1030am Sunday 6-14-20

Thank you to all of our people who stepped forward and recorded a portion of that song Thank you so much. And thank you to Connie is always for continuing about drumbeat of Engagement with you inviting you as much as we're able through this time into active leadership active labor within this Kingdom. We're going to read about that here momentarily. So thank you to all those who step forward and all those who want to but there's just only so many spaces and spots. We promise we will get to you and provide that space for you as quickly as we can either digitally or physically as long as it's safe. So thank you so much for all of that volunteering. I invite you wherever you are within probably most of us a while. I've been invited to stand up as we read our holy gospel. We want to not lose that I call it the Lutheran calisthenics stand up sit down stand up sit. Found out we want to make sure we're continuing to kind of have some level of normal here together. So if you have the ability to do so safely medically physically, please stand for the reading of the Holy gospel. This is the good news according the gospel of Matthew the 9th chapter.

Then Jesus went about all the cities in The Villages teaching in their synagogues in Brooklyn the good news of the Kingdom in curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a Shepherd. Then Jesus said to his disciples. The Harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore asked the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his Harvest. Then Jesus summoned his 12 disciples and he gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the 12 apostles first Simon also known as Peter and his brother Andrew James son of Zebedee and his brother John Philip and Bartholomew Thomas Matthew the tax collector James son of alphaeus and theodosius. Simon the Macallan Ian and Judas Iscariot the one who would betray him.

B12 Jesus sent out with a fellow following instructions. Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel 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 receive without payments give without payment. This is the gospel of Our Lord. Please be seated.

Well, I want to start us without Word of prayer. So I invite you wherever you are to say a prayer with me. Let us pray.

Change be broken lives be healed In This Moment Christ be revealed in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit on men. So this scripture is packed. I'm going to get right into it. So buckle up.

The gospel of Matthew is written to a community context matters. All four gospel writers are writing for a different purpose to a different crowd. The gospel of Matthew is written to Jewish Christians. So people who have a Heritage and history of Judaism they come from that background in that branch of faith, and now they have chosen and entered in a relationship with Christ to follow Christ in the way of Christ as the Fulfillment of the law and the prophets and so Jesus today in Our Gospel from Matthew. We have to remember that Matthew is writing to a community of Jewish Christians. That's who he's writing to so these people who is writing to they know the history. They know the Torah. They know that it's a knock if you have a time on Wednesday night 5:30 to 6:30 on Facebook live. I will be doing a Bible study. I did one this past week we talked to all about Knock and what that means basically the entire Old Testament that kind of Jewish term for that is to not can I wrote that down the Bible study no time for that right now. So they know the Tanakh. They know the Old Testament. They know the Jewish writers. One of the most what is the most well-known and an in kind of highest level Patriarchs within the Jewish story is the the person of Moses. If you look at the way that Matthew lays out who Jesus is one of the identity claims that he's making about Jesus that Jesus is the new Moses Jesus is this image of this person who in the story of Moses frees people from slavery bring them into a place to take them to a Promised Land gospel writer of Matthew is trying to help his his readers who know the story of Moses very well to understand this and so in the Story of Matthew in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus has five major teaching points five major sections of teaching that align with the first five books of the Bible of the Jewish scriptures, those five first five books of the Jewish scriptures are otherwise known as the law of Moses. And so these five teaching these five sections one of which we read today at least a portion of it aligned perfectly. So one of them is when Jesus is teaching on The Sermon on the Mount this image of Jesus for bath you being this new Moses. Jesus is teaching The Sermon on the Mount and he's expounding and unpacking and perfecting. The giving of the law at Mount Sinai so you hear that mountain and tree right now, it's fine. I Sermon on the Mount Jesus is this second Moses who has come to fulfil and complete the work of this profit does work of this patriarch the work of this man who came to reveal the fullness of God to the people. And so today we hear this sending of these disciples this kind of breaking out of the authority that that Jesus has as the father's only son this Authority he has to teach and raise the dead and heal the sick and manage and Lead he is now sharing that in our scripture today with the 12 disciples. And if you hear if you know the story of Moses, you'll know that there was a time when Moses was trying to do all the work himself Jethro Moses father-in-law comes up says it is not good what you're doing and invite him to break down and pass. on his authority to all of these other people and hear Jesus is again sharing his authority sharing is power sharing responsibility of leading with his disciples Jesus from Matthew one of the images and identities of Jesus is a Jesus is the second Moses now gospel text today is well known in terms of the image of Jesus commissioning and sending the disciples and if you read the scripture and you stop there

You missed some of the importance. You miss them of the importance of the full teaching and I want to read for you the full scripture. So I'm ask you to bear with me here because I think it gives context to just what this calling that Jesus is giving to the means because of you stop there you here going and he'll II and cast out demons and and do all these things. And that's great. But but then Jesus makes it clear that there's a catch to this and and there's a warning to this life to his calling to this purpose and if we don't read the full way through we miss it and I think right now in a world that we live in today. It's important that we hear the asterisks and the fine print. So here it is. Picking up at verse 9 by Kobe left off at verse 8. Jesus says he was disciples.

Take no gold or silver or copper in your belts, no bag no bag for your journey or two tunics or sandals take nothing. or staff for Laborers deserve their food, whatever town or Village you enter find out who is worthy enter that house and greeted 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 of the town. Truly I tell you. It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement then for that town. See I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them for they will hand you over to councils and they will flog you in their synagogues. And you will be dragged before Governors and Kings because of me as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over do not worry about how to speak or what to say. For what are you to say for what you are to say will be given to you at that time. Ford is not for you to see who's is not you who speak but the spirit of your father speaking through you brother will betray brother. Brother will put brother to death and father. And a father is child and a child will rise against parents and will have them put to death. And you will be hated by all because of my name but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town flee to the next for truly I tell you you will not have gone through all the towns in Israel before the son of man comes. You still want to go? I didn't think so. Because all that Jesus makes to his disciples to to go out and to do this High Calling and purpose. Heal the sick cure illness symptom end of the stick. It's a worthy cause but as we all know anything worth doing is often challenging. And as we also know I X no good deed goes unpunished. It's a Jesus is bringing about a revolution into the world. He's bringing about New Life new possibilities new new a new kingdom into the midst of a world that knows only violence. And he knows that there violence will spill over into his disciples who he loves and Knows by name and calls them by name. But that doesn't insulate them from the calling and the challenges of the mission. Jesus knows you by name as well. But that does not insulate you his love does not insulate you from the challenges and that the heat of the Flames that are to come and are already Among Us. today, we hear Jesus invite disciples the 12 and you and I into a mission of power and purpose to go out into the world and Make Disciples of all Nations to heal and cure and cast out the things of our world that make us sick both physically spiritually and societally

But we have to understand that that will be met with resistance. That will be met with violence as we have seen in the world around us. But Jesus also invites us wherever we enter. Whatever protests were in. To bring peace not mine. To bring healing not hatred. Bring hope and not chaos and despair to drink that time that home that person that police officer with. Peace. They are deserving of that piece as we all are as children of God. But make no mistake. There will be times when even peace is met with Force they'll be times when even hope and love on all sides is met with chaos and vengeance. There is no way around it. There is no avoiding it. There is no getting away from it and Jesus knows this for his disciples who fought and the first century system. That was quite brutal.

We live today and a time when brutality seems to be the norm. And we seem to be living in a time when our anger gets the best of us and we think we living in a time when listening just isn't convenient anymore. We need to move away from that. We must move away from that. We must get past our egos. We must move past or golden caps that we've built in our societies around narrative departments in organizations and see people for people See them for who they are took to greet them with. Peace. Because they are deserving of it.

It is important in this time of chaos and calamity. But we gather today to hear Jesus is Calling to us to go out and make disciples to heal the sicknesses. The sicknesses of viewing all cops as murderers. That's not true. The thickness of viewing all protesters as looters and people who are just bad. That's not true. Does the thickness of viewing people by the color of their skin versus the character of the self? The thickness of viewing people who are poor has somehow failing or being bums. That's not true. We have many sicknesses in our country just as in the first century Israel have theirs. We must be willing as the disciples sent out into the world and power to heal and bring hope we must also be willing to engage and risk the challenging times. And the potential for rejection that comes with that. It's it's easy to talk about the joys of making disciples and sharing Jesus.

But sometimes sharing Jesus. Requires a person to let go of the guy that they serve and stent. And as we know a society and when we read in the gospels of do the entire scriptures people are not quick to do that. So Jesus says

be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We must not be people who are impetuous or make rash decisions, but we must be people who are careful who are cautious, but also courageous interactions. beat pandemic and health or the way in which we engage topics around race policing Community engagement in our society. We cannot be in touch with we cannot be meeting this moment with anger. We must be meeting it with wisdom and with innocence with eyes of a child seeing everyone at their best thinking to give peace to all and giving it as graciously and as generously as we can for we receive without giving we should also give without receiving

It is a time of great tumult and unrest in our world. It is a scary and unpredictable time. But it is no more crazy and unpredictable than it was before. That's just our perception of it that's changed. And so Jesus's words for us. Be careful and cautious to be mindful of the dangers that lie ahead should not dissuade us from making the journey none the less. Are we walk with one who is overcome all the journeys that we could never walk and all the valleys we could ever entering all the darkness as we could ever experience. And this time we walk with the one who is born of life and has seen death and overcome it. We ought to walk in the same light. And with his power we shall do so and we will live and bring life to the world. Let's pray gracious God we give you thanks today that you have brought us to this place and calling and I'm not called us to shy away from the challenges that we Face the walls that meet us the yelling that we experienced in the midst of our attempt to bring order and love and peace into the world. Help us God W each other as neighbors to listen to each other with ears of Grace and openness. We ask you God to be our teacher and Our Shepherd for we like the crowd are helpless and harassed. Help us. God to find Harmony and hope in this time together in your name. We pray.