Onward: How Jesus Models Healthy Boundaries For Us

 

The Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles on the 5th Sunday After the Epiphany

Isaiah 40:21-31

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39

Psalm 147:1-12, 21c

©2024 The Rev. Seth Olson

 

Holy God, let my words be your words and when my words are not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen.

 

Last week, I spoke with you about an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This is my deeply held belief and a truth of the ministry of Christ Jesus among us. God wants us to go far, together! What does this look like though? Asked another way, how do we go far together? 

 

Today, we catch a glimpse of how Jesus went with his disciples. This Gospel lesson lays out a powerful example of how Jesus dealt with competing goods to perpetuate his ministry. Here he models for us how to have boundaries, so to enact God’s Mission on earth. While this story is packed with details, I want to focus upon one aspect—Christ Jesus’ example of setting healthy limits the morning after those late-night healings. First though, let me set the stage because even though this passage is only 11 verses long it possesses enough content to preach more than three sermons!

 

Our story for today picks up right where we left off last week. Jesus had healed the man with the unclean spirit and impressed all those in the synagogue. After they left the religious service, Jesus, Simon, Andrew, James, and John went to the home of Simon’s mother-in-law. Who knew that Simon was married?! There they found the woman feverous, and bed ridden. Jesus intimately took her by the hand bringing her back to health. Her response? Once freed from illness, she served! What a powerful witness to God’s healing work in her life!

 

That night once the Sabbath ended “they” brought all who were sick or possessed by demons to be healed. The they in this instance is the whole city of Capernaum. Seeing what they saw in the synagogue the whole town was buzzing with excitement—many who were ill spiritually, mentally, emotionally, or physically came to Jesus, and he did not disappoint—curing the sick unto the wee hours of the morning. The demons wanted to name Jesus—to point out his true identity as the Son of God, but Jesus was focused on the mission, he wanted not a title, but to bring health and salvation. Thus, he would not let the demons speak—even though they would have shared the truth. 

 

After such a long night, one would not blame Jesus for sleeping in the next morning, but he did not. When it was still dark, Jesus headed out to pray—to talk to his Heavenly Father, and more importantly to listen and be with his Heavenly Father. I told you a lot was happening. There’s a sermon here about prayer and listening. There was one back there with Simon’s mother-in-law about being freed from disease and serving God. Even one about how the sickest among us—like those demons—sometimes still tell God’s Truth. 

 

That’s not the focus though. The focus is what happens next. Early in the morning when Jesus was praying, Simon and his companions hunted for Jesus. You heard me, HUNTED—like what we do with deer or turkeys. Friends, I heard some hilarious hunting stories at the vestry retreat this year, but none like this. The disciples were going after Jesus like a hunter stalks his prey. They were on a mission. Why? 

 

I imagine it had to do with others who wanted to be healed by Jesus. Even working late into the night, Jesus did not heal everyone. So, the disciples enlivened by seeing Jesus at work wanted more—so they tracked God’s Son like a hunter after a white-tailed buck. When they found him, they unloaded. “Everyone is searching for you!” What was their hope in relaying this information to Jesus? My belief is they felt the pressure from others who were ill in the community. With this weight mounting on the disciples’ shoulders, they tried to pass along their anxieties to their newfound teacher, healer, and leader.  

 

Here we arrive at Jesus’ exemplary behavior in modeling a healthy application of boundaries. The disciples produced for Jesus a dilemma—sick people from Capernaum remained who were yearning for God’s healing power. Or, in their words, everyone is searching for you! Jesus could have taken on the anxieties of the disciples, the worries of those ones who desired restoration in their lives, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” Wait, what? 

 

We might expect that Jesus would stop everything to heal all those clamoring to be made well, and yet he expressed something completely different! Empowered by his early-morning prayer—guided by what the Father had laid on his heart, Jesus exerted a boundary. As harsh as it may sound upon our ears, Jesus drew a line saying my mission is to proclaim the message—the Good News that God’s Salvation has come for all people. 

 

He would heal others. He would cast out other demons. And yet, here Jesus proclaimed that between these competing goods of healing others and spreading the Good News of God, his mission was the latter. Jesus knew his purpose and he stuck to it, which gets to the implication in our lives. 

 

There is too much hurting in the world—too much! There’s too much hurting in our country, in our state, in our counties, and cities. We, as bold, courageous, and loving as we are, cannot fix all of it. Even Jesus has not yet completed this work!

 

Thus, we must have a focus. We at Holy Apostles are being called to share in the Ministry of Christ Jesus—to go far together, and we must listen together for what direction God is calling us to go! Now, to figure out where we are going we have to choose between life-giving things. It’s easy to discern between a harmful and a helpful thing, but much harder when we have multiple destructive options or multiple beneficial ones. I pray that one day we will have more bandwidth and I trust that God will do in us more than we can ask or imagine. And yet, right now is a winnowing time, a time in which we must narrow our focus, and time in which we must establish healthy boundaries. 

 

What I just said might sound scary, and that is okay. It’s challenging to say no to good things. However, instead of hearing this and thinking that the grim reaper is coming, I invite you to imagine this as a refining time when God is inviting us to clarify our vision, our values, and our mission—like fire improving a precious metal. 

 

To discern our vision, values, and mission, let’s sit down to together. Over the coming months, I want to be with all of you individually and collectively to discern together what is that direction, what vision is God dreaming with us, what mission is Jesus walking with us. I want to have lunch or coffee with you. I want to break bread together yes at this table but also at other tables. As you might guess there’s a lot of folks wanting to meet with me right now, so it’s going to take months for me to gather with all of you. Slowly though we will. 

 

Now, one final implication in our lives about boundaries from today’s Gospel. The disciples said, “Everyone is searching for you!” The way Jesus inserted a boundary was to change the direction of the conversation by inserting his mission. However, saying “everyone is asking about this,” or “no one likes your sermons” to a clergy person is not just unhelpful, it’s downright harmful to our relationship. It creates distance. If you say these sorts of things to me, I am going to try to redirect by asking, “Who is searching for me, or asking about something?” 

 

The reason I want clarification is pastoral in nature. If people are frustrated with me, I want to know. If people are happy with me, I want to know. The best way we can work together is through open, honest communication. So, please talk with me. If you’re disappointed or hurt, if you’re thrilled or happy, let me know. Shoot me a text, send me an email, give me a call, or stop by my office (maybe make an appointment first). 

 

For us to go far together we need clear lines of communication, we require healthy boundaries. These will help us as we clarify our vision, values, and mission. The Good News is that Jesus models a path for us to walk. So let us continue to discern and be together sharing the truth in love, let us go onward into a deepening relationship with God and each other. Amen. 

 

The Complicated Life of American Christians

From the beginning the Church and the United States of America have had an intertwined yet complicated relationship. The first bishop in what would be the Episcopal Church, Samuel Seabury, was also a mapmaker and chaplain for the redcoat (British) troops. Framers of the U.S. Constitution and drafters of the Canons of the Episcopal Church met in the same place to develop the laws that govern these bodies. Even the celebration of Independence Day was stopped in the Church from the late 1700s until 1928 because so many clergy in the Episcopal faith were from Great Britain, and it was hurtful for them to celebrate their defeat in the Revolutionary War. With all of these ties understanding how Church and State relate seems like a difficult task. However, on this Independence Day I wonder how we might be good American Christians?

Turning to Scripture assigned to Independence Day in the Lectionary gives us some hints as to how we might have allegiance to God and allegiance to country. Deuteronomy, a book filled with law that assisted the Israelites to be a nation dedicated to God states:

"The LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen" (10:17-21).

To the Israelites to be dedicated to God and Nation meant welcoming in orphan, widow, and stranger, providing them food and clothing. This connected back to when they were strangers in Egypt, being held captive. They remembered this hardship, so to remind them that life was not so easy as slaves. God delivered them, so if they are to be a nation dedicated to God, they can help others who need sustenance, shelter, and support. When my ancestors first came to the United States of America it was seven generations ago, and they needed support from ones who came before them. They turned to the Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL and they found care. So one way to be a good Christian in America means that we provide support for those in need who feel like a stranger in this place.

Turning to Matthew's gospel we find more direction on what it might mean for us to be good American Christians. Matthew 5:43-48 states:

"Jesus said, 'You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.'"

I have had the chance to travel abroad a few times on mission trips, and the first item I pack for the journey is my United States of America passport. Without it I could not travel into another country, nor could I get home. Recently I was introduced to the idea that we have another passport too. We have a passport as a citizen in the Kingdom of God. This passport might be more important on that packing list. It might also be one that requires more work than being a citizen in the USA. In this passage from Matthew, Jesus lays out one requirement of this Kingdom living. We are asked to love our enemies. Many times in my own life I am very bad at this. I see someone who looks different than me, talks different than me, cheers for a different team than I do, and immediately I shut them out. As citizens of the USA we tend to believe that we are the best, but our task as citizens of the Kingdom of God is to love our neighbor and our enemy. To treat all we meet as if they are Jesus himself.

This is not easy work. We will probably not get it right all of the time, yet we have each other and we have God to support us in living perfectly as our heavenly Father. Our challenge this Independence Day is to hold fast to our dual citizenship as both Americans and Christians.

Let's Go Far: Luke 9:51-62

Introduction: Cross-country Spikes and an African Proverb

On the inside of these cross-country spikes at the start of my senior season of college, I wrote several motivational lines. One of them was the first half of an African proverb, which goes “If you want to go fast, go alone.” AND let me tell you, I went soooo fast during my final handful of races. During that season I lowered my personal best by a minute and a half for the 8 kilometer race, and while I ended the season as my team’s top performer, I did so by forgetting my teammates, and the second half of that wise African phrase. When I found these shoes during my recent move to Decatur, I didn’t get stuck on the first half of the proverb that I written, but rather the second part that was left unwritten, ”If you want to go far, go together.” If you want to go far, go together.

As we start this shared ministry together, we begin a new journey, and we can choose to go fast one by one in 200 different directions, or we go together and go far. However; we are not the only ones traveling on a new journey today. In this morning’s gospel, Luke makes clear that Jesus himself is setting off on a new journey, setting his face to Jerusalem, to the Cross, and to the Resurrection. Now this time of year we might all be going on different trips, like to the beach, to camp, to the mountains, on business, for family reunions, or just to get away. Whenever I travel I tend to make a packing list of some sort to prepare my way for the excursion. This morning I am wondering: What do we need for our new journey together? What is on our packing list? What is going to be in our proverbial suitcase? Perhaps the start of Jesus’ journey will provide us with some insight. Of course, at the top of the list will be each other.   

Jesus Starting the Journey

Next week we will hear more about items that Jesus would not put on a packing list when he sends out seventy disciples who take nothing on their journey: not a purse, not a bag, not even sandals. This morning though, we hear about Jesus sending messengers ahead and meeting would be followers as he goes. In both cases we can learn something about what Jesus expected from those who would journey with him.

Messengers

          Jesus sends some messengers to a village of Samaritans. Now, as a result of the parable of the Good Samaritan we might think that all Samaritans treated their neighbors kindly, picked up the injured, and cared for strangers they met, but really Jesus told that story, which we will hear next month in the lectionary, so that his disciples might actually see Samaritans as people too. Typically, Samaritans were the type of individual that would not welcome you under their roof, that would kick you when you were down, that were to be avoided at all costs. So in today’s gospel when the Samaritans are inhospitable to Jesus and his messengers, it seems a somewhat natural reaction that the disciples James and John express their anger. However, they want to express that anger by calling down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans. Jesus rebukes them, according to some ancient texts saying, “You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them.” If we are traveling with Jesus then, we need not pack the ways that we burn and put down others along the way, but rather a different spirit.

          The first thing that we bring with us on the journey, after bringing each other, is knowledge of the Truth that Jesus comes to save the Lost. We might believe that we are not prone to get lost, and that we don’t need help with directions. Since moving to Decatur I have been circling my supposed destination a few times unable to exactly pinpoint where I am going. In those times I am typically too stubborn to ask for directions, but it can be amazing when I do.

When I feel lost I turn to the spirit through prayer and meditation. Often it is as simple as sitting with God quietly listening for directions in the morning, or maybe it’s by journaling that God lays out the map for us, or through conversation with a good friend that we hear God’s whispering which way to move next. When I feel most lost the way for me to find my way is to come together with others. Whether in conversation, in prayer, or in leisure we can find our way more easily if we travel together. If you want to go far, go together, right? Now, what else do we pack on this new journey?

Would Be Followers

When Jesus moves on towards another village from the Samaritans he encounters three different would be followers. In these interactions we discover more for our journey’s packing list. Someone comes up to Jesus and says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replies telling this person that foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. I don’t think Jesus is telling us to become homeless, but rather that when we walk with Christ sometimes that journey is a lonely one, and even our homes do not feel so comfortable. We will live our lives differently than others and often that means rejection from those who do not understand. Loving our neighbors, forgiving those who sin against us, and finding the lost often runs against the cultural grain. So as we start this journey we will need to pack a resolve to stay with Christ even when rejected, neglected, or lonely.

The next two encounters are very similar with Jesus’ invitation of “Follow me” being delayed for one person to bury the dead and another to say goodbye to one’s family. We might find it hard to understand Jesus’ responses in both cases:“Let the dead bury the dead,” and “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” One friend refers to Jesus in this part of Luke’s gospel as “mean Jesus,” but truthfully as we start out on this journey with Jesus he is not asking us to ignore the concerns of this world (our families, our work, and our friends). Rather, Jesus asks us to live in this world primarily as followers of Christ. We are to pack a heightened sense of discipleship for our journey, so that everything we do is done for Christ, in Christ, with Christ. Every step we take we take for Christ, towards Christ, with Christ. Our journey is to come together with one another to become the Body of Christ, to live and to breathe, to walk and to talk, to serve and to be as that Body of Jesus Christ. What Jesus would have us pack for the journey is a sense of discipleship, that we are truly his followers and that we are invited to walk with him on our journey together.

Conclusion: Let's Go Far   

Today we start something new, we take our first steps together in this new ministry and I am really excited. From today’s gospel we find a packing list that asks us to take a spirit to find the lost, a resolve to endure living our lives against the grain, and strong discipleship following Christ. There will be times when we will feel lost, when we take the wrong turn, when we lose the spiritual map, when we are running short on food, or when we just want to go off on our own. And if I had to guess, we can make it a few steps as individuals, but even if we each have all the supplies on our packing list we cannot trek on our own. Rather, it is when we walk together that we walk as the Body of Christ. This is what excites me about our journey, when we come together we are the Body of Christ and we can make any voyage.

If we want to go fast, go alone, but if we want to go far let’s go together! Amen.