Proper 7, Year A
June 23, 2002
Christ Church, Covington

“So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:31)


Our Gospel reading this morning contains an account of what we might call “the first mission trip”. Jesus has just chosen the Twelve and given them their commission to cast out unclean spirits and to cure disease and sickness. He has sent them out, but not before giving them instructions and a strategy. They are to proclaim the coming of the kingdom, traveling lightly from place to place. Where they are welcomed they are to abide, but where no one will listen they are to knock the dust off their feet.

All this we heard about last week, but now Jesus picks up on the note of opposition and expands on the difficulties of the mission. There will be opposition to the mission and persecution of the disciples; as Jesus tells them, “you will be hated by all on account of my name” (Matt. 10:22). In fact, the disciples who carry out their mission will encounter the same opposition that Jesus received; “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (Matt. 10:25). Yet the disciples are not to be afraid, for those who acknowledge Jesus before others will be acknowledged by him in heaven.

The words of Jesus are addressed to the Twelve, but the Gospel writer Matthew intends for the Church to hear them; that is, he intends that Christians of his own time hear them, and also Christians in the future. The Church shares in Jesus’ mission; he is sent by the Father, and we are sent by him. In fact, Jesus is God’s mission to the world, and the Church is meant to share in that mission which Jesus himself is. In our reading today, it is the Good News of the coming of God’s kingdom which is proclaimed; in the time after the crucifixion it is the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection that is shared. In either case, the proclamation is made because the Church has a mission which comes to it from the Lord.

I think it is natural to see our own recently concluded mission trip in Honduras, and our work in Covington, in terms of this mission which Jesus has given us. Mission goes outside the bounds of the parish community; “mission” means “to go”. Whether the work is at our Habitat House, or in CEEP, or at Caritas (or any other of a number of things that might be mentioned, just this Summer), it is missionary work. We are privileged to share in it, because it is something which Jesus has given us, just as he has given us the Sacraments and the Lord’s Prayer. Mission work, at home or abroad, is the work we are given to do.

The other part of this reflection on mission is also supplied by Jesus in our Gospel. Jesus talks about fear even more than he talks about persecution itself; three times, in fact, he mentions fear, each time with a slightly different emphasis. First, fear is not to paralyze them and to keep them from their work, because fear will never be able to contain the Gospel or to keep it under wraps. Fear is a mighty motivator, but God in fact is much greater than any human fear.

Second, they are not to fear what will happen to them, but rather they are to fear the God to whom they are accountable. The “fear of God” is not much talked about today, yet Jesus’ words remind the Church of the great responsibility it has to share the Gospel. It’s not a matter of indifference. There are times and places when fear is very reasonable indeed, and a person is a fool not to be afraid. We might gloss this by saying that to fear God is to fear nothing else but the loss of him.

Third, the disciples are not to fear because they are of surpassing value to God. We ourselves are the fruit of God’s mission in sending us his Son. As Paul the Apostle wrote, we were “bought at a price”. The mission of the Church is an expression of God’s great love for us.

All of which we might keep in mind as we go about our mission. Fear is not to paralyze us, and make us forget our primary mission to go beyond ourselves. We are to fear only the loss of the God who has called us and made us sharers in the mission. Fear should not let us forget the love of God, who has called us to himself.

The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.

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