Joseph Henrich makes the argument in his recent book The Weirdest People in the World, that We in the West are just Weird. Perhaps you’re thinking, what does this have to do with the Gospel lesson this morning? “Whoever loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Jesus wasn’t undermining the local family, so much as calling into question the power structure of society as a whole.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest” (9:38). Just as the disciples kneel down to pray, Jesus turns to them and tells them that God has answered their prayer— Jesus tells them, “You’re hired!” They’ve been drafted to join in Jesus’ work, to do the very things he’s been doing—teaching, healing, preaching, casting out demons.

Today’s lesson from Matthew’s Gospel could righty be titled, “Jesus is on the move.” For over the course of a few verses, we see Jesus going from person to person, encounter to encounter, bringing healing and wholeness and reconciliation everywhere he goes.