3rd Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 6, Year A
June 14, 2026
Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23), Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)
We continue in the Gospel of Matthew this week, as we will for weeks. All twelve disciples have now been called, representing the twelve tribes of Israel which Jesus will now send out. This is one of five discourses in this gospel and is commonly referred to as Matthew’s Missionary Discourse and it is the only time in the Gospel that Matthew calls the twelve “apostles.”
Jesus has been busy. He’s gone everywhere already doing what he came to do–in all the cities and villages, teaching in synagogues, healing and curing, and proclaiming the Good News! And the crowds and the needs continued to grow. Jesus looked at the people coming to him and saw how they were harassed and helpless, literally translated as oppressed and falling down. And he had compassion on them.
Compassion does not simply mean he felt sorry for them. The word that gets translated into compassion here is “splagchnizomai” and it means to be moved to one’s bowels. Literally, gut-wrenching. When we talk about love and compassion these days we often say we feel it in our hearts, as in “my heart was broken.” But in the ancient world, and even in many cultures around the world today, the center of emotions was in the bowels. Seeing these people who were harassed and helpless was like a punch in the gut to him.
“The crowds” here were nobodies. They are the peasant class, brutally suppressed by taxes, barely able to carve out an existence in the occupation of the Roman Empire. Jesus saw why they were in this state. Like sheep without a shepherd is a reference to this lack of leadership for these people, spiritually as well. The spiritual leaders of the community were also not doing anything to relieve their burden. No one took responsibility. Where were the leaders–the shepherds, Jesus wanted to know. They have no shepherd, no one is tending to them, no one is guiding them, no one is seeing that they are safe, and fed, and cared for. And it broke him.
Their needs were great and they were directionless. Like any great leader, he knows he can’t, and shouldn’t, do it all himself. The community isn’t cared for and the needs of people cannot be met by one person. Jesus doesn’t work as a solo act. He invites his people into the work with him.
Jesus offered a different kind of Good News–one that didn’t come at the cost of the poor and marginalized. One that did not cause the people to be harassed and helpless. The Good News was that the Kingdom of God was near, walking among them. He knows that the ministry of God’s people is to be done with others. The Good News is an interactive project. He knows that we are interconnected, we are designed that way, and if any good of God’s kingdom is going to manifest the results are exponential when God’s people work together.
So he calls the newly assembled twelve and says, “You’re going to help me now. We’re going to do this together. Here’s what it means to be shepherds.” And he gives them their job description. Any good leader also knows to start small. At the beginning of the mission of Jesus, they were not to go to any Gentiles or go to any Samaritan villages, but start with the lost sheep of their own people. By the end of this Gospel in the last Chapter the call will have expanded to Gentiles, Samaritans, and all the world. Jesus’ followers will soon be asked to shepherd and care for all people in and outside of their borders.
And what specifically are they to do? They were to find the sick, the dying, the diseased, and the tormented. Those were the people they were to tell about the Good News. Those were the folks that needed a shepherd, that needed hope, healing, that needed true and lasting peace. Jesus’ disciples are to participate in the compassion of Jesus.
And how are they supposed to do this? Hang with influencers, woo the wealthy, take potential donors to dinner, get in good with the people of stature in the community, and make a name for themselves? No, it was much less strategic. Jesus tells them they are to do this work without resources–just go. Don’t pack a suitcase, take no money, no snacks, just yourself. And how is that going to work? By depending on the hospitality of strangers. The laborers deserve their food and someone in these towns will see that they eat. See what happens, seems to be Jesus’ message. This is quite a recipe of vulnerability and trust in the Christ they proclaim to follow. I marvel at that kind of faith and dedication.
You might miss the underlying message of his instructions to find a place to stay that is worthy. While it may sound judgmental, these disciples have a purpose when entering these towns. They do not have the time or resources or energy to engage in arguments and distractions. If they are invited into a home, not only greet the family, but greet the house. You know how you get a feel for a house when you enter it? What makes these homes worthy is the hospitality they offer. If the disciples are offered hospitality, Jesus says, then give and bless that house with your peace. If you are not offered hospitality, then shake it off and move on. What is inferred here is do not waste your time in arguing your point, trying to get them to really hear the Good News, and especially engaging in violence with your words or actions. If the truth you carry is not welcome and you are not offered the sacred act of hospitality, you aren’t going to get anywhere trying to convince the inhospitable.
In the ancient Near East, hospitality was a sacred duty for survival. Because public inns were virtually non-existent, travelers relied entirely on the generosity of local residents for food and shelter. Offering protection to strangers was an absolute moral imperative. The narrative in Genesis this morning praised Abraham for his lavish, welcoming hospitality to visiting strangers, setting the standard for righteous behavior. The overarching sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were pride, arrogance, a violent indifference to hospitality, and a fundamental refusal to care for those in need.
When the church goes out to the lost, the sick, the dying, the oppressed, we are being sent out amongst wolves. You are going to endure insults, ridicule, be blocked, cancelled, and mocked for the sake of the Gospel. Why we are surprised at this is beyond me. But shake the dust off your feet. Keep your peace in your heart. God is with you even when you endure extreme hardship–when you are threatened or humiliated because you are caring for the harassed and helpless. Perhaps the followers of Christ will find the faith to see that the gap between the real and the ideal can in fact be bridged. Jesus, at least, seems to think we can get the job done, even if it will not be easy.
The needs are great, and there are people who will open their homes and hearts to the message of Jesus and become co-workers, and will also become shepherds for the harassed and helpless. Don’t waste your time and energy with those who do not. Just like today, there is God’s work to do and we would all do better to not bother with the harsh words. God will deal with it mightily, not you, that message is clear.
In order to do the work of the Gospel, we have to be vulnerable, and willing to receive hospitality, too. Those who devote themselves to this work often still have a hard time with the receiving part. In our culture of individual independence, we don’t realize how this is in conflict with the mission of Jesus. We also must be able to receive if we are hoping others will receive from us. Those who receive hospitality are much more likely to offer hospitality. This is a principle of the Gospel. Like the disciples, we are to learn that despite one’s needs, we are interdependent on one another.
Most of you have lived long enough to know that you have lived through times of plenty and good health and good fortune. You have also lived through times of need and sickness and sorrow. Receiving the hospitality and care from your church, your friends, and family, maybe even strangers, was hard. But God has created us to be this way. We are not a whole and healthy community if we cannot give and receive with equal gratitude. God is with you is the Good News! Are you going to say no to that?
Jesus’ mission is to be a shepherd, to care for the needs of others. He also relied on the hospitality of others. The Body of Christ walks together in humility and vulnerability, exercising hospitality to the stranger as much as to one another because we are ONE body. Step out of your silos, my friends. We need each other. Like Sarah and Abraham, it might just be that there are angels that come to you seeking hospitality. And the blessing will be yours to receive.
Magdalena's Musings 