The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday after Pentecost – June 18, 2017

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday after Pentecost – June 18, 2017 June 8, 2017

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday after Pentecost – June 18, 2017

Genesis 18:1-15, Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19, Romans 5:1-8, Matthew 9:35-10:8

This Sunday’s readings connect hospitality, healing, and mission. They ask us and our congregationts to expect surprises when we align ourselves with God’s vision for our lives.
In the encounter of Abraham and Sarah with three divine messengers, and perhaps the divine itself, hospitality leads to unexpected new life. God appears in the guise of three visitors. Are these the three persons of the Holy Trinity? Are they angelic emissaries? In any event, Abraham and Sarah set the table for them, and treat these strangers as if they are honored guests. Out of that strange encounters comes an amazing forecast, Sarah, long past menopause, will give birth to a child. She is appropriately amazed and scandalized by the thought. Yet, God’s promises are sure and certain, and within the year, Abraham and Sarah are parents.

New life bursting forth from hospitality. When we entertain unexpected guests, our personal and congregational lives are transformed. Moribund churches experience the breath of new life. The encounter of Abraham and Sarah begs the question: What outsiders do we need to welcome in our congregations? What acts of hospitality will transform our congregation, giving it new life, when the future seemed dim?

Psalm 116 continues the spirit of hospitality, asking “what gift can I return to God for all the blessings I’ve experienced?” Abraham and Sarah welcomed the divine and were blessed. Perhaps they remembered the kindnesses they had experienced as strangers. Their hospitality was simply saying “thank you” for the gifts they’d received over the years. We, too, need to ask that question. We, who are blessed, need to bless God and bless others. Loving others and God fit together. We love Creator when we love God’s creatures. Our generosity, I believe, enriches God’s experiences and enables God to be active in the world. By doing something beautiful for God, we contribute to God’s reign of beauty. God is not aloof and distant, unaffected by the world. God is the most moved mover, who receives every good gifts and uses our gifts as part of God’s redemptive activity. (For more on this vision of a relational God, see Bruce Epperly, “Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God” and “Process Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed.”)

Romans 5 describes God’s amazing grace. While we were yet sinners, God sacrificed for our well-being. Salvation is not something we earn, but a gift we receive. God loves us before we can earn God’s love. For Paul, grace is amazing, and far more than we ever deserve, and all we can do is say “yes” and let it flow from us to others. Paul is not looking for trouble, but he recognizes that the experience of grace enables us to face the challenges of life, and even difficult situations, knowing that we are in God’s hands, and nothing in death and life can separate us from the love of God.

Matthew portrays Jesus as a healer and good preacher who commissions his followers to the same vocation. The twelve are to be Jesus emissaries of grace, first to the Jewish people. The initial exclusion of the Samaritans and Gentiles is not a concession to racism or xenophobia, but a charge to begin where we are. The message of the gospel will eventually go global, but it must start with people who will be initially most receptive and to whom the first followers of Jesus can share their message. While the world is our parish, as Wesley says, most congregations need to start mission and outreach programs where they are, in their neighborhoods and among their peers, both socially and geographically. This passage begs the questions: Are we ministering in our neighborhood or do we isolate ourselves from our most immediate neighbors? Do we take advantage of the culture in which we live in finding common ground for our message of creative transformation and healing? While we should not restrict our mission to “people like us,” it is a terrible oversight not to respond to the needs of those with whom we have much in common.

The first followers of Jesus are given a “great” commission, in fact, tasks well beyond their – our – abilities, left to our own devises, to restore life, to cure the sick, to challenge the demonic, and to share good news of God’s presence. This task may well beyond our abilities, but when we reach out, we should expect to claim our place as God’s healers, teachers, guides, and justice-seekers. We are always asked to do more than we think we can do, but God gives us the energy to do great things.

This Sunday’s readings awaken us to the life-transforming power of hospitality and faith. When we welcome God’s messengers into our lives, grace will abound, people will be healed, and congregations will flourish.


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