Jesus sends the disciples out to bless and preach. They go,
they return, they are amazed that “even demons submit to us!” Jesus responds with
a startling non-sequitur: “I saw Satan fall. . . like lightning. . . !”
Their/our mission is crucial: to contend with evil. And the
gospel will win. Satan falls on a regular basis, even when it is never enough
for those who are in need. In the face of continued struggles for so many,
Jesus calls us to love God and love neighbor and see to the well-being of the
poor. It all begins with learning to welcome and to receive.
The welcoming towns are places
where God's grace can enter, where there is amity and peace and healing. . . places
where a foretaste of the reign of God can be experienced. And all of this is
made possible by acts of genuine hospitality, of self-forgetful extension to
the stranger. The unwelcoming towns are places where suspicion and hostility
and rejection draw hard boundaries that will not permit the stranger in. And
without the possibility of invitation, the kingdom of God cannot enter into
such a place, such hearts.
There is an old Celtic saying that
carries in its underlying purport the same message and the same mix of warning
and approval: “Often and often and often, Christ comes in the guise of a
stranger.”
It is as we welcome—or fail to
welcome—strangers that we allow—or forbid— the reign of God to draw near. This
is why love of God and love of neighbor are yoked in Christ's teaching, and why
“neighbor” for Christ is a word without boundaries or limits. This is why the
only standard of judgment Christ ever gives is the need to receive one another
as brother and sister. – Judith Buck-Glenn
Luke 10:1-11,
16-20
Although Jesus. . . referred to
conflict and confrontation (“I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of
wolves”) when sending out his disciples, they were instructed to greet each
homeowner with a blessing. According to Neil Douglas-Klotz, the greeting was
this:
Whatever house you enter, let your
first words be: “Shalama bayta”: Peace to this house and family—May it complete
its purpose and tell its tale to the end. May it fulfill itself in surrender to
the One. [The Hidden
Gospel (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1999)]
Blessings with words such as [these].
. . do more than bless a particular moment in time: they call us forward into
wholeness and completeness. – Carol J. Noren
Isaiah 66:10-14
The prophet calls on the hearer to
rejoice with Jerusalem, employing warm and maternal imagery for the
superabundance of blessing God will give. The oracle pictures the city
providing nurture through images of a consoling breast and a glorious bosom,
using human love and care to suggest safety and intimacy with God. The
postexilic community had faced hardship, deprivation and adversity, but the
Lord now promises to bless the people with more than enough. . . . There is
profound beauty in the picture of God caring for the people like a mother
cuddling and comforting a baby. – Aaron Couch
Galatians 6:[1-6]
7-16
Paul. . . reveals the warmth of his
regard for the Galatian community, addressing them as “friends” and giving a
series of loosely related instructions for how they should live together. He
urges members of the church to live with genuine love for each other, helping
to lighten the burdens of those experiencing trouble. He indicates that they
must not treat each other with smugness, judging, gloating, or anything else
that suggests a sense of superiority. Instead, if anyone is in need of
correction, it must be done with gentleness. . . – Aaron Couch
Judith M. M.
Buck-Glenn is associate rector at Christ Church Episcopal, in Ridley Park,
Pennsylvania.
Aaron Couch is
a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.
Carol J. Noren, a
United Methodist pastor, is the Wesley W. Nelson professor of homiletics at
North Park Theological Seminary. She served chuches as pastor in Minnesota for
twenty years.
Homily Service 40, no. 8 (2007): 13-20.
No comments:
Post a Comment