To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the
following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not
enter a Samaritan town, 6 but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim
the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure
the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons.
You received without payment; give without payment. 9 Take
no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no
bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for laborers
deserve their food. 11 Whatever town or village you
enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 As
you enter the house, greet it. 13 If the house is
worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace
return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or
listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house
or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for
that town.
16 “I am sending you out like sheep into
the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware
of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their
synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before
governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the
gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry
about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will
be given to you at that time, 20 for it is not you
who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Sibling
will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise
against parents and have them put to death, 22 and
you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end
will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this
town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you, you will not have finished going
through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
The disciples were stewards of
Jesus. They did as Jesus did. 7 “As you go, proclaim the good news,
‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick;
raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons.” So, is this a matter, for us, of
“go and do likewise”? The proclamation
piece most definitely. The miracles of
verse 8? Maybe not as obviously, but how
many hospitals betray their origins within the church seeking to do just that?
New York
Presbyterian Hospital jumps to my mind.
There are Baptist and Lutheran Health networks in the nation. Or closer to home, Our Lady of Lourdes, of
Roman Catholic origins, and Jefferson Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia.
Having said
that, there is a rather significant disconnection that has taken place from the
times when faith-based healing was a centerpiece of the health care
industry.
But we are
still healers. We offer that in worship
every fourth Sunday. While the general
expectation is that the pastor provides spiritual care, our Deacons are our
Care Team, of whom I am privileged to be a member. It’s the skills Jesus has invested in us that
we use to work with others. We are
stewards of those skills, as surely as we are disciples of Jesus just like the
Big Twelve in the Gospel.
It’s not just
our skills-our talents that we have to offer.
We have time, we have treasures. That
is the tag line of our Stewardship Committee, the offering of time, talents,
and treasures.
It’s not just
about being Stewards, it is more than that.
It is showing our love for God with all our Strength according to our
Aspirations as a Church. But each
aspiration drives something even more central, how we, by the Holy Spirit, are
ever more united with Jesus Christ.
Imitation of Christ is another way the Bible puts it. But that’s a little more “fake it till you
make it” because we are on the way to becoming fully realized and renewed in and
as Christ beyond sin and brokenness and death.
And in so
doing, we use our strengths to continue to build the Kingdom of God, and our
Neighborhood in it, here in the world.
Pastor Pete
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