Sermon June 15th 2008
Jared Rakness
Sermon June 15th 2008
First Reading Exodus 19:2-8a
Second Reading Romans 5:1-8
Gospel Matthew 9:35 – 10:23
“Called and Sent”
Dear hearers of the Word of God, Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Let us pray: Almighty God, you who neither slumbers nor sleeps, but seeks out the lost from every nation, as you seek to redeem the world through your own work of forgiveness and redemption come also among us this day, that we may also become laborers in this your work of proclaiming the kingdom of God in the here and now, for we know that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, so come now Lord, call and send us according to your will and by your word, for it is in Jesus name that we pray, amen.
One thing is clear from the Gospel lesson for this morning, to be called and sent by Christ is no easy road to ho. The life of a disciple is one that will be marked by many dangers in this world, for Jesus tells us that he is sending us out like sheep in the midst of wolves.
But what is the nature of these words of Jesus? The beginning of the text speaks of Jesus going around preaching the good news that the Kingdom of God has come, and he cures every disease and sickness, and Jesus has compassion on the crowds, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he turns to his disciple and tells them that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
In these words Jesus has just tipped his hand to the disciples, he’s exposed the reality of the situation, there are a lot of sinners Jesus is saying, but there are few who will go out and proclaim this message of forgiveness to them. But why are there so few who will do this?
So now to remedy this problem, at least a little Jesus sends out the twelve apostles, giving them authority to cast out demons, and cure every disease. But before they are sent Jesus gives them a few instructions. Go only to the lost house of Israel, Jesus says, stay out of the gentile and Samaritan areas.
Now some might find this a bit harsh of Jesus, to exclude some people while including only a select few, but to believe that is to misunderstand the entirety of scripture. Why is Jesus sending out the twelve into this harsh world and only sending them to the lost house of Israel, well so that the apostles might proclaim this message to the Israelites so that they might remind them that they are a priestly people, who themselves are called by God to proclaim this very same message.
This is about the lost house of Israel only in that Jesus is sending the apostles out to them alone so that they may make more laborers for the kingdom of God, for there is plenty of work that is to be done. And once this message has gone out to them then they in turn will take it to their neighbors who in turn will take it to their neighbors.
Jesus is telling the apostles, go out and make more laborers, starting with the lost house of Israel. You see it is the lost house of Israel who would understand the significance of the signs of Jesus, healing the sick, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, so Jesus gives this power to the apostles as a sign to Israel that the long awaited kingdom of God has come, it has come in Jesus Christ and his word for them.
Now if only it were as easy as that, just to go out and proclaim this message, unfortunately it is not, for to proclaim this message is to bring to an end the old self, to proclaim this message is to bring the old Adam and Eve to death, so that Christ may raise you up a new creation. But the Old self dies hard, the old self likes, well it likes itself after all.
So Jesus tells them I am sending you out, but as a sheep amongst wolves, because they will hate this message as they thought they still had time, they thought that they still had some possibility in themselves. But now that the kingdom has come, there is no more time, there is only death to sin and the law, and only after there is death can there be resurrection, a new creation.
But Jesus also has some specific instructions for the apostles as they go out, if they do not welcome you or listen to your words, he tells them, then shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. This message is to important, and it must be spread, so do it with haste and if they reject you and this message then move on with haste for there are plenty of others that needs to be harvested.
So now you, you are also sent out, you are a people who have been called so that you also might be sent out to proclaim this message for all who have ears to hear. You may not have the authority to heal and do those things that the apostles were given but you have been given and even more special gift, for you have been given true apostolic succession, in that you all have the gift of the word of God that has been handed down to you from Christ and the apostles themselves.
This gives you the authority and right of forgiving sinners and proclaiming the kingdom of God. You have been given and entrusted with this word so you have also been sent out with it. Now you will also run into the same problems the apostles did, some will reject you, some will persecute you and some may even crucify you.
But you have been sent out with this word because the harvest is plentiful, and the laborers are few, so go and proclaim this message to all people, this message of that the kingdom of God has come, it has come in Christ Jesus, and in the hearing of this word it comes also to you. So go out, go out and proclaim this message, go out and gather a few more laborers, for the harvest is plentiful, amen.
http://ilcep.org/ilcblog/public_html/article.php?story=20080630103636781