When Jesus is out and about amongst people, what he feels is compassion. They’re like sheep without a shepherd. They’re in so much need of healing, community and good news. So, in Matthew 9:35-10:15, he hatches a plan.
He gathers his twelve apostles with plans to send them out (apostle means “one who is sent”) to these lost sheep. They will be the heralds of the good news that the kingdom of heaven is near. That will be their spoken proclamation, but their very presence will be its own sermon. They are to bring no money or extra clothes with them. “This is not a get-rich-quick scheme,” their appearance itself will communicate, “but an announcement that God is close to you and that is more than enough.” They are not even to travel with footwear! They are to go out like Moses, taking their sandals off on holy ground because everywhere they’re about to go is somewhere that the holiness of God is waiting to be recognized.
That will be their style of presentation, but their task is this: proclaim the nearness of the kingdom. heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out the demons. But, isn’t that exactly what Jesus has been doing? Are they to be expected to do all the same things Jesus does? That’s a rather intimidating job to do, isn’t it?
And what about us? Are we supposed to do the things Jesus does too? Of all the jobs we don’t feel qualified for, of all the ways we feel inadequate and flawed – surely we’re not capable of actually being like Jesus. But Jesus is not keeping us on the bench. He is calling on us to walk alongside him and do what he does, to be a source of healing and good news to the people around us.
Jesus has been training us for this all along, even if we didn’t realize it. This is why we read the Gospels, why we immerse ourselves in them again and again, so that being near Jesus and imitating him becomes so natural that we don’t even realize we’re doing it. The teaching ministry, proclaiming ministry, and healing ministry of Jesus is rippling out and out and won’t stop. And it ripples out and out through those of us who have spending time with him, traveling with him, learning from him, watching him, imitating him. This is what we signed up for when we were baptized, to be like him, to say the things he says and do the things he does.
If you think you’re not smart enough, rest assured, neither were those twelve. If you’re not qualified enough, neither were they. If you’re not righteous enough, neither were they. They are not scholars. They are not successful businessmen. They are not revered leaders in the community. They are fishermen, tax collectors and traitors. They have “little faith.” Make no mistake, if Jesus is entrusting his ministry to these twelve, he’s entrusting it to you too. So go announce to someone that God is close to them. Be the presence of God to them. Jesus thinks you’re up to the task. Will you tell him he’s wrong?
When Moses got his marching orders from the burning bush, he said no thank you. I suppose that option is available to us, too. But it didn’t work for Moses. The God who told him to take off his sandals and go be a blessing to hurting people was too irresistible. I think we’re going to realize the same thing.