the first sending

Ite, missa est. Go, you are dismissed. Go, you are sent.

That is how the service of the Eucharist, commonly called the Mass, traditionally ended. 

Then the deacons got a hold of it, and recovered some of its original meaning. 

Not thank God that's over. Or go away! Go away!

But, go, you are sent.

As Jesus sent.

As Jesus sent forth his first disciples, this first time, in urgency, with a message that cannot wait.

A message they delivered barefoot or quickly shod, with nothing in their hands: just go!

And when they arrived, at one intermediate pony-express stop or another, they quickly moved to deliver their message, not with words only but with deeds. 

As Jesus himself had done where he found faith, they cured the sick, healed the lame, and cast out demons.

And where they and their message was well received, they stayed a little, and taught: what you see is this - the kingdom of heaven coming into being, right here in front of you. That is what is going on. 

So repent! Turn around. Turn toward the light of God that shines now from - of all places Nazareth.

And from this moment.

For God is at hand, and God's reign is at hand, and the world will not ever be the same.


***

Our reading today did not begin with this sense of urgency, agency, or success. Jesus shows them what to do when they fail. When they give the good news and it flops - when they are not welcome, their words are not heard, and their deeds are ignored. He goes on. And broadens the mission.

In the synagogue at Nazareth, a small but significant town, there was not a whole lot of acceptance of the message, the news, of this homegrown Messiah. They thought of him only as the carpenter's kid. What can he know?

And so it would be for his disciples, sometimes, when he sends us out. Sometimes we have spectacular results. Sometimes no one listens.

Don't be discouraged. Keep moving! Your message is too vital to quit now. 

And they went ... and we go ... and the message is proclaimed and the healing of the world begins.


But then - there are other people traveling light - with but little that they have in their hands. A staff, or no staff, sandals, or sneakers, or no shoes at all, a baseball cap with a meaningless logo, a plastic jug of water - hope, or fear - and one thing they carry with them always, each one of them, the image of God. 

People come north to Arizona for many reasons - fear of persecution or violence back home, hope to find work or a new life, love of family, and yes a few carry drugs for strangers - but all of these, even the gangsters' mules, carry with them, in them, on their face, that precious image. 

Remember Francis kissing the leper? He discarded his prejudice as extra baggage, and embraced the stranger as his brother. 

It is hard to do - this business of traveling light without extra gear, just what is needed for the mission. What we most need to give up will leave us lightened. 

It is not a matter of gear: it is a matter of Gospel.

What burden more happy to bear than the good news of Christ, the coming of the kingdom of mercy, of justice, where we walk humbly with God?

-- Ite, missa est --

And so we go, forth into God's good world, fortified for the journey with word and sacrament, two by two or many together - but nobody walks alone, for we walk with the Holy Spirit of God.


Sunday, July 8, 2018.
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
BProper 9
Track 1
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Psalm 48
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13 

A prophet is not without honor but in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house.

In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Thomas of Celano, First Life of Saint Francis. St. Francis of Assisi: First and Second Life of St. Francis, with selections from Treatise on the Miracles of Blessed Francis, by Thomas of Celano. Translated from the Latin, with introduction and footnotes by Placid Herman, O.F.M. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1963. Chapter IX, p. 22-23, and Chapter XII, p. 28-29.

David Miliband, "Stop demonizing refugees." The New York Times, Sunday, July 8, 2018. https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/NK_3666.html. accessed July 8, 2018.