Going Out, Coming In
Isaiah 66:10-16
Luke 10:1-12,16-20
Love,
peace, meaning – these are the gifts of life. For centuries,
teachers, elders, rabbis, wise men and women steeped in the traditions
of their people and open to the Spirit of God, were the source of
guidance for people asking the question, “How are we to live?
What is the purpose of our life?” But for many, recent history
has seen a cultural shift that has given rise to the phenomenon known
as “self-help books.”
This shift grew out of the shattering events of the First and Second
World Wars. Cynicism and loss of hope started in the first decade
of the 20th Century and came to fruition in the 1960s with a new way of
looking at authority and knowledge. We have, in the ensuing 50 or
so years, become highly individualized and fragmented, seeking freedom
from restrictions imposed from outside our selves while concomitantly
searching outside ourselves for more meaning in our lives. But we
discover, alas, the answer is not found on the shelves of Barnes &
Nobles nor among the web pages of Amazon.com.
For those who follow Jesus Christ, meaning is found in our work, our
creative self-expression, our contribution to building the Kingdom of
God, to working in the fields, to laboring as those called to help with
the harvest. And it is for this that we gather together and then
go out each week, as the beating of the human heart, the pulsing of the
ocean tide, the cycles of sunrise and sunset. We come, we go, we
return. Yet one of the more difficult things we face is to
discern our calling, to discover the purpose to which we are born into
this world as pilgrims on the way. Jesus’ commands to the
disciples in today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel can perhaps give us
some insight.
Go. – While this seems obvious, it is perhaps the most
difficult of the commands. To find true peace we must leave our
place of comfort, get out of our comfort zone in modern terms.
Leave behind those things we are depending on for security and safety
and well-being and go. It was the same word that came to Abraham
and Sarah and it remains so today and yet it is not about imitating
Abraham or Moses or Jesus – it is about living into the calling to
which we are called – and that is unique to each of us.
None-the-less, no one of us is so gifted within ourselves that we have
no need of others. Hence, Jesus sends the disciples out in teams,
pairs, even as Noah gathered all living creatures into the Ark in pairs.
Travel lightly. – Don’t know about you but when I travel, I
have this tendency to carry more than is necessary. After a few
days on the road, I begin to realize that in my need to be sure I am
prepared, I have only managed to burden myself. A friend tells
the story of traveling down to London for a weekend while a student at
Oxford. He struggled to get his two bags aboard the train as it
was leaving and was assisted by a monk dressed in his habit and
carrying a paper shopping bag. Sitting next to the monk, they
talked of their destinations. My friend explained that he was off
for a weekend of sightseeing in London and wanted to be sure he had all
the proper attire for restaurants and clubs he might visit. The
monk smilingly spoke of how he was off to Africa to work. The
paper bag carried his other alb, a small loaf of bread, and a bottle of
water for the journey. How we travel is related to our
willingness to go in the first place. Our tendency is to bring
“home” along with us. God’s call is to focus on the journey ahead.
Pronounce peace. - These are the words of St. Seraphim of
Sarov, “Acquire the spirit of Peace and thousands around you will be
healed.” The obvious question we ask of St. Seraphim is,
“How do we acquire the spirit of Peace?” Peace, not the forced
irenity the world creates, but true, abiding, life-giving peace comes
from God’s comforting us – comforting us in our hurts and in our hopes,
in our wrongs and in our rights. Almost three millennia ago, the
prophet Isaiah, wrote of God caring for her children:
As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies shall flourish like the grass…
Peace is not the absence of turmoil, of strife – that is
death. Peace is active and lively, full of joy that spills out
around us, that sparkles in the eye. It arises from the comfort
we receive – I love the words of the Eucharistic Prayer A: He stretched out his arms upon the cross… I
cannot hear those words without seeing in my vision those open arms –
arms to welcome, to embrace, to comfort, to offer praise, to offer
himself up for us. That speaks peace to my spirit.
Break bread. – Ours is a calling to fellowship and shared
life. This is not a top down assignment. It is not about
the rich using their wealth to help the poor nor the strong lifting up
the weak without entering their weakness. It is about sitting at
the same table, sleeping under the same roof, working together in
relationship. We, as did our Lord, are called to eat with sinners
if that is where we are sent – and to dine with Pharisees if that is
where. Eating is the most basic of human physical needs from the
least among us to the most powerful. In many cultures, as the
extended family gathers at table, a place is set for those no longer
present in body or food and drink are offered in their memory.
The intimacy of the shared meal is reflected at this altar every time
we gather around it to remember Christ’s death.
Cure the sick. - In our world, physical illness is as much a
result of stress and strife as of parasites, accidents, and
ageing. The healing we seek in the physician’s office is as
likely found in opening our hearts, minds, and souls to peace as in the
salves and balms with which we fill our medicine chests. Thus,
our mission is has tangible goals — eating with our neighbors, curing
the sick that are in front of us, and speaking words of hope.
There is no place here for religious clichés that promise
salvation for the soul while ignoring hurt and pain in body and
mind. This is ministry where, as my old friend, the radio
preacher J. Vernon McGee would say, the rubber meets the road.
Announce the Kingdom. – Finally, the heart of vision is
defining a new reality. We go bearing new possibilities and
expecting change. Through the power of spoken words, a world is
created. As God created the universe through the word, so also
Jesus created a new social reality in announcing the immanent presence
of the kingdom of God. In saying that the reign of God is
present, that it is, as Eugene Peterson phrases it in The Message, “on your doorstep,” we embody hope, we offer trust, we personify a future with possibility.
Return. – The disciples return with joy, their mission
rewarding. They experience the effect of drawing from reservoirs
of hope, strength, and energy. In this mission something profound
takes place. Jesus’ talk of Satan falling from heaven and of
treading upon snakes and scorpions reminds us that there are forces at
work playing out on a cosmic scale, things of which we can only surmise
and grasp by faith.
Never the less, one of the ongoing discussions in life has been how to
tell when we are doing God’s will. Is it measured in
success? Can failure be an option? Even though the demons
submit to us, there will be those who reject us, there will be times
when our expectations go unmet, when our idea of success is thwarted by
the realities of life in a world where chaos and darkness exist side by
side with creation and light. Not every person is a person of
peace. Even Jesus was left alone on the night of his betrayal –
yet we can rejoice in our efforts because we are doing that for which
we were called at our baptism and rejoice that our names are written in
heaven, we inhabit a kingdom that is both present and yet extends far
beyond our limit of sight in this world. And that is indeed
reason to rejoice!
Amen.
John Dryden Burton
8 July 2007
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