Called. Empowered. Equipt.

2nd Sunday after Pentecost – Yr A

Readings: Exodus 19:2-8a; Matthew 9:35-10:23

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Lord said to Moses and the Israelites, “The whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5-6) As we heard last week from Genesis, God created all the earth, all of humanity and called it good. So that got me thinking, why would God choose to give special election to this small group of Israelites, recently liberated from Egyptian oppression, wondering lost in the desert? They are not yet their own kingdom or nation! What makes them priestly or holy at all?!

Sometimes it’s easy for us to translate this into thinking we have some sort of special treatment with God, that we are chosen while others are not and because of this, we have some sort of upper hand.. but to think this way is to forget our history, is to be far removed from the scriptures and the story of our life with God throughout all of time. You see, our Israelite ancestors may have been the community called to be God’s witnesses to the rest of the world, but that did not mean their lives would be exempt from pain and suffering. In fact, the Israelites only “thrived” as their own united monarchy of all 12 tribes for roughly one hundred years (or less); lasting only three kings – Saul, David, and Solomon. After Solomon’s death, the tribes began to divide and became the Kingdom of Israel AND the Kingdom of Judah. This too only lasted 200 – 300 years. That’s a relatively short amount of time considering all of history. The rest of the time the Israelites were wandering or occupied by other empires. The Israelites were called by God in the midst of their messy and imperfect lives to witness to God’s presence despite it all. I am not sure I can read any part of scripture and think, “Wow, they really got special treatment from God.”

We are mistaken when we equate comfort, complacency, wealth, fortune, and success with our identity as God’s children. Do we find comfort in the words of scripture and in our identity as beloved by God? Absolutely. Does it guarantee us wealth and success in this life? Not by the world’s standards of wealth and success, but certainly in ways of spiritual wholeness and well-being. In our gospel passage today Jesus picks 12 disciples and sends them out to the lost sheep of Israel (Matt. 10:6). Perhaps these 12 apostles are symbolic of the fractured 12 tribes of Israel, as God will not give up on the restoration and reconciliation of God’s people. Does that mean that God only cares for the Jews? Why only Israel? I wonder if God was thinking strategically.. that just like today when we want to get something done we equip and empower a small group and then we send out that small group to equip and empower more small groups and so on and so on. Could the Israelites have been God’s grassroots movement, the flame that would spark a revolution that would spread like wildfire..?

(In verse 5) Jesus commands the apostles NOT to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans, but only to the lost sheep of Israel. We know, however, that this is NOT God’s last word on the subject. In fact the resurrected Christ, in Matthew 28:19 (the gospel we heard last week) tells the same apostles to ‘go and make disciples of ALL nations!’ But sometimes we have to start where we are, with what we have, and do what we can. Why start with the Jews, the ancestors of the Israelites who received God’s initial mandate? Because they knew the history, they had already heard the Word, they had heeded the call before and would be the most likely to heed it again. But Jesus tells the apostles that this is not going to be easy work, no matter who they go to, there will be resistance.

Jesus tells them: ‘As you go, find those who already know God and who welcome you, they will show you hospitality and give you a place to stay while you’re in their village. Go from house to house, but if a household is not able to hear your witness, dust off your feet and move on to the next. DO NOT let it hinder the mission and ministry to which God has called you. DO NOT give up no matter how hard the journey, no matter how hopeless you feel; keep going.’ Jesus goes on to admit that he knows (GOD is WELL aware) that they are being sent out as sheep amidst wolves. If they did not understand the perils they were about to face, I imagine this put a clear picture in their minds.

The Israelites were singled out, God’s ‘elect,’ as many would say. The Apostles were singled out, hand picked by Jesus Christ himself to continue the mission and ministry of God on earth. ‘Wow’, we might think. ‘Wow, that’s gotta feel good! Wow, these people must have been top notch, the best of the best. Nothing could be better than to be chosen by God!’ Wrong. The Israelites, the Apostles, they were just ordinary people, just like you and me; simultaneously sinner and saints, made in the image of God with the breath of the Holy Spirit burning in their lungs, just like you and me. Ordinary people entrusted with an extraordinary mission. A mission few would sign up for voluntarily.

In church-language we might say God ‘volun-TOLD’ the Israelites and the Apostles they were joining God in this work and this work is NOT easy. ‘You are my sheep and I am your shepherd. We will journey together, but we WILL encounter wolves. I cannot promise you it will be easy and that no one will get hurt, I can only promise you that I will never leave your side. Together we can transform wolves into sheep (or if your thinking literally instead of metaphorically – we can transform these wolves into domesticated doggies). Beware,’ Jesus says.. ‘beware for not everyone will have ears to hear, some will arrest you, imprison you, torture you, sentence you to the death penalty, hang you from a tree. Beware.’ But God does not ask us to do anything God wouldn’t do Godself. For God knows the human heart. God knows our capacity for violence and hate, but also our capacity for love and peace and God will stop at NOTHING to transform our hearts from raging wolves to tender sheep; wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matt. 10:16).

So what was the command Jesus sent out with the Apostles? To spread the word that the Kingdom of God has come - which manifests in the deliverance of the oppressed, the curing of the sick, the raising of the dead, the cleansing of the lepers, the casting out of demons, etc (Matt. 10:8). The Lord has sent out laborers to collect the abundance of harvest (Matt. 9:37-38). The harvest is plentiful, but so is the sickness and disease. Go and reap what God has sown; go and be repairers of the breach, restorers of streets to live in (Isaiah 58:12); cure the sick, bring life to deafening situations, let the oppressed go free, bring good news to the poor (Luke 4:18), feed the hungry, offer the thirsty water from the well that will never run dry (John 4:14).

That may have been over 2,000 years ago, but the mission continues with God’s Church. Sickness and disease abound still today. As we see on full display in our nation right now, many suffer from the sickness of hatred, which has invaded our hearts like weeds in a perfectly good garden. Racism is one of the diseases that plague our hearts. The good news is that we were not born with it and it can be cured. Racism is a disease that fractures rather than unifies, that kills rather than produces life. As disciples of Christ, commanded by the life-giving God to cure the sick, we are tasked with the unpleasant and painful undertaking of being repairers of the breach, restorers of streets to live in.. for all of God’s children. It will not be easy. Some will not have ears to listen. May we dust off our feet and keep marching forward. The good news is no less real, the kingdom of God IS AT HAND.

We are disciples (messy, imperfect, ordinary people) called by God to participate in the mission and ministry of God on earth. The work is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. As Alexander Wimberly says, “the gap between the real and the ideal can in fact be bridged! Jesus, at least, seems to think we can get the job done, even if it will not be easy.” We WILL encounter wolves, but our shepherd will never abandon us.. and our shepherd has the power to transform even the hardest of hearts into tender sheep.

May it be so.

Amen.