Year B Proper 23 WEDNESDAY 2024 Take Nothing

 Year B Proper 23 WEDNESDAY, 16 October 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Take Nothing”

Collect: Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Gospel Luke 9:1-17

Then Jesus* called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there.Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere. Now Herod the ruler* heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. Herod said, ‘John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he tried to see him. On their return the apostles told Jesus* all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.’ But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.’ They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Provisions are there. We believe it or we do not. Providence. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord provides.

The call of faith is one of how we see God. Distant, unconcerned, cool toward the Creation, or not. Intimate, devoted, passionate about our well-being. If God is a God of Abundance, we are often called to set out with nothing in our “proverbial” bags.

It is about making our faith real. “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic.” That is a tall order.

I am afraid to admit I am one of those “just in case” packers. I will pack ________[fill in the blank] “just in case.” So much unnecessary and ultimately unwanted gets stuck in the bag, “just in case.” But that is what Jesus wanted his disciples to learn. God will Provide. Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.

When I came home I told Sojo if there is one thing I learned from the Camino, only take what you can carry. Not just on the Camino, but as a life lesson.

There are so many things that I have to put down, so many “just in case” things I hold onto when I need to be letting them go and giving them up.

Maybe the same is true for you, too. 

Sunday I spoke about letting go of that thing that keeps you from fully following Christ. The man who came to him in our Mark reading was addicted to his stuff. The possessions that end up possessing us was his issue, and Jesus wanted to instill in his closest 12 that stuff is not what it is about. Take nothing. Nothing at all.

And when they returned they joyously shared their success. 

It is not accidental that the cherry on the Sunday was the Feeding of the 5,000 in Luke. After taking nothing, they were overwhelmed by Abundance. The two go hand in glove. We step out on faith because we trust. We trust that the one who calls us to empty our reserves will be there to fill our cup as needed. Jesus took a meager offering and made of it a Feast. A feast with leftovers.

As we learn to have faith, to step out in faith with empty satchels and no extra tunics, we begin to see that God is with us and will take care of our needs. When we are asked to stay somewhere, we stay there. We do not look for better digs. When we are rejected, we let go of that rejection and move on, shaking the very dust off our soles. That may sound like an act of scorn against those we are leaving, but I think it is more about us moving on. Forgiving and being free to focus entirely on what is to come. We have to let it go.

When I was on the Camino, I let go of so much that I did not need to drag around, metaphorically and literally. Both were true and oh, so needed. It takes faith. When Jesus returns, how will he find us? Stockpiling and preparing for “just in case,” or letting go and letting God be God? When Jesus returns will he find we have faith? We will see. And so will he. Amen