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July 8, 2007 Pentecost
6, All Souls'
Episcopal Church
A corroborating witness
It’s funny the things you learn
that stay with you. When I was training to be an acolyte
at our university chapel thirty years ago, I was told
that we always light the candles on the epistle side of
the altar first and light the ones on the gospel side
second. I was then told to extinguish the candles in the
reverse order. Why? I was told that the gospel candle
should never burn alone. Our Lord Jesus sent his
disciples out two by two, a witness and a corroborating
witness. And, this is what we find in today’s gospel
reading.
There are a number of things
in what our Lord tells the disciples which would be
useful for us to think about, but I’ll limit my
observations to three. 1: The disciples are sent to
stand the world on its head. 2: They are sent to bring
light, not judgment. 3: Their joy and power is found not
so much in what they do as in who they are.
The disciples are sent out
“as lambs among wolves.” As many of you know, I am not
an expert on the animal kingdom, but I can say with some
degree of certainty that lambs, as a rule, do not go out
looking for wolves. I am sure that wolves, on the other
hand, do enjoy a nice rack of lamb. A pack of wolves, if
given the chance, will encircles a flock of sheep and
hunt down the lambs. To send lambs among wolves is to
reverse the natural order. The disciples are sent to
further disrupt the natural order. They are to proclaim
that the Kingdom of God has come near, which is what is
meant by the phrase, the end is near. It is an
expression which brings focus to our everyday lives. It
is an expression which tells us that our actions have
consequences. It is an expression which assures us that
the deep things of the spirit are not to be found far
away but are much closer than we allow ourselves to
think.
The message of the Kingdom –
the Kingdom that is near – is one which does indeed
stand the world on its head. It tells us that the meek,
not the strong and mighty, shall inherit the earth. It
tells us that we are to love our enemies and do good to
those who do evil to us. It tells us that there is
nobility in suffering, that humility is strength, not
weakness, that the first shall be last and the last
shall be first, and that he who would be the greatest
must become the servant of all. This is not the stuff
upon which mighty kingdoms have been built by proud
rulers. This is not the law of the jungle and the
survival of the fittest. It is precisely the opposite of
all that. It is a new world order for a new world, a
world in which the Kingdom of God is near. It is also
the way in which we as members of the Body of Christ are
to transform the world and be the salt of the earth.
The disciples are sent to
bring light, not judgment. Oh, there will be a judgment,
but it is not a judgment we as disciples should try and
bring about. The judgment is God’s. The disciples are
told that if their message is rejected, they should
realize that it is God who is being rejected, not them.
Moreover, they are told to shake the dust off their feet
and leave the places where the message is rejected. This
is a tough lesson to learn. It is tough for clergy, for
parents, for teachers and leaders to realize that all
they can do is speak the truth in love. We can point the
way, but we cannot drag anyone where they don’t want to
go. We can explain it to them but we cannot understand
it for them. When we try to do that is exactly when we
get in trouble. And so, the disciples were to minister
in the places they visit and leave all matters of
judgment in the hands of God.
Our Lord Jesus mentions some
cities cited in the Old Testament as places of great
wickedness. He says that those ancient wicked cities
shall be judged more easily than the places nearby where
he and his disciples have been teaching and performing
their works of mercy and healing. Why? Those ancient
cities might have received prophetic warnings to change
their evil ways. They might have rejected those
warnings. However, the cities which our Lord and his
disciples visited were places where miraculous blessings
had taken place. Those ancient cities may have rejected
the warnings, but these cities have rejected their
blessings. They have rejected the very nearness of God
and his kingdom.
Most of us are blessed in so
many ways. We live in a magnificent country – a shining
city on a hill founded on the concept of inalienable
rights and blessed with a level of prosperity which must
be the greatest the world has ever seen. We are blessed
in so many other ways as well. How do we respond to such
blessings? Do we take them for granted, or do these
blessings inspire us to bless others? As we answer that
question for ourselves, we must remember the words
spoken by our Lord in today’s reading. We must also
recall that to whom much is given, shall much be
required.
The disciples’ joy and power
is not so much found in what they do as in who they are.
They are the children of God. Our Lord Jesus tells them
that their names are written in Heaven – not “shall be”
but “are” written in Heaven. The message they proclaim
is the message of Heaven; of a kingdom that is near.
They are not spreading the word and bringing hope and
peace and blessing in order to earn their place in
Heaven; they are doing these things because they are
already citizens of Heaven. They are not trying to be a
blessing to earn a blessing but because they have
received a blessing. As St. Paul wrote in today’s
Epistle reading, they are new creatures pointing to a
new creation.
How might we best follow our
Lord’s call to be laborers in his vineyard? The collect
for today gives us the best answer. O God, grant us
the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to
thee with our whole heart, and united to one another
with pure affection.
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