The Rev. Robert Lundquist         IV after Pentecost     6/12/05      St Paul’s, Ft Collins

Matthew 9:35 – 10:15     - Online Text -

Jesus said to proclaim the Good News, “The Kingdom of heaven has come near!”

Has it really?  Do you believe it?  We’d better answer those questions if we’re going to proclaim it.  I believe the Kingdom of heaven comes near constantly, in many ways – it takes a mindfulness and perceptivity to realize.  I’d like to share some of those moments from my own experience with you, to offer a model of awareness to that nearness…

1)                   This past Monday I had lunch in a Denver restaurant.  The waiter recognized me – she had been a choir member at my previous church.  She said, “I know we usually don’t get this kind of feedback, so I wanted to tell you – you changed my life.  You prayed with me when you knew I was going through a rough time.  No one had ever prayed with me before.”  The Kingdom of heaven comes near when we’re made aware that we’ve had an impact on another’s life.

2)                   I officiated at a wedding on campus yesterday.  It turned out to be a beautiful day, and the service was wonderful.  It was the fulfillment of something that began about 6 weeks ago.  The bride- and groom-to-be live in Georgia – her parents live here in town.  I put the couple in touch with a local priest, the Rector of another St Paul’s.  Our Church requires at least one of any couple be baptized to be married in order for a priest to officiate, so I asked the standard question about baptism.  Turns out neither was baptized.  I encouraged them to ask the Rector there about it.  They were both baptized on Pentecost last month, and have been active in the church ever since!  The Kingdom of heaven comes near when we help folks enter the community of faith.

3)                   Our son Nathan is 19 now, but when he was 6 he made an interesting observation.  Pamela and I had always taught him that all people are children of God – no matter the color, or beliefs, near or far, all are children of God.  Perhaps it was logical curiosity, or maybe it was from observing peoples’ behavior:  one day, out of the blue, he asked, “Mommy, where are all the grown-ups of God?”  I think I know what he meant, but the clarity of an important question opens new understanding.  The Kingdom of heaven comes near when our religious assumptions are upended.

Where are the grown-ups of God?  A very good question.  Perhaps we look first to the disciples, named in this morning’s Gospel lesson.  The twelve are commissioned, and notice that they are listed two by two, just as the 70 will be sent out later by Jesus.  This is the first commissioning, and these are the tasks Jesus lays before them:

            Proclaim Good News

            Cure the sick

            Raise the dead

            Cleanse the lepers

            Cast out demons

                        and do so freely.

Can you do these things?  Have you tried?  You have been given authority, as a disciple of Jesus.  If you’re like me you start to get wobbly at about the third on the list.  Raise the dead??  We are resurrection people, seeing new life all around us.  Can you raise a dead faith in another, or raise new hope?  Cleansing the lepers, the outcast around us, put out of community for physical and social reasons – how might you restore the outcast?  Casting out demons – we may have a more modern comprehension of demons, seeing the need to work at the personal, the cultural and the political levels to exorcise demons today…

For today’s Gospel lesson conveys an urgency that we don’t always hear.  God calls you, God calls us in community.  The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few.  It is as if Jesus is saying, “Even I can’t do this by myself – I need your help.  There’s a lot of work to do, and I empower you do to it.”  The message is this:  You are needed!  You cannot sit back.  You are called to be a grown-up of God.

Suggestions for grown-ups:

1)                   Pray.  Pray for laborers for the harvest.  Pray for your brothers and sisters in ministry.  Pray for the lost sheep.  Pray for this community of St Paul’s.

2)                   Listen to you call – and respond.  Go!, says Jesus.  Do the work to which you are called.  Frederick Buechner, in Wishful Thinking: a theological ABC, writes to the effect that your unique ministry is where your deep joy meets the world’s deep need.  Ministry is not supposed to be a drag or a burden – God has so created each of us that there is a fulfilling and needed work to do.

I recently heard author Jim Wallis speak on a portion of his latest book, God’s Politics:  he spoke of an activist in the Washington DC area who was taken by cancer in her twenties.  She had said, “We often seem to wait be waiting for another Martin Luther King Jr.  But the truth is, we are the people we’ve been waiting for!”  Listen to God’s call, then respond.  Do the work.

       3)        Give.  It’s in your job description as a Christian, you know.  Take a look at page 856 in the Book of Common Prayer. 

                  Our son Nathan has been living at home for a year since high school graduation.  He’s had a succession of jobs, from working a coffee kiosk in a grocery store to delivering pizzas to waiting tables at Applebees.  He’s become very aware of tipping, and lately has strong opinions about it when we dine out.  He taught me something new – I’ve always been careful to figure out exactly 15%, rounding up when service is remarkable.  But Nathan says, “C’mon, Dad, throw in some more.  It’s a couple bucks to you, but it can make someone else’s day.”  I have a new relationship with my money.

These suggestions are all part of Stewardship.  What an odd, churchy word.  Think about it – we used to find stewards and stewardesses on airplanes, before they became flight attendants.  Few wine cellars are without a steward these days, but we rarely hear the word elsewhere.  The intriguing thing to realize is that Stewardship is the Christian lifestyle. 

Do you know the origins of the word?  It’s a contraction of the early English term “sty warden.”  In our agrarian past, in the days of the village commons, everyone’s flock was kept in the communal barn, or sty.  The most responsible member of the community was appointed the sty warden, to insure that the stable was clean and dry, and had fresh hay, food and water.  Otherwise everyone’s flock would sicken, affecting the family’s bottom line.  The sty-warden/steward was the trusted caretaker.

And so it remains.  You are a Steward of the Good News!  Don’t hoard it, don’t keep it to yourself.  Give the Good News freely, without payment.

Sisters and brothers, I urge you – Go, proclaim, “The Kingdom of heaven has come near!”  Grow up in Christ!  Pray, work and give for the spread of the Kingdom of Heaven.    AMEN.