1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 I speak in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,720 So today's gospel reading is the tail end 3 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,320 of a long discourse from Jesus, from which we've 4 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,000 been hearing over the last several weeks. 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,100 It's in this discourse that Jesus 6 00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:30,160 addresses his disciples, revealing to them 7 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,240 the nature of the ministry that they 8 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,440 are choosing to embark on. 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,240 Jesus knows what lies ahead, and he 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,340 wants to make sure his disciples know too. 11 00:00:42,340 --> 00:00:44,440 This discourse, though initially addressed 12 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:49,180 to Jesus' first few followers, still echoes through the years. 13 00:00:49,180 --> 00:00:51,960 And through it, Jesus speaks to those 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,800 who would choose to follow him in any time and place, 15 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,200 including us, some 2,000 years later, 16 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,480 still seeking to take our part in the mission and ministry 17 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,320 of Jesus ongoing in the world. 18 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:11,800 In this 10th chapter of Matthew, the first followers of Jesus 19 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,920 truly begin to come into focus. 20 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,720 What their ministry will be like, who they are, 21 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,040 the chapter begins with a list of their names, all 12 of them, 22 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,480 the apostles of Christ, called such because they 23 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:31,680 will be the ones sent directly by Jesus into the world. 24 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,040 In Jesus' name, they will heal, they will cleanse, 25 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,560 they will welcome and share and make whole. 26 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,760 They will proclaim the good news of God's love 27 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:46,280 and care for a wonderful but wayward people. 28 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,920 Theirs will be a ministry of actions. 29 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:50,880 They will go into the towns. 30 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:52,680 They will seek the lost. 31 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,360 They will teach. 32 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,720 And they will share the ministry of Jesus 33 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,360 right in the streets and in the cities 34 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,680 and in the homes of the people of Israel. 35 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:08,680 And they will remind the people that God is always with them. 36 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,240 This is nothing small that they take up the mission 37 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,000 that they are setting out in. 38 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,280 They are commissioned by Jesus to work directly in his name, 39 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:22,280 to continue loving and healing and reconciling. 40 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,680 But right from the beginning, the disciples 41 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,880 are told exactly what kind of work 42 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,000 they will be taking up, the shape and the character of it. 43 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,720 Physically, theirs will be a trying ministry. 44 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,160 Theirs will be a ministry without security, 45 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,000 without roots or a place to call home. 46 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,840 They will be called to leave their possessions behind, 47 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:50,040 to take nothing with them, to accept no payment. 48 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,280 They will be called to truly and deeply rely on God's promise 49 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,640 that God always provides. 50 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:00,960 And moreover, and perhaps even more difficultly, 51 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,920 they will have to rely on the generosity of the people 52 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:10,160 around them in order to find food and shelter. 53 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,520 Jesus promises them a life of persecution, 54 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,400 of being dragged before kings and governors, 55 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,120 of being rejected by their own people, 56 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,920 even potentially by their own families, 57 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:27,080 for taking their part in proclaiming the kingdom of God. 58 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:28,960 But perhaps even more difficult than facing 59 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,920 a hostile foreign government is the process 60 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,000 of undertaking the arduous process 61 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,800 of ordering their own lives. 62 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,720 This chapter has included some difficult teachings from Jesus 63 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,880 about how the disciples and how we ourselves 64 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,080 should live our lives. 65 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,120 Just last week, we heard that whoever would follow God 66 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,200 and take up this ministry cannot do so 67 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,040 unless they learn to let go of the things in this life 68 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,360 that they cherish most. 69 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,440 Whoever loves father or mother more than me 70 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:01,480 is not worthy of me. 71 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:03,960 Whoever loves son or daughter more than me 72 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,960 is not worthy of me. 73 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,680 That's a tough thing to hear. 74 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,800 It's an even tougher task to live into. 75 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,960 Of course, God is not asking us to forsake our families 76 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:21,200 and our friends, our children, or our parents. 77 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:25,280 Jesus, though, is reminding his disciples in all places 78 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:29,200 and in all times that the true work of making God known 79 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,320 in the world starts in our own hearts, 80 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,800 when we truly and deeply learn to place God 81 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,640 at the center of our lives, when we seek and center ourselves 82 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:41,760 on the love of God, when God becomes 83 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,640 the foundation of everything we do, 84 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:50,160 only then can we truly love God, neighbor, and self 85 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,600 the way that God intended when God created us 86 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,920 and called us good. 87 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,640 The life of a disciple has and continues 88 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,120 to shake many different shapes over the course of history. 89 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,600 We who live comfortably in first world America 90 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,200 almost certainly take for granted 91 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,240 the ease with which we practice and express our faith, 92 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,800 the breadth in which we are allowed to seek and follow 93 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,320 the Holy Spirit and to live into that as individual churches 94 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:25,240 and individual members within those churches. 95 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,640 And for certain, it has always been 96 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,440 the case for our brothers and sisters in Christ. 97 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,160 Many even today must still find the courage and bravery 98 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,520 that those first few followers of Christ 99 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:42,360 needed in order to say yes to this ministry. 100 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,600 But perhaps to those of us who are comfortable, 101 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,040 Jesus' words speak all the more fiercely. 102 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:49,920 We who have the luxury and blessing 103 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,360 of living in a country where Christianity remains 104 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,200 the dominant religion. 105 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,920 My friends, we are still called to risk. 106 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:00,880 We are called to dare. 107 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,480 We are called to venture past the safe and comfortable bounds 108 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,960 of our lives in order to bring the good news of God 109 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,200 into the world around us, in order 110 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,280 to be the still working hands and feet of Christ 111 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,800 in a hurting world. 112 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,600 God calls us to seek and to serve, 113 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,120 to find those in the margins of our own cities and towns, 114 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:28,600 the people who are unloved, unwanted, and unaccepted. 115 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:30,880 We are still called to preach freedom 116 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,800 to the captive, love to the loveless, 117 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,080 dignity to those who are forgotten, 118 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,120 and worth to those who are deemed unworthy. 119 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,440 We, like those first apostles, still find ourselves 120 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,440 being sent by Jesus. 121 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:50,680 The ministry of God from the very beginning 122 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,040 has been one of doing and going and seeking. 123 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,440 God calls us out of ourselves and into the world. 124 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,360 God pulls us from the myth of comfort, 125 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:06,360 from the lure of complacency and into action, 126 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:10,240 into loving service of those around us. 127 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:12,280 We are not promised ease. 128 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,000 We are not promised safety. 129 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,360 But in truth, no disciple ever has been. 130 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,680 What we are promised is true joy and deep peace 131 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,320 that passes all understanding, peace that 132 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,960 allows us to dare when we take up this mission 133 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,240 and head out into the world, looking 134 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,680 for those who are lost and hurting around us. 135 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,640 What we are promised is a home in the Lord, 136 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,760 a place to rest from our ministry with God, 137 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,560 a place to renew and revive before heading back out 138 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,160 into the work that has been ongoing since the fall of Adam 139 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,520 and Eve, and work that will continue 140 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,360 until the coming again of Christ. 141 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,680 And my friends, we are promised love, the knowledge 142 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:02,160 that God is always with us and always for us, 143 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,800 that we do not do this work alone. 144 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,840 That much we have always been promised. 145 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,760 So trust me, my friends, this discourse from Jesus 146 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,480 to any who would call themselves disciples may be difficult. 147 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,360 And it is as difficult for me as it is for anyone. 148 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,560 The lure of security and comfort and contentment 149 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:28,560 is just as powerful for me as it has been for anyone. 150 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,360 How easy it would be for me to say yes to my own needs 151 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:33,560 over and over again. 152 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:38,040 How easy it would be for me to only do God's work when 153 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,160 it was convenient for me, when it 154 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:42,600 fit into my tightly packed life. 155 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:47,200 How easy it would be to only go to the places and the people 156 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,040 in which I feel comfortable. 157 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,520 How easy it would be to drown out all of the voices 158 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,440 and write off all the people who don't agree with me. 159 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,800 And how very easy it would be to only love the people 160 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,320 that I actually like. 161 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,920 But to do that would be to miss the still, small, insistent 162 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,680 voice of God, inviting us to step out of our carefully 163 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:18,640 crafted comfort zones and into the wide, messy world full 164 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:23,000 of people who need the gifts that you have to share. 165 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:24,840 And most importantly, full of people 166 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,520 who need to know the knowledge of God's love 167 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,520 and the story of how it has changed and continues 168 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,520 to change your life. 169 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,600 Disciples of Christ through the centuries 170 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:40,600 have been blessed and challenged by this very same call. 171 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:42,400 And now we take our part in going out 172 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,120 into God's beloved creation to change it 173 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,160 and to be changed by it. 174 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:49,660 Amen. 175 00:09:49,660 --> 00:09:53,200 Amen.