“[S]ay to them, `The kingdom of God has come
near to you.'” [Luke
10:11]
In
today’s Gospel Jesus is sending out teams of disciples in pairs to go ahead of
him to prepare the towns for the undertaking to which Jesus has devoted his
life: the Kingdom of G_d. He offers them a series of instructions on how to
proceed and how to respond to the receptions they will encounter.
11“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” (LK 10:11)
Lambs in the Midst of Wolves
Jesus’
description is curious here: “I am sending you out like lambs in the midst
of wolves.” Scholars who have studied this passage are fairly certain that
this is probably the early Jesus movement speaking to us here and not Jesus
himself. But it does reflect the understanding of that early group of followers.
They were a fledgling movement surrounded by potentially deadly opposition.
Ernst Zimmerman, Christ and the Pharisees (1852-1901)
As
a sect of Judaism, they were opposed by those who saw themselves as its
guardians. The gospels are full of accounts of Jesus’ confrontations with the
scribes and the Pharisees not to mention the Sadducees in charge of the Temple
in Jerusalem. At a very basic level, Jesus is seen as a threat to the religious
status quo of Judea.
Moreover,
as Judeans living in a Roman colony which is repeatedly rocked by uprisings,
they are always under the ever-watchful eyes of Caesar’s empire. Little wonder
Jesus is warning them here that they are vulnerable like lambs amidst ravenous wolves
ready to chew them to pieces.
Sine
Propria, Without Property
Another
aspect that is curious is how Jesus tells them to prepare for their mission. “Carry
no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.” Jesus is
essentially sending them out as barefoot beggars. Like Blanche DuBois in A
Streetcar Named Desire, they will be required to rely on the kindness of
strangers if they are to survive.
In the middle ages orders like the Franciscans and the Dominicans would take this gospel passage literally, pouring out into the world as preachers, teachers and healers, in a desire to imitate Jesus. As mendicants, a nice word for beggars, they would depend upon the charity of others for their survival.
Francis of Assisi was clear that the principle of sine propria, being without property, was essential to the spiritual lives of his friars. Francis recognized that the more property one owned, the more their time and energy would be required to defend that property against other claimants. Borrowing from a Gospel passage, it simply was too difficult to get through the narrow gate when one’s arms were full of possessions.
So if the disciples were to have no money with them, trudging the hills of the Galilee barefoot, how would they survive? Jesus is pretty clear about that. Whenever they were invited into a home, they should begin by pronouncing peace upon that home. And they should eat whatever was placed before them. We should note here that for some of these homes, these devoutly Jewish disciples might well be offered food that was considered to be unclean. But Jesus is pretty clear about how they should respond – eat what is given you with gratitude. It is always a gift from G-d.
Engage
Suffering, Proclaim Good News, Prepare the Way
So
what is their mission there? It is three fold. First, the disciples were to
engage in the healing of the suffering. No doubt there is enormous suffering in
this place dominated by the extractive economy of the Roman Empire, an economy
that uses up its slave labor and casts them aside when they can no longer
continue working. The disciples have their work cut out for them when they
arrive in these villages.
The second part of their mission was to proclaim the good news that the Jesus movement embodied: The Kingdom of G-d has come near! How do we know that? We know it by the villagers who open their homes to strangers, an act of radical hospitality. And we know it by those disciples who are able to get past their cultural and religious training to accept the offerings of their hosts. The Kingdom of G-d is marked by openness to the other, to the willingness to offer one’s gifts and the willingness of the other to accept them.
Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus (1601)
All
of this is part and parcel of the third reason for their mission. They are
preparing the way for Jesus who will be arriving soon thereafter. It’s
important to note here that Jesus holds no illusions about the reception he or his
disciples will receive. Good news which calls its hearers to engage in radical
hospitality and the healing of the suffering will not be welcomed by many. And
that was as true in Jesus’ time as our own.
It’s also important to note here what Jesus does not tell his disciples to do. He doesn’t tell them to try to sell people a set of ideas. These disciples are not evangelizers. Their goal is not to gain converts to their theology. They are not there to save souls. Rather, they were called to be healers and offerors of hope, not salesmen of a belief system, a pattern which far too often ultimately speaks more about affirming the faith of the evangelizer than anything else.
Jesus
does not tell the disciples that their willingness to engage these villagers
should be conditioned on their willingness to share their beliefs. Rather, he
says the key question is whether they welcome the disciples. If they don’t, the
disciples should wipe the dust off their feet in protest. But even as they do
that they are called to proclaim, “Yet know this: the kingdom of God has
come near.” In a world whose conditions readily give rise to despair, the
ability to hope is priceless.
If there is a clear message in this gospel reading today, it is the centrality of radical hospitality to the Way of Jesus. This is a way that calls its followers to be open to others, often despite what our culture has taught us we should feel about them. That openness confronts all kinds of socially constructed barriers regarding those of different religions, places of origin, race and ethnicity and sexualities.
So what difference does that make to any of us here today? First, our willingness to engage those we have been taught to avoid is called into question. The parable of the Good Samaritan provides a good example of how we are to proceed. The willingness of the Samaritan to help his hated Judean enemy in his suffering is the first half of that equation, the willingness of the Judean to receive that help is the other. We have much to learn from that example.
Congress
and North Street, across from Boston City Hall, (June 28, 2022)
As
a church, we also have the challenge of being places of radical hospitality. Do
strangers feel they can come into our places of worship and be welcomed? Can
they enter into our worship and our fellowship without fear of being judged or
rejected? Have we made our parishes places of radical hospitality?
Our
General Convention was to consider removing the canonical requirement
of baptism as a condition for receiving communion. That motion was tabled and
will not be considered this year. But I suspect it will come up again in the
future.
What might the radical hospitality of the Way of Jesus have to say to us in that deliberation?
Anglican priest John Wesley, whose hymns are included in our hymnal, was highly concerned for the working poor, a concern ultimately ignored by an Anglican establishment content to watch that entire segment of its parishioners depart. Wesley argued that communion was a converting sacrament. He observed that when people came to our worship and were included in its central rite, they would want to know more about this way of following Jesus. When they did, catechism and baptism would follow.
I believe Wesley was right about this, perhaps because I began my religious life as a Methodist. But I also know that when I stand at the altar and hold the sacraments up to the assembled parish, my statement that these are “the gifts of G_d for the people of G_d” is a powerful statement. So far as I know, there are no other kinds of people. And whenever I serve as priest, there will be no barriers to anyone receiving who wishes to do so. It is my prayer that this change in our canons will be approved.
So
our lesson has provided us much to consider. Where in our lives do our
possessions become obstacles to our lives of faith? Where in our lives do we
practice the radical hospitality of Jesus and where do we create barriers
between ourselves and others? Where are we willing to be the recipients of the
generosity of others? Where do we see suffering in our world and where are we
the agents of its healing?
I leave you with these questions knowing that all of us are called to wrestle with them. Let us remember that we are only called to do our part in responding to them. And let us remember that we are never alone in these endeavors. As our Baptismal Covenant puts it, “I will with God’s help.”
Let
us pray:
O
God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our
neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you
with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A sermon preached on July 3, 2022, based on the lectionary of Pentecost IV, 2022, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Saugus, MA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry Scott
Coverston
Orlando,
Florida
If the
unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it
religious or political, is not worth holding. Most things worth considering do
not come in sound bites.
Those who
believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either. – Mahatma
Gandhi
For what
does G-d require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your G-d? - Micah 6:8, Hebrew
Scriptures
Do not be
daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now.
Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are
you free to abandon it. - Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Wisdom
of the Jewish Sages (1993)
© Harry
Coverston, 2022
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No comments:
Post a Comment