Sermon Preached by the Rev. Sam Frazier, Vicar

Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Haw River, NC

July 12, 2009

Proper 10, Year B
The Old Testament lesson this morning is that wonderful story in the 7^th chapter of Amos where Amos is recounting what God showed him – a plumb line – a plumb line by which God would judge Israel and its King, Jeroboam.  Amos prophesied that because God’s people had deserted him, that they would be sent into exile and that King Jeroboam would die by the sword.  Amaziah, the king’s priest at Bethel, reported to Jeroboam what Amos was saying.  Then Amaziah warned Amos: go away, flee – go somewhere else and prophesy.  Amos replied with his famous response that has changed the world whenever spoken.  It changed Amos’ world and it changed the world of the 12 disciples who were sent out by Jesus.  Amos responded to Amaziah with these words: “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the block, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ “

Amos was sent by God to preach to his people and warn them that their evil ways will destroy them.  Amos preached repentance.  A thousand years later, Jesus sent his 12 disciples out to preach to the people of Israel.  The disciples are to carry out their mission as the special representatives of Jesus.  They had no training, but Jesus sent them anyway, just as Amos was sent though he was not a trained prophet, but rather a simple herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees.  Those 12 disciples have responsibilities and important work to do.  The authority on which they act is derived directly from Jesus, just as Amos’ authority was derived directly from God.

Now the disciples went out two by two. The habit of traveling two by two in pairs was a well attested Jewish practice at the time of Jesus.  The disciples of John the Baptist did it, as did Paul and Silas.  They went out in pairs rather than alone, because in Jewish custom a promise or a statement needed two witnesses.  Also, two people could help and support each other.  And imperfect as they were, Jesus sent them out.  Now, the word “Apostle” means: sent one.  Just as Amos was sent and just as the twelve disciples were sent, you and I are also the sent ones.  You see, the mission of the church is communal; it is not the work of one person, but rather the work of many.  It is all of us together who carry out the mission of the church.

Go PROPHESY, God tells Amos.  PREACH REPENTANCE Jesus tells the twelve apostles.  Isn’t it amazing how unqualified people get chosen to spread God’s Word and do God’s work of healing?  Amos was a rank amateur.  He was not a prophet and had no training as a prophet.  And he was the first to admit it.  God had called him from the farm where he tended livestock and pruned trees.

On the other hand, the twelve disciples had the rare opportunity to be trained by Jesus.  They had the good fortune to sit at his feet, to listen to his words, to hear him preach to the crowds, to see all his mighty works, to watch him as he did God’s work.  Yet these same disciples are depicted as hindering Jesus as much as helping him.  They did not always understand Jesus’ words or support him in his mission.  And repeatedly Jesus chides them for their inability to see and comprehend and for their hardness of heart.  They often just did not get it!

When you think about it, maybe we can find some consolation in Amos’ lack of qualifications, and in the disciples’ lack of qualifications.  After all, just how qualified are you and I to do God’s work?  We all know the answer to that one.  We are always unqualified.  We are never quite prepared.  But in spite of that we are always called to do God’s work.  And at every turn we are reminded that it is God’s work and not ours.

The twelve disciples proclaimed repentance, exorcized demons, and healed the sick.  As messengers of the Kingdom of God they urged repentance, opposed evil wherever they met it and brought healing.  They were entrusted with the same message and the same mission as the Master himself.  Their situation was that of the Church in every age.  Our situation is the same as theirs.  We are entrusted with that same mission, that same responsibility to go out and share with others what we have received from God.

The very nature of God is to send.  The God we worship is a sending god.  God sent Amos to prophesy to his people.  God the creator sent Jesus to inaugurate the Kingdom of God and to rescue the world from sin and death.  The Father sends the Holy Spirit to continue the work of Jesus Christ.  And Jesus sends out his disciples to spread the Good News.  Jesus sends out you and me.  You see, being sent out is the essence of the Christian life.

So you and I have an awesome responsibility as disciples of Christ.  We are sent out to share our salvation, and to share the love of God which we experience on a daily basis.  This is the discipleship to which Jesus calls us.  In his profound book, The Cost of Discipleship, the great theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote: “And if we answer the call to discipleship, where will it lead us?  To answer this question we shall have to go to him, for only he knows the journey’s end.  But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy, because discipleship means joy.”

As unqualified as we are, we are sent out by God.  We are sent out to touch the lives of those around us: that sick retired person who wants to stay in his or her home as long as possible; that child who needs to be removed from the control of abusive parents; that troubled teenager; that mentally ill individual; that couple with a troubled marriage; that gay person who daily lives with loneliness and reaches out for acceptance; that poor and hungry family; that man just out of prison and trying to make a go of it in the real world.  In short we are sent out to touch the lives of all the people who make up the Kingdom of God.  What a blessed life, and what a precious privilege to know these people, to minister to these people, and to love these people.  Thanks be to God! AMEN.