The Bible Bowl is coming up and I must admit the thought of spending all day answering multiple choice questions takes me back to those awesome Saturdays when I took the ACT, the LSAT, and the Multi-state portion of the Bar Exam. The only good advice that I remember about taking those style of tests was to not waste time on the questions that you did not know the answer. Either mark it and then go back after finishing or just guess and move on (you remember mark C because percentages were on your side). I really liked that advice because I not only wanted to get as many answers right as possible but I also wanted to be finished first. The logic behind the advice is simple: you only have a limited amount of time to answer the questions and it would be better to answer all the questions and miss the one, than to get the one and leave several questions unanswered.
In today's study Jesus sends out His apostles, the twelve, to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Jesus's time on the earth was growing short and it was time to give the Galileans, that could be reached, one last chance to hear the message. Jesus even empowered the Apostles to have authority over demons and to heal diseases so that the Galileans would know from whom they were sent. Jesus gave very specific instructions regarding the short mission. One instruction makes sense but is very perplexing: "If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them" Luke 9:5. The account in Matthew adds:"If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town" Matthew 10:14,15.
Understanding that these instructions were specific to this short tour, do you think that there is any possible application regarding our attempts to reach "hard catches". I will not go there but offer it for food for thought because it is an interesting discussion point.
Instead of examining the text in that direction, let us think about what we do know: we do not want to be the ones that do not welcome or even hinder the message of the Kingdom. Think of all the different ways that we can accept the message and take it to others; and, think of all the ways that we can turn our backs or hinder its progress. Whether it be out of stubbornness, out of selfishness, out of pleading "too busy", or out of the many other ways that I am sure that you can imagine. One thing is for sure, I know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and do not want to see anyone shaking the dust off their feet because of me.
What possible application or life lessons can this passage be supplying each of us?
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