This is a plan of dependency, and it may be difficult for us in our culture to get our heads around. From the very first moments of our lives, those of us living in Western cultures today are acculturated into an individualist way of relating to those around us. We place a high value on being independent or self-reliant—being able to take care of take care of ourselves without being dependent on others.
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(Read this series from its beginning here.)
In nature, though, we are actually dependent on much that is around us including others in our various communities. It is this dependence in our community and our communities’ interdependence with other communities that Jesus’ instruction to the twelve calls us to lean into. Stephen Patterson describes it this way:
What does it actually mean for the empire of God to come? It begins with a knock at the door. On the stoop stand two itinerant beggars, with no purse, no knapsack, no shoes, no staff. They are so ill-equipped that they must cast their fate before the feet of a would-be host. This is a point often made by historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan. These Q folk are sort of like ancient Cynics, but their goal is not the Cynic goal of self-sufficiency; these itinerants are sent only for dependency. To survive they must reach out to other human beings. They offer them peace—this is how the empire arrives. And if their peace is accepted, they eat and drink—this is how the empire of God is consummated, in table fellowship. Then another tradition is tacked on, beginning with the words ‘Whenever you enter a town.’ This is perhaps the older part of the tradition, for this, and only this, also has a parallel in the Gospel of Thomas (14). There is also an echo of it in Paul’s letter known as 1 Corinthians (10: 27). Here, as in the first tradition, the itinerants are instructed, ‘Eat what is set before you.’ Again, the first move is to ask. The empire comes when someone receives food from another. But then something is offered in return: care for the sick. The empire of God here involves an exchange: food for care.” (Stephen Patterson, The Lost Way: How Two Forgotten Gospels Are Rewriting the Story of Christian Origins, p. 74-75)
Individualism too often denies the reality that we are connected to each other. What one does affects others. What affects one affects others. Many struggled to grasp this reality in the recent Covid pandemic in relation to mask-wearing and vaccinations. Independence, individualism, and a resistance to being told what to do came face to face with us having to work together and do what would be safest for our communities. The needs of the many were at times in opposition to individuals’ wishes and we all made choices revealing where our priorities and values really were.
Jesus’ instruction to the twelve in our reading this week points us toward community rather than individualism. We’ll consider a possible application to us today, next.
(Read part 3)
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