“One for the road”
Meditation – Monday, October 11, 2021 by Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Matthew 10:5-15 (Forward, p. 74) CEV p. 993
I always find it most interesting and informative what various travel or outdoor magazines suggest in terms of items to take in your travels or how to prepare. Featured frequently, especially when hiking or trekking, are all sorts of gadgets and tools, and frequently too, the curiously contrary admonition not to try to take too much.
Jesus, in today’s instructions to the Twelve, certainly seems to be of this mind. He tells the Twelve not to take along an extra shirt or sandals or walking stick, but less any money or traveling bags. They aren’t to spend a whole lot of time getting ready, and are to travel light, as befitting an urgent and pressing task. They are to rely simply on the hospitality and generosity of those that welcome them into their homes. Instead of fretting or concerning themselves with any of these practical measures, they are to simply focus on the task at hand, healing the sick and announcing the good news.
I would not suggest that this model is one we should adopt in all places and circumstances, for sometimes careful planning and calculations are most appropriate. However, there may well be times when the urgency of the task, and its immediacy, rule out such things. Sometimes we need to act and act right away. I think that sadly and unfortunately, on occasion, the writing of reports and the research required of them, can prove to be ways of putting off action in the hope that the need will be forgotten in the meantime. This, to my way of thinking, has often been the case with the need for evangelism within the mainline churches: too much planning and research and not enough action. I dare say that this has probably been true of other issues as well (it certainly has been the case among the various levels of government over the years). So, maybe we need to recapture that same sense of urgency, that sense of a need for immediate action, that Jesus sought to impart to these twelve disciples. Maybe we need to just get out there at times, be ‘on the road’ and do the necessary work. Amen.
Forward notes: “As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you” (verses 12-13).
“How good it feels to be at peace with yourself, with others, and with God. At the same time, you can only have peace with God if you truly seek it out. This peace comes from proclaiming the good news of Jesus, present in our own lives and in the world. Jesus commands us to proclaim that peace to the nations, with faith, hope, and love.
“Once we find and accept the abiding peace of Jesus, we cannot be the same as before because now we preach with our lives. We teach about Christ in a world that needs a shout of hope.
“I love who I am and what I do, which is nothing more than serving my neighbour and proclaiming the kingdom of God on earth. The day I lose who I am and what I proclaim will be the day I die.”
MOVING FORWARD: “As you encounter others today, say quietly to yourself, ‘The peace of the Lord be always with you.’ Reflect upon whether that practice changed your encounters with them.”
