The Third Sunday after Pentecost-Rev Melanie Lemburg
3rd Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 6A
June 18, 2023
I want to share with you a mediation
that I read this week that I’ve been contemplating. After I read it, I’ll share with you some
questions to consider and another lens to look through.
Sent
by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Proclaim the good news,
“The kingdom of heaven has come
near.”
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.
—Matthew 10.7-8
You
are given power and authority and sent,
not
to proselytize, not to enact “Christian” legislation,
but
to heal.
In
your workplace, in your community,
in
your family.
How
can you possibly do this?
Because
you are given power and authority.
You
are given love, which casts out fear—
slowly,
to be sure, but it does cast out fear.
You
won’t cast out all the demons of greed or racism,
or
cure the whole epidemic of loneliness or despair.
But
you will love, even one person at a time,
and
maybe your witness will move crowds.
But
remember you are an empty vessel;
it
is not your power but God’s.
And
though your vessel is small,
that
power is infinite.
Go,
then, and peace be with you.[i]
One of the questions I want you to
consider today is where in your life, your world, your family, your work, are
you being sent by Jesus to be a messenger of his healing?
This week, I read an article from the
Barna Research Group that was published this past May. According to their website, Barna’s goal is
to “reveal the cultural and religious trends affecting your life everyday.” This article is titled Openness to Jesus
Isn’t the Problem—the Church Is. (I
know, right?! Ouch!!) Here’s the gist of the article: “When we
asked Americans whether they have a positive or negative opinion of Jesus,
seven in 10 (71%) say they view him positively…Beyond Jesus, when it comes to
views of other Christian groups or entities, positive opinions wane. People of
no faith are neutral or leaning negative [when it comes to how they view
Christianity as a whole]…Among those of no faith, even Christian individuals
are not viewed so favorably. Further, the data… shows why people may be
reluctant to hold Christian beliefs, with the top reason today being ‘hypocrisy
of religious people.’”
According to the data, the biggest
divergence in the perceptions around Christianity between Christians and
non-Christians is found in three areas.
1. 48% of surveyed Christians say that Christianity is a faith that they
respect. When non-religious people were
asked if Christianity is a faith they respect, only 15% agreed. 2. When Christians were asked if they
considered Christianity to be hypocritical, 23% answered they thought it
was. Of the non-religious people, 49%
said Christianity was hypocritical. 3. And
finally, when Christians were asked if Christianity was judgmental, 22% said
they thought it was. Of the
non-religious, 48% thought that Christianity was judgmental.[ii]
Wow, that’s depressing! Did y’all know this? Are y’all living with this reality
already? What on earth are we supposed
to do about this?
I think we need to reflect on this again
in light of the question I posed earlier:
where in your life, your world, your family, your work, are you being
sent by Jesus to be a messenger of his healing?
Maybe the first healing we need to be
attentive to is our own? I was at the
gym the other day, and while I didn’t say anything or act on it, I sure was
judging the two men I saw who did not wipe down their workout machines. I was judging them in my heart, and you know
what else? I was judging their mamas,
too! (Why? You can say it with me: “Because they must not have raised them
right!”)
I can say all day long that I’m not one
of “those kind of Christians.” “It’s the
evangelicals. They give us all a bad
name!” But when I’m being really honest,
I know that I am judgmental, that I am hypocritical. And just maybe I need to
seek out Jesus’s healing for that in me before I get sent out to offer his
healing out in the world?
When we’re at our best, it’s what we do
here. We gather, we pray, we confess, we
receive pardon, we take in the body and blood of Jesus who heals us, and then
we are sent out into the world to proclaim the good news of his healing and to
be agents of his same healing, not through our own power or gifts or charisma,
but through the power of the Holy Spirit, who is with us always.
I invite you to think about that as I
read the mediation one more time and close with your questions for reflection
for this week.
Sent
by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Proclaim the good news,
“The kingdom of heaven has come
near.”
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.
—Matthew 10.7-8
You
are given power and authority and sent,
not
to proselytize, not to enact “Christian” legislation,
but
to heal.
In
your workplace, in your community,
in
your family.
How
can you possibly do this?
Because
you are given power and authority.
You
are given love, which casts out fear—
slowly,
to be sure, but it does cast out fear.
You
won’t cast out all the demons of greed or racism,
or
cure the whole epidemic of loneliness or despair.
But
you will love, even one person at a time,
and
maybe your witness will move crowds.
But
remember you are an empty vessel;
it
is not your power but God’s.
And
though your vessel is small,
that
power is infinite.
Go,
then, and peace be with you.[iii]
What
do you need to ask Jesus for healing for this day in this place? Where in your life, your world, your family,
your work, are you being sent by Jesus to be a messenger of his healing?
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