Tags
Christian life, Courage, Discipleship, Faithfulness, Jesus, Liturgical year, Matthew 10:25, Sundays after Pentecost, Teaching of Jesus, The Church Year
The Sundays after Pentecost
Matthew 10:25
It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters.(NIV)
The Sundays after Pentecost are for the courageous. Here the soaring heights and depths of the church year give way to the daily walk of faith. We no longer kneel at the manger in tender admiration. We no longer gaze in awe at the visitors from the east or the faithful in the temple. We hear no angels singing. We see no water splashed upon the feet or tears splashing upon the ground. No angels descend to open the tomb or direct our gaze away from the heavens and back to earth. In these Sundays are the words and deeds of Jesus.
The Sundays after Pentecost require courage and faithfulness. Now Jesus will talk about forgiving seventy-seven times. Now Jesus will invite us to step out of the boat and walk in impossible places. Now Jesus will send us without bag or stick trusting only the providence of God. Now Jesus will teach us to pray for God’s kingdom and not our own. Now Jesus will reject the rending of communities that comes with divorce.
Here Jesus will command us to do the daring thing of turning the unslapped cheek or willingly bearing the soldier’s burden an extra mile. Here Jesus will challenge hypocrisy and defend the lowly and touch the ungodly. Here Jesus will talk about the cross to come and the cross we must bear.
The Sundays after Pentecost require courage and faithfulness. There will be comforts on the way. His yoke is easy and his burden light. Children will be embraced. Bread will be shared. And there are promises to be heard: of the harvest to come, of the mustard seed that will shelter the birds, of the yeast that cannot be stopped from achieving its purpose, and harvests a hundred-fold. There is a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to find the one, and a woman rejoicing in a lost coin now found.
The Sundays after Pentecost are full of joy and promise – but still they require courage and faithfulness. There is a treasure buried in a field, but the man sold everything to gain it. The disciples are not being entertained; they are being trained.
Grant us courage, Gracious God,
to hear what you teach,
to follow where you lead,
to love as you love,
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cesta_v_poli.JPG HTO / Public domain
© David K Bonde, 2020, All rights reserved