Offer Peace, then Serve, then Proclaim the Kingdom
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Lectionary: 102
We are sent to offer peace, to cure the sick, and to proclaim the Kingdom.
Consider again with me the essentials of today’s Gospel –
Jesus sends seventy-two disciples. Not only the twelve we call apostles, but seventy-two disciples. The mission is not only for a few super-disciples. He sends them in pairs, because it is a mission to be fulfilled in community, not in isolation.
Jesus sends his disciples to the towns where he would go. We know of only two times Jesus leaves Israel. The first is as a child when the Holy Family flees into Egypt to escape Herod’s politically-motivated infanticide. The second is during his ministry when he goes up to Tyre (Mk 7/Mt 15). In Tyre, Jesus ministers to the gentile woman who is both humble and witty as she says she may be a gentile dog, but even dogs get to eat scraps under the table. Interestingly, that region of Tyre should have been part of Israel, but Asher didn’t defeat the enemies there (Joshua 19:29, Judges 1:31), and that tribe was eventually consumed by the Canaanites. So, Jesus sends his disciples to their neighbors and kinspeople.
Jesus instructs them to pray even before they start their mission. They begin by asking for and expressing trust in God. They acknowledge that God is Lord of the Harvest, and they are only workers in the field.
Jesus sends them equipped only with an offering of peace and faith in God. They are dependent entirely upon the hospitality of the people they meet. They are not invaders in a strange land. They are going to visit their cousins and neighbors. Later, Jesus will send his disciples to all the world with instructions to bring traveling clothes, money, and a sword for self-defense – but not this time.
Jesus sends them to offer peace, to cure the sick, and to proclaim the Kingdom of God – in that order. Offer peace, then serve, then proclaim the Kingdom. This mission is our mission. We are sent in the same way, to do and say the same things.
A few of you may be sent to foreign lands or to the peripheries. For most of us, our first mission field is our family, and our second is our neighbors. And who is our neighbor? Everyone we encounter, right? This includes, and perhaps especially so, our friends and family who, like the tribe of Asher, have fallen and no longer struggle to rise again. It includes those who are only Christians on Sunday, or who show up at Mass in body, but not in spirit, or perhaps have found reasons or excuses not to show up at all.
We are all sent, and we are all sent together. Not only those ordained. Not only those especially well prepared because they are the smartest, most attractive, wealthiest, most educated, most holy, or most outgoing and articulate. All of us.
And we are instructed to pray and trust God. This is God’s mission. God will provide what is necessary for us and within us. God is Lord of the Harvest; we are only working in the fields. The success of the mission is not in our hands, except in as much as we do or do not obey our calling to go, proclaim peace, cure the sick, and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. Like Saint Theresa of Calcutt, we are not called to success, but faithfulness. Success and fruitfulness is a gift from God. Some plant the seed, others water, and some chop weeds, but God gives the increase.
We are sent to offer peace, to cure the sick, and to proclaim the Kingdom.
There can be a temptation to charge in and confront evil in the world. And there is evil. And it should be confronted. But, many times – indeed, most of the time, it is best confronted with an offer of peace.
I think this is especially true in Texas. If we come in with guns blazing, we’ll be met with a hail of gunfire in return. It doesn’t matter how right someone is – if they try to force it upon us, we’ll rebel. This is part of the heritage of the United States, and of Texas. I don’t think it is one of our better qualities, honestly. I think that perhaps our nation would be a better nation if we embraced America the Beautiful, with its diverse natural and human beauties crowned by God with unity, rather than the Stars and Stripes flying high in the rockets’ red glare. I think Texas would be a better place if we chose to set aside some of our “Don’t tread on me” attitude, and embrace our deepest roots as “Texas – the friendly state.”
Whatever you may think about patriotic songs or state mottos, there is no question that Jesus sends us to offer peace. We do not open our conversation with either condemnation or apologetics on our lips or in our hearts. We do not force compliance from a position of power or authority. We offer peace to our neighbors.
Having offered peace, we serve the physically, emotionally, financially, and mentally ill. Then, continuing to proclaim peace, and consistently serving the needy, we can proclaim the Kingdom of God. This is the right order Jesus established. And that is because this is the stuff that works, as Deacon LeRoy would say. If we want our proclamation of the Kingdom of God to be heard – no, because we want our proclamation of the Kingdom of God to be heard, we must begin with a proclamation of peace, accompanied by service.
This weekend, we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day. Every Sunday, we celebrate that we have been set free from sin and the power of death. How will we use that freedom? I hope we will use it to make peace, serve others, and proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom.
For years, our parishes have been complaining about declining attendance. Today, I am telling you that Jesus is sending us to every heart and home where he desires to come, and is asking us to offer peace to our neighbors, serve them, then proclaim again to them the good news of the Gospel.
Start with your nearest neighbors – your family and friends. Offer peace. Seek to serve them. Comfort them, but do not commiserate. Serve them, but do not enable destructive behaviors. Celebrate with them the good news that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. Rejoice with them that the kingdom of the power of death and darkness is cast down, and that love and joy await all those who welcome God’s Kingdom of mercy, love, and peace. Invite them to forgive those who trespass against them, return to confession, and join us in worship, so that they can take up their mission to proclaim peace, serve the needy, and share the good news of the Gospel.
If they do not receive you, shake it off. Do not engage in argument. Do not despair. You have been faithful. Leave it to God.
But first, let’s proclaim our faith and offer our prayers and ourselves to God in union with the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s give thanks for the gifts of life, liberty, and love, then go forth even today to offer peace, serve the needy, and proclaim the Kingdom.
