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kwalker
Posts:11
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| 06/09/2008 6:56 AM |
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| Hello Folks,
Where are people headed with next week's Gospel? I see a couple of different angles that I would like to incorporate.....we all are today's "called" and "sent"....incorporated somehow into Father's Day....etc. any thoughts? |
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"What is at stake in imagining ourselves Godbearers with youth is redefining ministry--youth ministry in particular--as a holy pursuit." - K C Dean |
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ProudDog
Posts:511
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| 06/09/2008 8:39 AM |
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| This week's conversation has begun! kwalker asks what we're thinking about with being called and sent - and incorporating things into Father's Day. Kate's written about the question "What is the church to be about?" and somehow I've thought about reality TV. Think about kwalker's question, take a look at Named
for a purpose and It sounds a little like a reality TV show and let's have a great conversation! |
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-Kirk Moore |
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kate huey
Posts:52
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| 06/11/2008 5:30 PM |
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| Every once in a while the Gospels give us a glimpse inside the heart of Jesus - not only what he says and does (which also helps us know him better) - but an actual reference to his heart. In fact, Eugene Peterson translates the line, "had compassion for them," as "his heart broke." It wasn't just his inner circle of disciples that he cared about, but the huge crowds out there, beyond the inner circle. It's a lesson for us, no doubt, when we want to keep some boundaries around our compassion and understanding, and it's also an instruction for the church when it's tempted to focus inwardly on its own needs and how it lives, when the needs of the world (the crowds) and the way it lives matter, too. So Thomas Long's words (in Weekly Seeds) about the church's call to care about issues of public life make a lot of sense to me. When I read this text in light of Father's Day, I think of the notions our culture has of the ideal male as a tough person who doesn't express his feelings. Jesus is definitely a tender-hearted male! But this may be a generational thing now, because twenty years or so ago, I think I remember the ad campaigns that promoted a "new male," with lots of pictures of men holding babies. And as I watch my sons as fathers, I see a new model lived out, because they're so expressive and tender and care-giving. (Not that there weren't any fathers who were that way before, but it wasn't the image my parents' generation presented to us.) Still, there's much more to it than that: this is a text written in the setting of the early church that was struggling against persecution and trying to establish its mission. Matthew reassures them and exhorts them, reminding them that Jesus called them (and us) and also sent them (and us) forth into the world that God loves (the Gospel of John doesn't say that God so loved the CHURCH, but that God so loved the WORLD, I've heard it said). (Let's also talk this week about the reference to the Gentiles.) So, like that early church, we're both GATHERED and SENT. Which brings me back to my first point: perhaps we concentrate too much on the gathered and not enough on the sent. What do you think? |
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debrev2002
Posts:8
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| 06/12/2008 11:05 PM |
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Some random thoughts as I read the text and comments here:
As I read this text, it's what Jesus does and sends the others to do that intrigues me and that I'm playing with - what exactly does it mean to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God? We think of heaven, and even that God loves you! but as Jesus actions and charge to the first disciples shows, he was very concerned with the here and now, the hurting among us. Is the good news of the kingdom merely doing good deeds to those we encounter so that their lives are made better (teaching and preaching and healing and driving demons...) or is there a wider and more systematic call here to change and stand against the systems of thie kingdom of this world so that it reflects the kingdom of God? Is it enough to merely refuse to participate in activities that perpetuate the hurting, demons and poor, and help on an individual person to person basis, for this is what Jesus sent his disciples to do. Or is there a wider systematic stance to take that brings the good news of the kingdom to even more? I'm also reading Brian McLaren's "Everything Must Change" at this time, so I'm sure that's influencing my thoughts on this text.
I think in reference to Jesus tellling his disciples not to go among the Gentiles, that is a "not yet" . First, the good news of the kingdom is to be brought to those who are the "lost sheep of Israel" and has to do with fullfilling the covenantal relationship. Isreal has as part of it's responsibility to the covenant to be that shining city on a hill to which all nations are attracted to come and know and worship God. Therefore the disciples will have enough work right now going out among those who have a clue about what they are talking about. But after the resurrection, Matthewian Jesus then sends the disciples to "all the nations". (Matt 28:16-18). So instead of an excuse to us to stay with those who we know, I think this has to be held up as part of the unfolding of the good news, and that our command is to go beyond those like us or in the church for we are part of those "all nations" not the lost sheep of Israel, and so should carry the message in word and deed to all.
As I think about Jesus as a tenderhearted male, I feel that what Jesus demonstrates is that someone can have compassion while also being strong, and not a doormat or "wimp" (or worse that I've heard some men called who don't fit a "macho' stereotype). That may be something to lift up, as part of the kingdom of God versuses the kingdom of our world differences.
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