"Everyone
therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my
Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before
my Father in heaven."
Matthew 10:32-23
The scripture we heard
today is a universal schoolchild's sermon.
It is part of what is known as the Commissioning of the Apostles --
Jesus sending them forth, as the Bible famously says, to "fish for human
beings."
The commissioning address
brings us face to face with the human, the vulnerable Jesus. The family elder, sending out a beloved
child into a hostile world.
This is the Jesus who
knows the limits of his power.
He knows that he cannot
cause everyone to believe the message of his Father's love, which he sending
out the disciples to evangelize. Even
when he himself is addressing a crowd, there is always a quota of skeptics.
He knows that he cannot
cause everyone to adapt a way of simple and neighborly living, which he sees as
a substitute for elaborate -- therefore
divisive -- private sacraments. In
fact, the more he attracts such adherents, the more the proponents of ritual
redouble their own strength.
He has given his
disciples whatever power he has to heal the sick, but undoubtedly he knows
there will be times when healing does not happen. Why else would he preach the comfort of resurrection?
Because he has already
gone through all this -- embraced the fully human experience and let himself
feel it -- he knows not only that rejection will happen, but also that it will hurt.
Scientists have now
"discovered" that the brain's reaction to being rejected is the same
as its reaction to physical pain. This
is like Columbus "discovering" America: lots of folks were already
well informed! Have not centuries of
poets all over the world referred to "the pain of rejection"?
Jesus knows this
pain. So he does what he can.
He advises his disciples
to take pride in what they offer.
Self-esteem. "What I say
to you in the dark, tell in the light."
He advises them to expect
vindication from events that unfold in the long run: "There is nothing
hidden that will not be made known."
Earlier in this address,
he has advised them not to get trapped in a single enmity: "If anyone will not receive you or
listen to what you say, then as you leave that house or that town shake the
dust of it off your feet."
And then at the end of
this passage, he utters the words of all big brothers everywhere -- "Whoever denies me to you I will
disown before my Father in heaven."
Anyone with schoolyard
experience will recognize this promise.
Even if Big Brother cannot rescue you now, he will come back and go
after them.
It's a comforting thought
-- at that moment.
But we have a choice in
our way of receiving these words.
We do not need to remain the
little brother, the little sister, the helpless offspring. We can embrace the spiritual empowerment of
all fully developed religious disciples.
Fend for ourselves, with
faith in the unseen divine.
Welcome for those who
reject us the different spiritual peace that they have chosen. After all, in other parts of the gospels,
when Jesus gets rejected, he shrugs it off.
He is human, but he is a human who shows that we can rise above
rejection.
There comes a moment, in
the life of most schoolyard inhabitants, when we realize that the one who has
rejected us is only one of many. There
are other friends to be made. There are
other activities to join. We would do
well, in all pursuits, to avoid being trapped in the cycle of seeking revenge.
Of course when we are
setting out, we want to know we have a backup system. But someday, that backup will not be with us. Even Jesus, after all, was obliged to leave.
So although we will
always cherish the love behind the offer, adulthood means -- and society needs
-- we have to let go of triumphalist fantasies.
We go back to the one who
made the offer, and say, "Thank you.
But I don't really want a superhero:
"I'm looking for a
friend."
"I'm yearning for
someone who can help me find meaning in my spiritual journey."
"I'm happiest when
we do something pleasant together. Sing
songs. Take walks without
destinations."
All of us enter the
schoolyard, as once those twelve disciples were sent forth. In the end, what we want there is not the
false comfort of being kept in our childish weakness. We're looking for the challenges and the tools and the loving,
supportive companions -- who help us use this time to grow.
We go to be made strong,
that we, in our turn, may be sent forth with power to do some good.
I speak these words today
with tribute to Michael Servetus, who five hundred years ago, on October 27,
was burned to death-- slowly -- for preaching the humanity of Jesus.
May light perpetual shine
upon him.
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