Mission Impossible! (a message for June 14, 2020)

A match is struck and something like a fuse is lit as the pounding theme song begins …

Jim, a well-dressed man in a gray suit then plays a message on a small tape recorder. “Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is ….” And that episode’s mission is detailed.

And, then, this!

“As usual,” the voice on the recorder says, “should you or any member of your I.M. Force be captured or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.” …

In today’s gospel reading, there is no tape recorder and no taped message soon to self-destruct. But a voice does speak and a mission is given!

And when you listen again to the details of that mission, you, too, might describe it as Mission Impossible!

“As you go,” Jesus says to the disciples today, “proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

And then Jesus gives the details of this mission. “Cure the sick,” he says, “raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” And then, in his final instruction, Jesus commands, “You received without payment; give without payment.”

Now that the Easter season, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday are behind us, we’re in the part of the church year that stretches from now until December and the beginning of Advent. Up until now—and for months—the season of the church year has determined our readings: readings about Christmas and Epiphany, Lent and Easter, and then the singular celebrations of Pentecost and Trinity Sundays.

Beginning today, however, instead of being guided by a season, our readings now more or less follow the telling of the story of Jesus as it’s found in the Gospel of Matthew.

The trouble, however, is that we’re jumping midway into the story of Jesus, starting at chapter 10 and the Mission Impossible that we just heard Jesus deliver to us! What we wouldn’t know (unless we meticulously looked it up for ourselves) is what’s been happening up to the point that brings us here!

Which is this! For the last two chapters of Matthew—chapters 8 and 9—here’s what Jesus has been doing.

Throughout these two chapters Jesus has been proclaiming the good news that the reign—the kingdom—and will of God on earth was near.

But, instead of simply delivering this message verbally, in words, Jesus instead demonstrates the nearness of God’s will and reign on earthy by doing the following:

• Curing lepers, paralytics, and people bed-bound with fever.

• Crossing the Sea of Galilee—stilling a murderous storm in the process—and, once safely on Gentile territory, ridding a man of thousands of torturous demons.

• Jesus puts the needs of someone paralyzed over religious scruples by curing him of paralysis on a Sabbath.

• Jesus then continues to flout religious conventions by eating with tax collectors and sinners (and is criticized for doing so)

• And as if that weren’t enough, in rapid order, Jesus brings a child from death to life; stops a woman’s chronic bleeding; and gives sight to not one, but two, sightless people.

And then, as soon as all of this is done, Jesus turns to us, his disciples and says, in effect, “Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to do the same powerful works that I have just done! 

“Proclaim and enact God’s ways on earth as in heaven by curing, raising, cleansing, and overturning demonic evil in the world!”

Now I hope you see why I’m calling today’s message—with a nod toward that TV show and series of movies—“Mission Impossible”!

“Really, Jesus? You expect us—or, more to the point, you expect me—to carry out the same mission and enact the same deeds as you? That seems impossible!”

And yet—just as in the impossible missions of the TV shows and movies—that is exactly the mission for which Jesus now recruits us!

In fact, there’s no escaping it! No matter which gospel you read, Jesus says the same thing: “I want youto continue doing the work that I do,” says Jesus. “I want you to proclaim the nearness of God’s will on earth as it is in heaven by enacting God’s will in healing, helping, cleansing, and eradicating the demonic powers that cripple people’s lives!” …

In studying this text this week—this seemingly impossible mission—I came across something that the Lutheran teacher and preacher, David Lose, wrote about some years ago. And even though he wrote this several years ago, it sounded to me as if he wrote it this week, with our current conditions in mind!

“I think it’s incredibly significant where Jesus begins,” Lose observes. “He tells them to cure, cast out, cleanse, and raise to life.”

That much we’ve also noted. But, now, listen to what Lose says about this mission! And remember, he’s not saying it knowing what’s been going on in our country over the last two weeks.

About the mission Jesus is giving us, Lose reflects, “In short, [Jesus] instruct them to imitate hiscommitment to,” and these are Lose’s words, “standing against any and all forces that would rob the children of God of the abundant life God desires for them. Moreover,” Lose adds, “[Jesus]tells them to do this for free, expecting no payment or return. Why? (And here is the punch line,”says Lose.) “You received without payment, so give without payment.”

What does Jesus want, expect, and demand of us right here and right now?

Your mission, which Jesus urges you to accept, is to stand against any and all forces that rob the children of God of the abundant life God desires for them!

And, that is not impossible!

At the end of the mission that Jesus gives us, he says, “You received without payment; give without payment.”

Something I have received for my entire life “without payment” is something that, I now realize, women and people of color have not received. Namely, that my gender, nor my color, nor my ethnicity have ever hindered me or asked questions to be raised about me! True, for much of my life, I assumed that the open doors that I was able to walk through and the paths that were clear and open for me, were open and clear for me because I deserved them. And that the same was true for women and people of color.

But that isn’t true, is it? Those open doors and clear paths were privileges I was given that were not freely given to others. And they’re still not!

So, what might Jesus be saying to me today when he says, “You received without payment; give without payment”?

Here’s what I can do! I can use the advantages that I’ve been given—simply by being a white male of mostly European ancestry—I can use those advantages to further God’s will and kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!

I received without payment;  I can give without payment. I can—and will—stand against any and all forces that rob the children of God—especially those who are not being given my advantages—of the abundant life God desires for them.

In Jesus' name. Amen.