i remember everything you taught me

like the faintest scent in june

 

The Holy Gospel according to St. Lukethe 10th Chapter!

Let's have a story...

I remember the first time I saw him, there on that grassy plane, teaching all of us. I remember him there, talking about who is blessed in God's kingdom. I remember how when it came time to eat, Jesus said a blessing and fed each and every one of us gathered there, over 5,000 of us!

He really cared for all of us.

Some even said he fed us all with only seven loaves and fishes...

Now that's hard to believe.

 

I remember that day perfectly...

And ever since that day, I wanted to be one of his followers...

He had this cohort, twelve of them, his disciples.

I figure these were his all-stars, I really looked up to them.

I wanted to be one of them...

So whenever I had the chance, I'd try to get close to this Jesus, to his disciples.

When he taught, I'd try to push my way forward, to get noticed, to get invited to join.

But it never happened.

Not that I was all that surprised...

I'm just a nobody, I never preformed any miracles, no rabbis ever asked me to be a student.

Why would Jesus invite me to join his group, to be one of his disciples?

If nothing else, though, I guess I'm stubborn...

Every time I heard Jesus was teaching, I'd show up.

When I heard he was having a meal, I'd try to be around.

Finally, one day, it happened!

I couldn't believe it!

Jesus had gathered seventy, he was going to send a group to go ahead of him and proclaim his coming!

So I took my chance, and jumped into the group.

I am pretty sure Jesus didn't even see me.

If he had seen, he'd probably have asked me to get out of the seventy so he could choose someone who was more fit for the job.

I really do think Jesus would have asked me to leave the seventy, because here is the thing; while some of those seventy converted many people, some exorcised demons, some preformed healing miracles, I didn't...

I never did...

See, Jesus sent us out to proclaim that his kingdom; the one he taught about that day on the grassy plane, the kingdom where the poor, the sorrowful, the lowly are blessed; to proclaim that kingdom was dawning; dawning here and now.

So I went with another, I had never met her before in my life, but we went out together.

We went to the places Jesus was going to go on his way to Jerusalem.

We went to those places and proclaimed that God's kingdom came near.

Finally it was happening!

I was getting my chance to be one of Jesus' disciples, one of those he sent.

Finally...

Finally I got to share that proclamation Jesus shared with me.

Finally I was getting the chance to be one of his followers!

Only.

Only...

Well, it didn't go well.

Town after town, house after house, person after person.

In all the places we went.

Not in no single town did I heal anyone.

Not in no single house did I cast out any demons.

No. One. Received. The. Message.

 

No One...

It was terrible.

After the fourth town, the 23rd house, I remember.

After that household told us to leave.

Hearing that 23rd no, well it broke me.

It broke me.

I told the person Jesus sent me with I had mistaken, that Jesus had mistaken.

That I wasn't supposed to be here.

I couldn't take it.

I told her if Jesus had knew who I was, what kind of a person I was, he wouldn't have sent me.

After I said all that, I felt like crying.

I felt like all my life had been a waste.

I felt like I had finally had my chance, and I had messed it up.

After I said that, my partner, she just looked at me...

She looked at me, and she got on her knees and she lifted my foot.

On her knees, she lifted my foot and wiped it, she wiped the dust from my feet.

She wiped the dust from my feet and said, "there are other towns Jesus plans to go to, we need to go there to proclaim that the kingdom is coming..."

So I kept going, I went with her.

And I will admit, a few places did receive the message; eventually...

We never cast out any demons, and we didn't cure anyone...

Well, that isn't exactly true...

You see, each morning, before wed go out; I'd get up and I'd wipe the dust off my feet.

I'd wipe the dust from my feet and I'd start over again.

Just get up, one foot over the other, and start over.

A new day, a new place, a new household to proclaim God's kingdom.

Each morning, away with the dust of the past, and up to another town.

Each day, start over, forgive, move on, keep going.

Each day, off with the dust and on with the mission.

So when it got to be time for us to return, I felt something rising in my chest.

The closer we got to returning to Jesus, the bigger it grew.

It was joy!

I tried to tell myself to calm down, to tell myself that others were going to have done more incredible things and my small proclamation wasn't going to warrant any praise in comparison to what others had done...

But you know how joy is.

It's like a giggle that comes up in worship.

The harder you try to push it down, the more it bubbles to the top.

I mean, I guess my dream had kind of come true, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

As we walked toward Jesus, we saw some other pairs returning too.

Suddenly I saw him, Jesus sitting there with some of the others he had sent out.

Before I knew it, I was running.

I looked over, and my partner was running next to me, we were both laughing; running to Jesus.

When we got within earshot of Jesus, I blurted it out, I blurted it out before I even knew what I was saying.

"Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!"

I was out of breath so I couldn't finish my thought, and Jesus said something before I could finish anyway.

Jesus looked at me, smiled and said, "I watched satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightening."

And he was right.

Here's the thing, I had tripped after I blurted it out.

And Jesus saw it, and I did too.

I've stayed a part of the Jesus movement, we've had to leave our temple, Rome is collapsing, Jesus was crucified...

I've stayed a part of the Jesus movement, though, and I've watched Peter bring a boy to life, I've heard Jesus rose!

I've watched all this, but do you know what the most incredible miracle I've ever seen?

I really think the most incredible miracle I witnessed was that moment, that moment when Phoebe picked up my feet and wiped off the dust and said we have other places to go. That moment when Phoebe gave me new life to continue, when she subjected those demons that lived in me...

Yes, curing, casting out demons is miraculous; but the most incredible miracle is that when things don't go well, when the message isn't received, that we can just wipe the dust from our feet and continue our mission.

That's the real miracle, sisters and brothers.

Jesus was right, too...

When that miracle happens, when we wipe off our feet and go to the next place and proclaim God's kingdom, regardless of what's happened in the past; Satan does fall.

Satan falls because we're freed from Satan's power over us.

We're freed from the power

the power of our own fear,

the power of the fear of rejection,

the power of the fear of failure,

the power of the fear that we're not enough.

That's the thing!

That is the only power Satan has over us, and when we just get up, wipe the dust from our feet and go to the next place, Satan falls.

If I had been able to finish my sentence that day I would have said, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us! The demons that told me I wasn't enough, that you were wrong to choose me, that I made a mistake. Those demons have been cast out!"

The truth is, I believe Jesus knew what I was going to say, and he said it better than I ever would have anyway; "I watched satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightening."

 

That's right, Satan fell. Satan fell.

When the dust was wiped from my feet, I was cured, the demons submitted, and God's kingdom was proclaimed.

God's kingdom was proclaimed to me, and to the places I went after the dust was wiped from my feet.

Here's the thing, if I had given up; if Phoebe hadn't wiped the dust from my feet, Satan would have won.

But Satan didn't, God's kingdom prevailed.

That is the real miracle, sisters and brothers.

The real miracle is that when we think we've failed, when our message isn't received, when we want to give up; all we have to do is wipe the dust from our feet and, against all odds, proclaim God's kingdom comes near.

Amen