In Matthew 9:35-10:23 Jesus is busy touring the countryside. He is doing all the things we have come to expect of Jesus. Proclaiming good news. Curing disease and sickness. Jesus describes the people he is serving like a sheep without a shepherd. Ezekiel 34 describes the work of the shepherd: to create a covenant of peace and banish wild animals so the sheep can live securely. Break the bars of their yoke and save them from those who enslaved them. They shall live in safety, and no one will be afraid. The shepherd will provide vegetation so they will not be hungry. Only Ezekiel isn’t talking about sheep. Ezekiel is talking about God’s people. Ezekiel sees the shepherd as someone who not only makes sure that the sheep have food and water but makes sure they are safe. Anything that is going to harm the sheep is eliminated.
The gospels see Jesus in light of this context. Jesus is the one who will provide food and water. Jesus will also provide safety. That’s a big ask. What would it mean to make sure that all God’s people have access to food, water, shelter, and safety?
Jesus turns to his followers and says, “The harvest is bountiful, but the workers are few. Beg God to send more workers.” I wonder if Jesus was feeling a bit overwhelmed. In Matthew’s version of the gospel, Jesus only rests once when he is on a boat that is caught in a storm. The other people on the boat wake him up and he calms the storm. Other than that, Mathew’s gospel is all about healing, preaching, and feeding. In the other gospels we see Jesus taking time out—or at least trying to. Matthew’s gospel offers a very busy Jesus because the needs of the world are many. Can you imagine single-handedly trying to be the shepherd of the world?
Jesus knows he can’t do it on his own, so he commissions the disciples and sends them out to do the same work. Their message is that “the reign of heaven has drawn near.” Matthew is writing primarily for a Jewish audience who would not speak God’s name. That’s why we sometimes use YHWH for God. It’s Hebrew for God but without the vowels. The writer of Matthew got around using God’s name by writing of heaven rather than God. We might better translate the “reign of heaven” or the “kingdom of heaven” as the “reign of God” or the “kingdom of God.”
When the writer says that the kingdom of God has come near, they are not speaking about what happens after we die. Matthew is speaking of a very real reality here on earth. The disciples who are being sent out are representatives of that kingdom. They are workers for the kingdom that God is creating on earth through Jesus.
Jesus gives them tasks: Heal those who are sick, raise the dead, cure leprosy, and expel demons. They are being sent out to continue the work of shepherding—caring, healing, feeding, offering safety, and eliminating anything that causes harm. That’s a lot of work, as Jesus already knows. There is no way he can do it by himself and so enlists the help of his trusted followers.
Once they have their tasks, Jesus reminds them, “You received freely—now freely give.” These disciples have had their lives changed by Jesus. They have been healed by him. They have been fed by him. They have learned from him. There were no strings attached to receiving from Jesus. Now Jesus sends the disciples out with nothing, asking them to give of themselves to serve others. The disciples are being asked to give of themselves because they received freely. When they first met Jesus, they weren’t asked to fund his ministry or even do anything except follow him. Following Jesus was what changed their lives.
I sometimes think church people get this all confused. Sometimes we work our butts off out of a sense of duty and responsibility which can sometimes lead us to feel hurt and resentful if people don’t recognize what we’ve done, what we’ve given up, or don’t support us in the way we want. I’ve done this myself. Or we see the church as a place for us to be nurtured that requires nothing of us. We show up for an hour on Sunday.
I was recently part of a study group on racism. There was a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh from his book, You Are Here: “There is a lot that needs to be done in society – work against war, social injustice, and so on. But first we have to come back to our own territory and make sure that peace and harmony are reigning there. Until we do that, we cannot do anything for society. Let us begin immediately.”
My reaction to this quote was that nothing will get done in the world because we’ll all be too busy looking after ourselves. We are always works in progress so that work on ourselves is never complete. Healing our own hurts and traumas, and growing in our faith goes on as long as we live. It feels very selfish to me. But if we only go into the world, work hard, and try to change everything, we bring resentment, hurt, and anger to that work. We perpetuate what we are trying to change. So, it is both and. We do our own work. We heal ourselves. We grow in our faith. We serve others. We challenge injustice as part of our shepherding work.
We are loved by God. We are loved by Jesus. We are loved by community. We are sent out to serve and share that love. Jesus sends us out to serve others—not because it is expected of us but because it is a response to the love that is given freely to us. It is a response to the community that shapes and nurtures us. Going into the world is the love of Christ embodied.
The disciples are sent out with nothing and invited to trust that they will receive what they need Sometimes churches forget to trust. Within our community of faith, I often hear people complain about the lack of volunteers, concern that money will disappear, and concern that the congregation is aging. We think in terms of lack but what Jesus is trying to teach his disciples is that if you are faithful in the work, and faithful in the harvest of serving others, you will receive what you need. He doesn’t tell the disciples to save their money so they can afford to do ministry. He doesn’t tell the disciples to gather up a group of people so there are enough people to do ministry. He just sends them out. By sending them out so they can serve, they create momentum for this Jesus movement and what they need falls into place.
Jesus knows that this is not easy work. He knows it is challenging and that not everyone will welcome the disciples or what they are offering. Jesus knows that creating safety and removing anything that harms can be challenging. This work often requires changing the social structure and leveling the playing field. There is often resistance to the work of the shepherd. Making sure everyone has food, shelter, and safety is not always welcome. We often have a sense that there are some people who are more worthy than others. We assume that if people just put more effort in, just got themselves together they could look after themselves. We forget that there are often prejudices and oppression built into our society—things that many of us with privilege don’t even notice.
For example, when someone from Whitespruce (a provincial corrections centre near Yorkton) is released, they are given nothing. Say they want to make a fresh start by staying in Yorkton where they have no previous connection. If you want to rent a place to live, you need a month’s rent and a damage deposit. If they have a job, it’s unlikely they have saved enough to meet these demands (and they still have to eat). If they are relying on Income support, it takes several weeks before they are eligible. They spend that time homeless or couch surfing. Maybe they can stay at Bruno’s for a few nights. In order to receive money for housing from income support, you need a letter from the landlord. The landlord won’t give you a letter until you can pay. How do you find housing? Can you imagine trying to hold down a job when you don’t know where you are going to sleep that night?
Some of the work of shepherding is changing systems like this that make it hard for people to get a fresh start. The United Church has been involved in supporting a Guaranteed livable income.
“A guaranteed livable income is a payment to individuals or families by government that covers the cost of basic necessities (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and community participation). It ensures everyone an income adequate for meeting basic needs, allowing all people to live with dignity regardless of work status. Such a program would be part of the national fabric of services that preserve and protect Canadians; or, as Jesus put it, “to love our neighbours as ourselves.”
Rather than have a rules-based, bureaucratically driven application process (during which applications must prove they are “really poor” before being approved), all Canadian citizens are ensured an automatic top-up when their income collapses for whatever reason. The incomes would be unconditional, automatic, non-withdrawable, individual, and a right of every legal resident.”
In places where livable incomes have been tried, the benefits include better physical and mental health which means lower healthcare costs. There were higher levels of satisfaction and confidence and lower levels of depression. People felt better about themselves. They are able to live with dignity and contribute more to the community because they don’t have the stress of poverty. Supporting a change like this is a way of doing the healing work that Jesus talked about.
But challenging injustices like poverty, racism, homophobia, or transphobia can be challenging. Some people don’t see the problem. Some people are afraid of what the changes will mean for themselves or for society. We’ve often been taught to be nice and not rock the boat but being faithful sometimes requires us to step into places of conflict. We are expected to speak or act in courageous ways.
I have a tendency to back away from conflict or strong emotions because I don’t know what to say and sometimes because I am afraid. That’s my default. Jesus reminds us “Don’t worry about how to speak or what to say. You’ll be given what you should say when the time comes because it is not you speaking the Spirit of your Abba God speaking through you.” I’ve learned that when I don’t have the words, the spirit will show up. When I first started in ministry, I spent quite a bit of time crafting the prayers of the people. About a year and a half into ministry, I left the prayers sitting on my desk and didn’t realize it until I got to that point in the service. I had no words and no backup plan. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and sent a silent plea, “I’ve got nothing, so you’ve got to help me out.” I looked out at the congregation and said, “These are the prayers of the people so what are your prayers today?” A few brave souls responded. This way of praying for the concerns of the gathered community has become a powerful part of worship for me. Initially, it scared and intimidated me.
I recently found myself in a situation where there was pushback against me as a faith leader and against churches being involved in justice work in the community. I didn’t know how to respond. My intentions, our intentions are good so why don’t others see that? Thoughts rattled several thoughts around in my head. After several days, I finally came to a place where I offered a prayer. “I’ve got nothing. I don’t know how to respond.” The words that popped into my head almost immediately were, “You’ve got this. I’ve got you.” I was able to sit down and craft a response that acknowledged the hurt caused by churches and affirm my/our commitment to something different and our commitment to be present in the work. When I had so many thoughts rattling around in my head, I was stuck in my hurt, my resentment. When I could let go of that and allow the spirit to work, I found the words I needed.
I think that’s part of what Thich Nhat Hanh was offering in his words. We need to be present to ourselves, to the spirit in order to do our work in the world. We can’t serve others when we are stuck in our own hurt and pain and fear. Jesus sends us into the world to love and serve others. When we love and serve others unconditionally, without strings attached, we find our own healing. All of us are loved unconditionally. We are loved by God. We are loved by Jesus. We are loved by community. We are sent out to serve, not because it is expected of us, but because we are loved and we want others to experience the love of a shepherd who provides and protects. We are the embodiment of Christ’s ministry and we are given everything we need to serve.
Twirling Jen 