Christ’s gut-wrenching love for the world embraces us and sends us out with the same kind of visceral love and a call to be Christ.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Third Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 11 A
Texts: Matthew 9:35 – 10:8
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Jesus was torn up inside.
We heard, “he had compassion on them.” That’s an OK translation. But this word for the Greeks is rooted in the word for innards, guts, bowels. That’s where you feel compassion. Viscerally, in your guts. And Jesus looked at these people longing for his help, following him everywhere, with needs more than he could count, and he felt their pain in his bowels.
This pain inside Jesus, birthed by love for people with nowhere to turn, no guidance, people who were “harassed and helpless,” ultimately took Jesus to the cross.
And this visceral love of God for you, for us, for the world, is our only hope.
You are loved by God to the depths of God’s guts, when you are lost, frightened, even when you are sinful, complicit.
And the Triune God looks at this whole world, harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, and is torn up inside. God sees the injustice of our society that if you are a person of color, you can be killed by the police and some of your fellow citizens will say it wasn’t wrong. And if you protest oppression, you can also be killed by federal agents who will not be held accountable.
The Triune God sees the injustice of our society that if you make the laws you get full health care coverage but if you don’t have a job that pays fairly, or you’ve had medical crises before, you could lose your health care. God sees the injustice of our society that believes that as long as the stock market is doing well everything must be fine. The Triune God sees all this and feels it in God’s very guts. Love for George, and Renee, and Alex, and their families and friends. Love for those falling through so many cracks. Love for all crushed by injustice and violence. Love for those who struggle every day for food and shelter. For dignity and safety.
And Jesus, who loves viscerally, commands this: Love as I have loved you.
Feel what I feel in your guts, and act on it, like I did.
Jesus changes his followers from disciples to apostles right here, in just two verses. So far, they were in it for themselves. They were drawn to Jesus, to the love of God he bore. They’d been healed, graced, changed. They found a shepherd to follow. Now they are suddenly sent to others.
Jesus sent them to be Christ like him, because of his deep love for the harassed crowds. He gave them the authority over unclean spirits, to cure every disease, and raise the dead. Like he did. He commanded them to go to as many villages as they could and proclaim by their presence, like he did, that God’s love was with these people.
This is the place we can get stuck: realizing faith is not all about us. It’s knowing you are loved deeply by God, forgiven, transformed, and accepting being sent to others with the same good news of love.
Don’t be distracted by the specifics of this story, either. Look at the greater call.
For example, here Jesus only sends twelve men. There were lots more disciples, women and men. So, we might think, maybe we’re not apostles, “sent ones,” just those original twelve. But Luke says Jesus later sent 70 out. And we just celebrated Pentecost, where over 120 women and men were filled with the Spirit and sent. So, there’s no escaping this, it’s our new role, too: apostle.
But they did things we can’t, we say. We can’t raise the dead, heal the sick. Maybe we don’t have the same call.
But look at what their call actually was: you received my love freely, without payment, Jesus says. Now give it freely without payment. Miracles can and do happen. But even if we aren’t given that particular authority, it doesn’t matter. The overarching command, love as I love, is for all, and can be done by all.
Share my guts, feel what I feel, Jesus says. And then, do what I do. Go and be love.
That’s Christ’s word to you today.
So, pay attention to your guts: what things make you feel like Jesus feels? What tears you up inside, makes you want to do loving actions, and make a difference? What activates your compassion, your guts of love? That’s a good place to start your serving.
It would be easier if we could just come here and hold God’s love for ourselves. But God’s guts won’t let that happen. And, honestly, neither will ours. You’ve already been changed. You know you can’t look away, you know you’re needed.
And hear this: if Christ is sending you and me out of such visceral love, to bear Christ’s visceral love in the world, we’re not going to be left without guidance. Trust that. We are sheep with a Shepherd, and Christ will constantly guide and lead and strengthen. This world, these harassed and helpless ones, matter to God more than we can imagine. God won’t abandon you when you’re sent to be Christ’s love. God’s got too much invested.
So let Christ create a new heart in you that beats as one with Christ’s in love for your neighbor, for this world.
You share Christ’s guts. There’s nothing to do but go and be love.
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
