Here and Now

One of my greatest joys when I was a bit younger was to go backpacking in the Sierras. For a week or more I was out in the wildness of nature with only as much as I could carry on my back. But I was not alone, I was not self-sufficient. I always went with a group, and we shared the group equipment. I might be carrying a saucepan and a fuel container and Wednesday night’s dinner while someone else would have the stove, the shower and half of Thursday night’s dinner.

Self-sufficiency is a big part of the American myth. If you google the term, you will quickly find a number of pop-psychology articles and blogs about the importance of self-sufficiency. Yet Jesus did not send his disciples out as self-sufficient well-equipped individuals with everything they needed for their journey. Jesus did not send them out alone.

In today’s gospel reading Jesus sent seventy disciples out in pairs to places which he intended to visit: he sent them with no spare clothes and no cash so they were entirely dependent on God’s provision. God’s provision which would come through their work together and through the kindness of strangers. And whether or not they were welcomed, they always had the same message “The kin-dom of God has come near you.”

Now notice what he tells them first – pray. Ask for God’s help. Although their journey might be dangerous or difficult, they were commissioned by Jesus and sent by God through prayer. In the few months I have been worshiping with you, I have heard several people wondering about how St Peters can grow and particularly how you can attract more young people. This is how you do it. You pray and then you pray some more. I notice that there is no regular prayer group here and I wonder how y’all pray for the church.

You do a great job of looking after the physical property. Sarah cares beautifully for the memorial gardens and I often meet Gary here, improving this or that. But I wonder how you take care of the spiritual body of the church. Is there a way that together you nurture your spiritual life through prayer, and pray to engage with more people? Or is that something you leave to the priest or to chance?

The foundation of the disciples’ journey was prayer and dependence upon God and each other. And wherever they went they brought a blessing of peace. Jesus said, “Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.” I wonder how it would be if wherever we went we brought a blessing of peace? Every Sunday we greet one another with a sign of peace and being a small church, we can take the time to greet almost everyone, but what if that extended to every place we go and every person we meet? I feel sure that if each and every time we went into Albertsons, everyone in this church prayed for a blessing of peace on everyone in the store it would make a difference, yes a subtle one, but a difference.

The message the disciples bring is the same whether or not they are welcomed – the reign of God has come near you. Some translators argue that the text really means “the reign of God has come upon you.” Either way, Jesus’ proclamation and ours is that the reign of God is here and now.

We are not waiting passively for the end of the world and the coming of the reign of God, because the reign of God is right here and right now. A few chapters after today’s reading, Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, “Look here it is!” or “There!” for indeed the kingdom of God is in your midst.” The reign of God is in your midst. In our midst.

Isn’t that amazing! While you were eating breakfast this morning, even while you were cleaning your teeth, the reign of God was right there, right then and the reign of God is right here, right now.

I know it doesn’t feel that way all the time. It’s difficult to imagine how the reign of God can be present in the midst of the Texas flooding with all the loss of life and the children still missing. This is where faith comes in. When we look at a tragedy, when we feel the grief of loss and the pain of betrayal we know that God is there. Jesus died on the cross. It was a tragedy. But God brought new life from it and showed that the reign of God was present all along.

Tragedy happens. It is part of being human. And we don’t understand why a loving God allows tragedy, why our loving God allows children to be swept away in the night. We don’t understand but our eyes of faith know that even in the midst of it all, Gods’ reign is there. God does not protect us from tragedy but God sustains us through it. The fruits of the Spirit, the gifts of a life spent in the reign of God are love, joy and peace.

This is our proclamation. The reign of God, of love, joy and peace is in our midst. It is available here and now. It never makes the headlines and it is subversive in a culture that feeds on death and disaster.

It is a gospel of dependence on God, not of self-sufficiency. And it is a gospel of community. There are no lone rangers in the reign of God.

God is sending us like the seventy disciples to go out together, in prayer and in complete dependence on God to meet all our needs, as we proclaim peace to each person we meet and each place we go, as we proclaim the reign of God and invite others to join us in worshiping and serving the God who does not protect us but always sustains us, and opens our eyes to the reign of God happening right here, right now in our midst.

The reign of love, joy and peace always with us like an inner fountain from which we can bring up the water of life and share it with those who need God’s healing touch.

Which, of course, is all of us.

the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall