Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.
Jesus is commissioning his 12 apostles to go out, after having giving them the power to heal and cast out demons. Don’t go overly prepared: not a spare change of clothes, extra food or money. What a nerve-wracking way to head out. It feels wholly unprepared to me. I spent enough years serving in ‘emergency management’ that this goes against everything we’re trained to do. But Jesus isn’t preparing them to be self sufficient for 3 days, but rather to be God-reliant, always. That takes a crazy amount of faith, that basic provisions will be available. I suppose that goes back to the prayer Jesus taught, “give us this day, our daily bread”.
As modern day disciples, we are asked to go out into the world and proclaim God’s good news and love with this same unpreparedness; we are to go out trusting that God will provide, and not feel as self-reliant as we often do.
After this go-unprepared-commissioning, Jesus tells them to go from house to house, and if they don’t welcome you as you leave, shake the dust off your feet. Shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. Note that Jesus does not say go out and speak badly about them. He does not say argue with them. Or take to social media against them.
This is interesting advice. It reminds me of being in city management. In the world of professional development, there were always suggestions about what to do when you were fired. Not if, but when. There was no illusion that things would always go well. Newly in the profession, I was startled by this. What to do when you’re fired seemed like a defeated, doomed sentiment. But it was practical. Likewise with Jesus’ comments. Here’s what you do when you’re not welcomed. Not if, but when.
Not being welcomed would happen to the disciples. With this simple sentence, Jesus was preparing them for the inevitable. Despite the current warm glow they were feeling in Jesus’ presence, they were being sent out into cold, sometimes unwelcoming world, and Jesus was preparing them for when that unwelcome happened.
Shaking the dust off their feet was also a way to leave the remnants of that unwelcoming place behind. Don’t take anything with you from that place. This morning, I’m thinking about that dust. When we travel from place to place, we bring bits of that place, bits of that experience with us. We can’t help it. Whether it’s dust on our shoes, or memories, we are a cumulation of our past. With this advice, Jesus is saying leave the bad dust, the bad memories behind, as you go from place to place. It should not form you moving forward. Leave it behind.
Today, I’m thinking about my commissioning as a disciple. Go out into the world. Go wholly reliant on God, not feeling self-reliant because of your preparedness. Know that it will not always be easy. When it’s not easy, leave the bad stuff behind - all of it. Then, go out into the world. Repeat as necessary.
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