2022-12-14 A Meditation on Shaking Off the Dust

“And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” (Mt 10:14 ESV)

Jostling this way and that, Christians travel through unkempt lands and sinister spirits. Indeed, all life is full of distraction and opposition, when once we’ve gone the way of the Gospel. The Gospel has no time for cozy affinities. The Gospel is caught in the discouraging words of others, if it doesn’t itself learn to be removed and Holy. That is, our “fasts” extend to our interpersonal: we preserve prayer time. We set aside time to study Scripture. We learn to pray as though beleaguered and opposed by all, in that final and most important hour. That is, we bow out and say, “It’s not you, it’s me. I need this time with the Lord”. We beseech, if single, the call to holy service, and if married, the call to nurture bonds of affection.

Indeed, all are called to nurture bonds of affection, for the evil word is only a product of those times when we’ve gone easy and cozy, when we’ve forgotten to greet each day with bold and determined calm. When the devil sees this, when we’ve either fired that warning shot or been seen with friends, rich in friendship, and so on, the devil flees. Children gain newfound respect for their parents: “Dad, I always liked you, but, seeing you with your friends, I love you!”; “Mom, the way you navigated that awkward pause at school today was amazing!” But, too, as Christians, we struggle to make that “notice of defense” without feeling “un-Christian”. That warning shot, that demonstration of muscle, that reminder that we’re all friends here, can seem to jibe against our copacetic prayer walk, and our call to serve and to be slave and servant to all.

But Jesus chose His battles. Jesus walked in the fullness of who He was, a born leader, a winsome Man, successful, reputable, and with zeal, but chose wisely also, when all was on the line, Himself to die, to serve, to heal, to comfort, to side with the beaten and destroyed. He knew the time to make confession, and the time to celebrate. He mourned, and was comforted by dreams just out of reach: an army that was on call and ready to intervene (“Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”” (Mt 26:53–54)). He dwelt in a near future, when the Apocalypse would occur, and the Son would be revealed coming on clouds of judgment, rather than born in a manger of modesty.

SIMPLE ENGLISH

The Christian in society needs time to recharge and to restore their walk with the Lord. Before preaching, a Christian should pray for their calling to be restored. Their call is restored and rekindled when they ask the Holy Spirit to help nurture the bonds of affection that they have been given, for it is in community that we grow internally.

Christians have a difficult time showing strength, because it can feel like it is un-Christian to be strong, and un-Christian to show muscle. But Jesus did not bow at the feet of everyone who came near to Him. Jesus was a leader and a winner. Jesus chose only some times that were the most important times, to show His sacrifice and His servant-mindedness. He was led by the Holy Spirit to put aside many dreams. He had a dream of an army being ready to come and to save Him and the disciples. He had a dream of a few years passing before the Apocalypse. He saw Himself returning in victory on the clouds. But as of our age two millenia later, this does not seem to have happened yet.