Three Questions (and maybe more)

The marching orders are pretty straightforward.
Proclaim the good news.
Cure the sick.
Raise the dead.
Cleanse the lepers.
Cast out demons.
Do what you have seen me do. Jesus says.
Got it?
Now, be on your way.
Oh, and this…
I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
So, be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
In others words, this is not going to be a walk in the park.
If you do what I have told you to do; what you are called to do you will face questions and challenges. You will be met with both gratitude and resistance.
Some will get it.
Many will not.
Not everyone likes the idea or the reality of God’s Kingdom coming close.

So, what are you and I to do with passages like this?
As followers of Jesus?
And, those who take the witness of the Bible seriously?|
What does it mean to proclaim and to cure and to cleanse and to cast out in 2017?
When you go to work?
When you go to school?
When you stand in line at the grocery store?
We come to church.
We sing our hymns.
We make our pledge. We donate money.
We pray with and for one another.
We support hospitals and clinics and food pantries and shelters. We build homes and repair homes. And, do what we can to make our communities safe and secure for all who live here.
Is that what Jesus meant?
Or, do you think he meant something else? Something more?

I found myself thinking about these kinds of questions in response to an article I read a month or so ago the title of which is We Ask Our Kids The Same Three Questions Every Night. Here are the questions those parents ask their children each day and talk about as a family.
How were you brave today?
How were you kind today?
Where did you fail today?
I wish I would have been smart enough or wise enough to ask my kids these kinds of questions when they were growing up. Mostly the type of questions parents ask their children each day go something like this:
How was school today?
What did you do today?
Do you have much homework?

Questions like the one those parents ask are the real questions. The important questions. As well as checking in with one another, the questions and the ensuing conversation serve as a daily reminder of who we are and who we want and are called to be and of what we tell each other are our core values. Those questions serve as a reminder for us to pay attention to the moments we have which often pass by so quickly.
Moments in which we are called to be brave.
Moments which beg for us to be kind.
They also let us see and name when and where we fell short or missed an opportunity and let us know we can get back up and try again. The questions remind us that sometimes we try and fail. That learning something new often means not being able to do it until that moment when we can. That growing up or growing older, that being brave and being kind requires hard work.
Three questions.
How were you kind today?
How were you brave today?
Where did you fail today?

It might be enough this morning if I ended right there.
With the reminder that if you and I asked and answered those three questions each day we would probably be better people, have healthier families and be more faithful Christians. And if, as a congregation, we asked and answered those three questions each day we would come closer to what and to whom God calls us to be.
How were you kind today?
How were you brave today?
Where did you try and fail today?

But let me circle back, for a moment, to where we began.
To that handful of verses from Matthew’s gospel.
And, since, as you know, the Bible is never just about then, but also about now and never just about them, but also about you and me, Jesus’ charge to those 12 disciples becomes his charge to you and to me. So, let me suggest several additional questions for you to consider.

How did you help God’s Kingdom come close today?
Where did you see and add to some sign of hope or forgiveness or justice or peace?
Where did you see some sign of God’s presence or experience God with you in the midst of your daily round?

How did you help cure those who are sick or help cleanse those considered lepers? If this is more about who is in and who is kept out then how we understand illness, how did you help the outcast be included or the forgotten brought in? How did you make the community around you a bit more whole? 

How did you help to raise the dead or to cast out demons?
What did you do today to counter despair or to build hope or to cast out fear or to offer encouragement? How did you follow Jesus today?

There are other questions we could add.
How did you build peace today?
How did you treat others the way you would like to be treated or how they would like to be treated?
How were you a light today pushing back against the darkness?
How did you seek justice today?
How did you practice compassion today?
How did you seek God today?

Using whatever question which tugs at your heart, here is your assignment.
Pick three questions.
Any three you like.
From the questions I have suggested or ones you come up with yourself.
Choose them on your own or decide on them as a family.
Then, sometime towards the end of the day, take a moment and share or write down your responses.
How were you kind?
Where did you help bring God close?
Where did you fail?

Do it for a week.
For seven days.
And, see what happens.
Then do it again.