Matthew 9:35—10:8 [9-23]

The 3rd Sunday a. Pentecost | 18 June 2023 | Mt 9:35—10:8 [9-23] | Paul Bieber |

Matthew 9:35—10:8 [9-23] Revised Standard Version

³⁵ Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

10 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. ² The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay. [⁹ Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. ¹¹ And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart. ¹² As you enter the house, salute it. ¹³ And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, ¹⁸ and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. ¹⁹ When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; ²⁰ for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ²¹ Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; ²² and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes.]”

also

Exodus 19:2-8a

Psalm 100

Romans 5:1-8

Endurance

Grace, peace, and much joy to you, people of God.

The Time after Pentecost is that time in the Church’s year of grace in which we cultivate our spiritual lives and grow in discipleship. In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends his twelve disciples out to restore the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The crowds that come out to him to hear his teaching and preaching, and receive his healing, call forth his compassion: They are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, yet Jesus sees them as a field ripe for harvest.

“Pray,” he says to his disciples, “the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest.” The disciples do pray, presumably—and then find that they are themselves the answer to that prayer. Jesus sends them out, makes them apostles, which means, those who are sent. When we pray for our own spiritual growth, we may also find that we are being sent to some harassed and helpless neighbor.

The image of the people around us as a shepherdless flock, a field ready for harvest, is an image of people who are eager for the kingdom Jesus preaches, but don’t know where to look for it. Someone has to tell them that God has already acted; the kingdom is drawing near. There is a Good Shepherd. God will gather his harvest of souls.

The kingdom draws near when the Gospel is proclaimed. In this preaching and in the healing miracles that are a foretaste of the harvest of the final fruit of the kingdom, this kingdom is already drawing near. If we could recognize when and where and how it comes, we could cultivate our spiritual lives and grow toward the harvest, in discipleship.

It doesn’t seem to have much to do with wealth or the accumulation of material things. Jesus sends the disciples on their mission with no money at all, no luggage—and why would they need it, since they are sent without a change of clothes—and not even a walking stick as they embark on their walking tour of the towns of Israel.

It does seem to have something to do with offering a greeting of peace to those who receive you, and being grateful for the hospitality they offer. Those who reject the message of the kingdom and its attendant healing are another matter. And so the proclaimers of the kingdom are called to discernment. Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves: be shrewd, but without guile. Without innocence, shrewdness becomes manipulative; without shrewdness, innocence becomes naivety.

The combination of the two permits disciples not only to accept hospitality with gratitude, but to see hostility as an opportunity to bear testimony, to continue to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom, thanks to the Spirit of the Father who speaks through you. And there is a time to leave the house or town where you are being persecuted. There will be other houses and towns in which to bear witness, right up until the missionary disciples are reunited with Jesus.

In all circumstances the disciples are called to endurance. Jesus tells the missionary disciples that the one who endures to the end will be saved. In today’s Epistle, St. Paul says something about endurance also. He starts at the beginning, reminding us that we are justified by faith. Our trust in God’s promise is what gives us the peace that we can offer to harassed and helpless neighbors.

Because God has acted in Jesus Christ, we stand in grace and we hope for glory. The grace of God is his gift to us right now; the glory of God is our hoped-for destination at harvest time. How do we get there? Well, Lutherans love a paradox, and so it is no surprise that our boasting in our hope of sharing the very glory of God (!) Is coupled with our boasting (!) In our sufferings.

What does it even mean to boast in our sufferings? It seems like a ridiculous thing to boast in the bad things that happen to us. But what if it is by suffering and testing that our spiritual lives are cultivated, our faith strengthened, our discernment sharpened, and our endurance fortified? That’s what St. Paul says, that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, a hope that does not disappoint—the hope that today’s grace to cultivate will bring forth God’s future glory to share.

The God who acted to bring Israel out of Egypt to himself made Israel his covenant people, a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. The First Reading’s scene at the foot of Mount Sinai is inspiring: “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.” But there will be forty years of wilderness wandering, and even after entering the land of promise, Israel’s story will be one of forgetting the Lord and their promises, of bad shepherds and harvests left ungathered.

Enter Jesus, who came to proclaim the kingdom that draws near in his presence, to heal every disease and every infirmity, and to die for the weak, the ungodly, the sinners—for the lost sheep of the house of Israel and for the lost sheep of every nation into which the risen Jesus will send his apostles: all nations. Through him we have access to the grace in which we stand amid the sufferings of life. It is his grace, his power made perfect in our weakness, that enables us to endure.

And when we pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers, we may well find that we are the answer to our own prayer. The risen Lord is even now sending out healers, restorers, people who bring life and hope to others, signs of God’s gift of new life. For God has already acted; the kingdom is at hand.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Paul Bieber

San Diego, California, USA

E-Mail: paul.bieber@sbcglobal.net