Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:35—10:8
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
My sermon from the 3rdSunday after Pentecost Sunday (June 14, 2026) on Matthew 9:35—10:8.
So I’d like to begin by sharing a little bit of what I asked Minka and Oliver to do at the start of every Confirmation class. Before we’d share our highs and lows for the week, explore different books of the Bible, or ponder how Lutheran Christianity is a way of hearing, teaching, and following – I made them answer a bunch of questions on a 2 sided worksheet. This little bit of busy work gave me the time I needed to talk to folks after worship ended and class time began. But I’ve also found – and research has confirmed – that a different kind of learning takes place when we write things out. When what we’ve heard, seen, or thought is made physical and tangible through the act of writing, a circuit in our brain grabs hold of that experience in a powerful way. And so, on the backside of each worksheet, I asked them to write out what we covered in our last lesson. But on the front, the questions remained the same every week. Minka and Oliver were invited to not only define sin, articulate God’s promise to Abraham, and Jesus’ interpretation of the ten commandments; they were also invited to ponder a few characteristics of our God. At the top of each page were six two and three word phrases with a word that was missing. They knew what each missing word started with, how many letters were in those words, and a hint at what it might be. So for example, the first phrase was two words long: God <blank>. The missing word starts with C, is 7 letters long, and the hint was “the story of Genesis.” So – pop quiz – what do you think that phrase might be? Pause. If you guessed – God creates – then you’ve learned what I think is one of the essential characteristics of God. Our God, though, chooses to be more than only a creator. God is also active, and cares, and is present. Our God makes promises and blesses all the places and experiences where love and new life is found. When we talk about God, we often treat the divine as mostly a noun – focusing on adjectives such as great, good, and holy to flesh out what this noun might be. But our God – like our faith – chooses to be more like a verb – a vibrant, moving, breathing, living force in our world. God isn’t absent from the lives we live. And as we hear in today’s reading from the gospel according to Matthew, each one of us has our place with this living God too.
Now we are, at this moment in Matthew’s version of Jesus’ life, at a moment of transition. Jesus, who had been busy teaching, preaching, and healing all around the area he grew up in, needed help. His reputation had grown to the point where he could no longer do everything by himself. The people coming to him were from all areas around the sea of Galilee as well Syria, Jordan, Judea, and beyond. And when he saw them, compassion was at the heart of what he said and did. That word compassion, though, meant more than merely feeling sorry for what people were going through. It’s also a word that, in the ancient Greek, was derived from the same word for the intestines. When Jesus saw folks who were hurting, in pain, and whose future looked bleak because of what others said about them – he experienced it in his body and his soul. He identified emotionally with those who suffered; felt what they felt; and longed for them to have a life where they didn’t feel harassed and helpless. Jesus didn’t only see them; he also knew and experienced whatever it was they were living through. The story of those who came to Jesus discovered how their story was already part of God’s story. And as the scope of Jesus’ ministry continued to grow, it was time for our story to take on a bit more of God’s story too. Jesus, throughout the gospel of Matthew, is constantly inviting folks to participate in what God is up to. Yet it’s here when Jesus decides to make their journey with him into something a bit more tangible and real. It’s here where we get 12 names for 12 apostles, representing a symbolic restoration of the 12 tribes of Israel nearly 800 years after 10 of them were destroyed by the Assyrian Empire. Jesus’ work, though, is more than a symbol of re-establishing what once was. He also empowers them to embody what God’s kingdom is all about. He grants them the kind of authority Jesus himself has while instructing them about what this kind of power should do. They are not to let their ego, sense of entitlement, or their desire for wealth, fame, honor, and attention overwhelm the task at hand. Rather Jesus’ ministry is their ministry – and making the kingdom of God tangible in the lives people actually live is a hallmark of who they get to be. Jesus doesn’t, however, tell them to put limits on what kind of compassion folks can receive. He doesn’t tell the apostles that only those who convert or who choose to follow Jesus get to be cured. The healing, peace, and comfort they offer doesn’t depend on what others do. Rather showing up and bringing people into a different kind of future is simply what God chooses to do. And while it’s easy to focus our attention on those receiving healing and wholeness, it’s also pretty fascinating who Jesus gave this power to. The ones who Jesus empowered are the same ones who Jesus described as having little faith. These apostles include one who will deny him; one who will betray him; and ten who will leave Jesus behind. If God left it up to us to determine how God’s love moves in the world, the list of who gets to be a part of that would be pretty small. But a God who chooses to create; who cares; and who is present; a God who makes promises, blesses, and is active isn’t a God who leaves us on our own. Rather, the God making God’s love tangible in our world has decided that you – exactly as you are – get to be part of Jesus’ mission too.
Now Confirmation is often treated as a kind of graduation since, after two years of reading, writing sermon notes, and listening to a long winded pastor, Minka and Oliver should be celebrated for being very intentional with their faith. Not everyone in the space has gone through Confirmation nor do we always have the opportunity to ponder what it means to say I believe. Yet, for me, Confirmation is not only about recognizing your commitment to waking up early on Sunday mornings while the rest of your peers slept in. Confirmation is also about confirming God’s ongoing commitment to you. It wasn’t how detailed your answers on the worksheet that determined whether you were worthy of God’s grace and compassion. Rather, God has – in baptism and through faith – already made tangible the promise you belong. Like the apostles before you, Jesus has named you as a part of what God is doing in the world. And our God does not expect you to be perfect nor does Jesus invite you into a life without its share of fear, grief, and worry. Yet the compassion God showed by choosing to live, die, and rise for you is the same kind of compassion we get to share in all we say and do. And while we will often wonder if God’s promises really will be fulfilled and if the holy wisdom and understanding we long for will finally show up to guide us along the way, I know the God who didn’t give up on the apostles won’t give up on you. You truly are beautifully and wonderfully made. And the Jesus who is Emmauel – God-with-you – is the Jesus who is leading you, calling you, and showing you how compassion can be an essential characteristic of you too.
Amen.