Matthew 9:35-10:23
Evangelism, which is sharing the
good news of the kingdom of God’s nearness to all people, is the primary goal
that Jesus set for his disciples. Here
is how he said to do it:
“As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has
come near.’ Cure the sick, raise
the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast
out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in
your belts, no bag for your
journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their
food. Whatever town or village
you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace
come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or
listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house
or town.” [Matthew 10:7-14]
So, when is the last time that you cured the sick, raised the
dead, cleansed a leper, or cast out a demon?
I’ll get back to that.
First, though,
there’s this business of wandering from town to town without financial
resources. The Bible says that the
disciples did that. In fact, we have
written confirmation that other believers followed in their footsteps, but that
they had to change strategy within a few years, not because it wasn’t working,
but because there were some people who abused the practice and pretty much
ruined it for everybody else. A
first-century document called The Didache,
which means “The Teaching”, gave advice to communities of Christians in the
Middle East.
“Now, about
the apostles and prophets: Act in line with the gospel precept. Welcome every apostle on arriving, as if he
were the Lord. But he must not stay
beyond one day. In case of necessity,
however, the next day, too. If he stays
three days, he is a false prophet. On
departing, an apostle must not accept anything save sufficient food to carry
him till his next lodging. If he asks
for money, he is a false prophet.”[1]
The solution, if an evangelist hung around too long, was that he
should work to support himself, which is what Paul did, working as a tentmaker
[Acts 18:3] when he stayed in Corinth. As
The Didache warned,
“If,
however, he has no trade, use your judgment in taking steps for him to live
with you as a Christian without being idle.
If he refuses to do this, he is trading on Christ. You must be on your guard against such
people.”[2]
It’s like large-scale evangelism in the modern age. Dwight Moody and Billy Graham and even some
tent revivalists whose names are long forgotten did it with integrity and the
Lord blessed their work. Others (and I
won’t name them here, but you can easily find them on television) used those
same methods to make themselves rich, and now anybody who takes that path is
suspect.
By the way, the
solution that The Didache recommended
in the first century is the one that I’m going to share for us, too. It was to say that every local Christian
community (let’s even use the word “church”) should stop depending on outsiders
for leadership, but should look among themselves and find people whose lives
display the gifts of the Spirit who
“are gentle,
generous, faithful, and well tried. For
their ministry to you is identical with that of the prophets and teachers.”[3]
So, here we go again. If it isn’t just to be wandering,
Spirit-filled miracle workers, but every disciple who is to do the work that
Jesus has begun, when is the last time that
you cured the sick, raised the dead, cleansed a leper, or cast out a demon?
Friends, these
things happen. They don’t happen just
the same way that they did in Palestine two thousand years ago, in the same way
that we don’t have the same cultural setting or speak the same language. But they do happen, and when they do, the
glory is God’s, and
“the kingdom of God has come near.” [Matthew 10:7]
The sick are
healed. There are people who have the
gift of healing. It may be brought out
by years of medical school and internship and residency, or it could be
connected to a talent in chemistry that lands them in a pharmacy or in a lab,
or it could be the incredible patience of someone who can listen to a loved one
with dementia tell the same story for the eighth time in an hour.
The dead are
raised. Oh, maybe not in the Lazarus- or
Dorcas-way that the Bible recounts. It
does happen, though, that maybe someone finds herself giving CPR to multiple
people, and you wonder why this one person is right there right when she is
needed. You have to wonder what part the
Lord played in that. And there are those
who because they have lost their sense of themselves through joblessness or
depression or the simple, inevitable grief that every person experiences at
some point. Someone comes along and is
able to restore them in a wondrous way.
I remember a day many years ago when I had been going through a long, rough
patch and was just plain exhausted and when it was getting to the point where I
just had nothing left inside me, one of my friends called me up and said she
was going for a ride that afternoon and that I was going along even if I didn’t
want to, because, as she said, “You need to be aired out.” I’m still grateful for that.
Leprosy was a
disease that was so lethal and contagious that lepers had to be separated from
the rest of the world for the sake of public health. In our time there are outcasts or people who
are treated as those who must be kept away or watched carefully for public
safety. Maybe it’s a young, dark-skinned
male wearing a hoodie. Maybe it’s a
woman in a hijab. Perhaps it’s the
driver of the Ford truck with a confederate flag bumper sticker. You decide who that might be for you. Do they know that they have a place with
everyone else?
If you want to
see where our demons are and where they need to be thrown out, look into the
interactions among those people and yourself.
Sometimes we’re called to make peace between others and sometimes we’re
called to make peace within our own hearts as preparation for that. If you see demons at work when you read the
news, and if you feel called to cast them out, get involved as Jesus did, by
naming them and calling them for what they are.
When God’s people shine the light of Christ on darkness, the darkness
leaves.
Jesus warned
that following him could get a little complicated and messy at times. He said,
“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves;
so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” [Matthew 10:16]
That’s as true now as then.
But where other than in places of need is it more important to share the
gospel? And what place is not one of
need? You don’t have to go far. You may not have to go anywhere at all. But wherever Jesus’ followers find
themselves, he told his disciples to trust him and he would have their back. So
“do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say;
for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the
Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” [Matthew 10:19-20]
Yes, “through you.”
No comments:
Post a Comment