Rector’s Address Delivered at St. Matthew’s, St. Paul, Sunday, January 29, 2012

Mark 6:6b-13

Blair Pogue

Several years ago, a friend was taking a group of high school students on a week-long mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico. He was a youth minister at a church, and once a year he took his high school group to another country to teach Vacation Bible School, repair some homes, and hand over various supplies. This time their bus was packed with t-shirts, soccer balls, clown costumes, computers, work supplies, and each young adult’s clothing for a week.

About two hours from Monterrey, smoke and flames started to pour forth from the back of the bus. The students evacuated the bus as quickly as possible, most of them barefoot. On the way out they were only able to grab one bag and a guitar. It turned out that a guard at the border had been smoking a cigarette, and ashes from that cigarette had landed on a cardboard box in the back of the bus. The box began to smolder, then burn.

Our friend found himself in the Mexican desert, watching his bus go up in flames, surrounded by 30 barefoot high school students, as the sun was beginning to go down. While the students initially rallied, singing Christian camp songs, their enthusiasm waned as the sun disappeared and the air became cold. What would happen to them? What would they do without shoes, water, food or blankets? Would they spend the night in the Sonoran dessert? All of a sudden reality sunk in. Their cell phones didn’t work and they couldn’t easily book a room somewhere or make new travel plans on Travelocity. And what was the future of their long-anticipated trip? If they did make it to Monterrey, what did they have to give? If they arrived at all, they would arive empty handed.

At 3 am, weary, dirty and cold, a Mexican church received the waylaid travelers with, in our friend’s words, “generosity, joy and sensitivity.” The youth group eventually made it to Monterrey, and experienced a different kind of mission than they had anticipated. Most difficult for westerners used to giving stuff, their hands were empty. The only thing the high school students had to give was themselves. The mission trip to Monterrey gone awry ended up being one of the most powerful things that ever happened to these students and their chaperones. They had to let go of control and their preconceived plans, learn to trust God in the midst of ambiguity and many unknowns, and allow themselves to receive the hospitality of others.

In today’s Gospel from Mark Jesus tells his followers to do this exact thing. He calls together his inner circle of students and then sends them out two by two. They are to travel lightly: no bread, no bag, no money, and only one tunic. They are to rely upon the hospitality of others. As Jesus directed them, “whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.” If anyone refuses to offer them hospitality, they are to shake the dust off their feet and move on. Jesus gives them authority to speak and heal others in his name. Mark’s account notes that they went out and proclaimed that all should repent, or turn toward God. He also notes that Jesus’ followers anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.

There is all sorts of baggage around the words “mission” and “evangelism,” and rightly so. Too often “mission” and “evangelism” have meant imposing our ways, and especially our culture, on others. Too often “mission” and “evangelism” have meant that some people have the power, control, and stuff, and others are merely the recipients.

But in Mark’s Gospel a different picture emerges. Yes, the disciples do have a life-changing message of good news to share and a faith to live out, but they are to do so in a way that involves vulnerability, trust, and reciprocity. They are to go forth into God’s world the same way Jesus did, lightly and with openness and humility. Hospitality is to be provided by the unknown stranger, giving him or her a chance to reveal God’s love and have dignity. Jesus’ disciples are to stay in the host’s home and eat the host’s food. Both host and guest have something important to share.

In 2012 let us commit ourselves to making time and space to share the stories, questions and insights that emerge as we seek to love our neighbors more fully in Christ’s name. What are the greatest challenges and opportunities we face, and what is God teaching us? Going forth into our daily lives in the world with vulnerability and humility isn’t easy. To do this consistently we need prayer and support. How can we as a community live more deeply into our identity as learners or disciples of Jesus in 2012?

This past fall the entire congregation was invited to read and discuss Dwight’s manuscript People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity, which explores these themes. Over the course of four weeks I heard so many powerful stories. A story Maddy Brown told has continued to capture my imagination. Maddy teaches English as a Second Language at an elementary school in Maplewood, and a high school in North Saint Paul. Each Friday she gets together with a group of ESL teachers and teaching assistants for support and to share notes on how things are going. One of the people who atends this lunch is Saynab, a Somali Muslim woman who serves as the teachers’ liaison with Somali families. Saynab came to the U.S. by herself when she was 18, having lost her parents. She had never been to school. She worked in her uncle’s restaurant, graduated from high school, has two jobs, and is currently attending Century College. According to Maddy, “she has incredible strength and grace.”

Early this past Fall Saynab offered the group of teachers and teaching assistants some of the school lunch she had received that day. All of them refused, knowing that Saynab had limited financial means. Each Friday she continued to offer the group part of her lunch. Maddy realized that it was important for her to accept Saynab’s offer. As Maddy observed, “I think she offered her lunch because she believes in sharing whatever you have with others.” Since that incident, Saynab cooked samosas for the entire staff and brought them to share. This Muslim woman was teaching them something about God’s hospitality and generosity.