Innocent as Doves

A few stories later, Jesus prepares to send His disciples out on a little missional field trip. While we already addressed this in a previous post, it’s worth noting again the list of the disciples and the different worldviews that are represented in the list. Wouldn’t you like to have known how Jesus grouped these guys up? Did He send them out with like-minded individuals, good friends who would provide great fellowship and perspective, knowing that upon their return the debrief session would be full of fireworks? Or did He pair them up with people they completely disagreed with? I wish we knew.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.”

Jesus puts this little ministry trip at the mercy of the people’s hospitality. It should be noted that Jesus did not send them to the pagans, the Gentiles who serve the gods of Hellenism. He sent them to the religious folk — the people who claim to have it all together and represent God well. The disciples will have to depend on others “getting it” and being there for them during this time.

“As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

Notice again the harkening back to Sodom and Gomorrah, a story about failed hospitality and Jesus’s affirmation of what the gospel is all about: bringing shalom to the chaos. He tells them to find a house that is worthy — in Luke, this is more literally “a person of peace” — and hunker down for a bit with them and their hospitality. He tells them to helps those cities and towns and explain the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are to bolster the work of God in places where it’s already taking place.

This isn’t a message of new teaching or fiery prophesy. This is a mission of finding where God is already at work and joining Him. Their mission is to come alongside and call out the Kingdom wherever they find it. This is a time where Jesus is teaching them how to have eyes to see the Kingdom of God at work in people. And they are to take good notes; it will be an incredible learning experience.

Jesus tells them that it will not be easy, as there are plenty of religious people who want no part in God’s redemptive project:

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. … A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household.”

And then Jesus shifts gears in a way that leaves many readers completely confused. He tells the disciples that He has come to bring division and not peace. He quotes a passage from Micah and then tells them they will need to “take up their cross.” The passage is quite confusing, as it seems to run counter to the other teachings of Jesus; it is “Zealot-minded.”

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Hopefully by now in our series, you have begun to ask the repetitive and redundant question: Where is it in the Text? Especially when the Text is easily placed for our western eyes to see (in this case, a direct quote), we should travel back to the original source of the quotation and find out what the rabbi is trying to teach by quoting that particular passage.

(When I asked my students what we should read, they all gave a resounding response of, “The context!”; my favorite response was, “The whole prophesy of Micah!” Yes!)

When we travel back to Micah, we find the prophet is calling the people of Judah to realize that God is asking for them to repent. They happen to know what it is God requires of them: pursuing justice, loving mercy, and having a posture of humility. The prophesy goes on to describe what it is like in Micah’s day. It’s a day where nobody can trust their neighbor and everybody is pursuing their own good. It’s a day when even a person’s family members will betray each other and division will run rampant.

The section ends with this:

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.

It happens to be the perfect quotation for what the disciples are embarking upon. They are going to find a world where some people are ready to show hospitality, but others will not. There will be people who fit the description found in Micah incredibly well. The Kingdom of God is not going to sit well with everyone and they are going to be persecuted. But the rabbinical remez for this teaching would be an invitation for them to trust the story. They are invited to wait on God and trust in His provision.

As we go, will we do the same thing? Will we be on the lookout for “people of peace” who are interested in taking God’s kingdom of peace into the chaos? Will we partner with them to celebrate the Kingdom at work?

Will we be ready for persecution? Will we be prepared for all of the religious folk who are not ready for such a priority shift? Will we leave it up to God and wait on His provision?

Will we trust the story?