3rd Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 6A

3rd Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 6A June 18, 2023 I want to share with you a mediation that I read this week that I’ve been contemplating. After I read it, I’ll share with you some questions to consider and another lens to look through. Sent by Steve Garnaas-Holmes Proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. —Matthew 10.7-8 You are given power and authority and sent, not to proselytize, not to enact “Christian” legislation, but to heal. In your workplace, in your community, in your family. How can you possibly do this? Because you are given power and authority. You are given love, which casts out fear— slowly, to be sure, but it does cast out fear. You won’t cast out all the demons of greed or racism, or cure the whole epidemic of loneliness or despair. But you will love, even one person at a time, and maybe your witness will move crowds. But remember you are an empty vessel; it is not your power but God’s. And though your vessel is small, that power is infinite. Go, then, and peace be with you. i. One of the questions I want you to consider today is where in your life, your world, your family, your work, are you being sent by Jesus to be a messenger of his healing? This week, I read an article from the Barna Research Group that was published this past May. According to their website, Barna’s goal is to “reveal the cultural and religious trends affecting your life everyday.” This article is titled Openness to Jesus Isn’t the Problem—the Church Is. (I know, right?! Ouch!!) Here’s the gist of the article: “When we asked Americans whether they have a positive or negative opinion of Jesus, seven in 10 (71%) say they view him positively…Beyond Jesus, when it comes to views of other Christian groups or entities, positive opinions wane. People of no faith are neutral or leaning negative [when it comes to how they view Christianity as a whole]…Among those of no faith, even Christian individuals are not viewed so favorably. Further, the data… shows why people may be reluctant to hold Christian beliefs, with the top reason today being ‘hypocrisy of religious people.’” According to the data, the biggest divergence in the perceptions around Christianity between Christians and non-Christians is found in three areas. 1. 48% of surveyed Christians say that Christianity is a faith that they respect. When non-religious people were asked if Christianity is a faith they respect, only 15% agreed. 2. When Christians were asked if they considered Christianity to be hypocritical, 23% answered they thought it was. Of the non-religious people, 49% said Christianity was hypocritical. 3. And finally, when Christians were asked if Christianity was judgmental, 22% said they thought it was. Of the non-religious, 48% thought that Christianity was judgmental. ii Wow, that’s depressing! Did y’all know this? Are y’all living with this reality already? What on earth are we supposed to do about this? I think we need to reflect on this again in light of the question I posed earlier: where in your life, your world, your family, your work, are you being sent by Jesus to be a messenger of his healing? Maybe the first healing we need to be attentive to is our own? I was at the gym the other day, and while I didn’t say anything or act on it, I sure was judging the two men I saw who did not wipe down their workout machines. I was judging them in my heart, and you know what else? I was judging their mamas, too! (Why? You can say it with me: “Because they must not have raised them right!”) I can say all day long that I’m not one of “those kind of Christians.” “It’s the evangelicals. They give us all a bad name!” But when I’m being really honest, I know that I am judgmental, that I am hypocritical. And just maybe I need to seek out Jesus’s healing for that in me before I get sent out to offer his healing out in the world? When we’re at our best, it’s what we do here. We gather, we pray, we confess, we receive pardon, we take in the body and blood of Jesus who heals us, and then we are sent out into the world to proclaim the good news of his healing and to be agents of his same healing, not through our own power or gifts or charisma, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, who is with us always. I invite you to think about that as I read the mediation one more time and close with your questions for reflection for this week. Sent by Steve Garnaas-Holmes Proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. —Matthew 10.7-8 You are given power and authority and sent, not to proselytize, not to enact “Christian” legislation, but to heal. In your workplace, in your community, in your family. How can you possibly do this? Because you are given power and authority. You are given love, which casts out fear— slowly, to be sure, but it does cast out fear. You won’t cast out all the demons of greed or racism, or cure the whole epidemic of loneliness or despair. But you will love, even one person at a time, and maybe your witness will move crowds. But remember you are an empty vessel; it is not your power but God’s. And though your vessel is small, that power is infinite. Go, then, and peace be with you. What do you need to ask Jesus for healing for this day in this place? Where in your life, your world, your family, your work, are you being sent by Jesus to be a messenger of his healing? i. https://unfoldinglight.net/2023/06/13/sent/ ii. https://www.barna.com/research/openness-to-jesus/