Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians 6:(1-6),7-16
Luke 10:1-11,16-20
The Rev. Drew Brislin
What does it mean to proclaim God’s kingdom?
This past week I had the pleasure of serving as a chaplain for Sawyerville Day Camp. This was my third time to serve this particular ministry of our diocese in this capacity and it is a ministry that I always find deeply rewarding. For those of you who may not be familiar with this program, the work of Sawyerville began in the 1980’s when several parishes in the Blackbelt began to collaborate in an effort to offer a day camp for underserved children in the area. The camp would officially get launched in 1993 and would eventually be passed on to the youth department in 1996. Over the years the day camp has grown from one weekly session to two and now there are three sessions that last from Monday through Thursday. All children in the area ages 6 to 13 are invited to participate in this day camp free of charge. Fifteen-year-olds are invited to serve as CIT’s or (counselors in training) and then youth ages 16 and older are invited to serve as counselors. This year they will begin offering a leadership program for 14-year-olds to keep them plugged into the program as well. Serving as a counselor is open to not only kids within our diocese but also to local kids that live in Hale County and the surrounding area as well. The campers are fed breakfast and lunch and over the course of the day they experience programming in which they are scripturally formed, they participate in Arts and Crafts, E^2 is a program in which they participate in science projects, and Digging the Word is a program in which they are encouraged to journal about the Scripture they heard and usually act out in Program and then finally they are given time on the playground and basketball courts as well. After lunch we depart on school buses for Marion Military Institute where the children and counselors get to swim in the school pool. The bus ride is an event in and of itself in which we sing bus songs (which are in the vein of if not actual camp songs) to pass the time but also for the experience. I don’t know a lot of them, but I try to sing along anyways. Most of these children do not have access to a pool so this camp very often is the only opportunity they will have this year to swim. The lifeguards would give swimming test and if they pass the campers could swim without a flotation device and would also be given the opportunity to jump off the diving boards in the deep end. The glow on these kids faces when they passed and were given the silver wrist band signaling their achievement fills your heart. For those who cannot swim the counselors are quick to work with any camper who wishes to try and help and teach them if they want to learn how to swim. There was one particular kid who approached me on the first day and told me it was his best day ever at camp upon passing his test and he has attended for several years. A few minutes later I saw him jumping off the high dive and by the end of the week he was doing flips off the diving board. The pride the campers take in the activities in which they participate is only exceeded by the smiles and hugs they impart on the counselors who give of their time and talents serving each summer. Once the campers go home in the afternoon there is a little down time followed by dinner. Different churches and groups from around the diocese will bring dinner each evening providing fresh meals for the dedicated counselors. In fact, a group from Ascension provided the meal on Tuesday night for the which the counselors were raving over the next day. The work and the sense of community that continues to be developed as these youth from very different backgrounds are building together is encouraging as they look to seek and serve God’s people. What they are building in sharing their time and love is God’s kingdom and it is truly a beautiful thing to behold.
In our Gospel lesson from Luke this morning we hear the story of Jesus appointing seventy disciples to send out as he gives us the harvest analogy, as he seeks to instruct us on how to build the Kingdom of God and what this kingdom will look like. Again, we hear a number which often hints at some kind of symbolism associated with it. The author of Luke’s Gospel may have chosen this number for one or multiple reasons. The number seventy is found seventy-seven times in the Bible. There were seventy members of Jacobs family which could allude to the disciples as the people of Israel, Moses appointed seventy elders which were filled with the Spirit, or this could be a reference to the traditional view that there were originally seventy nations of the world. Whatever the number was referencing, people of the day most likely would have been familiar with from the stories they had grown up hearing. The verb “appointed” can often be translated to mean an official commissioning which seems to be important in our lesson this morning. Jesus also realizes that in preaching his message, the receptions that his followers will receive will vary and that not all will be welcome. Jesus says that when you are not welcome in a community his disciples are to wipe the dust from their feet and move on. But where they are welcomed, they are to stay because they will engage in the work of healing for those who they serve. For a people who live in a culture that places significant value on hospitality, this new message will create tension. Jesus is warning his followers when he tells them that they will be lambs among wolves. Jesus is also instructing his followers to remain humble. While Jesus is warning them about the hard times that will almost certainly visit them, he also wants to encourage them. Further on in the reading, He tells them that He has given them authority to tread on snakes. This would have resonated with his followers as they were familiar with Isaiah that reads in chapter 11 verse 8 that the ‘nursing child shall play over the hold of the asp and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.’ This Old Testament imagery references events that will happen when the Kingdom of God is near. So, what does it mean to proclaim God’s Kingdom today or bring the Kingdom into the present?
It was clear to me this past week that the work being done by the youth in Greensboro at Sawyerville Day Camp is very much working to bring about the Kingdom into the here and now. Not only do children from all backgrounds and colors attend the camp, but the counselors who serve them reflect this same diversity. Kids from private schools and affluent communities team up with local students from Greensboro and the surrounding areas to create a team to serve the day campers. In the evenings after supper, the staff participate in diversity and inclusion training prior to worship. Kids from various backgrounds seek to engage in conversation to learn from each other. This training doesn’t just happen during the summer though. Throughout the year the Sawyerville department offers other programs such as Person2Person which is a race relations workshop for both kids from Greensboro and Hale County as well as kids from our diocese to engage in the good work of seeking the face of God in each other. This hard but good work, I very much think is in their own way proclaiming God’s kingdom in the building of a loving and caring community. These kids choose to participate and engage in this work. They are opening their hearts to Jesus. In the building of this community, they are harvesting the love that God so desires for us to share with one another. These kids, through their love for one another and those they serve are proclaiming God’s Kingdom. The community that is being built in Greensboro every summer in Sawyerville Day Camp is laying the foundation for the Kingdom of God.
Amen