Daily Gospel Reflection - 10 October 2011

-

Matthew 10:5-15 (CEB): Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, “Don’t go among the Gentiles or into a Samaritan city. Go instead to the lost sheep, the people of Israel. As you go, make this announcement: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, and throw out demons. You received without having to pay. Therefore, give without demanding payment. Workers deserve to be fed, so don’t gather gold or silver or copper coins for your money belts to take on your trips. Don’t take a backpack for the road or two shirts or sandals or a walking stick. Whatever city or village you go into, find somebody in it who is worthy and stay there until you go on your way. When you go into a house, say, ‘Peace!’ If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if the house isn’t worthy, take back your blessing. If anyone refuses to welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or city. I assure you that it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than it will be for that city.

A couple of thoughts. Firstly, I have a real problem with traveling salesmen preachers who beg for financial assistance so they can continue God’s work. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is quite clear that we aren’t supposed to be making money off the Gospel. Sure, ‘workers deserve to be fed’ but that rests in the hand of God. I have been at too many services where the traveling preacher is dressed better, owns a better home, drives a better car, and has more money than most people in the congregation. Yet, they have the indecency to ask for money.

That’s one of the things I like about the Lindisfarne Community. Our clergy don’t get paid for being clergy. We are called to be bi-vocational, ontological priests. This helps relieve the burdens of others. Now, certainly, if the ones for whom we are serving wants to make financial donations, that’s one thing. But to stand up and say things like, ‘I can’t continue in this ministry without your financial support’ is an outrage. I think, we as the congregation, should ‘shake the dust from our feet as [we] leave’ the service and not go back while that person is there!

Secondly, there is the last sentence, ‘I assure you that it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Judgment Day than it will be for that city’ who refuses to welcome or listen to the message of the Gospel. This has always been seen as ‘proof’ that there are degrees or levels to ‘Hell’ (which is understood to mean ‘eternal conscious torture’). However, the only thing that it supposes is that there are degrees of punishment. That is, all judgement is not the same. Just like in our own society, we do not have a blanket sentencing for all crimes that are committed (stealing a piece of candy does not get the same punishment that a child rapist and murder gets). ‘The punishment must fit the crime’ as the saying goes. It appears that Jesus is stating the same from this passage. And that, taken with the account that the end result of punishment is to correct not destroy, serves to show us that even the judgement of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ and those who rejected the words and actions of the disciples is not eternal conscious torture but corrective in nature that leads to faith and good deeds.



~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,

Br Jack+, LC

Comments

Judy said…
Re: That’s one of the things I like about the Lindisfarne Community. Our clergy don’t get paid for being clergy. We are called to be bi-vocational, ontological priests." Cool. That is the first I ever heard of something like that. Are you still painting?
15 October, 2011 10:25
Br. Jack+, LC said…
No. I'm not. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, that I would like to do it. But, actually, I never really was a "painter" in the classical sense. I was more of a "mixed media" type of guy. I haven't done anything art-wise in quite a while. I doodle now and then, but that's about it. I have a friend who paints a lot and has inspired me (which is probably where those ideas of painting are coming from). You can find him on YouTube. He's called 'The Artistic Biker'. Funny and really good stuff.
15 October, 2011 10:50
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Linux Mint 5

-
Image
It's been a while since I did a technological (read: geek) blog, so I thought I would update you on what's going on. As you are aware, I am a full-fledged geek by trade and passion and I have gone from Windows to Mac to Linux.  My Linux evolution went from Linspire to Mepis to PCLinuxOS to Ubuntu .  I stayed with PCLinuxOS and Ubuntu for the longest.  However, I have always read good things about another distribution called Linux Mint .  It's based on the latest Ubuntu release but with a lot of add-ons.  The latest version is called Linux Mint 5, Elyssa.  So, at the office, I downloaded the latest iso and tried it out to see how it all worked. First of all, there are always some things I keep in mind when trying any new Linux distro, the primary thing being, 'How would the average user feel about using this OS?'  'Is it (very) simple to install?  Is it easy to use?  Is it easy to get help?  Is it easy to add or remove applications?  Is the terminal (command
Read more

Series: New Testament Eschatology

-
Image
From time to time, I hear a lot about the early church’s understanding of the “end of the world” or their belief that the “Second Coming of Jesus” would take place within their generation. And it’s usually not in a very good light. “They were obviously mistaken,” is often the remark I hear most. I know it’s hard to imagine but what if we’re mistaken? What if we’ve misunderstood what they meant? I’m hoping that this series on some of the major statements from the New Testament about the “end of the world” will show that they weren’t mistaken in their understanding of the “signs of the times.” Before we begin, however, let’s look at some terms that will have to be used. As most of you know, I try to refrain from using big “church” words. My reason for this is because those words are like suitcases where ideas and thoughts and understandings are packed into them. To explain the words would mean a long time spent unpacking the suitcases and explaining their contents. While such a pil
Read more

'Sick to my guts...'

-
I usually don't make posts like this because I'm way outta my element. But I am sick of all of the hype I see in the media. The whole one sided take on journalism. Each program has an agenda. As my wife says, 'You find what you're looking for'. It would absolutely kill a mainstream media person like Olbermann to say President Bush has done something good and right. Likewise it would kill a 'talk radio' media person like Limbaugh to say that Senator Clinton or Senator Obama did something good and right. We are a country shown the extremes. Most of the mainstream media are such Bush haters, that's right I stated 'haters', that they would actually explode if they had to report on the good that he has done. Likewise 'Fox' news and talk radio hosts are such Democrat haters that they, too, would explode if they had to report on any good that they have done. 'Fair and balanced' my butt! Everyone, everyone has their agenda. I
Read more