There
were many things Jesus could do very well: preach, teach, exorcise demons,
heal, discern the human psyche. But there was one area in which he did not do
well – public relations. Jesus would be the last person you would want
responsible for your organization’s publicity and advertising. If you had a
product, you wouldn't want him designing the commercial.
The
first and most important rule in advertising, I'm imagining, is to put a
positive spin on the product. Make it sound as appealing as possible. Any
potential negative or undesirable aspects are to be ignored or at least
sugar-coated by stressing the positive goals the product will help one achieve.
Basic
to good publicity then: stress the positive; emphasize the benefits.
This
week’s reading concludes the talk Jesus gave to his disciples before sending
them out into the mission field. We looked at part of it last week. It seems to
me that a person with any sense of what makes for good public relations, any
sense for what motivates people, would, especially in this case, want to stress
the positive.
This
is very important. Skilled, capable people are needed, and you don’t want to
scare them off by telling them about the problems they might encounter. Best to
focus instead on the blessings that will result from participating in such
work. That's how you sell the mission.
So
what does Jesus tell his disciples? Here is what we read in the 10th
chapter of Matthew’s gospel: Take no provisions for yourself, no food, water,
money, or extra clothes; you are to rely in the hospitality of strangers, who
just may not help you.
He
also says, as we saw last week, that they will be hated, even their own family
members will turn against them, that he (Jesus) came to bring conflict not
peace, that they would have to love Jesus more than their families, that they
would have to pick up and carry their own execution devises, and that they
would have to loose their lives in order to find life. Not exactly a positive
spin designed to encourage participation.
The
good part is what we get today. But the good part is really short, and it comes
at the end. This is the opposite of the way we are sold things on television.
Imagine
a drug commercial where a man takes a pill, then he cramps over with
intense abdominal pain, barely making his way to the bathroom in time. And then
the voice says: this medication is likely to cause sever abdominal cramping,
diarrhea, nausea, drowsiness, headache, incontinence, irritability, night
sweats, and sexual dysfunction. Ask your doctor about Whizinoll.
Side-effects not guaranteed, medicine may also relieve nasal congestion caused
by allergies.
Would
you rush out to get this medicine? Not on your life. The quick
under-your-breath disclaimer at the end is for the bad stuff. The good effects
are what you emphasize. But Jesus does it the other way around, emphasizing the
bad, and giving the good in a quick and short statement at the end. Not good
marketing.
When
preaching this text in Ohio, our youth group was about to go to West Virginia
to help repair houses in an area blighted by poverty. This was my text the
Sunday before they left. So I told
them, in the spirit of this passage, the following farewell:
It
is going to be hot. You will not have air conditioning. You are going to work
hard, your muscles will ache and your skin will burn. You are going to stink,
but worse, you will be surrounded by many others who stink worse than you. When
you are cranky, hot, tired, and eaten up by bugs, the joker next to you will
try to relieve his tribulations by pulling a prank on you, or otherwise
antagonizing you.
Chaperones,
just when you are ready to walk away and soak in a cool bubble bath, it will be
time to prepare dinner. And for everyone, when you wake up, too sore to move,
it will be time to begin all over again – the second day.
When
Jesus sent his disciples out to do God’s work, he did not sugarcoat anything.
He told them up front the difficulties they would face if they choose to stick
with him. So where was the blessing in all of this? Surely Jesus had something
positive to offer his disciples if they chose this path? Surely there is a good
reason for the youth group to go to McDowell county West Virginia?
Fortunately,
Jesus did give the positive, even if it was at the end of his instructions,
almost like a positive disclaimer. He said that they would encounter and
experience the presence of God in their lives. “Whoever welcomes you
welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. And whoever
gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones – truly I tell you, none of these will lose
their reward.”
The
reward is unspecified, but it clearly comes from God. Also implied is God’s
presence with the disciples and God’s blessing on those who warmly receive
them.
It
is almost like a disclaimer, but Jesus was not one to offer blessings in trade
for loyalty. Disciples of Jesus were hardy people of faith because he was
always trying, so it seems, to scare away the complacent with the warning of
just how costly his discipleship was.
That
is a good lesson for us. A check on our spiritual motivations; just what are we
really looking for? Reward or service? Is it, “Here I am, comfort me!” or is
it, “Here I am, Lord send me!”
For
that youth group it wasn't about heat, or lack of comfort, or being away from
home. To some extent it wasn't even about the work they would be doing,
building homes for people in one of the most impoverished areas of our country.
It
was about discipleship, about taking one’s place next to Jesus, working – even
at sacrifice – for the betterment of the neighbor, and the message of God’s
love in the one we call Messiah.
And
that is something we need to realize also. It isn't enough to try out some
church growth gimmicks in hope of getting a few more members, or even a lot
more members.
It
is really about standing with Christ, willing to work, willing to speak, to
stand with the Messiah even when the sun is harsh and the work is hard, to take
our pleasure in our place beside Christ, our place as disciples who know the
Lord, and have picked up our cross to do your part in making the world a better
place, and spreading the message of the kingdom of God.
If
that is not what we are really looking for, if that is not who we are willing
to be, then it doesn't matter if we grow or not. But if we are more interested
in ministry and evangelism than we are in growing, then we will find ourselves
truly blessed, and in the company those likewise blessed – telling of the
amazing things we have seen and heard, the presence of the Lord strong in our
midst. Amen.