Templeton Project: Sending Out–Part III
Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here). The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.
Check out the latest piece entitled “Sending Out–Part III.”
See also:
- Grounds for the Project
- The Biblical Foundation – Apology
- Apology in the New Testament II
- Apology in the New Testament III
- With Gentleness and Respect
- Elect Exiles of the Dispersion – the Importance of Identity
- The Present Cultural Environment in America
- Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Push Back’
- Saint Paul’s Civility
- Unbelievers
- Christ, Culture, and Christians
- Jesus and His Opponents in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew
- The Holy Spirit as Apologist
- On Listening to God and One Another
- Deep Conviction and Commitment
- Questions Unbelievers (especially Atheists) May Ask in Dialogue
- Waning Faith and Yearning Heart
- The Apostle on Mars Hill (Areopagus)
- A Fire, a World of Unrighteousness
- Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean
- Examples of Uncivil and Civil Speech
- Of Self-Control
- Humor in Dialogue
- Utopian Dreams
- Do we understand each other?
- When We Differ
- Dialogue and Personality
- Of Anger
- Discipleship and Apologetics
- Nurturing Christian Disciples
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics I
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics II–Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics III–Endurance
- Discipleship and Apologetics IV–Family Conflict
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics V–Doing the Will of the Father as Peacemakers
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XII–“The Tree is Known by Its Fruit”
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VI–A Sword, Not Peace
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VII–Repentance and the Forgiveness of Sins
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VIII–Mission to the Gentiles
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics IX–The Parable of the Sower
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics X–“Fear not, do not be afraid
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XI–“Come to me, . . . and I will give you rest
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIII–Humility
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIV–Woes Turned to the Wisdom of Christ and the Blessings of the Kingdom
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XV–The Sign of the Cross
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVI–The Resurrection
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVII–The Judgment
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVIII–The Vision
- Templeton Project: Inside the Heart and Mind of an Atheist
- Spare, Knowledgeable, and Wise Speech
- Truth as the Only Solid Foundation for Inquiry and Dialogue
- What is Bigotry
- What is Bigotry? Part II: Ideology
- Establishment and Distortion of the Facts
- Confused Mind and Inconstant Heart
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–John the Baptist
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Mother of Our Lord
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Nicodemus
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Samaritan Woman
- The Need for Self-Control
- Self-control and American Culture
- Is Transformation Possible?
- Values and Virtue–the Difference
- The Coronavirus
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Healing of an Official’s Son
- Coronavirus Update
- A Prayer in a Time of Pandemic
- A Troubled Nation
- Articulation of the Faith in Times of Crisis
- Father Seraphim on Nihilism
- Day to Day Nihilism
- Who or What is Absurd?
- Christian Leadership
- The Power of the Invisible
- The Great Revolution
- Religious vs. Spiritual
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Man at the Pool of Siloam, the Blind Man, and the Dead Man
- The Ideological Use of a Virus (Covid-19)
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies Part 2
- What Fire Cleanses?
- Babel–A Confusion of Tongues
- Babel and Jerusalem
- The American Olympians
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Pilate
- Who and What is Evil?
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Peter
- Gratitude, Humility, and Wonder–Key Words for Christian Living
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Thomas the Doubter
- The Early Christian Apologists–The Letter of Mathetes to Diognetus
- Dogma and Bigotry
- Squeeze Out the Spiritual Life–A Dictum of Our Secular Culture
- The Early Christian Apologists–Aristides
- Our Aspirations
- The Promise
- To Be Like God
- The Misuse of the Word Eternal
- The Sacred Obscure Amidst the Secular
- An Overall Idea
- Symbolism and Orthodoxy
- Witnessing and Division in the Church
- Camus, Absurdism, and the Faith of the Church
- Overcoming Evil without Being Overcome
- The State of the United States
- Did the Last Post Show Disrespect?
- With Gentleness and Respect
- Athenagoras’ A Plea for the Christians
- Defy and Deify
- At Present
- At Present Revised
- Musings during the Hours of Night
- Mysterium Tremendum–A Day at Hawk Mountain
- The Lower Yellowstone River Falls
- He Turned Aside
- Emptiness (A Sonnet)
- The Brazen Eagle Soars
- Emptiness Part II
- Lenten Reflection
- Chaos Set Right
- The Holy Sepulcher
- A Press of Leaves
- The Prairie– The Flint Hills
- The Sanctuary Light
- The World and the World
- Authority
- Two Novels
- To the Unknown God or a God Unknown
- Gospel in Saint Mark
- Evangelization in Kensington
- What is New is Old; What is Old is New
- Kensington II
- Virtual or Virtuous?
- Obstacles to Christian Witness
- Judgment and Apologetics
- Worship as Witness and Apology
- Apologetics, Apology, and Witness
- O Source and End
- It is I
- From O My God to O My God to OMG
- Water Is Thicker Than Blood
- We Rather Than I
- The Nativity
- The City of God and the City of Man
- Rules of the Community
- Mixed Together until the End
- Minucius Felix–Christian Apologist–The Problem with Hearsay
- The Will of the Father–Part I
- The Beatitudes–Part II
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In Matthew 10 Jesus sends the apostles out on a mission to Israel. He instructs them to go nowhere among the Gentiles (a mission that will come later, see Matthew 28: 16-20), but only to the lost sheep of Israel. Along with casting out demons; healing the sick; cleansing lepers; and, remarkably, raising the dead, they are to proclaim the same message as Jesus and John the Baptist: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Depending on recipients of the message for food and lodging wherever they go, the apostles are to travel lightly with no money or change of clothes. They are to give without pay as they have received without cost.
Then, we come to a section about worthiness. The Greek word, worthy, has an interesting use in this Gospel, especially in Matthew 10. The term is used in association with the word peace. Jesus instructs the apostles to find worthy individuals in the town and stay with them until they depart. Jesus instructs the apostles that if the houses they enter are worthy, they are to leave their peace there. If no one will receive them and listen to them, they are to shake the dust from their feet. God’s judgment will come upon that place. The worthy are those who accept Christ.
Both worthiness and peace are associated again is verses 34-39. Here Jesus says that He has come to bring a sword, not peace, a perplexing statement considering what He says a little bit earlier in the chapter about His disciples’ bestowing peace upon a house or village. The peace given by the apostles seems tangible. It can be given and withdrawn. In verse 34, however, the word is used in contrast to sword. Peace here is the absence of conflict. In this section Jesus’ examples pertain to conflict within the family regarding faith in Him; members of one’s own family will become enemies of those who accept Christ. The same situation is described in 10: 21ff.
In Chapter 10 peace is used in two different senses. In the earlier text where Jesus gives instructions on how the apostles are to conduct themselves when they enter a town, the word peace means salvation. Those who welcome the apostles and receive their message are given the salvation that the apostles bring. They are worthy because of their receptivity and belief. They are different from those in the parable in chapter 22 who refuse to come to the wedding feast–that is, the unworthy who refuse God’s invitation of salvation. The second meaning of peace refers to the absence of conflict and persecution both of which Jesus stirs in His ministry.
In our defense and witness to the faith, we are doing no less than offering on Jesus’ behalf the salvation that He brings. The preaching of the Gospel brings conflict and persecution, even in the family itself. We must realize that the necessity of apology (defense) is due to the hostility and opposition some bear toward the Gospel. We must be prepared for such eventualities by prayer, worship, and study of the Scriptures. Our defense may become for some the means by which they are brought to Christ.
Michael G. Tavella
Anthony and Pachomius, Abbots
January 17, 2024