The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
July 14, 2024
O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee, and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Amos 7:7-15
Ephesians 1:1-14
Mark 6:7-13
It takes guts admitting to someone you don’t know particularly well that you are a practicing Christian. I don’t know if you agree, but that is how it seems to me. Over and over again I am struck by the courage it takes and the vulnerability that we all feel just sharing with someone that we go to church, let alone saying, “yes, I am a Christian.” Now, Christians do and say a great number of stupid and downright dangerous things that foster our bad reputation, but there is more to it than that. If just acknowledging our faith and its importance to us feels risky, imagine how hard it is to speak openly of the Gospel, to speak freely about Jesus and say out loud that, as Saint Paul says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us.” And that’s just acknowledging what we believe. Imagine telling someone at a dinner party about how you actually try your best to live by those Gospel priorities that very often – if not most of the time – seem to stand in direct opposition to many of the values and priorities of the world at large.
Probably you don’t follow British politics as closely as I do, but last year I was particularly struck by how in the leadership contest for the Scottish National Party – left wing, anti-monarchist, and in the forefront of the struggle for the rights of minority groups – a woman (Kate Forbes, is her name) was basically eliminated from the race because of her professed Christian faith and her membership in the theologically conservative Scottish Free Church. A young, charismatic, and very bright person was counted out of a significant role in national life for talking about her faith in the public sphere, and as a member of a progressive political party. Putting our Christian values out there for all to see and saying that they have a direct correlation with how you live your life, how you make decisions, and how you organise your relationships with others is risky, and it takes courage and support to do, and do consistently.
This is where today’s gospel can be a help and encouragement. After Jesus’ experience in Nazareth, and the troubles with his family about which we heard last week, he and the disciples, “went about among the villages teaching.” Mark tells us that before they set off, Jesus “called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.” There are several important things happening here. Jesus has already decided that the disciples are ready to spread the message of the coming Kingdom of God. Jesus tells them to go, and to carry with them the imprint of his own authority. He is the source of this Good News, he sits at the centre of it, and he has set it in motion, and the disciples go out marked with the stamp of Jesus’ approval, which confers upon them the power to speak in a way that they will be heard, to heal people, and to drive away “unclean spirits.” The disciples didn’t decide to do this on their own. They are part of something bigger than themselves, as are we. Our baptism, just like theirs, all of us having been marked as Christ’s own for ever, gives us that authority as well. We are acting, then, as agents for God in Christ when we decide to share the Good News that Love has entered into the world, put death to flight, and is bringing about the Kingdom of God in which God’s priorities of love will trample the designs of the powerful and selfish, self-interested men who rule here now. This means that we are never alone in our witness – spoken or unspoken in our deeds.
Jesus also gives his disciples some further advice. In addition to telling them to pack light, he tells them, “Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.” These words should give us all both solace and courage to, in our own way, in our varied contexts, share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We might be pleasantly surprised by the reaction we get.
People may even feel relieved that they now have an opportunity to share out loud their own faith, without fear of rejection or ridicule. Jesus acknowledges that his message, his Good News will not be accepted by everyone we meet. Many people will reject it and, as far as we, the bearers of that Good News, are concerned, we don’t have to worry about it too much. We can leave it to God and to others to continue to turn the hearts of those who reject our overtures. We can rest assured that when we have done our best and aren’t received with open arms and kind words, we can without guilt or scruple shake it off and move along. This should give us courage to try, as it is no reflection upon ourselves if we face rejection or indifference.
It may not feel great, and we might even alienate some people, but it is worth it to show forth into the world God’s love in word and in deed. I think this is what Saint Paul is getting at in the passage we read last week from First Corinthians: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to others, risk rejection, even ridicule, when we make ourselves “weak” in the eyes of the world, we are, in fact, both doing something courageous and exactly what we are called to do.
Know then, my friends, that like the disciples, Saint Paul, and all those who have followed in the life of the baptised, we are loved, supported, nourished, and authorised to be bearers of God’s love into the world and show forth the light of Christ in those places where it is so desperately needed. We do this because, as Saint Paul says in today’s epistle, “he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” The message matters because what is at stake, what is offered to us, is the promise of unity in love with God and with our neighbours.
“So [the disciples] went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.” Perhaps we will not cast out demons and we leave it to the professionals to heal the sick of their afflictions. What we will do is let people know that they are called to repent, turn their lives around (for that is what repentance is in its purest meaning, and embrace the Gospel of Love.
Andrew Charles Blume ✠
Barnstable, Mass.
Feria, 13 July 2024
© 2024 Andrew Charles Blume