The Kingdom of God Has Come Near

[A reflection of the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, July 6, 2025, which may be found here at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/proper-9c/.]

When Our Lord dispatched seventy of His disciples to serve as an advance party to His mission to the various towns and villages in Galilee and Judaea, He had advised them that some would accept them, but some would not. Where they were accepted they were to themselves accept whatever aid was given them, but where they were not accepted, they were to lodge public protest and leave. However, in both cases, they were to tell the inhabitants that the Kingdom of God had come near them.

This is something we often forget in our divided and polarized world, the world of "us" versus "them" that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is held out and offered to all, without exception. Whether it is accepted or not does not matter to us who are tasked to bring the Good News of liberation of the captive, the relief of the poor, the uplifting of the oppressed, we are to bring that Good News and then move on, either furthering the ministry of the Gospel where it is accepted, or departing when it is not. What matters is that everyone gets to hear the Good News and then make their own decision what to do with it.

These days we are less likely to see a town or neighbourhood uniformly or universally take one position over another. Frequently the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven is accepted by some and rejected by others who are close neighbours. That is not our burden to bear. Where we do bear the burden is the support and partnership with those who do accept the message, who wish to have the Kingdom of God draw ever nearer to them. Anyone else is free to drift away and we should not feel burdened to chase after them. If the Holy Spirit moves them later to accept the Gospel, they will have the example of their neighbours showing love and mercy to the least of these to draw them in.

So whenever we have the opportunity to share the Gospel, to bring the Kingdom of God near to those around us, let the actions and words speak for themselves, knowing full well that the final acceptance or rejection will be in the hands of those who hear. Our only job is to ensure that they have opportunity to accept or to reject.