Rules
for the Road, Rules for Home
Fr.
Tony’s Midweek Message
June
5, 2019
One
of our morning prayer readings this week is about when Jesus sent 70 disciples
out to complement and expand the ministry of the Twelve. I have known the story since my youth, but only
recently realized what the passage is talking about:
“Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on them; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town” (Luke 10:3-12).
Jesus here is giving practical
guides to the spirituality of healthy ministry and serene life: acceptance and
surrender. Rather than packing up all
that you need to be comfortable and conduct your life “just so” as you prefer,
he says, don’t even take an overnight bag, a change of underwear or extra
shoes. On the road, don’t always be approaching
people to get what you think you want out of them: no caging for extra change
or trying to arrange your destination details and an overnight set-up. Once you have arrived, go in the first place
that will host you. Accept it—don’t go
about looking for a better gig. Stay
where you land. Don’t be picky even
about what you eat: accept whatever they
give you. (That must have been a
shocking bit of advice to people who wanted to “follow the commandments” and keep
strict kosher: imagine—your happy relationship with your hosts was more important
than proper religious observance!) Part of
learning to accept hospitality gracefully and without pickiness, is learning to
not feel guilty about depending on others (“the laborer deserves payment”). Heal and help those who are willing to accept
your help, but don’t resent those who decline and turn you away. Tell them all that God has come near. Let rejection go; leave people who turn you
aside to God (“we shake off the dust of our feet”). I think Jesus must have had an ironic smile
on his face when he threw in that detail about the dire fate of those who
decline our help: if you simply must resent them, he says, you might
be comforted with the thought that God will send FIRE AND BRIMSTONE down
on them!
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams calls this core element of Christian spirituality “passionate patience.” It means staying grounded where we are, but ready to accept the newness from God. The Bishop of Washington DC, Marianne Edgar Budde, calls it “poised readiness.” This is close to my favorite definition of reverence: “relaxed attentiveness.”
As we prepare for Pentecost this coming Sunday, let us remember to keep open to God’s work in us and the world about us.
Grace and Peace,
Fr. Tony+
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