Today Jesus goes home. At first he dazzles the crowds in Nazareth, but then reality sets in. Isn't this a local guy? We remember him growing up! His Mom and her step-kids still live here! How does this upstart think that he is all that? Jesus finds that he can do little with a community that will not take him or his message seriously. He retreats to the suburbs.
Now what? He decides to send his immediate successors, the twelve apostles, on a mission. They will go out, offering the same ministries that he does, just as we do today. The marching orders he gives are meant for us as well. Let's take a look.
First, they are to travel light. Jesus has elsewhere assured them that accumulating and loving wealth is the greatest danger to spiritual health. The poor are most beloved of God precisely because they don't have stuff in the way. (Remember, for example, how Saint Francis of Assisi gave away his wealth before beginning his remarkable ministry.) The apostles must not take actions that will show dependence on material things if they are to focus on the spiritual.
Second, they are to be long on method. Jesus does not meticulously dictate what to do, so much as how to do it. This reminds us that we evangelize primarily by our actions, not what we say. We are the hands, feet, heart and voice of Christ today. There are different ministries for different persons. The sacramental work of Christ is continued by ordained bishops and priests, but we are all part of his service ministry. Everthing we do is to be done in a Christian way. We want our life and work to cause others to want a piece of this new, different, and abundant kind of life.
Third, they are not to waste time where there is no receptivity. Let me tell you a true story about that. Before the American Revolution, the town of Bath, North Carolina was the Las Vegas of the British colonies. Blackbeard, the most honourable of all pirates, whose real name was Arthur Thatch, retired to Bath towards the end of his career. He became the Royal Governor's best friend. At about the same time, my seventh great-grandfather, Francis Shackelford, left Virginia and retired in Bath. And soon thereafter the town of Bath received a most distinguished guest.
The visitor was George Whitefield, an Anglican priest who moved from England to America He met the Wesley brothers, became part of the Methodist movement in Georgia, founded an orphanage, and supported the successful introduction of slavery into Georgia, where it had been illegal. Although a Methodist, Whitefield had adopted Calvinist doctrine (at his request he is buried under the pulpit of a Presbyterian church in Massachusetts) along the lines of Jonathan Edward's assault on "sinners in the hands of an angry God." During his preaching tour in the Colonies, he made a special stop at Bath. But "sin city" had no interest in his rigid Calvinism. His message fell on deaf ears. As a result, he went to the edge of town, shook the dust off his shoes, cursed Bath, never to return. He followed Jesus' admonition to the apostles as a literal command and obeyed it. We too may be reminded by this episode to conserve our energy and resources, and not to lose heart when our efforts fail.
Well, there you have it. Our marching orders for today and all our days to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment