Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23)
Third Sunday After Pentecost
Good morning everyone,
It is always nice to see you all!
I hope your summer is off to a fantastic start, and I hope that if you’re off on some travels that you’ll continue to join us online. One of the few positive things that covid left behind for us.
As someone who is still growing into their priestly collar, there are many things that I am still soaking in. I’m learning a lot, making mistakes and taking notes everywhere I go.
There’s a moment in the service that has stuck out to me recently in a way that it never has in the past.
As a priest I have the honor to marry people! I have been able to do this for some friends from high school and college, as well as some of our own here at St. Peter’s.
I’ve also been helping with baptisms, and have had the chance to do a handful of them myself.
Just last week I went downtown to the Cathedral to see the ordination of a new priest and two new deacons.
And there’s a moment that happens in all three of those services that fills my heart and soul
During a baptism it looks like this…
“Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ? “
And the people of God say… We Will
During a marriage ceremony it sounds like this…
“Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”
And the people of God say… We will
At the ordination of clergy it sounds like this…
Will you uphold him in this ministry?
And the people of God say… We will.
This morning we hear the story of the people of God arriving at the base of Mount Sinai as they are liberated from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.
And they are given a calling from God
“Obey my voice. Keep my covenant.”
And the people of God respond
“We will”
They proclaim as a community “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
The We Will of the people of God at the base of Mount Sinai, is the same we will proclamation on Sunday morning during a baptism, during the ordination of new clergy and at the celebration of a wedding.
The “we will” of the people of God is a joyful communal proclamation.
It’s our way of saying
“We see you.” We are going to live into the Covenant of God, together. “We have your back no matter what, just like God does.”
For a new born entering into the faith, for a newly married couple or a newly ordained individual,
That “We Will” is a joyful communal proclamation of support, a safety net, and a massive assurance in the midst of the unknown for the individual being blessed that day.
It’s the people’s way of saying “we see you so clearly. And at your toughest moment, we will support you and have your back”
And the participant thinks to themselves “oh thank heavens…”
The We Will to the covenants is an affirmation of seeing the work and life of God moving in them, and proclaiming your support of it.
This seeing of who they are is what stirs us to compassion in their time of need, and calls us to be the hands and feet of Christ, for them at their darkest hour.
This way of seeing our loved one, this affirmation of a willingness to support and love them the way the God does,
This is the way that Christ sees the people of God in our gospel reading.
Our Gospel reading tells us that “When he saw the crowds, Jesus had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless.”
Jesus first sees the crowd, then has compassion on them.
And In his compassion for the people, Jesus looks to the disciples and encourages them to pray.
“Ask the Lord of the Harvest”
Pray to God our Father….
to send Laborers.”
to send people to fulfill the “We Will” of the people of God.
Jesus encourages the disciples to pray for someone to come and help the people, because they’re harassed, and helpless…
Now if you’re reading a chapter a day through the Gospels…
This is where Chapter 9 ends.
And if you’re doing a simple chapter a day, you’ll put the Good Word down, and go about your day. And at some point you may think to yourself….
“Well I wonder who God will send this time!”
Took some convincing for Moses. And Jonah got swallowed by a whole whale!
Can’t wait to see who gets sent this time…”
And you’ll come back the next day and pop open chapter 10 to realize something incredible has happened….
The group of folks praying for laborers to be sent out….
The ones who were praying for laborers, become the laborers themselves!!
It’s them!!
At the end of the 9th chapter, Jesus tells them to pray for laborers to be sent
And in their prayer for someone to go and help, they learn that they’re exactly who God called to be the ones to help.
Then we open chapter 10 and we see Jesus charging them with a new ministry and equipping them for it!
Because this is a tall order that Jesus has called them to!
And Jesus equips them for the ministry of living into their communal “We Will” with confidence, faith, and with the eyes of Christ.
So that they too can look around them and see those whom God loves clearly,
see that they‘re harassed and helpless, and have compassion on them.
Jesus equips them and teaches them to see with the eyes of Christ.
When I was growing up, my dad always said that he’d never ask me to do anything that he thought I couldn’t do, or anything that he would not do himself.
Jesus looks to the disciples with the same mentality.
The disciples are equipped by Jesus for their ministry, and Jesus spends the remainder of his life teaching them!
He did not send them out into the world radically unprepared, or without the tools to do the job!
He not only gives them the tools they need, he walks with them to teach them what it means to be a laborer for the harvest of the harassed and helpless.
So a couple days later when there’s a large crowd, and Jesus has compassion on them… and the disciples says “send them away… let them get their own food”
How does Jesus respond?
He takes the loaves they have, blesses them, and tells the disciples to pass them out to the people.
all ate
all were satisfied.
And there were left overs.
Jesus doesn’t just call the disciples to their ministry.
Jesus doesn’t just give them the tools to live them into the “we will” that they proclaim.
He teaches them how to use the tools they’ve been given.
Teaches them how to see the people of God, teaches them what it means to have compassion on them, and how to respond when their hearts are stirred.
Jesus’ hope in the gospel reading this morning is that the disciples will learn to reflect the compassion of God out into their world…
And the disciples responded “We Will”
And my prayer for us is that we respond the same way.
That we take the time to recognize the call that God has placed upon each of our lives individually, we look around at the tools that God has provided for us in order to live into that call, and that we see the people of God with the eyes of Christ, have compassion on them, and proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom of God
for all of us.
Because that is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Amen.