Meditation for October 18

From Peter Munson

Luke 9:1-17

 

Power, Presence and Ministry

 

"Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey - no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money - not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there.  Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."  The departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere." (Luke 9:1-6)

 

Julia and I have just finished attending a two-day course for couples that was held at Chatauqua in Boulder.  This was a followup to the conference that she and I attended in July in California, led by the same woman, Katie Hendricks.

 

Towards the end of the conference yesterday, I said to Julia, "I never realized when we first got married how much unconscious stuff we bring into a marriage."  There was so much in this course about staying present, and speaking what Katie calls the "unarguable truth".  The unarguable truth is not an opinion, or judgments you make about another person.  It is not blaming.  It is mainly about naming what is going on inside of me - feelings, body sensations, and various thoughts that I am having.  In other words, to speak the unarguable truth, you have to be present to what is going on inside of you, as opposed to being so focused on everyone else around you.  Out of that sense of presence, you can then speak the truth in love, and share and serve others out of a place of creative and loving power.

 

That is what was going on for the disciples in this passage from Luke.  Jesus gives them the power and authority that they need to go out and heal others.  That healing power comes from their being present to the power and love of God that is in them and working through them. 

 

We have that power available to us, too.  The Holy Spirit has been given to each of us, through baptism.  That Spirit gives us the power we need to love and serve others - and even to be agents of God's healing.  For that to happen, though, we must be present and aware.  We must become more aware of when we are drifting away from God.  That can happen in a million ways.  Katie Hendricks gives many examples of how we drift away.  They are the things we do like judging, controlling, blaming, getting distracted, trying to "do it right", comparing, getting righteous, assuming, getting busy, getting tired, trying to figure it out, worrying, withdrawing, not breathing, getting shy, seeking approval, criticizing, lecturing, getting sarcastic, caretaking, lecturing, justifying, interrupting, concealing, consuming, intellectualizing, thinking "I'm not enough".  You get the picture.

 

Jesus sends the disciples out with basically nothing - except the power of God, each other, and their faith in him.  He asks them to trust in three things, really:  the power of God, each other, and that they are deeply loved by him and have what is needed - inside themselves - to get the job done.  And he says that if people reject them, they should let it go.  Don't dwell on it.  Don't start attacking those who reject you.  Just shake off the dust - let it go, in other words - and move on.  Find someone else to love.  Find someone else to whom you can proclaim the message of God's love.  Stay present.  Stay grounded in who you are - the beloved child of God - and keep going.

 

This is how we faithfully serve.  To put it in religious language, this is how we "do ministry".  We claim that God is for us, we claim that through the Holy Spirit we have all the power and creativity that we need, and we stay present to the truth.  We stay present to whatever is going on in our lives.  We don't try to deny it.  We try to name it, and embrace it, and share with others out of that place - out of whatever is going on for us.

 

If we can stay present, as much as is possible - for no one ever stays present all the time! - then we will discover that we are doing the world some good.  We will be offering words and deeds of love, appreciation, encouragement, and healing - because that is what happens when we stay present, and allow God to work in us and through us.

 

The disciples, after their initial success, got scared and worried and didn't think that they had enough resources to provide food for 5000 people.  But Jesus said, "Yes you do.  You have enough.  You give them something to eat."  Jesus prayed, and blessed the five loaves and the two fish, and gave them to the disciples.  The disciples passed the food out to the crowd.  It was enough.  In fact, there were leftovers. (Luke 9:12-17)

 

As it says in Ephesians, "Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.  Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jeus for ever and ever.  Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)