Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Proper 9 / Year C
There are few
things in life I enjoy more than travelling, especially to places I have not
been before. Paradoxically, there are
few things I enjoy less than packing in order to go away, especially if it
involves a suitcase and an airplane.
My friend Dale, in
his sermon at a service to bless our backpacks prior to walking the Camino,
described how he approaches packing and how it differs from his wife’s. She, at least a month or two before a trip,
converts the guest room into a staging area.
The bed becomes a platform for various items to be laid out, folded,
arranged, and rearranged. There are several
trial packings to see if everything fits, to determine what might have to be
left behind, and/or what might be added if there is extra room. With our Camino trip, even the dining room became
a staging area because the guest room ran out of space. Dale, on the other hand, throws things
together at the last minute without much forethought and certainly without a
plan. In today’s gospel reading, we
learn, at least for this particular trip, Jesus instructs his followers to pack
like Dale… no purse, no bag, no sandals.
Just hit the road and get going.
Do you remember
last week’s gospel reading? It provides
context for this week. Jesus “sets his
face toward Jerusalem.” He and his
followers are planning to be there for the Passover. No doubt Jesus suspects it will not go well
for him. He knows this will be the final
time he passes through the various towns and villages along the way as he
travels. It will be the last opportunity
he has to teach and to heal and to bring the Kingdom of God to the people he
encounters. We can surmise he wants to
maximize his impact as he moves grimly toward the holy city.
And do you remember
how, in last week’s reading, a Samaritan village would not welcome Jesus? He doesn’t want a repeat of that wasted
opportunity. So, Jesus sends his
disciples in groups of two ahead of him to prepare folks along the way for his
visit. This is what we today would call
a “short-term mission trip” and there is a real sense of urgency about it.
Masses of people
made their way to Jerusalem for major festivals and unlike our world, there are
no large and lavish hotels along the way.
Bethlehem famously had an inn in which there was no room for Mary and
Joseph. Most likely, it was more like a
small hostel than what we think of as an inn.
And there are no restaurants along the way either. Pilgrims depend on the hospitality of locals
for food and lodging on their journey. No
doubt, the teams of disciples are sent to scout out the road ahead for people
and places who will welcome Jesus and his followers.
I don’t know, but
suspect, if you make the journey to Jerusalem at least once a year and if you
only take one or two different routes to get there, chances are good you meet various
locals you come to expect will host you whenever you are passing through. Jesus staying at the home of Mary and Martha
in Bethany is an example of this.
Perhaps two of his missionaries make their way to the sisters’ home to
let them know Jesus is coming.
I am sure these
visits, like the hosting we did last week, are joyous occasions when people get
to connect or reconnect with folks from different places. News is shared, opinions offered, insights
gained, stories told. In a sleepy little
village, visits like these must bring welcome relief to everyday drudgery. Jesus tells his followers to bless each home
they enter by saying “Peace to this house.”
Those of us who hosted Chanco staffers last weekend experienced
first-hand how God’s Spirit falls afresh upon a place through the presence of
guests. And we sensed for ourselves what
Jesus instructs his followers to say upon their departure, “The Kingdom of God
has come near to you.”
I wish we had more
opportunities to do something like this – short-term mission which opens our
world to a world beyond our own and invites God’s presence to be with us.
There is a dark
side to Jesus’ instruction, specifically how to respond when you are not
welcomed. “Go out into the street and
wipe the dust off your feet.” In other
words, leave behind the bad experiences.
Forget about it and move on. Life
is too short and the opportunities ahead are too plentiful for you to linger on
a negative encounter. This is really
sound, healthy advice, but often it is easier to offer than to do.
When Jesus says,
“Whenever you enter a town and the people do not welcome you…”, the verb he
uses is typically rendered as “reject.”
It can also be translated as “to disregard,” “to set aside”, “to
nullify,” “to refuse”, or “to slight” with the potential of doing hard. If you have ever been rejected, disregarded,
set aside, nullified, refused, or slighted you know how deeply it can cut. It hurts if it comes from a person you
value. It hurts if it happens because of
some trait you bear; your gender, your ethnicity, your societal position, your
sexual orientation, and your political persuasion being common targets. And it hurts if it impedes your right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It may surprise you
to learn I am not a huge fan of what is known as the “woke” movement. I am, however committed with all my mind,
body, heart, and soul to our church’s Baptismal Covenant. Oftentimes, the objectives of the two are
much the same. The difference is our
covenant is grounded in God’s dream for all people. The “woke” movement lacks this essential
understanding. The same difference can
be said of the movement led by Martin Luther King verses what we see emanating
out of the Black Lives Matter effort.
Grounded in God, a movement can change hearts and change the world. Ungrounded in God, a crusade only seeks to
shift power from the ones who hold it to the ones who don’t.
Henri Nouwen wrote
this:
Hospitality means
primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a
friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality
is not to change people, but to offer them a space where change can take
place. It is not to bring men and women
over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.
I think this is the
kind of dust Jesus hopes will dirty the feet of his emissaries. He hopes to create opportunities for peace to
visit and for the Kingdom of God to come near.
Let me finish by
sharing this simple, but alarming thought offered by Rachel Joy Scott:
I have this theory
that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will
start a chain reaction of the same. People
will never know how far a little kindness can go.
People will never
know how far a little kindness can go! You
may not know Rachel, but, tragically, you know her story, which provides
incredible inspiration to her ideals. Rachel
was the first student to be killed in the Columbine school shotting. I wonder, what for her, if she could share
with us, does it look like to welcome a stranger and to shake off the dust of
those who reject you. I, for one, am
willing to put her theory to the test. How
far can a little kindness go?
