Go out !

Today’s gospel (Matt.9:35-10:8) is one of the great addresses to the Church throughout the world. In the reading we heard something of the remarkable power of Jesus – power to heal, to preach and teach, power to proclaim good news in everything he did and said.

And as a Church the great adventure is that we are challenged to follow his example, to follow into his footsteps as we seek to try and do the things he did, and we are commissioned to do so by Jesus himself. We are called by name to serve Jesus, and to proclaim his message, ‘The Kingdom of heaven has come near’.

And yet proclamation, speaking out about our faith, sharing good news with others is not something we find easy. There’s a story about a church treasurer who was ecstatic one day.
“Look at this,” he yelled.

“We just got a cheque here for £200,000.”

“Who is it from?” asked the minister.
“Oh. Wait a minute,” said the treasurer, taking another look at the cheque. “It says, ‘You will notice that I have not signed the cheque, since I wish to remain anonymous.’”

Knowing Jesus is a gift worth far more than money can ever bring, and yet we so often choose to be quietly anonymous in our faith. We will justify it by saying that faith is a private thing, we will justify it by saying how we live is what’s really important, we will justify it by saying that we’re not good enough, that we won’t be able to say the right words, we will justify it in all kinds of ways…. But we can’t keep good news to ourselves, because good news needs to be celebrated, and if we believe we know some good news we will inevitably share it with those we care about...

And that’s how it was with Jesus and his disciples. These men, commissioned by Jesus, were not scholars, they weren’t even particularly Godly in the traditional sense. They were workers, fisherman, tax collectors and so on, who responded to an incredible call.

The rabbis of Jesus’ time sat and taught, but Jesus was a very different kind of teacher. He used words certainly, very powerfully, but he also went about doing things - not just talking about good news, but actually being good news.

And as he continued this work, with his disciples there with him, he commissioned them to join him. For him there was too much to do, and so he prayed for more labourers to come into the harvest. And so these disciples were sent out. They’d talked with Jesus, they’d watched Jesus, but now they had to go and be Jesus.

They became the labourers. Just like Jesus, they were to declare that the heavenly kingdom had come near, and then to back up and demonstrate that claim by healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and casting out demons… And just like Jesus, they were to give away these new gifts and this new power, to give it away as freely as it had been given to them.

Jesus didn’t want them to take anything with them, no extra clothes or shoes or spending money, none of the world’s baggage that might distract them, but to go and simply present themselves just as they were, poor in possessions and dependent on others for food and hospitality, but rich in the knowledge and love of God and eager to bring health and restoration by using the gifts that had been given to them.

Asking no more of them than he did himself, Jesus sent this new community to tell others about the unconditional grace of God, freely received and freely given. Chosen and sent.

Bruce Larsen, a Presbyterian minister, has written a book entitled Ask Me to Dance, and in it he included the story of a member of his congregation who had come from another country. Pastor Larsen said of this person, “Her faith sparkled and the living water of the spirit flowed out of her soul to all around her”. He invited her to go with him to a seminar on the topic of evangelism.

The leaders had prepared tables filled with all sorts of pamphlets and strategies and demographic studies, all aimed at reaching the un-churched in their area. During the meeting one of the leaders of the seminar turned to this woman and asked her to share some of the reasons that made the church so important and so vital in her home country. At first she was a bit intimidated by the large group of people listening, but then she said, “Well, we never gave pamphlets to people because we never had any. We just showed people by our life and example what it is like to be a Christian, and when they can see for themselves, then they want to be a Christian, too.”

And that is the same for us. God trusts us as individuals to do his work, because he knows that if we are seeking to do his work, we will ask for his help. Today we are the labourers in the harvest field. Henri Nouwen, a Catholic Priest and writer, said, ‘Too often our help remains hanging somewhere between our minds and our hands...’ The Church we are told is increasingly becoming marginalised. We have to speak up for God and show that he is alive and relevant and working in our communities today.

We have listened to the words of the Gospel and heard of God’s mighty acts of healing and forgiveness and restoration. As we gather together we are fed and strengthened and nourished by the Lord’s body and blood, we are clothed with power from on high.

And then the last words we hear as we leave the church are: “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” “In the name of Christ. AMEN.” In the informal service in the week I spoke about that word ‘Amen’ – it’s powerful, it’s forceful, ‘So be it’

Let’s go out into the world to love and serve the Lord in the name of Christ, and let’s go out from here today rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.” We need nothing else. We have been chosen and we are being sent. AMEN