The kingdom of heaven is at hand

 

 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying:  "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.  Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.  

 

"Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.  And when you go into a household, greet it.  If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it.  But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"

 

- Matthew 10:5-15 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

 

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying:  "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.  Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food."  My study Bible points out that the disciples' mission is like Christ's:  to preach and to heal.  It also remarks that Jesus sends the disciples out on this first mission only to the Jews.  Christ's earthly ministry, it says, was focused on the Jews (Matthew 15:24) so that, after the Resurrection, the Jews could not blame the disciples for going "to uncircumcised men" (Acts 11:3).  Jesus is preparing them to be single-minded in their mission to preach and heal.  He reminds them that His power is free; that is, a gift from God.  He also teaches them to carry no money so they can't be accused of greed and will learn dependence upon God.  

"Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.  And when you go into a household, greet it.  If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it.  But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"  Jesus commissions His servants to give a greeting of peace; my study Bible tells us that this is the same peace that was proclaimed by the prophets (Isaiah 52:7), that Jesus would offer to the disciples (John 14:27, 20:19), and that would be revealed as a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  To this day we hear the same peace of Christ is offered to the faithful in the Liturgy, in the words, "Peace be to all."

What is peace, after all?  The comments from my study Bible open up that question for us to ask ourselves, and to remark upon for ourselves.  We can look at the peace of the prophets, as my study Bible points out.  Isaiah the prophet writes, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"  (Isaiah 52:7).  We read these poetic lines and immediately note the correlation with Christ and His ministry, the proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom.  Throughout history, there have been many kinds of  "peace" proclaimed in an earthly sense.  There was the Pax Romana, which was roughly a 200 year history of relative peace and stability -- a time when the varied nations ruled by Rome lived in peace with one another due to Rome's authority.  What we call the Byzantine Empire was its continuation, which lasted another 1,000 years.  The Ottoman Empire which came later claimed for itself its own version of "peace."  But a political peace is not the same thing as God's peace, just as the kingdoms of the world are not the same substance or nature as God's kingdom.  Although human beings may dwell in God's kingdom, it is more accurate, to quote Jesus, to say that God's kingdom dwells within us or among us (Luke 17:20-21).  My study Bible points out the peace Christ extended to the disciples at the Last Supper ("Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" - John 14:27).  This peace is clearly Christ's to give, to extend, to declare ("Peace be with you" - John 20:19).  Finally, peace is included as part of the fruit of the Spirit, which includes love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  These are the fruits of the reality of the Kingdom dwelling among us/within us, and all of these things contribute to peace and the fullness of what we may understand as God's peace, the same peace which is proclaimed and offered in worship services.  Just as the "reconciliation" which came from the authority of Caesar or the Byzantine Emperor had a particular result, so the reconciliation we have in faith with our Lord offers us an entirely different type of peace.  This is a peace of substance and of depth, one that bears all kinds of mysterious fruit within us and manifests as part of us.  This is a Kingdom with which we are reconciled as a process which continues through faith and throughout our lives.  It is a faith that asks us to wrestle within ourselves in spiritual struggle, casting out that which cannot reconcile with its peace (see Matthew 18:8-9).   God's peace, or the peace of Christ, and the peace of the Spirit, is a peace that asks us for reconciliation to God's work, in spirit and in truth, to soften our hearts for the energies of grace and the transformation and fruits which can be produced.  In today's lectionary reading is also included St. Paul's words to the Corinthians regarding the primacy of love through all things, found in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.  St. Paul tells us that everything is partial and imperfect, but when the fullness of perfection comes all that is partial, all that we know or have only "in part" will fade away.  But what abides is faith, hope, and love -- and the greatest of these is love.  St. Paul says of love, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).  And here is the great gospel of the Kingdom of God, just as Jesus sums up all the Law and the Prophets in two commandments about love (see Matthew 22:37-40).  John will write to the Church, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).  It seems that the great peace proclaimed and given by Christ is that which enjoins us to participate and grow in love, and this is the real substance of the Kingdom.  It is not in manipulation and coercion but in this truth, in our faith, in the working of the Kingdom within us, however we may participate, and in an ongoing dynamic work throughout our lives which calls us always forward in God's love.  The energies of grace and mercy hold truth, substance, something real with which we are reconciled:  our peace is not watered down or compromised or manipulated away but holds its own strength in love.  Let us keep in mind that this is the real substance of God's peace, which is offered to us, and which we, as Christ's disciples, may bear within us, and offer to the world.   Perhaps the most remarkable difference with a worldly peace is that God's peace has been freely given to us, and therefore we freely give.  Hence, a purely materialist viewpoint so easily misses the most precious thing of all.