Cultivating Justice in an Era of Polarization: Matthew 8

Last night I finished teaching a short series at St. Andrew’s in Tucson, (where my wife is on staff); the topic was “Cultivating Justice.” It was an interesting and exhilarating discussion made complex by the reality that we live in an era of increasingly polarized conversations. How, then, can we talk about the Gospel’s call to love others, to love one another, and to exhibit God’s justice and righteousness for our communities?

At the end of last night’s class I asked participants to listen to the “Spirit Nudges” God was putting on our hearts – having listened to Scripture and Spirit, to what are we being called? My Spirit nudge was to share my convictions about what Scripture leads us to believe and to do.

One of the passages we read was Matthew 8:1-15, in which Jesus takes action immediately following his greatest ethical teaching, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The historical context of first century Israel is key to understanding what is happening in this passage. The three most excluded people in Israel were, first, lepers, who were excluded from Jerusalem’s borders, second, Gentiles, who were excluded from Jerusalem’s Temple, and, third, women, who were allowed within the Temple but excluded from its inner courts.

In Matthew 8, Jesus heals, first, a leper, whom he physically touches (8:3) thereby making Jesus share in the leper’s uncleanness according to the Law, second, a Gentile, of whom Jesus says, “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith” (8:10), and, third, a women, who in being blessed is able to bless her family through her service and hospitality (8:15). It is not a coincidence that the most excluded in Israel were the first to whom Jesus went; there is a theological message about God’s heart in this ordering and an ethical message about how we, God’s Church, Jesus followers all, are to relate toward others.

Here are some questions I would have you consider as you ponder how we are to live into the fullness of faith in Jesus’ name:

·         Who is excluded from our community? If you were to name the three most excluded groups or kinds of people, who would you identify?

·         Are you willing to reach out and touch the most excluded among us? What might such social identification look like?

·         Are you willing to experience faith in someone who is “different” from you, perhaps the one you would least expect to find living according to the promise of God?

·         Are you willing to touch the hand of the one ready to serve you, to receive hospitality from them as an act of mutual blessing?

I am convinced that we who follow Jesus must immerse ourselves in the Scriptures to hear God’s call upon our lives; only then will we be able to announce Good News. If you agree that the way forward is rooted in the Good News of Jesus, I invite you to read Matthew 8:1-15 once a day for the next week, sitting quietly for a period of time afterward to listen for the Spirit nudge upon your heart. To what is God calling you?

Blessed to be a blessing,
Brad Munroe