5th Sunday after Pentecost 2007
Proper 06 June 15, 2008
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Exodus 19:2-8a; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:23)
St. Christopher’s,
MAY
THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS
ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN
Back in the misty days of distant history, that is before the
internet, I had lots of reference books.
One was “Familiar Quotes and Sayings” I suspect at least one full page
of that book came from this Gospel passage.
– for example: Jesus says “the harvest in plentiful but the laborers
are few” — a favorite verse during stewardship time or Sunday School
teachers recruiting time! Let’s look at
those familiar sayings and try to understand them.
We hear about going out two by two ... the passage frequently is
used to discuss the importance of being in community. But Jesus tells them not to take any material
possessions. Furthermore Jesus tells
them not to move from house to house in the village. ... The issue there is
that wandering teachers could not stay in the hotel - there weren’t any! So at first they stayed with whomever would
give them a roof ... usually NOT the most influential person in town. But as the teacher’s reputation grew in town
the lodging invitations would move up the social scale. Jesus told them not to climb that ladder.
The gospel goes on to say: “shake the dust off your feet” ... “be
wise as serpents but innocent as doves” ... “do not worry about how you will
speak”. Lots of great phrases. How would these sound if we assume Jesus was
speaking to us ... today ... in our lives. .... Which is exactly what Jesus is
doing.
“The crowds were harassed
and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” ... Jesus had compassion and
sent his disciples out to them. .... An entire two week sermon series all by
itself!
Who in our society is harassed and helpless? ... Certainly we can
come up with lots of people: the homeless maybe, the long term unemployed, the
lonely elderly, the abandoned nursing home resident. Some in all these categories could be
considered helpless.
But let’s focus on “harassed” — the person who works 80 hours a
week to advance a career. ... The person who has maxed out countless credit
cards, bought a house they cannot afford, and a car that takes $100. to fill
up. ... The person with uncontrollable children. .... The person trying to get
an education while feeding a family. .... Do you fit any of those
descriptions? Or another similar
description? Do you know anyone who
does?
“The harvest is plentiful”
— that’s for sure! “But the laborers are few.” .... That
passage leaped to mind during the announcements last week when we ... we were asked to help with Vacation
Bible Camp, the Open Door homeless shelter, the Interfaith Hospitality program,
and the hospital’s cancer cart.
The harvest is plentiful and this congregation responds well to
challenges. But here Jesus is
challenging His disciples ... challenging Matthew, Mark, John, Paul and the
others ... and challenging us to ask if we are a laborer, or not.
“But Ken! Notice what Jesus
sent them to do and what he told them to leave at home!” ... “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the
lepers, cast out demons” ”We cannot do that!”
Maybe. I learned a long
time ago I could pray all day and the person most often would still not be
cured of cancer. ... BUT, maybe we can look at this and see the community ..
the two by two part. Let the doctors use
their God given tools and talents to work on the cancer. We can cure loneliness. We can do our part to help cure depression
(with doctors’ help). We can cure the
disease of homelessness — not by ourselves but remember again the emphasis on
community. We can cure hunger. We can cure the epidemic of measles in some
parts of the world. The list is long –
and our abilities ... our God given resource are abundant.
Raise the dead? Maybe not
those already at the morgue but what about the person who has died to
life? The person who just sits at home
as good as dead? Can we reach out to
them?
And then the REALLY scary one ... and I think one of the most
important ones ... the casting out of demons.
I don’t expect to see the exorcist movie played out! But let’s consider the demons we can cast out. Some of the healing is, as Jesus meant, the
casting out of demons. The demons of
alcohol ... for ourselves and helping those in need. The demons of drug abuse whether legal or
illegal. The demons of greed. What have
you lusted after which is a desire and not a need? The demons of racism. Haven’t you heard a “joke” that would hurt a
person’s feelings? Did you cast out that
demon?
“Go only to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel” ... we can discuss that in more general terms if
you want but for us – those in this
room, I believe the message is that Jesus is sending us to the people right
around us ... the people we already know or at least see.
OK, but what about these instructions about what not to take? For the disciples Jesus is teaching to depend
on God and the good will of people. But
most of us are not going to places where these instructions would make much
sense so let’s consider what we
should leave at home.
Leave at home our expectation of reward. Leave at home our desire for and expectation
for appreciation. “You received from God without payment, give without (expecting) payment.”
Leave at home our ego. We
are there to help, not to control. Sure
we may have an idea about how to do it better.
And maybe an opportunity will come to make a suggestion. But when we go busting in telling people what
to do we are there to feed our ego — not to serve people.
Leave at home our self-righteousness. We serve not because we are better but
because we know we are NOT better.
Leave at home our frustration.
Maybe society should be re-organized so this person would be better
served. Maybe society is violating the
commandment to honor our fathers and mothers.
Maybe a family is violating that commandment. ... And maybe, someday, we
may be able to work with those structural problems but for now, leave home our
frustrations.
Leave at home our “I have better things to do”. Leave home the attitude that “I am here
because somebody quilted me into it but I have better things to do.” ...
Actually we probably do not have better things to do. Serving that meal or fixing the door on the
widow’s house is probably, in eternal sense, the most important thing we have
to do.
Leave at home our fear ... First our fear that if we don’t do
these things God will have us burn for all eternity. We serve not to earn points in God’s book but
because the one who loves us more than we can even imagine has asked us to
serve.
And leave at home the fear that we cannot do anything. “What can I do?”
Leave at home our self satisfaction that we are doing so much more
than those other people! I sincerely
doubt any of us could prove to a judge, and especially the ultimate judge, that
we are doing everything possible. I
certainly could not. We are all sinners,
everyone.
The most important lesson is to leave home! Get up and get going.
I know I am less than half way through this lesson but let me pull
out a couple other major thoughts. “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves”. I sincerely doubt that is completely
possible! But I read it as saying we
should not allow ourselves to be abused ... to allow our efforts and resources
to be mis-used. BUT, not to get delayed
over wondering if this person is “worthy” of our aid. Assume they are – while trying to avoid the
obvious abuse.
I said the casting out demons was the most scary and most
important. But for many of us even more
scary is the last part about being willing to speak to critics. I read this as saying “pray, ask for God’s
help, and then go on and speak your heart.”
I am here to tell you it works!
The amazing gift at Pentecost was not the disciples simultaneously
speaking several languages. Rather the miracle
was the miracle of understanding. If we
speak to people from our heart, with prayer, many (not all but many) will
understand. We will be shocked at how
much they hear in our poor words. And if
that critic does not ... Jesus says to just move on to the next person.
Feel guilty yet? Who says
the Episcopal church is Roman Catholic with half the guilt ?! We can get real guilty in a hurry.
So let’s look for the good news.
In fact that is Jesus’ exact words ... “proclaim (to ourselves and others) the good news that the
The good news is that is happening. The good news is that the ultimate evil has
already been defeated. The good news is
that God has empowered us to fill the sand bags and throw them. The good news is that a God who loves us that
much is the one actually doing the heavy lifting.
Let us pray: Dear God we sincerely do want to leave home and both
proclaim and demonstrate the good news of your love. We ask mostly for courage Lord, the courage
to do your will.
AMEN
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CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)