Grace and humility are essential when we act. Part 1 of 4
Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don’t enter any Samaritan town. Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Don’t acquire gold, silver, or copper for your money-belts. Don’t take a traveling bag for the road, or an extra shirt, sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worthy of his food. When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy, and stay there until you leave. Greet a household when you enter it, and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. – Matthew 10:5-15 (CSB)
We’ve all been there at one time or another. There isn’t a person alive who hasn’t had to decide if, when, and how to shake the dust off their feet and move on.
A friend of mine was once told by an employee of a now defunct big box store to move his car because he was “holding up the whole f$%^ing world”. (He had not realized that he was blocking traffic at that moment.) He wouldn’t have minded being asked to move his car; but he did not appreciate the manner in which this employee addressed him. He decided at that moment to take his business elsewhere as much as possible thereafter. He shook the dust off his feet and moved on.
As people of shalom, we will always be open to relationships—even with those who sharply disagree with us.
Whether it’s cutting ties with a store or business, ending a business partnership, allowing a friendship to die, walking away from an abusive relationship or from a marriage that has been terminated, or ____________ (you fill in the blank), we’ve all found ourselves having to shake the dust off our feet and move on.
Sometimes others have made the decision for us, and we’ve had to figure out how to respond. Sometimes we’ve made the decision and had to figure out how to follow through. But we’ve all been there wrestling through this more-or-less gut-wrenching process of shaking the dust off our feet and moving on.
When Jesus told the disciples to shake the dust from their feet, he had a very specific situation in mind. Perhaps before we go any farther, we should take a closer look at what He said and what He meant by it. You can find this account in Matthew 10:5-15.
There are two things we should notice about this passage in Matthew. We’ll take them one at a time.
1. Notice that Jesus gave the disciples two different instructions when He sent them out on this missionary journey—one right after the other.
a. In verses 12-13, Jesus said, “Greet a household when you enter it, and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.”
b. Then He instructed the disciples to shake the dust off from their feet if anyone would not welcome them or listen to their words.
Jesus began by telling His disciples to “Greet a household when you enter it, and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.” (Matthew 10:12-13)
So, what exactly is a “worthy” house? Perhaps Luke can help us out here. According to Luke, Jesus said something very similar when He sent out the 72 a little later. Jesus said,
Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. (Luke 10:5-6)
Perhaps, then, the worthy home is the home in which a person of peace resides while the unworthy home may be the one in which there is no person of peace.
Either way, we’re talking about two very different “if” conditions here. “If (the house) is not worthy” (“If a person of peace is not there”) is not the same as “if anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words”. A worthy person—a person of peace—may choose to be in relationship with you, but not to welcome your message or listen to your words.
Jesus didn’t tell His disciples to pronounce His judgment . . . He simply told them to declare that “The Kingdom of God has come near”
We aren’t called to shake the dust off our feet against those who are unworthy. We are simply called to allow our peace to return to us. Notice, also, that in Luke’s account it becomes very clear that even the decision about whether your peace will rest on someone is out of your hands. “If not, it will return to you,” (Luke 10:6) is passive. No action is required, on your part, to make this happen. It’s not your decision.
Consider, also, that Jesus would almost certainly be thinking of peace from a Hebrew mindset. For Him, peace is not just the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of shalom.
I love Cornelius Plantinga’s definition of shalom:
The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.
– Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, by Cornelius Plantinga
At its core, shalom is about relationships—relationships with God, relationships between one another, and relationships between one another in the presence of God. Justice, fulfillment, and delight characterize such relationships precisely because God is central to them and forms the core of them.
Is there such a thing as a perfect shalom relationship? Not in this life, from what I’ve observed. But can one be a person of shalom without perfectly embodying shalom? Absolutely, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have spoken of such a possibility.
I sense that this is an extremely important principle. We are to remain people of peace—people of shalom—regardless of whether the people we interact with reciprocate the goodwill. As people of shalom, we will always be open to relationships—even with those who sharply disagree with us. As people of shalom, we will always seek to avoid harbouring judgment and animosity in our hearts toward others, and we will always keep the door open to future relationships.
We may need to shake the dust off of our feet if they refuse to welcome us (Matthew 10:14), but we must avoid making judgments about whether or not this person deserves our time and attention – or God’s love and care. Don’t reject the person or burn your bridges with him or her, simply because it’s time to move on.
2. Notice the context of Matthew 10:5-15. Jesus was sending His disciples on a mission with clearly articulated goals: they were to proclaim the presence of the Kingdom of God to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
And they were to use the power He had given them to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, [and] drive out demons”, thereby demonstrating the very presence of the Kingdom of God that they were proclaiming.
Finally, notice the very specific conditions under which they were to shake the dust off their feet. This very specific action was to be taken “if anyone does not welcome (them) or listen to (their) words”.
They were on a mission, not a holiday. They had a purpose, goals to achieve. They were charged with proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and while they were given some incredibly powerful tools to accomplish their purpose (the ability to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, (and) drive out demons”), they still had only 24 hours in a day to divide between sleeping, eating and preaching. They didn’t have an unlimited supply of time in which to use the limitless resources available at their disposal thanks to their commissioning from the Lord.
Therefore, if someone was stubbornly refusing to listen to what they had to say—if one of the towns or potential hosts didn’t really want to engage with them as they proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom of God—it didn’t make much sense for them to use up a lot of time with them. They’re just not ready yet.
So, shake the dust off of your feet and move on. Go somewhere else where you can be more productive for the Kingdom.
There is one rather troubling aspect of this passage that we simply cannot ignore—the very last verse:
Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Frankly, that comes across as incredibly judgmental – and it is. But let’s be very careful here. Read verses 14 and 15 together.
If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Now reread those two verses. Did Jesus instruct his disciples to pronounce judgment on those houses and towns that refused to welcome or listen to them? Or was He simply making an observation?
Speak those words—The Kingdom of God has come near—in a spirit of grace and humility, not judgment, as you shake the dust off of your feet.
This is another situation in which Luke’s account of the sending of the 72 can help us. According to Luke 10:10-12, Jesus said,
When you enter any town, and they don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “We are wiping off even the dust of your town that clings to our feet as a witness against you. Know this for certain: The kingdom of God has come near.” I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
Notice that the disciples were told to declare that the wiping off of their feet was a witness against the people of that town. They were also told to declare “Know this for certain: The kingdom of God has come near.”
That’s it.
That’s all they were to say.
The declaration that “on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town,” is an observation Jesus makes. It’s not part of what they were to say to the people of that town.
This is incredibly important when it comes to shaking the dust off of our feet and moving on. It is so easy for us to cling to judgment and pronounce judgment on behalf of God. We’re so tempted to declare that, “God is going to judge you for rejecting me!” Sometimes we’re tempted to say this directly. Sometimes we’re more subtle about it. And even when we don’t say it using our outside voices, we’re holding onto that thought in our hearts.
But Jesus didn’t tell His disciples to pronounce His judgment on the people of the household or the town that they’re leaving as they’re shaking the dust off of their feet. He simply told them to declare that “The Kingdom of God has come near” them.
Notice also that these disciples were being sent out by Jesus Himself—in the flesh. They had absolute certainty that it was Him who was commissioning them to speak on His behalf. Very few of us—if any—have such a close relationship with Jesus that we can be absolutely certain that what we believe we are saying or doing in His name is actually and perfectly in accordance with His calling and His command. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12,
Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known
We would do well, then, to refrain from pronouncing judgment on another (even with our inside voices), no matter how confident we are of the position we are taking. In fact, I would suggest that we even be careful about declaring “The Kingdom of God has come near.” The disciples knew that they were commissioned by the Lord to speak. They knew that the Kingdom of God had come near to those with whom they spoke. Can we be so sure of the perfection of our own words and actions that we can say those same words?
Perhaps.
But perhaps it would be wiser to offer such an observation (if at all) with an open hand, keeping open the possibility that I might be wrong—keeping open the possibility that the Gospel truth I am speaking may be mixed with error, and that what I perceive to be the error of your ways may contain some truth that I do not yet recognize.
The Kingdom of God may have come near to me in your words and your message, even as I believe that the Kingdom of God has come near to you through me.
So, speak those words—The Kingdom of God has come near—in a spirit of grace and humility, not judgment, as you shake the dust off of your feet.
