Grace Lutheran Church 4th Sunday after Pentecost, June 12, 2005

The Rev. Evan Gaertner
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost “Proclaim As You Go...”
June 12, 2005 Matthew 9:35-10:20

I want to tell you a story about an Evangelism visit that a Lutheran couple, named Marty and Katie, made for their pastor to a new couple in their community. Marty and Katie were excited and proud that the pastor had asked them to make this visit. They were looking forward to being representatives of Trinity Lutheran to this new couple. They pulled up to the house, prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and got out of the car and walked up to the house. Marty rang the doorbell and Katie was moving back and forth one foot to the other, a little nervous. Bill and Lacey came to the door and their two children were circling around their legs. They welcomed Marty and Katie in and offered them something to drink.

It was about at this moment that Marty and Katie started to struggle with the mission the pastor had given them. They looked around and realized that Bill and Lacey were nothing like them. They smoked, Bill had tattoos on his arms, their house was a mess, and the kids ran all around without any regard for guests that were present. Marty and Katie found themselves going through the motions, knowing that at least as far as they could tell Bill and Lacey and their family were not going to fit in at Trinity Lutheran. So going through the motions of an evangelism visit, Marty and Katie told them what time worship was, how Sunday School was the pride of the congregation, and so on. By the time the visit was over, Bill and Lacey could tell something wasn’t quite right, but nevertheless wished Marty and Katie a good night.

The next day Marty and Katie talked to the pastor and said that the visit the previous night went fine, but that Bill and Lacey were probably not going to join the congregation. They hoped to leave it at that. The pastor asked a few more questions and later called Bill and Lacey hoping that they enjoyed getting to know a few members from the congregation. Bill and Lacey weren’t home, the pastor left a message, but never received a call back.

This story is representative of the struggles of proclaim as we go the kingdom of heaven. In our sin, we mingle the love of Jesus with our penchant for selfishness and pride.

It is hard to share the good news of Jesus Christ when we battle our own sinful selves. This world is gathered generally into communities defined by the commonalities that we share. The kingdom of heaven is for all the nations, but generally our congregations become reflections of that human desire to gather and surround around commonalities.

In our sin we bring a mixture of the violence of separation and division to the love that we gather around in our congregations. Therefore the congregation often becomes a dual reflection. The first reflection is the love of Jesus Christ that reaches into our lives, bringing healing, peace, wholeness. The second reflection, and sometimes the dominant reflection, is of our sinful self ruled by power, pride, and demonstrating in violence...not often the physical violence but more likely the mental violence of separation, division, and guarded friendships.

When Jesus walked throughout the cities and villages, he taught and proclaimed the good news of the kingdom. He did not see an amorphous crowd but he saw the sick and afflicted. He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus brought healing, peace, and wholeness to a people that knew affliction, division, and separation. Jesus through his actions was reconstituting who is right for the church. Too often the church of his time had separated and divided the people into the righteous and the unrighteous.

So Jesus sent out the twelve disciples with the authority to cast out unclean spirits, and to heal every disease and affliction. Jesus sent them out to to proclaim the kingdom of heaven as they went to the lost sheep of the house of Israel .

His words were to them included what has sometimes been described prudence, wathcfulness, or guardedness, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

But rather than being words to guard their journey I encourage you to hear these insturctions from Jesus as a description of what it means to proclaim as you go the forgiveness of the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven in the midst of this world is a recongition that we are going out amidst a dangerous world. We go into a world of people that are living lost and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. They are more likely to be disarmed and destablized by your innocence. Because of that they more likely may seek to take advantage of you than receive you. “Wise as serpents” is a call to know where you are going in this world and who you are going in the midst of.

You and I go out into this world knowing how to slither away from getting trampled on when danger is around. But we also go out with the innocence of doves. The innocence here is not a description of your piety and holiness. Innocence for Jesus does not describe yourself but rather how you view the other. The innocence of doves is carried when you do not think ill of those whom you are seeking to forgive.

Jesus upon the cross was wise to the world and its attempts to conquer. But nevertheless with the innocence of doves, he continued to seek for the crowds the favor of God, crying out “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” The innocence of Jesus was not found in his perfect righteousness of action, but rather how he continued to view you and me as ones to be redeemed and not destroyed.

Acting out the forgiveness of the kingdom of heaven is found in the twin actions of living in the midst of this world and acting out the forgiveness of the cross. As Christians we do not separate ourselves from this world of suffering and struggle but place ourselves right in the midst of it.

Consider that Jesus did not live sheltered in the synagogues and temple teaching the word of the Lord. Jesus went throughout the cities and villages. He saw the crowds and had compassion on them. Jesus went were the wolves were, because that was also were the lost sheep were.

Acting out forgiveness is bringing more than the teaching of the bible through words to the world. It is about acting out the grace of God.

When Jesus came in the flesh and dwelt in the midst of our sinful world. He did not just bring the word, he was the word, living and breathing. So he acted out the forgiveness of God’s grace filled heart. He sacrificied himself, gave himself for you and me and the whole world. He was wise to the wiles of the wolves of pharithe sees and others that sought to silence and destroy his mission. But he nevertheless saw with the innocent eyes of grace a world lost and scattered in need of healing, peace, and wholeness.

In our congregations, we too often mingle the violence of this world with the love of Jesus. We use the love as a veil to hide our continuing attiudes of separation and seeking power. It will always be a struggle for us to not see the world as Marty and Katie did on their evangelism visit to the home of Bill and Lacey.

But through the power of the spirit, we bring the kingdom of heaven to this world. Jesus reconstitute from a lost and scattered people who was right for the kingdom of heaven. He called the tax collector and sinner, he proclaimed in the cities and villages, he forgave the thief on the cross next to him, Jesus came as a physician for the sick. Jesus came for the sinner. Jesus showed the kingdom of heaven was not going to come through our perfection, but on account of the grace of God gathering the lost sheep.

Jesus came bringing forgiveness by living alongside and loving a world that would seek to crucify him. Jesus gave of himself sacrifically upon the cross for a world that would attempt to deny and defeat the creative work of God. Nevertheless Jesus continued to see you and me and the whole world as a people in need of love and forgiveness.

We go as Jesus described, “as sheep in the midst of wolves,” but we also go on behalf of the one who as St. Paul described, “while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarecly die for a rightous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Roms 5:6)

We may all know this but to live out the gospel as we go in the midst of this world is another thing. We go into a world that tempts our sinful selves into mingling the violence of separation and division with the love that we have received in Jesus. So we daily seek the forgiveness of our savior and his strength to go out into the world. We are strengthened because Jesus came for us, while we were still lost. Our mission is to go out in the midst of wolves and see the lost and scattered and proclaim to them the good news of forgiveness.

Grace Lutheran Church

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