Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called 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 Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. - Matthew 10:1-20
On average, I doubt if there were 6 good public speakers among the disciples. We know that Peter, James and John were public speakers later, enough so that the chief leaders took notice of their speaking (see Acts 4:13, 5:21, 28) but the other 9 were probably not. But Jesus sent them out and he gave them a very simple message: "the kingdom of heaven has come near." and some miracles. I think that since we don't see the miracles very often today, we feel like we have to make up for it with a lot more words.
They were supposed to be dependent on the hospitality of people along the road, looking for "some worthy person" who would welcome them and in whose house they would stay. Some would be receptive to the simple message of hope and some would not. Some would be keen on having miracles performed in their neighborhood and some would be suspicious of charlatans.
I think the lesson for us is in the offer of the peace, the words and the miracles. While we may prefer unambiguous situations where everything is clear and the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad, that is not the situation that we live in. Many times, in order to give other people the chance and not pre-judge them, we place ourselves in situations where we are "sheep" among "wolves", where we could be taken advantage of. The disciples would give their peace upon every house they entered-a chance for their host to act welcoming and listening. If they didn't, they would take their peace back. But they didn't proactively shake the dust off their sandals. They gave the people they dealt with the chance to do the right thing. It did require discernment (like snakes) and a care to avoid compromising situations (innocent like doves)
The disciples were going to be outside their comfort zone, in towns they didn't know, with people who they didn't know and populations who might respond suspiciously. That can be dangerous, because some react to strangers in ways that range from fear to intimidation. Not always honorable. For the disciples, they could be in trouble with local powerful people, who might hand them over to the local councils or be flogged in the synagogues either for what they did, who they represented or just general suspicion of outsiders. For us, people can try to shun us, or scam us or call the police. But even in these situations, Jesus promises his disciples that they didn't have to worry about it because the Spirit would speak on their behalf, even if they were novice public speakers. Like Moses who wasn't confident about his public speaking, God provides the words to represent him well in any situation where we are trusting him.
For me, rather than avoiding strangers and conversations, which can be my tendency, especially if they are not part of my crowd or church, I will plunge in like "sheep among wolves" with discernment and care and try to be hopeful and edifying (Eph. 4:29)
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