My physician once told me that he’d practiced medicine for 30 years; I asked him when he was gonna stop practicing! God-followers are expected to keep on practicing mercy and compassion, worship and spiritual growth. It’s difficult to weave together the lections for this weekend–if there is a thread, it’s a reminder of unwarranted grace and a direction to respond to this through public concern.
We begin with an old tale of the newly-released Hebrews encamped in the wilderness near Mt. Sinai (Exodus19:2-8a). Yahweh, through Moses, reminds Israel of their “eagles’ wings” salvation from the Egyptians–and promises that if they remain loyal to the Covenant, they “shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation”. (v.6) As all through scripture, Yahweh shows an initiating relationship, despite the Peoples’ faltering faith. There’s also an expectation that, once touched, the People will adhere to the unfolding covenant.
“Therefore”, says St. Paul, “since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand…” (Romans 5:1-2a) The result of our faith is Peace with God, whether as refugees in the wilderness or as comfortable middle-class folks with more money than sense! Paul continues to list the results of our predictable “sufferings” as we attempt to live in grace: endurance, character, hope… Hearers of these words will be comforted and strengthened, confident of God’s Peace despite the frustration of daily life in a coarse and profane culture.
Matthew remembers how Jesus “went about all the cities and villages,teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.” (9:35) Crowds upon crowds needing a dose of Divine Peace: and Jesus compassionately sent out the Twelve to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons. Successors of the Twelve are still sent to bring wholeness and renewed life, to overcome bias and banish the evils of greed and anger. (There’ve been times when this disciple has really desired to raise the devil and cast out the dead; but that’s a different story.)
One of the great symptoms of this post-Christian era is that abandonment of the wandering multitudes. Having tasted God’s Peace ourselves, our passing of the gift is often relegated to “Tomorrow”, if at all. The opening thought in all these readings is that God cares enough to make the first move; and that we who’ve received it are thus expected to live within our societies with an accordant sense of spreading the wealth.
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My thoughts about lectionary readings for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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