A reflection for the Feast of St Luke & Health Care Sunday from Jane, our curate.
Reflection
If I said to you, what do Sean Connery, Pam Ayres and Bugs Bunny have in common?…………….
You might guess it’s that they all have strong regional accents that make them distinctive. Sean Connery was apparently advised to ditch his Edinburgh accent early on in his career, but wisely refused. Pam Ayres has become known for her warm self-mocking Berkshire accent. Something important would be lost if she lost her accent. And as for the thought of Bugs Bunny saying ‘What’s up doc?’ without his Brooklyn, New York accent! Unthinkable!
Do you have an accent? Is it the accent of where you originated or where you live now? Or perhaps a mixture? Are there certain words you say that reveal where you are from?
Our accents reveal that there are differences between us. We have different cultures and we sound different, based on where we have lived and where our family has lived. In today’s gospel passage Jesus sends out 70 disciples to those who are different to them.
He has been in the area of Galilee in the north and he is headed for Judea in the south. To people who have not yet heard his message. And he sends the seventy disciples on ahead of him. To a people who are different in many ways. Racially, culturally, economically, politically, and linguistically different. The people in Judea spoke Aramaic differently to those in Galilee.
Jesus says they are to stay in the houses of those they meet. Remaining there, not flitting from one house to another. The direction to eat whatever is put in front of them is particularly telling.
Perhaps you were told as a child, ‘I expect you to finish everything on your plate’ or if you went to a friend’s house, told before you went that you must ‘eat whatever they give you’?
I must admit that going to friend’s houses when I was a child often seemed like an indulgence. My Mum was determined we would eat healthily. It was rather frustrating for us children. Rarely did a can of coke or a bag of crisps cross our threshold. Whereas some of my friend’s parents were much more relaxed about this. I remember going to one friend’s for tea. Her Mum warming up a tin of spaghetti alphabet letters in tomato sauce and giving us that on toast. I thought it was delicious.
On returning home I declared that all that fussing about with fresh vegetables was not necessary as you could get a perfectly tasty meal out of a tin and save yourself lots of bother! Needless to say, no tins of spaghetti letters appeared in our larder.
By Jesus encouraging them to eat what is put in front of them, he is saying building relationships with those who are different is much more important than maintaining purity codes. Jews had strict rules about what they were to eat and not to eat but Jesus looks beyond these. He sends out the disciples to proclaim that the ‘kingdom of God has come near’ to those they encounter. He sends them to show what the kingdom of God is like and not to enforce purity laws. The kingdom of God is not about keeping laws to be pure enough to please God. It’s about God’s love and justice flourishing in the lives of all. With all of our differences and despite all our flaws.
What must it have been like for the disciples to go empty handed and rely on the hospitality of others? No bag, no purse, no sandals. They are sent to serve, yet they are to be supported by those they serve. They are to rely on those they stay with. This requires humility. There is to be mutuality in their relationships.
Are our relationships with those we serve marked by mutuality? Jesus’s disciples are to receive as well as give, to build relationships of mutuality and respect and this requires humility.
The disciples are to go to those who are different, not to stay in their huddle. They are to go with humility and what are they to do? Jesus sends them to cure the sick and to bring peace. These are the actions of those who go to proclaim the Kingdom of God has come near. They remind us that God cares for the physical and mental wellbeing of all.
God cares about our bodies and minds. God calls us to care about the bodies and minds of others. Sometimes we can be overly focused on our minds. Or we may think that God is only concerned about souls. Our faith is an embodied faith. Jesus gave his body and his blood. We take communion with our hands and eat the body of Christ which then becomes part of us and we part of Christ. God cares about bodies and we are called to care about them too.
This Sunday, we are marking the feast day of St Luke, believed to be the author the gospel of Luke and of the book of Acts. As I’m sure you know well, Luke was a physician as well as a companion of Paul who worked alongside Paul in his missions. Luke brings a unique perspective to gospel writing. His gospel reveals that outcasts, the poor, those rejected by society are precious to God. His is the only gospel to include two of our best-known parables, the good Samaritan and the prodigal son. He knows we can walk by on the other side as religious leaders do in the parable of the good Samaritan when a man’s body is wounded and needs care and healing. And he knows that like the prodigal son we can wander far from God and expect that God won’t want us close.
The opposite is true. God’s infinite unconditional love reaches out to us and to all. Including to those who are different to us. To those who look, sound, and behave differently. We are called to reflect that changeless compassionate love. To care for the minds and bodies of others in whatever way we can in our times.
This healthcare Sunday we are filled with gratitude for the many healthcare workers in the NHS and other organisations who have worked with skill, courage and compassion in recent months and continue to do so. And we are reminded that God cares for minds and bodies and we are called to play our part in promoting the wellbeing of others. We may not be healthcare workers but we can offer kindness, friendship, a listening ear, a thoughtful act, a practical kind of love that blesses those we encounter. And as we offer this in humility, we may find that it is us who are blessed.
This morning, let us thank God for Luke, for all who work for our health and wellbeing. And let us pray for the grace to play our part in the wellbeing of all the people God loves. Amen.