Matthew 10:16-33 June 19, 2005, 5 Pentecost The Rev. Diane Livingston, Deacon Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississipp Did you hear the Gospel this morning?! What do you think? Severe, extreme, harsh, risky, reality-based...? Bill summarized the various seasons of our church year recently in a sermon and I remember that he labeled the Pentecost season as the one about US, the followers, the disciples of Jesus. Today's scripture takes us to the core of what Jesus expects of us. Some of the words of Jesus tell us that we go out as sheep in the midst of wolves; others may whip us and drag us to the courts; we may have to speak about our faith publically; families may be torn apart as those who are kin turn against one another; we may be persecuted and have to flee to other towns; indeed we will be at high risk of dying in this process of living our faith. There are just some things that Jesus makes very clear - no parables today to get multiple meanings from. If we are followers of Jesus, we will not keep our faith private. Though we may be killed or scorned or mocked or ostracized, none of these things would be worse than if our very soul was destroyed. As humans we have defense mechanisms that protects us when things are too intense around us. We put up barriers or walls so that our thoughts just don't go to areas that are more than we can handle. If you are having trouble thinking of Jesus asking you to do these things, think about this comparison: When we pour ourselves into our passions whether that be relationships, vocations, hobbies, we can be amazed at what we do. We consume ourselves with learning all we can about our interests. We are astonished at the time and even money that we pour into what interests us. We stay up half the night or talk endlessly to others who share the same passions. With relationships, we spend a huge amount of time just being with the person we care so much about - in person, by phone, e-mailing, writing. We try to understand them and would do about anything that needs to be done to protect them or to continue to let them know of our love. In view of assessing yourself and your passions, Jesus' words to us may now seem more realistic in terms of the love we have for Jesus and God and therefore what we must expect of ourselves in this relationship with God. When Jesus tells us not to be afraid, one thing he is most assuredly not telling us is that we don't have to be afraid because life is perfectly safe. It isn't. We are not protected from harm because we are followers of Jesus; we do have the assurance of the presence of God through the worst of it. Focus for a moment on one of the things Jesus directs us to do: when we are persecuted, we should flee to the next town. Nobody knows exactly how many refugees there are in the world today but there are at least 23 million who have fled their countries and at least 27 million more who have been displaced within their own borders. Seems foreign or unimaginable to us? Think again: among us last school year and now back in Jackson for the summer is Martin Noah, our MSU student from Sudan. As he lived among us in the flesh, many came to know him and to love him. Though we personally may not have had to flee to another town, Martin and hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people have had to. Martin and many others literally had to run for their lives. Armed invaders would sweep through in the night and families would be murdered. After meeting Martin, I will never watch or read another report about Sudan without feeling a much more personal attachment to the sufferings of people there. After all, I care greatly about Martin and why would I not care about his family and friends. Martin called last week to say that he really missed the church here and to ask what is going on. As we talked, he shared that he was trying to send a relative who had contacted him recently as much money as he could. The relative was in Uganda and before returning to Sudan he was trying to buy food to take back in with him. Martin very quietly explained that there is still a famine in his country. Having recently returned from the national Episcopal Relief and Development meeting, I know that we can all help with this situation in Sudan by giving generously to ERD. The staff there will work through partnerships with Anglican groups to get relief efficiently to where it is most needed. Currently ERD is helping refugees from Sudan who are in neighboring countries and who need food, tents and medical assistance. Episcopal Relief and Development will provide many things to help persons survive and in addition it will strengthen communities from within when staff is allowed back into the country. That is the characteristic of sustainable work - when folks work at the community level to help people find their own solutions. Sadly Sudan is not at this point of rebuilding their lives. Currently the focus is still on survival; indeed it will be a wonderful thing when the people there can move past survival and begin the development part of the work that ERD is committed to. Martin gives us a personal example. Another angle to help us see and grasp some of the needs of the world is to look at numbers: the tsunami killed over 250,000 people. There has been a tremendous outpouring of money to help this devastation and that is good. In fact, Episcopalians have given over $12 million for the tsunami relief efforts which is awesome. However, the ongoing needs of the world continue every day so consider that same number, 250,000. 250,000 is the number of women who die in childbirth every six months worldwide, mostly in the developing world. About half a million women die each year from pregnancy-related causes - 99% of them in the developing world. 250,000 is the number of children under five who die every week worldwide, most of whom live in the developing world, most of whom die of treatable or preventable causes. 250,000 is the number of people who die every six days as a result of poor water quality and waterborne diseases. Clean water. We Americans can't imagine not having clean water to drink. Most of the people in the developing world can't imagine having clean water at all! When people look at us and the actions we take with all of our resources, will they see God's compassion or do they see otherwise? Do they see us reaching out to be Christ's hands on earth or do they see people with blinders on, pretending not to see the needs of the rest of the world? This morning I use the example of Martin and the work of our church through Episcopal Relief and Development. Each of you have paths that you will be called to based on your life opportunities and your gifts. Please hear that there are many ways to go into the risky, extreme places that Jesus says we must go. A few years ago, a reporter visited a dreadfully poor remote village in Alaska. He attended church in a drafty shack, and talked with a little girl afterwards. She was dressed in almost rags. She was dreadfully thin. Yet she had a big smile on her face. The reporter asked her if she believed that God took care of her. "Oh, yes," she said. "But how can you believe that," he asked. "You don't have enough food, and you don't have pretty dresses, and you don't even have any school supplies." Well," she said, "I guess I think God asked someone to bring us those things," and they said, "No." What would we say? What would we do? Would we respond? Would she see Christ in us? Jesus directs us to go into the hard places - to accept the duty and the privilege of being with those who suffer. Often we can do that from our safe homes on the other side of the world, through the presence of Episcopal Relief and Development, our wise and experienced partner in service to people we will never meet. Whatever the way we respond to Jesus' plea to us is good. If we are open to the Holy Spirit, we will be given ideas and we will be generous with what God has given us. If we think that maybe all of this is just too much for us to agree to and to live out, we have the beautiful reminder that God is the faithful creator who cares for each creation - you, me, Martin, the nameless who are dying, who are hungry and thirsty, who live in unjust environments. The tiny sparrows and the hairs on all of our heads are each known to God. We are told not to fear but to respond to those in need so that maybe more children will be able to say: God asked someone to bring us those things and they said YES! I envision at those moments that God's arms go around all of us - those who are poor and those who give - and the very hairs on our heads tingle because we know that God our Creator sees all that happens to us and comes close to us as we give and as we receive.