June 14 ~ "Affliction produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope." ~ romans 5:3-4

Video will be uploaded next week.

Exodus 19:2-8a

Psalm 100

Romans 5:1-8

Matthew 9:35--10:23

Sermon by Pastor Joel

This morning, we hear two different messages about God’s call to serve others: one that speaks of happiness, the other of hardship. But they are not incompatible. Happiness can be found in the midst of hardship. Indeed, when the hardship that comes from following the gospel is meaningful, generous, and shared with our neighbor, it can be the truest path to happiness. 

The gospel this morning represents a hinge point, as our current Prime Minister likes to say, in the ministry of Jesus. Having demonstrated to the disciples what it means to follow the gospel – to teach and to heal and to embrace the stranger -- Jesus is now bestowing that same calling on the disciples themselves. And through them, on each one of us. 

Yet we find ourselves today on both sides – on both the crowd – harassed and helpless – and on the disciple, empowered as sheep to go bravely among the wolves. The people who heard the teachings of Jesus were facing financial strains, political domination, and corrupt leadership, more ready to fill their own pockets with public funds than to distribute them to those in need. 

The gospel describes the people as “sheep without a shepherd” – adrift in a difficult world, searching for leaders they can respect and who will do what is right, fight for justice, and make the world better, more equal, and kinder. 

We hear this stark warning from Jesus about the persecution that the disciples will face in this world, about families being set at odds against one another – and Jesus could be speaking to our own time. 

People today who speak out against tyranny are being persecuted – in person and on social media. Ideological divides in families are causing estrangement. Polarization is ending friendships. Civil dialogue across divides is declining – making people more and more hesitant to attempt that civil dialogue in the first place. 

And yet, Jesus reminds us that we must. We must go out into the world and greet those who disagree with us, break bread with them, discuss the world with them. 

And this mission we are on must not be pursued for our own personal gain. Indeed, this edict from Jesus to “Take no gold, no bag, no second tunic” suggests that the disciples are to rely on the hospitality of others. 

They cannot be seen collecting their own wealth – for that would make them no better than the corrupt leaders. That would make them wolves among the people. And secondly, when the strangers they meet offer that hospitality, they are no longer strangers. 

The disciples are given very clear directions. We are given very clear directions. We are to have conviction tempered with mercy. We are to endure hostility without becoming hostile. To speak our truth with humility and gentleness. To be courageous with our openness and our compassion. 

A tall challenge indeed. And yet, in our Psalm, we are reminded how to accomplish this, and most importantly, how to sustain it. 

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, |all you lands!” the psalmist writes.  “See the Lord with gladness; come into God’s presence with a song.” 

This might seem impossible – given the path that Jesus laid out for the disciples - one of suffering and persecution. And yet, what else did he describe? A life of value, an opportunity to build community, a chance to make a difference. 

For what most erodes our happiness is feeling lonely and helpless. These feelings fuel our anxiety. Paralyze our ability to act. Keep us home when we should be knocking on our neighbor’s door. 

Modern society and social media tell us over and over again that joy is found in what we own, in the titles we hold, in how far up we rise. But this message requires us, by definition, to step over our neighbors rather than to walk beside them. 

And yet, science has caught up with the gospel. What we do as individuals to foster the practice of happiness and insight – writing in a gratitude journal or praying to God reminds us of what we already have. Meditating or sitting under a beautiful tree feeds our souls. 

But the fuel for happiness is people and the meaningful actions we take on their behalf. What builds happiness is connection – to people, to the natural world. What sustains happiness is working to make a difference, even if it is one small moment at a time. 

We should not sit with the message from Jesus in the gospel, without hearing the encouragement of the psalmist. Let us not go forth dour and disheartened, ready to flinch and turn away. Rather, let us be joyful in our actions and choices. Let us choose optimism. 

For what lies within joy but hope. The hope that what we do matters. The hope that our family will one day come back together. The hope that friends will forgive. The hope that together, we will reach a hinge point, and the world will be changed. 

There is another message, hidden in our readings this morning.

In our gospel, Jesus advises the disciples to steer away from the “gentiles” and to avoid the “Samaritan towns”.  In modern times, this particular section of the gospel has been employed to demonize those who disagree, to suggest that only some merit the gospel. But is this what Jesus could  possibly have meant? The very same Jesus who honored the Good Samaritan so highly that the phrase Good Samaritan now stands for the gospel itself? 

Of course not. But Jesus was pragmatic, just as we must be. He was advising the disciples to begin where they will be most welcomed, where even people who doubt their message might be willing peacefully to listen. 

Begin in more comfortable spaces, he was saying, and build your strength and expertise. Gather a community around you for support. He was reminding the disciples that they do not have to spread kindness and hope and healing on their own. That we do not have to do this on our own.

Community lies at the heart of both our gospel and our Psalm this morning. Every door that was opened to the disciples on their dusty road – on our own dusty roads – makes our community larger, our social connection greater. 

And what better way to bring people together than with song, as the Psalmist writes. 

A soloist is beautiful and brave, singing alone. But a choir of people singing in harmony, raising their united voices to the sky? Now that is something that really shakes the rafters.

Amen