Third Sunday after Pentecost (2026)

Gospel Reading: Matthew 9:35-10:8

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In the towns and cities the crowds are gathering. They are jostling and tussling for access to one man who is apparently overwhelmed. He is moved with compassion as he sees their desperate need. He seemingly mutters to himself, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers few! Lord, send out laborers!”

He has a flash of insight! He turns to his 12 disciples and there God points out the very workers needed for the job! He blesses these disciples with the authority to heal and to cure and gives them a message to proclaim alongside their action of healing. That message is: God himself is coming near and the healing of the people is an expression of the Kingdom of God, this healing points to the very nearness, proves the very nearness of the Kingdom.

It’s a grand Gospel story of Jesus gifting his disciples with Divine power. The power to heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse lepers, and even raise the dead!

These are Biblical powers.

And they are powers I wish I’d had when I was an intern pastor sitting at the hospital bedside of one of my internship committee members after she had a massive stroke.

Sylvia was a powerhouse leader of the church. She served on nearly every committee throughout her lifetime membership at the church. She was a teacher and she taught me and supported me as I was taking my first steps into the practice of pastoral ministry.

It was the final month of my internship and I learned from Sylvia’s daughter, Diane, that she had collapsed in the room next to her husband Mel. She was rushed to St. Francis Hospital and she woke up there unable to move her left side and with out the ability to speak or eat. She was, however, fully alert and she could still write with her right hand.

I arrived to St. Francis and met Sylvia’s daughter who ushered me into Sylvia’s room.

My heart sank when I saw her. I was overwhelmed with a sense of compassion. I needed all those Biblical powers that Christ had given to his disciples. I wanted to heal. I wanted to respond to Sylvia’s suffering by fixing it.

Of course, I didn’t have access to those kinds of Biblical powers that day.

After my visit, I went to my car and cried. It was so hard seeing Sylvia unable to be the Sylvia I’d known. I cried because I couldn’t bring any of those Biblical powers into the room. I wondered if showing up was enough.

As the disciples followed Jesus, I wonder if they ever felt this way? I wonder if Jesus felt this way as he was being crushed by the crowds of desperate people needing healing. Flashes of doubt that the task was impossible. Could this have been what Jesus was saying in his prayer for more workers?

Despite my feelings of inadequacy after my first visit, I went back to visit Sylvia later in the week. This time I brought her messages from the congregation. I told her that people missed her, that so many people wanted me to let her know they were praying for her. That they loved her so so much. I held her hand as I gave her these messages and she squeezed hard letting me know how appreciative she was for them.

She pointed for the whiteboard she was using to communicate. She took a little bit of time and ended up writing simply, “Tell them I love them back.” And then, she erased those words and she wrote again. When she turned the whiteboard around, she was looking at me intently communicating with all the tenderness she could, “I also love you.”

The Kingdom of God came near.

You know, by myself I felt inadequate, but with the church - with the members of Sylvia’s beloved place of worship – that is when God came near.

It wasn’t in a flash of “Biblical” healing power. Sylvia still couldn’t speak or eat. But God’s Kingdom was most definitely being revealed there beside Sylvia’s bed amongst the messages from her beloved community. God’s mission of compassion, love and healing was taking place because Sylvia felt God’s love, compassion and presence flowing from her church. The Body of Christ was present with her.

Being present brought the message, the feeling, that God’s Kingdom is near. That was our calling in that moment.  There were other people called to Sylvia’s side to heal, cure and comfort her physical needs – those were the doctors and nurses. Sylvia’s church – Sylvia’s church was called to be with her; to tell her she is loved and that we were all holding her in prayer; and that her story is connected to the grand story that includes things like Biblical powers of healing, life, love and connection to God which pointed to the very nearness of God’s Kingdom.

What was brought to Sylvia from her church was the gift of Christ’s grace in the midst of a terribly challenging time.

Showing up is, in part, what we do as disciples. We show up with the gifts we have. Some of us are doctors and nurses and you show up with those gifts; some of us are financial planners and we show up to people with those gifts; some of us are care-givers and we show up to people with those gifts; some of us are teachers and we show up with those gifts; some of us are preachers and pastors and we show up with those gifts. Even if we don’t know what to say, if we feel inadequate to the situation, We the church, with our various gifts, show up.

In our showing up, we point to the very nearness of God’s Kingdom. We tell people they are loved by extending our various gifts to them, we tell them they are held in prayer and we help to connect their story to ours and to the grand biblical story – the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Kingdom of God comes near through Christ. Showing up with our gifts point to that truth. That is powerful biblical stuff.

A few weeks after my visit – Sylvia died. She died in the presence of the Kingdom of God which was revealed to her through her church and I pray she is now resting in God’s Kingdom.

She knew of God’s Kingdom in those final moments of life because the community of disciples around her pointed relentlessly toward that Kingdom of love and life by showing up to her side.   They became the laborers for whom Jesus prayed. We are the laborers for whom Jesus prayed. We are enough because Christ’s commission is with us.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Rev. Ryan | Third Sunday after Pentecost | June 14, 2026