tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553896531179747942.post-70425157902610785552007-06-21T21:41:00.000-07:002007-06-21T22:08:43.363-07:00As we watch Jesus send people out on what is essentially a healing mission, we realize that healing may be the primary Christian vocation in a world of great dis-ease.<br /><span id="fullpost"><br />Our Lord had begun by drawing around him a small circle of twelve. It was the number of Israel's tribes and was very significant for Jesus, who sees his task as bringing into being a renewed people of God.<br /><br />He now takes the the next step in his mission. He selects seventy people and sends them into the surrounding countryside two by two. One thing we can't help noticing is that he gives very few directions. They are "to greet no one on the road". They are to say "Peace be to this house". They are to accept hospitality where it is offered. If they are not received with hospitality they are to leave. In addition they are told to heal the sick, and to say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you".<br /><br />As with any scripture, there is something for us as we seek to be Christian in today's world. By telling them not to greet anyone on the road - eastern salutations tended to be long and elaborate - Jesus seems to be giving their task a sense of urgency. We need to have this sense in the tasks we take on as Christians. Very often in church life we can lack a sense of urgency about what we are attempting to achieve. We can regard our church commitments as casual and of rather low priority.<br /><br />It should be significant for us that the only specific action Jesus commands those whom he is sending out is to heal the sick. Increasingly for Christians today the healing ministry is becoming strong and widespread. Furthermore there is a realization that in a frantic, tense and fearful world Christian faith can bring healing to the lives of individuals, healing fears, anxieties, angers.<br /><br />Perhaps just as valuable is the ability of Christian faith to offer a renewed sense of meaning and purpose in people's lives. The faith can also be immensely healing where its truths are expressed in the insights of psychology. To do so is not to diminish Christian faith in the least. When both of these gifts of God, Christian faith and psychological insight, are used together, there can be deep healing.<br /><br />Our generation of Christians may well be called to a ministry whose primary task is that of healing, both in individual lives as well as in the wounds and divisions of our society.<br /><br />That is the Good News for this Week.<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script expr:src='"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/OneMansJournal?i=" + data:post.url' type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Herb O'Driscollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15131608054218451967noreply@blogger.com