The kingdom of heaven has come near

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.

- Matthew 10:5-15

Jesus sends out his apostles into the world, to help to preach, teach and heal. He shares his power with them. We recall his words elsewhere: "I do not give to you as the world gives." (John 14:27) As we understand that Christ is investing his power in those who will serve, his apostles and disciples, we understand the nature of the good shepherd, the one who cares about the sheep, and what sets a good shepherd apart from a wolf in sheep's clothing. Gifts and power are shared; they are for the edification and growth and building-up of the welfare of the sheep. So we have this first commission, so to speak, and the extension of gifts of power to those who will serve the flock. We understand the nature of God in this action of Jesus the Son, which prefigures and mirrors the great gifts of the Spirit to come, and those examples we have in Scripture, in both Old and New Testaments.

But first we are to understand this extension of power, this "sending out" of the Twelve, called "apostles" from the Greek word apostolos - one sent on a mission. They are to go to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." So, we have a continuation of the metaphor of the sheep without a shepherd, and it is important, in my opinion, to understand the startling nature of this shepherd that gives "not as the world gives." The apostles are to proclaim the good news, that "the kingdom of heaven has come near." The extension and sharing of this power to heal, to teach, to give, is an extension of the kingdom itself, which is shared between all of us. This statement of the nearness of the kingdom is both literal and figurative: it is shared amongst us and within us via this extension of power for our help, and at the same time we understand it to be a kingdom that we wish to see come into our world. The apostles are to "cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons," just as they have already seen Jesus do in his ministry.

'You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food.' Again, we have this notion of the extension of the idea of "payment" and how it works differently for this kingdom than it does for the world - "not as the world gives." So the apostles themselves are to freely give as they have been given. This is an important instruction, a way of signifying the kingdom has come near, in its differences with the ways of the world. And it is important for the apostles themselves that they learn about their participation in this kingdom and as emissaries or representatives of it.

'Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.' Again, we have an extension of the nature of gifts and of the kingdom. The peace that goes to the house that is worthy is one that will stay upon it. If the kingdom, and the apostles, are not welcome, then their peace will return to them. Again, we recall the words from John 14: 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.' Those who can receive this word and this kingdom, even via the apostles, will work within the same laws of the kingdom: Peace is extended. To all who accept, peace remains. For those who reject it, the peace goes back whence it comes. It is also important to understand that Jesus tells his apostles not to switch places in which they stay: this indicates they are simply to find who is worthy through welcome, and not to change accommodation for reasons of invitation to more elaborate or rich accommodations. They are to remain with those who are worthy, regardless of comfort or spacious room or wealth or status of any kind.

In these instructions for this first great mission, we are greeted with important news about the kingdom, and we are taught important realities about the nature of that kingdom. How does giving work? And how are we in turn to practice giving and sharing? We understand that Christ himself, and God the Three-In-One, shares with us the power that is this kingdom; we human beings are considered worthy of such investment. We in turn are to practice sharing as we are taught. We send our peace to others, and where it lands and stays and is received, so it is shared. Where it is not received, that peace comes back upon us. We are only to "shake the dust off our feet" from rejection, and to move on. Judgment will come via the Judge at the proper time, and that is that; it is not up to us. We remember the power of this Gift, the sharing of this kingdom - we are here to treat others as equals, to embrace those who receive us without concern for material status or comfort or relative wealth, all of which is secondary. The first great important gift is to share, to love. Where peace is shared and received, the circuit of love, of this kingdom, is made.