Truth Be Told

This passage is about Matthew or Levi the tax collector. Jesus has not been slack and has now amassed his disciples. 

But this is not a club but a community of followers of God.

Is the truth being told when we speak to others?

Lie number one you’re supposed to have it all together

Audience

The author’s audience is not just the 12 disciples but the local church community, and to warn them of what they might face. The context is that the Temple has been razed, destroyed, by the Romans in 70AD and the faith is flown to the four winds: where worship is in synagogues or houses – more so the latter if there has been trouble. Some early believers are being dragged in front of the local leaders as trouble makers, and there is division amongst the people. Recall that by the end of the Gospel Matthew records that Jesus tells them all of the great commission.

That local church community are not the dignitaries, they are the ones who are suffering under heavy taxes imposed by the governing bodies. They are like ‘sheep without a shepherd’. So it’s a metaphor: they aren’t roaming the fields eating grass – they are being led by people who are different to them; the leaders don’t care about their welfare; the leaders harass the people – they had no leader they could associate with.

Perhaps it’s the church today: once the figure head of the country,
now pushed into the long grass, cast aside as a outsider.

Time for action

Lie number 2 everybody’s life is perfect except yours

But the people of Jesus’ time need help, now. So Jesus commissions twelve people. Yes, significant as a number, all male, but we do know from other Gospels that women were probably in equal number, and held the purse strings (Luke 8:1-3).

These people had compassion. They felt the need in their bowels – great phrase. It wasn’t a head desire to help, but something which came from within. We have heard of the difference of power with Jesus in recent weeks: the words dunamis and exousia. Either something held within or something which is shared amongst all. This compassion for others comes from within but is shared out amongst the people, so we can follow that initiative : we can become a sharing community. We might doubt we have that capability but: “All, yes even those who doubt, the waverers, the not exactly completely sure, all have that commission to go out and make disciples – equipped. Interestingly, and the Church might wish to take note of this over the millennia, Jesus tells us to live as he lived and not say believe as he believed. Our church policy in the past is to ensure that everyone believes in what we believe, for if we say the Jesus prayer, if we say what the leaders say, we are all ok. That’s not sharing, that’s power. We are called to live as Jesus lived, and allow others to engage with that. It might make the commission to all a bit more understandable, manageable even.” (taken from https://dbobstoner.com/is-it-ok-to-doubt/)

Jesus tells them to announce the Kingdom of Heaven in words and actions, and also show that compassion. It isn’t a binary option: do one or the other. It’s a both option. 

When Jesus speaks of sickness, death, isolation, illness – both physical and mental, we could easily add injustice into that mix. When we see injustice within a community, our community, we are called to act. There is that section where it talk of demons. People where the ‘demons’ reside where evil has its grip. They are bound by their behaviour, entrapped – which can often lead to suicide. In essence, what prevents us from flourishing as who God intended us to be. 

So what?

There’s a sign on the door, says, “Come as you are” but I doubt it
‘Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded

To do this work we need to be alongside others, so we identify with them. We can’t stand on a pedestal. Our lives need to be as we would want. So if others are going to be vulnerable, we also need to vulnerable. 

So, listening to the any of the anonymous groups – not speaking to the group as a whole – but being in dialogue with those who are struggling with addiction, like we all are to some degree. 

Welcoming those who come to our Tuesday lunch group : LADLE, those who are frantically looking around for some space they can call their own, so that they can rest. Just that friendly time of listening is astonishingly powerful – and it encourages others to feel worthy, human. Conversations flow and over time they know that they have found ‘their tribe’. A new community but one that welcomes them.

I’d like you to consider that for yourselves, wherever you are. A place of sanctuary amidst the busyness of this world, where you can really let your hair down, relax and speak openly. It is rare today – could we look to move towards that? It isn’t about creating a place with glossy covers, costing thousands of pounds – it is about being human.

Well, we have that in church don’t we?

The “Yes, I’m fine” response may put up a protective wall for a wee while. Even if we are dragging our leg behind us, that might be the first phrase that comes to mind. Goodness me, I’m as guilty as anyone.  But please have someone you can pour out what is really going on. 

Did it really mean “Yes, I’m fine but I am not?” Have listen to this song called “Truth be told”

Have that person, that you choose, whom you can, as they say, “dump on”. I met someone recently whose leadership has disappeared, and they were struggling to cope with the incredible stories they were listening to. It just takes a “I’m there for you”. Then can we change, even now, change so that we can make stronger bonds between us and others? If people see that we are far more than a group of people who come together on a Sunday morning for an hour but there is something far stronger than even these walls, people will want to know. 

When people tell you their stories, it is not our job to merely say that they need to believe. Jesus’ message here is that we do ‘the both option’. By listening to the other, we are offering support, possibly not experienced by other organisations, who may be too quick to respond. 

“When we speak and hear what is going on, it may be the first time we have actually heard it ourselves”

Trey Hall  

They may well ask what makes you tick, how do you get by? Tell the truth: it’s not plain sailing, I have doubts, but I follow a way of life that Jesus teaches – I get it wrong I know but I go back to it. Why? Because it invigorates me. There is something which comes from within and wants me to do it.

If that sounds alien to you, don’t hide those feelings away, but speak to someone. Let’s explore that gently: firstly see where you are, and then see where you can explore for yourself that life that Jesus wants for all of us.

And so?

This is about revitalising the church community, making what seems impossible manageable in our own context.  As we come to our Annual Church Meeting, where we simply go through a process of ensuring that we have the necessary people in place to carry this church forward: this is not a club but a community of followers of God. Let’s mark this moment as one where we can make a difference to those around us, to those in the community where we are already in contact with, and to those where we live. Take this message home with you – ponder on it, what is God saying to you about it, and act.