Today Mark’s gospel remembers the first time that Jesus sent
his disciples out on a missionary journey.
And what did he tell his disciples to do?
He sent them out to meet new people on the road…. He told them to give each person a message: The kingdom of God has come near you…. He
told them to pray for the sick and heal the troubled.
It sounds like those people who come through my front gate,
who ring my doorbell to share their faith, are just following Jesus’
instructions: Go meet new people, and tell them the good news.
(It’s hard enough to open my door, to be kind to my visitors
– who are strangers to me – and then politely say good-bye; how could I ever go
door-to-door to share my faith?)
But the gospel says that Jesus’ disciples came back to tell
him that many people received their message, and many were healed. They had followed Jesus’ directions:
Take
nothing for your journey.
Dress
simply.Stay with people in their homes.
Tell them your good news.
And always go two by two.
So today, I’m trying to imagine going off on a journey, sent
by Jesus, following his directions. I’m
not trying to turn into a door-to-door salesman, going off to talk to people we’ve
never met. No, I’m picturing someone I know already – someone
I care for, someone I’d like to comfort, someone who needs to hear good news.
Everyone here knows someone who is asking questions about
their faith. It could be one of your children… It could be a good friend or a close neighbor….
It could be one of your
grandchildren….
There are times in life when everyone has questions – when we’re small children, first exploring
the world; when we’re adolescents, first
stretching our growing minds; when we’re first retired and beginning to wonder about
the rest of our lives; and any time trouble strikes – these are the times we
need good news.
So with a picture of someone in your mind, listen again to
Jesus’ directions:
He says, take nothing
for the journey – because then
you’ll have to depend on others. Remember
you aren’t the only person with something to give – everyone you meet will have
something to share with you.
Dress very simply
– because dressing up may put distance between you and others. You won’t want to wear – or say – anything
that keeps you from getting to know people.
Stay with people,
accept their hospitality – because that’s the way you’ll get to know them;
that’s the way people learn about each other, by sharing space with each other.
Go two by two – because
if you go with a friend, you’ll be able to help each other – and because Jesus
said, “When two or three are gathered together, I will be there with you.” You won’t be alone; the Spirit will be with
you. (Matthew
18:20)
And once you’ve
gotten to know someone – by staying with them, by listening to them, by loving
them – then you can tell them your
good news, because that’s your gift for others – what’s happened to you.
A modern missionary journey: I have a friend who decided, when he was about 70 years old,
to write a letter to his children. He had
five adult children, all with children of their own, and he wanted them to know
what his faith meant to him now that he was getting old. Especially, he wanted his children (and his
grandchildren) to know what had helped him through the years, whenever his life
had been difficult.
It took my friend a very long time to write his letter. First,
he had to find the words to describe what he had learned from life, and then he
had to find the words to tell them what he believed about God. But
even after he found the words to express himself, he had to ask what those
words might mean to each of his very different children. All of his children had grown up in the
Episcopal Church, but now one child was a Presbyterian. One was an Evangelical. One was a Mormon. One had a strong faith in God, but didn’t
have a church. And one was an adamant atheist.
What words could he write, what words could share his faith without
trying to impose it on them?
It took him more weeks to re-write his letter. And then, before
he mailed his letters, he took copies to a couple of friends – and he asked them,
“I’m trying to tell my children what life has taught me, and what my faith
means to me. Will you read this letter
and tell me what you think?”
My friend was proceeding two-by-two. That is, he didn’t write his letter all by
himself. He tried to listen to the
Spirit speaking in his heart; and he went to others, to hear their thoughts and
ideas.
It’s been more than ten years since my friend mailed the
final version of his letter to his children.
I called him yesterday afternoon, to find out what had happened with his
children in the years since his letter was mailed. (He’s now 82 years old, and the first thing
he told me was that he’s thinking about writing a new letter to his children.)
As we talked, he remembered what each of his children had
said when they received the letter – and what had happened when they had read
it to their own children. But this is
what really struck me yesterday: As he
talked about each of his children, he remembered what he had learned from them.
And when he spoke about each of his
children, one by one, he said that each was still growing in his or her own
way. It was clear, from his words and
his voice, that his letter had begun a conversation about faith, a family conversation
that still continues today.
Isn’t that what Jesus is really asking his disciples? Start your own conversation about faith. Go out into your life – and get to know the people
in it. Love those people; give what you
can to them; receive what they have to give you; try to bring them healing –
and always remember, as you walk through your life, that you’re never alone on
your journey.
And whenever the time is right for someone,
share the good
news with them:
You are never alone; God is always with you.
