The Posture of a Christian

Gospel:  Matthew 10: 16-23

In today's Gospel portion we are provided with the blueprint for the Christian's demeanor in the world.  Jesus states that we are sheep in the midst of wolves.  Sheep are not aggressive or predatory animals.  They are the hunted, as is the Christian.  We are to flee from town to town in the face of persecution.  We are not to employ the angry or vindictive word.  When the time comes we will be given what to say before the teeth of the enemy.  

If one is confused by this image Jesus provides, that is understandable.  Notably absent is the appeal to weaponry and violence.  There is no quarter to be found in political parties or governments.  No use of the wiles of modern media and its propaganda.  All the things the modern Christian avails themselves are utterly rejected by the Lord Jesus.  Firmly rooted in the tradition from which he came, Jesus echoes the Psalmist - from where shall come my help?  My help is from the Lord.

The atheist is not the one who rejects God and does not attend church.  The atheist is the modern Christian who claims belief in God but does not live such.  Most Christians of modern times do not believe in God.  They believe in the strong man, the money and power, the propaganda machines of the media empires, the political power and influence they have cultivated like bitter grapes.  Today is a day for us to follow the example of Jesus, who lived his own teaching at his arrest, trial, and death.  Our help is from the Lord... 

Without Cost

Gospel: Matthew 10: 7-15

As you have received, so must you give.  We the sick who have been healed of our infirmities.  We the cripples who have been made to walk again.  We the lepers who have been made clean.  We who were possessed by demons and liberated from them.  Now it is our turn to go out into the world and provide healing to the ill and crippled and leprous, and to provide liberation for those held bound by the demons that oppress them.  

In doing so we proclaim that the kingdom of God is present in the world.  God's kingdom is not about domination and enslavement of others.  God's kingdom is about the liberation of others, the lifting up of those who have been poor, ill, and enslaved.  It brings with it the great jubilee - the forgiveness of all debts, a renewal of the land, and the restoration of our relationships with God and others that have been broken and frayed.  

These tasks are the work Jesus has entrusted to those who are his disciples, those who claim membership in the Church.  We have all received such healing and liberation ourselves.  God has given it to us freely.  Now we must do the same, offering mercy and reconciliation, healing and restoration to all freely.  Only in this way can renewal and restoration come to the earth, to individuals and communities everywhere.   This is the Good News of the kingdom of God.

Answering the Call

Gospel: Matthew 10: 1-7

In yesterday's Gospel portion Jesus prayed that we would come to work the harvest so desperately needed.  Today he calls an initial group to enter the fields and reap the harvest.  They are to do so by undertaking the same work Jesus himself has done:  to heal people of all their diseases and infirmities; to liberate people from the demons that imprison them; to nourish people at table and announce the kingdom of God is present in their midst.

Today Jesus commissions twelve; later he will appoint a further 72 to undertake the same work.  Throughout the ages up to today he calls many to the work of mercy and reconciliation, the work of the kingdom of God.  Many do not answer the call as the grip of self-interest squashes the call.  Many others are deterred from the work by the Church herself, restricting the work to less than half the population, insisting on a discipline few follow and one having little historical warrant.

In spite of such limitations, many take up the work regardless of the limitations.  The needs of people take priority over our arbitrary rules and categories.  People have a right to have access to the sacraments.  They have a right to health care, to food and drink, shelter and clothing.  Providing these things to people is the only work of the Lord Jesus, the only priority for us.  The world is in sore need of our care.  We cannot, we must not, deprive them of it.