Life, Death, Resurrection

Matthew 9:35--10:23

Toning and strengthening. The good news for these first disciples is in strengthening their core. You know how when you exercise you have to strengthen your core. Anna, my daughter had to do this in dance before she was strong enough to go up on pointe. So Jesus today asks the disciples to strengthen their own core. What is the core? The good news, being wise and innocent, or going and doing something which is going to get you killed and why, because it's good news.

Have you ever gotten so excited about something you feel pumped? I mean the message you heard was something which got you overjoyed. You feel like going out and telling everyone, or at least share your joy. This is what it is for these first disciples. They have met the Messiah, Jesus has just finished the sermon on the mount, all those blessings and then all the sayings. Be salt and light, don't hide it, keep it burning, where do you build your house, rock or sand and they are pumped up by this talk. So much so they are going to spread this light wherever they can. But this light can lead to hardship even death.

This week I was involved in a Zoom Webinar on the Future of the Church. One of the speakers, Kenda Creasy Dean said we have to be about strengthening our core. All the squabbles we have had in the past don't matter. What matters is the core: life, death, and resurrection. If what we are talking about is not this then it is nothing. This mornings text hooks right into this, our core.

Life, how are we going to give life to others. Living is not about doing this just for us. Jesus gives the sermon on the mount to equip the disciples to be sent out to others. What are they to do? Heal, cast out demons, make people who are sick well and give this all to others. Don't keep it, don't profit from it, make sure the minimum is provided for, and give freely. The other important part is to shake off the dust where you are not welcome. Don't force it. Life giving is free. It is not meant to impose on someone else. Just like Jesus' sermon, it was free, those who chose not to accept it could leave, could doubt. These twelve were sent out.

Death, doing this may mean your life. Because we are so used to economy. This has happened right now. We believe opening the economy is more important than saving human life. I know this is not a popular topic. People even believe this is up for debate. Now our friends from Brown Chapel have been touched by this virus. Because we believe making a buck is more important. How this will be looked at in the future is up to those who write history. If the forecast is right though we will lose more friends, more family, more relations because we put our faith in a dollar. Now this is not popular thought, and some would even do violence to shut it up. When we speak the gospel, good news of love we are in direct conflict with the world. Because what is the popular idea is not the Godly idea. 

From the prophets we realize how important people are. Isaiah says the people oppress one another, Jeremiah says the people catch others so they can become rich, Ezekiel says the people lost their focus on the commandments, Hosea says the people are greedy the list goes on and on. When ever the people lost their focus on God, they were thinking more of themselves, more of their own profit than of others. It was not a light, it is not salt, it is the way of the world. Some of these prophets were killed for their messages because it wasn't what the people wanted to hear. Jeremiah makes a list of the prophets who say only what the king wants to be said and condemns them.

Resurrection, what is resurrection, life from death. The place where we find things which have died become something which grows new life. Because of the pandemic we want everything to return to normal. Back to the way it has always been. We can't. We have been brought face to face with death. Today we are streaming our service on Facebook live. We can't stop something we started. Something which brings new life to us. This is the same with our talk as we go forward from here. I'm leaving you, this is not death, this is an opportunity for new life. What new things can you do? What are the opportunities facing you? 

See you still have Jesus, you still have gospel good news to spread. The shape of it is yours now. Find the place of resurrection. Where will you rise up and claim your own discipleship. Episcopalians for far too long have thought the priest does it all and you just sit in the pews on Sunday. No, we are trained, listen to a sermon, like the sermon on the mount, and then we are sent to bring our core to the world: life, death, and resurrection. Go and bring it to yourselves and to the world.