near, God is here, God cares. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Amen.
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