{"id":1593,"date":"2017-06-18T11:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-06-18T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2019-09-24T13:21:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T17:21:09","slug":"stirring-the-pot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2017\/06\/18\/stirring-the-pot\/","title":{"rendered":"Stirring the Pot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

Exodus 19:2-8a<\/a><\/p>\n

Romans 5:1-8<\/a><\/p>\n

Psalm 116:1-4, 8-10, 12-19<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew 9:35-10:1, 10:5-8, 14-22<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to listen to the meditations only<\/a><\/p>\n

Pretty nifty, huh?\u00a0 The disciples get to cast out unclean spirits.\u00a0 They get to cure every disease and every sickness.\u00a0 They get to go out on their own to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of heaven is near.\u00a0 They can raise the dead! Cleanse the lepers! Cast out demons! \u00a0They are going to be so cool!<\/p>\n

And then Jesus spoils it. \u00a0\u00a0Apparently, even with all this amazing power, some folks are not going to welcome the disciples, or pay attention to them.\u00a0 What\u2019s this sheep among wolves stuff?\u00a0 Wise as serpents \u2013 why do they need to be careful and prudent?\u00a0 And then there\u2019s the being handed over, and the flogging, and the dragging before the authorities, to say nothing of the public speaking.\u00a0 Really? \u00a0Family betrayals and hatred?\u00a0 This is some pep talk.\u00a0 What in the world is Jesus doing?<\/p>\n

The Gospel of Matthew was written to a Christian community very like that of the disciples.\u00a0 They were just starting to engage in mission, and while Matthew is a Gospel, it has\u00a0 features that remind us of a handbook or manual for teaching.\u00a0 Scholars also note that Matthew is the most Jewish of the Gospels, and that the community did not see their Christian faith as a new religion.\u00a0 They saw it as a new constituency of Israel.\u00a0 This brought particular challenges to their mission,<\/p>\n

The Gospel was written after the year 70, in a highly politicized time.\u00a0 In the year 70, the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem temple, which was the center of worship for Israel\u00a0 So there was then the external challenge of Roman oppression with its calling to account of the Jesus movement within Judaism.\u00a0 There were also the internal concerns within Judaism for Jewish identity and who were to be the true heirs of the covenant.\u00a0 The Gospel of Matthew was written for a community constantly aware of and \u00a0in discussion with their Jewish roots and identity.\u00a0 And sometimes the community was over against them.\u00a0 The warnings of floggings within the synagogue were for apparent violations of the Torah and for consorting with Gentiles.\u00a0 The warnings of family betrayals came out of the griefs and challenges of a family fight within the Judaism of the time.\u00a0 Jesus as portrayed in Matthew\u2019s Gospel is the Jesus who sees the urgency of the need for mission and empowers his disciples to go out in compassion. He also wants his disciples to know what they will be up against and how to take care of themselves.<\/p>\n

Our own situation is not so dissimilar from that of the disciples and the Matthean community.\u00a0 We too are called to share in Jesus\u2019 ministry of compassion, to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is near.\u00a0 And we too live in a politicized and polarized time.\u00a0 No matter what our political preferences are, the uncertain situation in Washington is the 800-pound elephant in many a room.\u00a0 With this come increasing concerns for the right to protest\u00a0 and communicate our concerns to government.\u00a0 The return of the church sanctuary movement, the concern for eco-justice and creation care, the incivility of our debates, and the violence of our racism and sexism \u2013 these all speak to our questions of identity and of who has right to belong.\u00a0 Who has the right to power\u00a0\u00a0 Who has the right to resources.\u00a0 Our family fights as to national and religious identity and inclusion are still a source of grief as well as frustration.\u00a0 How do we put ourselves out there in compassion?\u00a0 And given the challenges, why would we?
\nWell, there are certain themes in our scriptures this morning that invite us to take these risks.\u00a0 One is gratitude.\u00a0 Because we are thankful for what we have received, we do not hoard it, but we share what we have received with others.\u00a0 In Matthew, Jesus reminds his disciples that they have received the good news of God\u2019s love and community for free.\u00a0 So they can give their witness to God\u2019s love and power freely to others.\u00a0 Paul writes to the church in Rome, and reminds them that through Christ they have the grace and peace of right relationship with God. So they can boast of their hope in sharing God\u2019s glory.\u00a0 God\u2019s love came to them even when they were estranged from God in sin, to the extent that Christ died for them even before they believed in him.\u00a0 So they can extend God\u2019s invitation to others who do not yet believe.\u00a0 The Psalmist testifies to God\u2019s help and provision in trouble.\u00a0 In return he will become God\u2019s servant and pay vows to God in the midst of the people.\u00a0 And the Israelites, delivered from Egypt and cared for in the desert, agree to covenant with God in love and obedience.\u00a0 They will become a priestly and holy nation to bring other nations to God.<\/p>\n

Our compassion comes from our gratitude.\u00a0 It does not come from a place of patronage or superiority.\u00a0 It does not put on a show.\u00a0 Our compassion comes from our own having been loved and cared for in our own challenges and pain.\u00a0 It comes from our gratitude for our release from sin and death and \u00a0for our freedom in God to choose the good.\u00a0 So gratitude is something that encourages our compassion.<\/p>\n

Another theme is that we are not alone.\u00a0 The Spirit companions us.\u00a0 It empowers us to act in compassion.\u00a0 \u00a0It gives us the words we need to witness in the face of challenge.\u00a0\u00a0 It pours God\u2019s love into our hearts so that we can even boast in our sufferings.\u00a0 They produce endurance. Endurance produces in us that character that trusts and expects great things from God.\u00a0\u00a0 Trust and expectation produce the hope that does not disappoint because we know that God loves us and will help us in our lives and in our work, because God has done this\u00a0 for us before.\u00a0 Even if we say with the Psalmist, \u201cI am greatly afflicted.\u201d, we can keep our faith.<\/p>\n

And we are not alone because we have each other.\u00a0 The disciples went out together, the Matthean and Roman churches endured together, the Psalmist sang first to his congregation. \u00a0So we bring our own selves, our talents and resources, our knowledge and our diversity of experience.\u00a0 We do not have to do everything ourselves.\u00a0 We can do our part and know that others are doing theirs for the good of the whole.<\/p>\n

It is our past deliverance and present guidance that gives us confidence in being able to carry out our ministry of compassion.\u00a0\u00a0 And that mission is no small thing.\u00a0 In all these scriptures, we are invited to join in Jesus\u2019 ministry of compassion on a large scale.\u00a0 In capital cities like Jerusalem and Rome, and maybe Washington.\u00a0\u00a0 In the cities and villages of a whole country, maybe in Boston.\u00a0 In the midst of all the people, as a priestly nation that serves to bring the world to God.\u00a0 It will take a big vision to accomplish a ministry of power and compassion.\u00a0 There are a great many persons and groups who have no compassion.\u00a0 They have vested interests in keeping people sick, dead, isolated, and enmeshed in evil.\u00a0 Of course, we as individuals and as a community cannot do everything.\u00a0 But the old phrase \u201cthink globally, act locally\u201d does come to mind.\u00a0 In a globalized world, our sin has far-reaching consequences as it separates us from God, ourselves and our neighbors.\u00a0 But our acts of compassion have far-reaching consequences as well, that bring us together in trust and hope, to act in compassion toward love and justice.<\/p>\n

Cure the sick.\u00a0 Raise the dead.\u00a0 Cleanse the lepers.\u00a0 Cast out demons.\u00a0 In our ministry of compassion, some of us will take these instructions literally.\u00a0 And, even if we don\u2019t: there are plenty of folks who are where we may have been, sick in spirit or body or mind or relationships.\u00a0 As we may have, they need healing even more than cure, if cure is only for the symptoms.\u00a0 There are plenty of folks who are where we may have been, dead in despair or numb or hopeless.\u00a0 As we may have, they could use a witness in word or deed to the hope of grace, love, and power.\u00a0 As we may have been, there are plenty of folks that are considered \u201cunclean\u201d by some standards of birth and religion, who in compassion, justice, and common humanity are to be included in the same love and acceptance that we have received, as beloved of God.\u00a0 And there are plenty of demons, forces of systemic and even personal evil, that are to be named and confronted in the name of Jesus and the creativity of the Spirit.<\/p>\n

Jesus wants us to be aware of the challenges. \u00a0\u00a0The work of compassion stirs the pot.\u00a0 It brings to the surface what is down below.\u00a0 It mixes up what has been separated.\u00a0 It distributes the heat.\u00a0 Just because we are doing something right and good does not mean that everybody will like our work, or even like us.\u00a0 But as we act out of gratitude, and know that we are not alone, we increase our own faith, hope, and confidence in God, as well as increase faith, hope, and confidence in God in others.<\/p>\n

The other night I had dinner with a friend.\u00a0 She is a practicing Christian, and often speaks of how God\u2019s love and provision are at work in her life.\u00a0 She said that she had joined a local group to voice some concerns and include some folks in discussion.\u00a0 \u00a0The group felt that these folks and concerns were either invisible or were being ignored in the community.\u00a0 She also said that after feeling quite overwhelmed and depressed about these issues, joining the group had given her new energy and hope.\u00a0 The group brought a lot of different experience and talents together, and there was a high degree of commitment to the naming of the issues, to the inclusion of those previously excluded, and to practical solutions for the challenges.\u00a0 She was no longer alone in her concerns and her compassion, and was grateful to have been introduced to the group.<\/p>\n

For what do we ourselves have concerns?\u00a0 For whom do we ourselves have compassion?\u00a0 The harvest is still plentiful, the laborers are still few.\u00a0 The lord of the harvest invites us to join him in the work.\u00a0 With gratitude, and companionship with God and each other, we can be confident in our calling and our work.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

– The Reverend Victoria Hart Gaskell<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to the full service Exodus 19:2-8a Romans 5:1-8 Psalm 116:1-4, 8-10, 12-19 Matthew 9:35-10:1, 10:5-8, 14-22 Click here to listen to the meditations only Pretty nifty, huh?\u00a0 The disciples get to cast out unclean spirits.\u00a0 They get to cure every disease and every sickness.\u00a0 They get to go out on their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[13],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1593"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1868,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593\/revisions\/1868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}