{"id":106,"date":"2011-10-10T02:23:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T02:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=106"},"modified":"2018-07-20T20:59:52","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T20:59:52","slug":"the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html","title":{"rendered":"Matzo Ball Love: Weird Sayings Continued…"},"content":{"rendered":"

“‘Go! \u00a0I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.'” Luke 10:3 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

“These were his instructions: \u00a0‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff- no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. \u00a0Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. \u00a0Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. \u00a0And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.'” Mark 6:8-11<\/em><\/p>\n

There are few animals more endearingly stupid than sheep.\u00a0 A couple years ago, my husband and I were in Scotland celebrating our tenth year anniversary. \u00a0The sheep were everywhere. \u00a0In just about every strange configuration. \u00a0I even saw one sheep literally standing on all fours on the back of another sheep who was herself standing on all fours.\u00a0 No joke.\u00a0 If there were a\u00a0sheep circus, those two would have been in it.<\/p>\n

I tried to make friends with the sheep but could never get quite close enough to pet one.\u00a0 They were skiddish.\u00a0 It was like they were\u00a0always running off to\u00a0another more\u00a0important\u00a0engagement, when in fact\u00a0all they ever really\u00a0seemed to do was eat, sleep and poop.\u00a0 (But then again, I guess\u00a0food, rest and regularity are pretty\u00a0important in the scheme of things.)<\/p>\n

The thing about sheep is that they stick together.\u00a0 It is rare to find a sheep meandering on its own.\u00a0 And the wee ones, the lambs, are especially timid.\u00a0 They stick close to their mothers.<\/p>\n

In addition to being a bit dim, scared and skittish, sheep do not have a very good sense of direction.\u00a0 Have you ever heard of a sheep that takes directions well?\u00a0 I mean, while my directional sense is poor, (and I mean really poor),\u00a0try telling a sheep how to get from point A to point B.\u00a0 At least\u00a0I can ask for directions.\u00a0 Sheep have to be herded with a big stick and even then they bleat and bump into each other like bumbling, blathering fools.\u00a0 Endearingly stupid at best.<\/p>\n

Which is why Jesus’ declaration here,\u00a0just when he is sending out his disciples on a \u00a0dangerous mission into potentially hostile territory, is just plain weird.\u00a0 Even a bit \u00a0insulting really.\u00a0 Hardly the kind of phrase that the U.S. army would use to recruit new \u00a0soldiers, for instance- unless they were kamikazes.<\/p>\n

But, is Jesus\u00a0ordering his disciples to be like sheep here?\u00a0Is\u00a0he telling them to be bumbling, \u00a0blathering fools running all over the place eating, sleeping, and pooping and having to \u00a0be herded with great, big sticks?\u00a0 Is he charging them to be timid babies sticking close \u00a0to their mothers?\u00a0 I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

More likely\u00a0Jesus is describing a\u00a0reality.\u00a0 The reality that anyone who believes in Jesus \u00a0above all else and seeks to answer\u00a0God’s call to go into the world with the message that \u00a0God is here and on the way is going to face obstacles.\u00a0 Is going to be\u00a0near the bottom of \u00a0the food chain.\u00a0 Is going to appear naive and powerless by all external appearances.\u00a0 Is \u00a0going to look like\u00a0the next\u00a0good meal for those who would cynically\u00a0prey on the poor \u00a0and vulnerable.<\/p>\n

Because by virtue of our being sent into the world with a message that God is here redeeming lives, we are making ourselves vulnerable.\u00a0 We are putting ourselves “out there,” by telling people God loves them.\u00a0 And, in the words of Jerry Seinfeld, if we don’t “get a return” on our words, “that’s a pretty big matzo ball hanging out there.”<\/p>\n

To tell our world that God is here and that God loves us and cares about how we treat one another and\u00a0is intimately invested in our lives\u00a0is a claim that can seem silly and downright outrageous.\u00a0 And it can require a whole lot of humility and courage- especially when we ourselves are not the message.\u00a0 And just to drive this point home, Jesus instructs his disciples to “take nothing for the journey.”\u00a0 “No bread, no bag, no money in your belts.”\u00a0 As if by virtue of having these things we might mistaken ourselves and our resources for the message itself.\u00a0 A message we’re bringing\u00a0about One who saves.<\/p>\n

These instructions that we travel light are, I suspect, especially hard to hear for those of us who have spent our lives justifying our existence through our possessions.\u00a0The best education.\u00a0 The highest accolades.\u00a0 The well-paying job.\u00a0 Like money and clothes, these are stamps of worldly success.\u00a0 They can send a message about who we\u00a0are.\u00a0 Or at least who we would like to\u00a0think we are.<\/p>\n

But Jesus won’t let us take refuge in these petty minutiae.\u00a0 Because at the end of the day they really are like “chaff that the wind blows away.”\u00a0 When the world\u00a0as we know it falls apart, when chronic illness strikes, or we lose a loved one, or all of our life’s savings dissolve with one swing in the stock market, we\u00a0can quickly be\u00a0left with nothing.\u00a0 We can feel lost, like a pathetic, helpless sheep bleating on a hillside.<\/p>\n

And this is where God shows up.\u00a0 In that nexus between our desperate inadequacy\u00a0and a cruel world that\u00a0scorns the weak, God issues the assurance that God’s sheep will never be lost and will never perish (John 10).\u00a0 Because a Shepherd came and laid down his life for the sheep and pointed them in the direction of Love.\u00a0 He was God’s own\u00a0great, big matzo ball hanging out there, broken for us.<\/p>\n

I call that naked love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“‘Go! \u00a0I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.’” Luke 10:3 \u00a0 “These were his instructions: \u00a0‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff- no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. \u00a0Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. \u00a0Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. \u00a0And if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,25,14,15],"tags":[29,31,2451,27,30,28],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disciples","category-jesus","category-love","category-mission","tag-good-shepherd","tag-jerry-seinfeld","tag-jesus","tag-luke-3","tag-mark-6","tag-sheep"],"yoast_head":"\nMatzo Ball Love: Weird Sayings Continued... - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matzo Ball Love: Weird Sayings Continued... - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“‘Go! \u00a0I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.'” Luke 10:3 \u00a0 “These were his instructions: \u00a0‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff- no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. \u00a0Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. \u00a0Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. \u00a0And if…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristina.robbdover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-10T02:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-20T20:59:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristina Robb-Dover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Matzo Ball Love: Weird Sayings Continued... - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Matzo Ball Love: Weird Sayings Continued... - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners","og_description":"“‘Go! \u00a0I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.'” Luke 10:3 \u00a0 “These were his instructions: \u00a0‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff- no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. \u00a0Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. \u00a0Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. \u00a0And if…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html","og_site_name":"Fellowship of Saints and Sinners","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristina.robbdover","article_published_time":"2011-10-10T02:23:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-07-20T20:59:52+00:00","author":"Kristina Robb-Dover","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@saintplussinner","twitter_site":"@saintplussinner","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html","name":"Matzo Ball Love: Weird Sayings Continued... - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-10T02:23:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-20T20:59:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/#\/schema\/person\/4c3cdf7104b785db2790c0ea54388e75"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/the-truth-about-naked-love-weird-sayings-continued.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Matzo Ball Love: Weird Sayings Continued…"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/","name":"Fellowship of Saints and Sinners","description":"Beliefnet Voices...thoughts at the intersection between life and God for anyone converted, unconverted or under conversion","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/#\/schema\/person\/4c3cdf7104b785db2790c0ea54388e75","name":"Kristina Robb-Dover","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/dcf\/dcfc687b5670420584dc52026042422ax96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/dcf\/dcfc687b5670420584dc52026042422ax96.jpg","caption":"Kristina Robb-Dover"},"description":"Thoughts at the intersection of life and God from one saint and sinner for anyone \"converted,\" \"unconverted,\" or \"under conversion.\"","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/author\/krobbdover"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/461"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6628,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/6628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}