Read the Book

Sermon-9 Pentecost-Proper 12-July 25, 2010
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
How many of you are happy, satisfied with your prayer life? (raise your hands)
How many would like to have a better prayer life? (ok, again?)
Everyone wants a better prayer life. There are two questions, usually, that when asked, make Episcopalians curl up like a slug on salt: Do you know your Bible? And how is your prayer life?
Listen, the holiest man in Israel during Jesus’ time wasn’t Jesus-it was John the Baptist. People were always coming up to Jesus, or his disciples, and asking, “why aren’t you more like John?” Like today. Jesus’ disciples go up to Jesus while he’s praying and demand, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."In other words, “WHY CAN”T YOU BE MORE LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST-A GOOD PRAYER?”
So they ask Jesus, not for a prayer-but how to pray. And he gives them 42 words. 42. How often do you hear a prayer that you remember? You hear beautiful prayers, inspiring prayers, powerful prayers, long, long prayers-but how often do you hear prayers that you remember? The Lord’s Prayer that we repeat every week is from the Gospel of Matthew and is quite a bit longer than this one. Jesus teaches his disciples several things in how to pray. First, he teaches them. Keep it short.
In the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, there's a story about Macarius the Great (born c. 300), a former camel driver. One day someone asked him how to pray. "There is no need at all to make long discourses," he advised. "It is enough to stretch out one's hands and say, 'Lord, as you will, and as you know, have mercy.' And if the conflict grows fiercer say, 'Lord, help!' He knows very well what we need and he shows us his mercy."
Secondly, when Jesus teaches his friends how to pray he tells them, “start off by talking to God as if he’s a loving parent.” The word Jesus uses to begin this prayer is Abba. The closest word we have to that is “daddy.” Father, Jesus begins. When you are praying, talk to God as if God is a loving parent-very near, very accessible,
So, make it short, make it intimate. Then he tells them-make it simple:
There is a wonderful story about Mother Teresa and a famous ethicist who came to work at her house of the dying in Calcutta, at a time when he was seeking a clear answer to how best to spend the rest of his life. She asked him what she could do for him, and he asked her to pray for him. She said, "What do you want me to pray for?" And he said, "Pray that I have clarity." She replied, "No, I will not do that – clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of." The ethicist observed that Mother Teresa always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, but she laughed and said, "I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God." (from Kate Huey)
Make it short, make it intimate, keep it simple, and make it from the heart.
Jesus says, ask for your daily needs, ask for forgiveness, pray to be protected.
Anne Lamott writes in Traveling Mercies that our two best prayers are, "help me, help me, help me" and "thank you, thank you, thank you" (p. 82).
Make it short, make it intimate, keep it simple, make it from the heart.
And then Jesus gives them a couple of bonuses. Two more pieces of advice from parables. Don’t be passive in your prayers: Ask, search, knock. Tell God what you need, don’t wait, don’t hold back. Tell God what you need, don’t be passive. Tell God what you need. Don’t wait, don’t be passive. (Got it, yet?) Do you remember what we say before the Lord’s Prayer, “And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say,”
And finally, Jesus tells them, BE PERSISTENT. Only persistence is a bad translation of the word. A better translation than persistent is, “shameless”. BE SHAMELESS in asking God for what you need. Grovel, lose your dignity, plead-and keep begging. BE SHAMELESS when praying to God. Go to God as if she is your mom and you are afraid she will forget, pray to God as if he is your dad and you want him to know something that is very important to you.
Ok, how do you feel about your prayer life? Inadequate, lacking, INEFFECTIVE? Want some advice? Make it short, make it intimate, keep it simple, make it from the heart, be bold, be shameless. And pray. A lot.
Don’t worry about the length, the height, the depth of your prayers. Don’t worry about your language, your faith, how beautiful they are. Don’t worry that your prayers may not be good enough, holy enough. Jesus wasn’t considered holy enough either.
One last story. When our son Kyle was about 11, he had a book review due in two days. Kyle was very smart but he wasn't always a good or "prepared" student. So I was somehwat surprized one night when a friend of his called up to ask Kyle about the book report. We only had one phone so I heard all of Kyle's side of the the conversation. The friend kept explaining to Kyle how he hadn't read the book and wouldn't have the report done in time-and how much trouble would he be in. Kyle answered, "Read the book." The friend explained that he was a slow reader and he hadn't even started yet, and Kyle replied, "Read the book." The friend went on and on trying to get Kyle to understand that it was just too hard for him, he was inadequate, and that he would never get the report done. And Kyle grew increasingly exasperated with his friend, and Finally just exploded at him, "IF YOU HAD STARTED READING THE BOOK INSTEAD OF CALLING ME YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN FINISHED BY NOW!"
It does not matter if you are a lousy prayer, if you don't know the right words, if you have a poor faith, if you are unworthy, inadequate, ineffective. Jesus was not considered a great prayer, and yet we all say his prayer every week. Make it short, make it intimate, keep it simple, make it from the heart, be bold, be shameless. And pray. A lot. Or, if you have trouble remembering all that just remember this, Read the book.

We Need To Know Why

Sermon-8 Pentecost-Proper 11-July 18, 2010
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today’s gospel is really scary. I am amazed that the church left it in the Bible. Jesus comes to the home of his friends, Martha and Mary. Martha, a wonderful symbol of hospitality, receives Jesus into their home. Then she goes in to cook and clean and make a good welcome for him. Mary, her no-good, worthless, do nothing sister, simply sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to him. And Jesus has the audacity to praise Mary??? "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
Why is this a scary story? What if Virg stopped all of her work all of a sudden, decided to sit down and just pray? What if Morris said, “you know, the church doesn’t really need those repairs, I think I’ll just go on retreat for a couple of months? What if you came to church and the only sign up in the parish hall was to sit and listen? What if we discouraged people from doing anything. What if a visitor came to Trinity and we persuaded them to sit over there in the pew and just be quiet, don’t do anything, don’t try to help. Just pray, listen, be quiet. What if we told people, please choose the better part-don’t do anything? This is a frightening thought.
The former presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Frank T. Griswold, preached a sermon several years ago, telling the story of his going on a weeklong retreat. But nothing happened. He didn’t hear God. At all. He got bored at the monastery where he was at on retreat, so he went walking around the neighborhood. He saw a soup kitchen and went in, but no one knew him, so they ignored him. THIS WAS THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH! The BIG CHEESE. So he went up and offered to help feed people, and they told him to go sit down and wait, that his food would be ready in a minute. They thought he was a client! A homeless guy. The next day he went back and told them who he was, and there was STILL nothing for him to do. He said he was never so happy as when they let him wash dishes, because he finally had something to do-a purpose!
This is a terrible gospel reading. I read today’s gospel, and I keep thinking, Jesus, was clearly confused-how could he possibly be praising MARY? Martha was the good one. What if in every church throughout the land all the outreach, all the fellowship, all the social, all the committees, all the youth and children’s programs all stopped immediately, as we sat around and just waited, listened, learned? "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
Right about now, all of you who work hard, doing things around here are thinking, “hmm, this doesn’t sound so bad-maybe we should…”.
I read a sermon by Dr. Tom Long the Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, that helped me understand this gospel so much better than I ever have before.
First, let me tell you another story. I was serving in a small church in the Upper Peninsula many years ago, and one fall we were the host church for the city wide ecumenical service. All the other churches in town came to our church for joint worship. So I’m leading the service and I look out, and there isn’t one of our parishioners in the congregation. Not one. I was mortified. So, after the service the women of our church put on a luncheon in the parish hall-and there were all the church members-helping prepare and serve the food. They put on a great reception, but I was angry and hurt. I went up to them afterwards and asked why none of them had attended the worship service-and the answer was, “because they had to get the luncheon ready.” And I said, “but you had the whole town in our church for worship- and not one of our members was present.” And they told me that I had my job, and they had theirs. Every time I hear this gospel I think of that story. And that’s why Tom Long’s insight helped me understand. This is what Long wrote:
Years ago I served as part of an advisory group to the chaplains at a major university. Our job was to meet, to listen to reports from the chaplains about their work, and to offer support and counsel. One year, we had heard the reports of the chaplains, and we were asking them questions. An older member of the council asked the chaplains, "What are the university students like, morally these days?" The chaplains looked at each other, wondering how to answer that question. Finally one of them took a stab at it. "Well," she said, "I think you'd be basically pleased. The students are pretty ambitious in terms of their careers, but that's not all they are. A lot of them tutor kids after school. Some work in a night shelter and in a soup kitchen for the homeless. Last week a group of students protested apartheid in South Africa....." As she talked, the Jewish chaplain who was listening to her began to smile. The more she talked, the bigger he grinned, until finally it became distracting. "Am I saying something funny?" she said to the Jewish chaplain. "No, no, I'm sorry," he replied. "I was just sitting here thinking. You are saying that the university students are good people, and you're right. And you're saying that they are involved in good social causes, and they are. But what I was thinking is that the one thing they lack is a vision of salvation." We all looked at the Jewish university chaplain. "No, it's true," he said. "If you do not have some vision of what God is doing to repair the whole creation, you can't get up every day and work in a soup kitchen. It finally beats you down.
Do you really think Jesus was telling Martha that hospitality was bad? Do you really think Jesus was saying that serving people was ungodly?
Every week I keep reminding you the key verse this summer. Jesus is in Galilee (tired of this yet?) and “he set his face to go to Jerusalem”. Why do you think I keep pounding away on this verse? Because Jesus is focused so strongly on what he has to do, on who he has to be. Setting your face towards Jerusalem, means Jesus has a goal-and he is single minded in his direction. But even more it means that Jesus is so clear on why he is going to Jerusalem. This is from Tom Long, again:
“Martha, preparing that meal of hospitality, is doing a good thing--a necessary thing--an act of service--but if we try to do this kind of service apart from the life-giving Word of the gospel, apart from the vision that comes only from God, it will distract us and finally wear us down. Mary has chosen to listen to the Word. Jesus, the living Word, is present, right in her house, and if she is going to love God and love neighbor, if she is going to show hospitality to the stranger and care for the lost, then everything depends on hearing and trusting that word.”
In other words, what if we are doing good, but never really knowing why? What if we are so busy doing the right thing, the good thing, that we forget why we’re doing-at all? What if we are so busy that we can’t remember why we are doing good works, showing hospitality, trying to do the right thing?
This makes sense to me. There have been times in my life when I was working so hard to accomplish something, being single minded, focused, and one day I woke up and thought, “wait a second, why am I doing this?”
I think Mary sat down with Jesus to learn why she should do what she was called to do. She wanted to understand why he was going to Jerusalem-and what this meant for her life. I think Mary wanted to have a life that was more than just doing good deeds-she wanted to know why her life mattered at all. In other words, Mary was being praised for wanting “a vision of salvation”.
I have served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Club. I have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited those in prison, and mentored children. And so have many of you. But one thing I have learned, is that if I don’t have a bigger picture, don’t understand the purpose for all this, don’t know why I’m doing these things, eventually I lose my commitment, my direction, my passion. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet to understand what her life is supposed to be about. She wasn’t a slacker, she wasn’t even the better sister. She just realized that she had to know what her purpose was, what her life was supposed to be, before she could be a servant like Martha. That’s why we sit and listen. That’s why we come to church, first, before putting on the luncheon. We need to know why, we need to know what it all means. And when we understand who we are and why we are, what is the vision for salvation- then we truly serve. ."If you do not have some vision of what God is doing to repair the whole creation, you can't get up every day and work in a soup kitchen. It finally beats you down."

I Want A Story With Me In It

Sermon-7 Pentecost-Proper 10-July 11, 2010
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
A man was once on a train going through the Alps for the first time. He sat staring out the window, transfixed by the glorious, white- peaked mountain view. He noticed a man sitting near him reading a detective novel. “How can you read with this view out the window?” In a bored voice the man replied, “I’ve taken this trip so often I have seen it all many times before.”
That’s how this story usually is for us-we’ve “seen it all many times before”, we don’t even look out the window. It’s known as_________, the parable of “the good Samaritan.” Even people who know nothing about Jesus, know this story. In a lot of cities in America there are hospitals named “Good Samaritan”. There’s the Good Sam Club. There are even "Good Samaritan Laws" in many states which are in place to protect those who serve or tend those who are ill. The intention of these laws is to reduce the hesitation of those who might seek to help one who is sick or injured, but is concerned with lawsuits or prosecution for unintentional injuries or deaths. It is so much a part of our culture-everyone knows that the good Samaritan is the epitome of helping others, right? One writer however, wrote, “there is still some blood left in this turnip.”
Let me see if I can give you a few new twists and turns in this story to make you look out the window. First, the gospel of Luke is the only gospel to have this story. In Mark, a scribe inquires, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ (Mark 12:28-34). In Matthew’s gospel, a lawyer/Pharisee asks Jesus, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ In Luke it’s a lawyer asking, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Usually the lawyer is portrayed as being either trying to trap Jesus or validate (justify) himself. That’s usually how we describe this man. But a minority opinion is that this man was sincere. He knew the law, he knew his scriptures, and he just wanted to be the right guy.
So, after some preliminary explanations, Jesus uses a parable. Parents, do you ever remember these words? Just before bedtime, the young child turns to you and says, "Tell me a story." "What kind of story would you like to hear?" we ask. "One with me in it", she replies.
And so, Jesus tells this story. First, “We are told that a "certain man" went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. The identity of the man is withheld, being nonessential. However, in all probability he was a Jew. Jericho was about 800 feet below sea level and Jerusalem was about 2, 500 feet above it; hence, Jericho was about 3, 300 feet lower than Jerusalem. The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho was (only) about seventeen miles, and because of its history with bandits and outlaws, it was known as "The Way of Blood." It was a steep hot drop of ¾ of a mile, a narrow treacherous road, with drop offs and dangerous caves on either side.
Now, as you listen to the story everyone is identified not by a name-but by a title-even the “lawyer” who comes to Jesus. There is the priest and the Levite. In 1st century Israel, there were lots of stories with priests and Levites-it was like saying “a big businessman, a politician, and a wall street trader walked into a bar”. It would have been no surprise to those listening that they walked by the man in the ditch. These were the guys traditionally too busy to see “the little people”. Everyone would have expected that. These were “categories” stereotypes-not real people. The twist in the story was “the Samaritan”. This was a different kind of category. This would have made all those listening, angry. Let me remind you of something.
I have been telling you the last few weeks that there was a key phrase that Luke the gospel write uses to describe Jesus’ trip from Galilee. Do you remember? Luke 9:51- “Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.” And do you remember what happened in the very next verse after that? 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they(the Samaritans) did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them (the Samaritans)?’*
That’s what Jews thought of Samaritans-those are the people that you call down fire from heaven on! Jesus used a category in this parable that would have shocked everyone listening. And in this story the evil Samaritan, is not only the one who is “different”-he is extraordinarily kind. The question is, “why”? Why would this man who was seen as essentially less than human, be portrayed as the best?
There is a great story from many years ago. “A famous experiment was conducted with seminary students. Researchers gathered a group of ministry students in a classroom and told them that each of them had an assignment. Their assignment was to record a talk about the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The thing was, the recordings were going to be done in a building on the other side of the campus, and because of a tight schedule, they needed to hurry to that building. Unbeknownst to the students, on the path to the other building the researchers had planted an actor to play the part of a man in distress, slumped in an alley, coughing and suffering. The students were going to make a presentation about the Good Samaritan. But what would happen, the researchers wondered, when they actually encountered a man in need? Almost all of them rushed past the hurting man. One student even stepped over the man's body as he hurried to teach about the Parable of the Good Samaritan!
Robert Wuthnow, a professor at Princeton University, once conducted some research about why some people are generous and compassionate, while others are not. He found out that for many compassionate people something had happened to them that impacted them greatly-and that they remembered [it].. Someone had acted with compassion toward them at a critical point , and this experience had transformed their lives.”
The story of the Good Samaritan was just that- a story, but Jesus was trying to show the young lawyer something about compassion, about eternal life. He was trying to get him to understand the two laws that the young man hung all the law upon-loving God, and loving his neighbor. The crucial part of the story was the question, “' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor”. Which of these three “categories” saw the man in the ditch as “human”? Which of these 3 people actually remembered a time when he , too, had been abandoned, stripped of dignity, left alone and hurting? Which of these 3 people remembered a time when he, also, was left for dead and needed saving? The Samaritan remembered a time when he had been dying in a ditch beside the road. And so he reached out to another, also.
And so Jesus asks the young lawyer, not about categories of people, but about the actions of people. (remember the young man asked “What must I do, to inherit eternal life?)” ' Which of these three, was a neighbor to the man …?’ And the lawyer replied "The one who showed him mercy." The one who remembered a time when compassion had been shown him. That’s the key. We will reach out, we will go beyond categories/stereotypes of people, we will become compassionate, when we remember that that is a person that we are seeing, when we recall a time when we were like them. One last story.
In the winter of 2006, in New York City. An African-American construction worker named Wesley Autrey was standing on a subway platform with his two young daughters, ages four and six, waiting on a train. Suddenly another man, a white man, on the platform, apparently suffering from a seizure, stumbled and fell off the platform down onto the subway tracks. Just at that moment the headlights of a rapidly approaching train appeared in the subway tunnel. Acting quickly, Autrey jumped down onto the tracks to rescue the stricken man by dragging him out of the way of the train. But he the train was coming too fast and there wasn't time to pull the man off the tracks. So Autrey pressed the man into the hollowed-out space between the rails and spread his own body over him to protect him as the train passed over the two of them. The train cleared Wesley by mere inches, close enough to leave grease marks on his knit cap. Immediately, Wesley Autrey became a national hero. People were deeply moved by his selflessness, and bravery. "The Subway Superman"-that's what the press called him, the "Harlem Hero." But the headline in one newspaper described Wesley Autrey. It read, "Good Samaritan Saves Man on Subway Tracks." The best part of the story is what Autrey did after the train rolled over him-
When the train came to a halt, Wesley called up to the frightened onlookers on the platform from under the train. "There are two little girls up there. Let them know their Daddy is OK."
Today’s gospel is an old old familiar story. The key is when we don’t see a category, but we remember a time when we were that person that we see, when we remember that we were in need, when we were hurting, when we felt like we were left alone, in the ditch, when we were the person we are looking at. As Jesus ends the story to the young lawyer he doesn’t tell him to become a Samaritan, or to change his category or his stereotypes of others.. He tells him to go out and be compassionate. This is how this story ends: "Go and do likewise."
"What kind of story would you like to hear?" we are asked. "One with me in it",

Eat What Is Set Before You

Sermon-6 Pentecost-Proper 9-July 4, 2010
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I told you last week that the key to the next several weeks will be this phrase, “Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. “ This week, Jesus sends out 70 followers to each town on the road ahead of him. He sends them out in pairs and tells them to take no extra clothes; no money; and talk to no one who will sidetrack you on the way. He tells them that they are to find a home that will take them in; eat whatever they give you; and that they will be rejected by many. And always they are to tell folks that God has come near them, and is with them.
Think that would be hard?
Marilyn Salmon, Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in St. Paul, MN, writes this: Jesus has "set his face to go to Jerusalem," and he told fellow-travelers that the journey requires their single-minded purpose (9:51-62). Jesus sends seventy ahead of him and prepares them for what lies ahead. The laborers are few and the risks are great. Jesus sends them in pairs with no provisions for the journey. No conversing with those they meet on the road. They will depend on the hospitality of strangers.
Then in her class she asks her seminary students, which of these would have been the most challenging for them?
“not taking any money even for emergencies,
no change of clothes,
no food,
depending on strangers for food and lodging,
not being able to choose one's traveling partner,
being rejected by people who did not accept the message.
Which would be the hardest for you? If you were one of the 70, which would be the most difficult-for you to live with?
Salmon goes on to write: “But one student who had not spoken in class previously said, "Eat what is set before you." (verse 8) Silence, then a bit of nervous laughter followed. He repeated, emphatically, "Eat what is set before you," conveying by his tone that he was serious. When I invited him to elaborate, he told us that his father had been a pastor in a rural, very poor area in South Dakota. The family was often invited for dinner by parishioners, most of them farmers. He recalled that he and his siblings were admonished to eat whatever was served. I supposed that he referred to a child's finicky tastes or disdain for green vegetables. But he went on to say that people on remote farms often relied on whatever they could kill or catch nearby for food, even for company. He added, "We just never knew what we would have to eat."
You never know what you are going to have to eat.
There are many many stories in the gospel of Luke about Jesus eating (See 5:29ff; 7:36ff; 10:36ff; 11:37ff; 14:1ff). In theological circles it’s called “table fellowship”. Jesus is either on his way to someone’s house for dinner, eating with them, or leaving dinner. One thing we never talk about-Jesus never reciprocates. There is not one meal in the gospel where Jesus is the host, where he provides the food, sends out the invitations, washes the dishes. Jesus was always dependent on the kindness of strangers. Did that ever strike you? And in this morning’s story, he tells the 70 followers to do the same-be utterly, radically reliant on whatever someone gives you. Can you imagine being that “needy”. Everything in us screams self-reliance, independence, taking care of ourselves, and here is Jesus telling his disciples depend completely and totally-on others. It’s a matter of trust-and it’s a lot of faith that others will take care of you. Can you imagine walking in to a town and asking people to feed you, clothe you, support you, house you? Can you picture that kind of dependence? We never talk about this, but isn’t that what Jesus is saying? Can you see yourself doing something like that? Can you see yourself being that vulnerable, that open, that exposed? In all the ways that we talk about being disciples of Jesus we NEVER talk about being this helpless, this weak.
And yet here is Jesus telling his followers. Wait, and let others take care of you. Recently I flipped on Jeopardy for about 30 seconds and it was at the beginning of the show, Alex Trebek was interviewing the contestants and the first one was a woman who worked with the elderly. ‘”What’s the hardest thing they encounter?” Trebek asked her. She replied “Being dependent on others.”
We/I talk about the spreading the gospel every week and even when I am not preaching, but this insight is new to me. We often talk about the bravery of the disciples, the courage of going out and sharing good news in hostile environments, the difficulty of speaking truth to power, and being strong and bold. But here is Jesus telling them-wait, accept, be defenseless, take whatever people give you-let yourself be taken care of. Does this sound hard? To me it sounds, excruciating. What do we talk about all the time? Being in control of our lives, and here Jesus is saying, “eat whatever they set before you.” Be out of control, be powerless, be helpless.
When the disciples went out to bring the kingdom of God near to people, they accepted whatever was given to them-and were told to do two things-cure the sick, and tell people that the kingdom of God had come near them. It says that they came back in joy because of all the authority that they felt. And Jesus chastises them because they didn’t give the glory to God. They went out powerless, they came back powerful-and Jesus says, “this is NOT how to be a disciple!” Learn what being a follower means-it is about God, not how strong WE are.
Most people know that at age 19 young Mormon men are invited to go out for two years into the “mission field”. They receive 3-8 weeks of training, are paired with someone that they do not know, and are sent to evangelize somewhere in the world. They have to follow a strict set of rules:
Arise at 6:30 a.m. and go to bed at 10:30 p.m.
Stay with your assigned companion (another missionary)
Do not date or be alone with members of the opposite sex
Do not participate in certain dangerous activities (e.g., water sports, winter sports, motorcycling)
Do not watch television or use the Internet (except to write e-mails to family members)
They have to write home every week
They get to call home twice a year-Mother’s Day and Christmas
They have to do a minimum of 10 hours of community service every month
There are 167 rules for these young men. 167. Here is what one commentator writes: “As you read these rules you will likely get the impression that being a missionary isn't a pleasant thing to be. If you do get that impression, you are right.” This site (The Unauthorized Investigator's Guide to The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints) (writer) goes on:
“You are assigned an area in which you are to proselyte and a companion who will be your shadow 24-7 for the next 2 or 3 months. You see your apartment for the first time, and it is a dump. You feel extraordinarily home sick.
You spend the rest of the 2 years trying to find people to teach, trying to get the ones who listen to you to commit to baptism, and trying to integrate those people into the church. Few people want to talk to you. Those who want to talk to you are more interested in converting you to their views than converting to your views.
You rotate companions every 2 or 3 months and (mission) areas every 4 to 6 months. You don't know the details of exactly when, to where and with whom you will be transferred until a couple of days before it happens.
You like some of your companions, and struggle to merely tolerate others. You find a few friends among the local members who feed you good meals and build you up. But most of your life is drudgery as you try to confine all of your thoughts and actions to the minute details in the rule book.”

Does this sound wonderful? Powerful? Inspiring? Jesus sends these 35 pairs out and invites them to be powerless-and to depend completely on others. How frightening that had to be. What does he want them to learn? How hard it is? I think he wants to show them that the good news depends completely on others. I think he wants them to learn that the kingdom of God is a fragile thing, that you can share but not force on people. I think Jesus wants his disciples to learn what he already knows, that to be a witness of the good news makes you utterly, completely vulnerable and at risk. It is not a position of power, it is not a ministry of command, it is not a witness of strength. When the disciples return they want to talk about how strong they feel because of all that they have accomplished, and Jesus says, “no, you don’t get it-it’s about God-not us.”
Here is how Marilyn Salmon ends her article: “Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and he invites us to walk with him. His words here speak to every generation of Christian disciples and inspire a sense of urgency about bringing God's realm near.”
“Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us (not God, but us)!”
Jesus sends out disciples to learn what His life is like-it’s not about power and authority and strength. It’s about people allowing you to come in, it’s about people opening themselves up to you, it’s about our willingness to be dependent on others. Servanthood, Jesus tells them, isn’t about control-it’s about giving up control, and power. The good news is spread not with authority, but with sacrifice. It’s about eating what is set before you. Amen.