Leading the Way with Joy

Today’s Gospel passage from Luke tells us that Jesus, in addition to his twelve disciples, appointed seventy others and sent them in teams of two to every town and place where he intended to go.  They were to bring a message of peace to the places they visited, to eat and drink whatever their hosts provided, to cure the sick, and proclaim the coming kingdom of God.

Following their journey the seventy returned.  They were joyful because the people they met listened to them.  Jesus, however, warned them not to rejoice that even the demons submitted to them, but only to rejoice that their names are written in heaven.

What is striking about this story is the fact that the seventy disciples were sent in pairs to minister to those in need.  It was a team ministry, a mutual sharing in their mission.  They were probably a support for each other because they were told that there was danger along the way.  As Jesus said, “I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.”  They were also to travel with as little as possible, “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.”

Jesus, in sending the disciples in pairs, reflected the belief that two persons working together can achieve far more than the sum of individual efforts.  This suggests a paradigm for the mission of the church.  We are to be in relationship with one another, and we are to foster mutual caring and loving relationships not only in our churches, but in all our relationships at home and abroad.

Two events that offer mutual caring and loving relationships happened recently that I want to share with you:  First, on Saturday, June 25^th, World Refugee Day was observed downtown at Burnside Park.  Dorcas International and the Refugee Dream Center organized the event to honor the perseverance of refugees and to celebrate "the many incredible contributions they make to our society,"

Refugees come to Rhode Island having fled persecution, violence and oppression.  At the event there were bands and dancers from more than 20 countries who performed.  Refugees come to Rhode Island because we offer hospitality and a safe haven.  The diversity that results among people of many different places, races, and religions adds greatly to our appreciation for all of our global relationships.

A second event occurred at our Episcopal Conference Center on Friday, June 24^th.  I have been serving as a member of the Diocesan College Task Force to write a report for the Bishop and Diocesan Council about what we might do with respect to ministry on our college and university campuses.  The task force has been engaged in research about the needs of our colleges and universities in Rhode Island, what neighboring dioceses are doing, and how the experience of chaplains, faculty members and students reflect desires and hopes for the future.

At the Conference Center (ECC), counselors were in training for the summer programs.  They are college students or new high school graduates on their way to college.  There were three of us from the task force who met with fifteen camp counselors.  We asked about their religious experience and what was most important to them.  Another question focused on what they would like to see with respect to ministry on the college campus.

“In their responses, several themes predominated: the presence of joy, the promise of a sustaining community, and (very poignantly) the role of religious belief, with its assurance of the ultimate victory over sin, death and tragedy as an antidote to futility and despair. These were, clearly, what the young people hoped to find in campus ministry, and again and again they came back to these characteristics.  But they also had some observations to share about church services: The times of services should be flexible, with more than one weekly opportunity to participate.

“They saw the value of being part of a diverse congregation, and agreed that the community needed to be large enough to incorporate multiple viewpoints, while remaining small enough for intimacy, the kind of sharing that leads to growth. Finally, they endorsed on-going outreach.

“When the discussion turned to present religious home bases, they were equally frank. When one young adult described the parish “celebrations” as “boring”, it was clear he spoke for several of the others. They suggested using music that speaks to and for its audience. They like the idea of varying sacred spaces. They advocated for an environment that raises consciousness of human need – and does something to address it, but, balancing this, they cited a ministry of presence, and a context in which their interior lives could be fed and flourish. One word that took in all of the above was “authenticity”, to widespread agreement. ‘Campus ministry, if it is to work, must be non-judgmental,” one young woman added, noting that many students feel unwelcome if their lifestyle choices are out of sync with traditional values.’”

Wherever we go we are to bring a message of peace to those we meet, to proclaim the kingdom of God, and to minister to the needs of others.  Whether we meet refugees or college students, as the Anglican Bishop  N.T. Wright has said, “Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion…. The gospel of Jesus points us and indeed urges us to be at the leading edge of the whole culture, articulating in story and music and art and philosophy and education and poetry and politics and theology and even--heaven help us--Biblical studies, a worldview that will mount the historically-rooted Christian challenge … leading the way...with joy and humor and gentleness and good judgment and true wisdom.” (N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is)  Amen.