Second Sunday After Pentecost – Pastor Ellen Mills

I am offering you two ways to receive this. In print, you will need to read the scriptures for yourself, and then the prayer and reflection that follow in this post. If you click on the audio link below (below), you can hear all of it, including the scriptures

Second Sunday After Pentecost

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray,

God of compassion, you have opened the way for us and brought us to yourself.  Pour your love into our hearts, that, overflowing with joy, we may freely share the blessings of your realm and faithfully proclaim the good news of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Exodus 19:2-8a

Psalm 100

Romans 5:1-8

Matthew 9:35-10:8

     Welcome to the long, green season.  We are not in the building to see the color of the paraments, but it is certainly green all around us.  It is the season of growth.  You may be aware of this in terms of how often the grass needs cutting, but it is the season of the invitation to grow spiritually.  In two readings this morning, we have the mention of sheep.  And since I grew up in Virginia and not in the desert, sheep for me go with green pastures.  Psalm 100 is a familiar psalm of my childhood.  It is called the jubilate deo, and is said or sung as part of the service of morning prayer.  And as a child, I liked being one of God’s sheep.  I was not worried about the wolves or bad shepherds.  I think that for me, sheep were always in fenced green fields with bright sun overhead.  But Jesus seems to have had a much wider view.  Whether through his religious tradition, or through actual experience, he knew the danger for sheep that were without a shepherd.  He knew and he had compassion.  And it wasn’t just for the four legged sheep that he was concerned.  In the midst of preaching, teaching and healing the people around him, he was conscious of their condition and their deep needs.  He described them as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  In Matthew, Jesus starts ministry with and to the people of Israel.  And they were not all thriving.  They were oppressed by the power and cruelty of the Roman Empire.  There was much injustice. Many were poor.  Many were sick.  Jesus’ compassion leads him to pray for more workers for the harvest, and to send out the twelve disciples.  Being the gospel of Matthew, and being early in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus sends twelve Jewish men out to the Jewish people.  The mission will expand later, but this is the beginning stage.  And for what does he send them out?  To cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.  He sends them out for the wellbeing of those who were sorely oppressed.  They are to proclaim the good news.  And the specific description of this good news is “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”  And as they lived under the yoke of Rome, this kingdom of heaven is to be understood as radically different from the empire of Rome.  It is not about the power of the military or Roman laws used to keep order and oppress the people.  The kingdom of heaven is the reign of God, it is shalom.  It is to live according to the values of God, where the last are first, and people are valued according to the love and mercy of God.  Jesus is revaluing what many people have experienced as their value, or lack of value, according to Rome.

     The first sent out were those selected and trained by Jesus, which makes sense.  But who were they?  They were not those specially educated and recognized by their religious community as leaders.  They were fishermen and zealots, and even a tax collector.  Jesus had already started by overturning their valuation by society.  They were called, they were loved and taught, and they were sent.  Just twelve of them.  And they would be sent two by two.  What good could so few do?  But somehow, that is not a concern of Jesus.  Whether it is loaves and fish or the number of disciples, Jesus takes what he has and things happen.  And there is a pattern.  The twelve have spent some time being taught by Jesus, but this is another sort of learning.  They are commanded, and then sent out to do it.  They must take the risk of doing what they may not feel prepared to do. They will learn by doing with God what they did not know they could do.  And they will take little with them, because this is training in dependence on God.  It can only be learned by risking.  It can only be learned by becoming willing to do something new. 

     And what is the driving force behind all this?  It is Jesus’ compassion for those who are floundering in life.  He has not sent out professionally trained disciples and told them to only go to those considered most likely to succeed.  He has not gotten a list of prospects from his religious leadership, or from the Roman Empire.  He has followed his heart, knowing it to be one with the heart of God.  He sees the people around him with eyes of compassion. These people matter.  Their messy lives matter.  Their pain matters.  Their oppression matters.  And instead of just doing everything himself, he calls and trains others and gives them the power and authority to go in his name.  This is how Jesus started, and it is how it continued after Pentecost.  Is this what we are doing today?

     Compassion.  It is the wrenching of our hearts over the situation of others.  It connects their situation with ours, and desires to provide healing.  If Jesus allowed his own heart to be wrenched, surely he expects it of us as well.  AMEN

Called into unity with one another and the whole creation, let us pray for our shared world.

Holy One, you bring us together and call us your own.  Bless theologians, teachers, and preachers who help us grow in faith.  Guide your church, that we might be a holy people.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

Holy One, the whole earth is yours.  Where there is fire, bring cool air and new growth.  Where there is flooding, bring abatement.  Where there is drought, bring rain.  Inspire us to care for what you have provided.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

Holy One, we have created divisions you will not own.  In places of conflict, raise up leaders who work to develop lasting peace and reconciliation.  Encourage organizations and individuals who care for all forced to leave their homes.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

Holy One, you care for those who are harassed and helpless.  Protect and defend those who are abused.  Heal those who are sick.  Feed all who hunger.  Empower those whose voices go unheard, and help us respond to the pressing needs of our neighbors. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

Holy One, you provide a plentiful harvest of gifts and resources.  Prepare us to labor and gather the fruits of this congregation, that we might discover new ways of living.  Minister to us in our work, that we do not lose heart.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

Holy One, you bring all people to yourself.  We give thanks for the holy people who have gone before us.  Sustain us in your mission until the day you bear us up to join the saints in light.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

Receive these prayers O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord’s face shine upon you with grace and mercy.

The Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace.

Amen.