PROPER 8, YEAR A

Sunday 2 July 2023

Christ Episcopal Church, Woodbury, N. J.

 

Matthew 10:34-42

 

This past Thursday, June 29th, marked the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles and Martyrs at Rome. And today the appointed Collect and readings are those appointed for "the Sunday closest to June 29." So, it’s not surprising that they emphasize the theme of apostleship. Let’s listen again to today’s Collect:

 

O Almighty God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee …

 

So, on the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, we pray that we may find our unity in the apostolic teaching, and so be built into a holy temple acceptable to God.

 

Who or what, then, are the Apostles? The Greek word apostolos comes from the verb apostellō, “to send,” and basically means “one who is sent.” The Apostles are those whom the Lord has sent.

 

The Gospel readings over the past few Sundays have been taken from the discourse in Chapter 10 of Saint Matthew in which Jesus chooses and commissions the Twelve Apostles. It begins with Jesus calling them and giving them authority to cast out unclean spirits and to heal every disease and every infirmity. Then he charges them to travel from town to town and village to village, preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, taking nothing with them but the clothes on their backs, and thus relying completely on the hospitality of those to whom they’re sent.

 

As for those who offer such hospitality, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.” 

 

The underlying Jewish concept is that of a shaliah (shall-LEE-ach), a Hebrew word meaning legal emissary, representative, or agent. The key characteristic of a shaliah is that of being empowered to speak and act in the name of the sender—so that in interacting with the shaliah one is virtually interacting with the sender himself.

 

Incidentally, the noun shaliah comes from the Hebrew verb shalakh (shall-ACH), to send out. And it just so happens that the standard translation of shalakh in biblical Greek is apostellō, “to send,” and the translation of shaliah is apostolos, or “apostle.”

 

In the New Testament, then, the Apostles are emissaries whom Christ sends out into the world, authorized to speak and act in his name. An Apostle is thus a representative person, one in whom the sender himself is virtually present and active. When we receive the Apostle, we receive Christ himself.

 

This concept grounds the doctrine of apostolic succession. As Christ sent the Apostles into the world, so the Apostles eventually transmitted their responsibility and authority—to preach, to administer the Sacraments, and to govern the Church—to their successors, the bishops. 

 

The key differences between the Apostles and the bishops were, first, that the Apostles were eyewitnesses to Christ’s Resurrection, an irreplaceable office. And second, where the Apostles generally exercised an itinerant ministry, traveling from place to place preaching the Gospel, the bishops generally stayed put as the Church’s leaders in one place.

 

Thus, in each place where the Apostles planted the Church, they consecrated bishops to be their local representatives. And in turn, by means of prayer and the laying-on-of-hands, these original bishops transmitted their office to their successors, and so on, down through the centuries to the present day.

 

Our parish belongs to the Episcopal Church. Sometimes we hear it said that the term “Episcopal” designates a church governed by bishops. But that’s only half true since clergy and laity both participate actively in our church’s governing structures. No, the real claim being made, the real gift being celebrated, is apostolic succession: the presence in our midst of bishops who’ve been consecrated as successors to the Apostles.

 

Just think: When we were confirmed, the bishop laid hands on our heads with prayer for the strengthening of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That sacramental action incorporated us into an unbroken chain going all the way back to Christ’s Apostles themselves. It signified our participation in what the bishop represents: namely, the Church’s unity the world over, and the apostolic faith’s continuity down through the centuries.

 

When I was ordained to the priesthood, thirty years ago now, I knelt before my bishop as he prayed and laid his hands on my head. At that moment I received God’s commission to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments as a priest of the Church. But this commission came not from that particular bishop per se—nor from the local congregation, nor from the Diocese, nor even from the entire Episcopal Church—but ultimately from Christ himself, via that long line of bishops going all the way back to the Apostles.

 

By the Sacrament of Holy Orders, bishops, priests, and deacons become Christ’s public representatives in the Church today. At the risk of oversimplification, Deacons represent Christ the Servant; priests represent Christ the eternal High Priest, and Bishops represent Christ the Chief Shepherd.

 

This is emphatically not to say that ordained ministers are infallible or perfect. On the contrary, we’re all profoundly unworthy of such a high calling. But it is to say that despite our many imperfections and shortcomings, Christ has promised to be present and active in his Church through the ministries of those whom he’s called and sent.

 

Moreover, through the Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, Christ calls and sends all Christians into the world in his Name. The reason why he calls some of us into Holy Orders is not to give us special privileges, but instead to use us to build up, strengthen, and equip the whole People of God. 

 

So, in a manner corresponding to our many and varied vocations, Christ calls and sends each of us, lay and ordained alike. As the members of the Church, we’re an apostolic people: Christ’s representatives and emissaries in the world. And to each of us alike, Christ addresses his words in today’s Gospel: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.”