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Sermon - The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (A) - 15th June 2008
St Alban's Epping 7, 8 & 10am
Readings:Matthew 9:35-10:8
The events in Jesus life all happened a long time ago in a very different world to our own. Its like the beginning of the first Star Wars movie. “A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Because of that great length of time people change, cultures change and history charges on. So it can be difficult to pick up our Bible and plunge into the story and understand what is going on. And its particularly difficult with today’s reading.
It seems to be completely unrelated to what went on before it. It might have been better if chapter 9 finished at verse 34 and verse 35 began a whole new chapter. There is a break here and Matthew is setting off in a new direction. Verses 35 and 36 seem to be introductory statements for a new section of the gospel. With these words Matthew outlines the shape of Jesus ministry at this stage. Here we find Jesus travelling through northern Israel, visiting each town and preaching the message about the kingdom, or as Matthew describes it, he is preaching the gospel of the kingdom or the good news about the kingdom.
These people would have known all about the kingdom. These people were the descendents of Abraham. they knew from their infancy the story of Moses and his leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land. They would have known of the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the land of Israel. And then with the loss of that Kingdom they would have known of the prophecies of Daniel concerning the re-establishment of the kingdom, where the rule of God would be known and felt throughout the whole earth.
And so the time had come. Jesus began this mission to announced to Israel that the time of waiting and suffering had come to an end. The good news was that they were about to experience a whole new expression of the kingdom of God, a beginning of the fulfilment of the promises concerning the Kingdom. Jesus authority to preach this message is then demonstrated in his healing powers.
Notice how Matthew describes the healing. Every disease and every infirmity is cured. No doctor even today would claim a success rate like that. It’s a demonstration of extraordinary power. Its to indicate that something supernatural is happening. It shows that Jesus has the authority of heaven to preach his good news about the Kingdom but its also a picture of the kingdom itself. Here is Jesus reconstituting the people of God. It has creation overtones. Jesus, through his healing is reforming humanity – a new creation. And this new creation is part of the announcement of the kingdom.
The preaching and the healing go together. And together they form a stunning picture of Jesus as he goes through these towns. But there is a stark contrast between the preacher and those who are in his audience.
As Jesus looked at the crowds he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. This was Israel. This was God’s people. When we look at all the promises made by God to Israel, we realise that something is very wrong. These are the descendents of Abraham. God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. But that’s not what Jesus sees. God had sent Moses to his people in Egypt and had rescued them and led them into the wilderness and then on to the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Then God had raised up David and his son Solomon to rule over Israel and to bring peace to the nation. Solomon was so successful in making peace with all his neighbours that it produced a golden age in the life of the nation. And so we read in 1 Kings 4:25 that “Judah and Israel dwelt in safety, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.” It was a wonderful moment in time. Everyone lived in safety and peace. Each family enjoyed the fruits of the earth either from his vine or his fig tree. This was the fulfilment of the promise made to Israel through Moses to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey.
Sadly, it didn’t last very long. By the time of the prophet Micah it had become a distant memory. But Micah looked forward to a new day when the Kingdom of God would be re-established upon earth, and the peace of God would return. And so Micah penned those famous lines that are etched into the walls of the United Nations building in New York city. “And they shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” And in this context of peace he goes on to write, “but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid.”
But then we move forward 500 years to the Israel if Jesus’ day. And as he looked at the crowds he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, leaderless, and they knew no peace. And he had come to them to announce the good news of the kingdom of God and healing every disease and infirmity. The harvest was plentiful and there was a need for many labourers. The image of the harvest is often associated with the judgment of God. But the impression here is more the immanence of the crashing in of God’s kingdom and the need to quickly get the word out. So Jesus commissioned his twelve disciples to go out and announce the message of the Kingdom.
But notice that the announcement is to be handled at two levels. There is both preaching and healing. There is good news in the preaching that God will keep the promises he made in the past. But as well as that, there is a renewal in creation itself. The disciples are given authority over the unclean spirits with the purpose of casting them out. And they too are given authority to heal every disease and infirmity. Later on Jesus commands – “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. It’s a picture of the renewal of creation. The work of God is carried forward at two levels, one is spiritual, and the other is physical. It would not be enough just to announce good news to Israel.
Jesus’ message is not just the fact that God had not forgotten them, but that instead he was going to keep his promise and keep them as his people, enjoying all his blessings. Rather, there is also a physicality about it. All creation is caught up in the message. There is both a spiritual renewal and a physical renewal.
This is seen in the Incarnation itself. God did not sent a messenger this time. Rather this time God became flesh and appeared in human form. He performs his ministry and then he dies on a Cross. He enters into the full experience of all it means to be human including death itself. But then he goes one step further by rising again from the dead. This is something new. This human God has become the first of a new creation, a restored creation by rising from the dead. This is why Christianity is more than a message of love in a dark world. It’s a message of love to a world on the brink of being transformed into something entirely new.
Some people are comfortable with the spiritual side of Christianity. They like its teachings. They like its emphasis on love, and respect and liberation and freedom for all people. But they are not too keen on the miracles, on the resurrection. It looks too magical and mythological. But the message of the Bible it the message of a creator God who brought the creation into existence, a creation that relies upon God for the principles it functions by.
So it is inherent in the work of God that he has the authority over it, that as God calls people everywhere to himself in an act of reconciliation, that the creation itself will also be reconciled to God. What happened in this little mission to the northern villages of Israel is a picture of what God will do throughout all the earth. It includes the work of announcing the good news that God is calling people everywhere back to himself, the good news of reconciliation with God, that evil is defeated, that all may share in the love of God. But as well, it includes the promise of the restoration of the whole of creation.
The world as we experience it is subject to decay. Pollution levels are rising, the earth is warming, resources are running out. We see a creation in a state of exhaustion. But that is not the end of the story. Just as one bloodied and beaten man was taken down from the cross and buried in the place of the dead. Just as this same man was raised physically on the third day to new life. So we with all of creation will be transformed to enjoy God’s peace, God’s Kingdom in God’s new creation.