Third Sunday after Pentecost – year A – Byron Tindall
Happy Fathers’ Day. Fathers’ Day in 1979 was June 17. On that day, The Rt. Rev. Ned Cole ordained me to the priesthood in Trinity Episcopal Church in Boonville, New York. That was 44 years ago for those who can’t do the math in their heads.
This Gospel lesson for today from the Gospel According to St. Matthew comes about midway in Jesus’s ministry, as evidenced by chapter 10, verses 5 through 7.
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”
Similar commands to the 12 closest followers of Jesus are recorded at Mark 1:15, when Jesus sent them forth telling them what to do, “and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’” Luke 9:2 records Jesus’s actions, “and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal….”
Who were “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”? Upon close reading of the synoptic gospels, it is evident that Jesus did a lot of work among these lost sheep. Apparently, Jesus cared deeply for them.
Writing in Volume Seven of The Interpreters’ Bible, Sherman E. Johnson, 1908-1993, who served as dean and president of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific from 1951 until 1972, said the lost sheep may have been the Amhaarez, or people of the land. Today, we might call them country folk. According to Johnson, they would have been “careless of the details of the law…” For that reason, the Pharisees regarded them with contempt.
It wasn’t that long ago, three weeks to be precise, that we celebrated the Day of Pentecost. If you happened to be at that service or watched it online, you heard a portion of the lesson from The Acts of the Apostles read simultaneously in several languages. We celebrated the fact that by that time, a portion of the known world, not just the Israelites, had heard of the good news of God in Christ.
The closing verses of Matthew’s Gospel are quite different from the instructions given to the apostles in chapter 10.
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
From, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel…” to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations….” is a drastic change. What brought about this about-face?
A little later in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 15, we find the exchange between a Canaanite woman and Jesus.
“Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”
Both Tyre and Sidon are Phoenician cities. Sidon is almost in Lebanon. What was Jesus doing in this area?
The Canaanite woman’s response to Jesus could almost be taken as blasphemy or at least cutting sarcasm. Certainly no one in his or her right mind would take that tone of voice with Jesus. Yet she did. And I think it was partially responsible for making a difference in Jesus’s outlook on his ministry.
I’m sure Jesus’s prayer life was also involved in the expanded vision of his ministry. He never forsook the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” but rather looked beyond the parochial borders of his Hebrew brothers and sisters to include anyone who would listen to him.
Now, what’s that got to do with us here at Holy Family in the 21st Century?
On page 855 of the Book of Common Prayer, we find the following in the Catechism.
“Q. Who are the ministers of the Church?
“A. The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.
“Q. What is the ministry of the laity?
“A. The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the church.”
Each and every one of us has a ministry to perform. There are no exceptions to this statement.
I was ordained to the diaconate on June 17, 1978, and this role has been my ministry and life ever since then.
I must confess that I’ve never stopped and considered whether or not God has another task for me. I probably should have done so many years ago.
What about you? Have you examined your call to your ministry, whatever shape that calling may take? Could God possibly have something else in mind for you?
What about Holy Family? Have we seriously examined our ministry since the launching of Cares and the Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center? Are we, as a church, being called to do something else for the “lost sheep of Pickens County and the City of Jasper”? I’m sure the Outreach Ministry of Holy Family is considering that question.
The distinct possibility is that the answer is “yes” to all of the above questions.