Where are the sent?

The understanding of disciples is that they are but followers of the teacher or the teachings of someone else. In the Gospels the word disciple and apostle are often mingled together and tradition has suggested to us that twelve disciples became apostles and they are now the only apostles or rather  The Apostles. If we thought about it we could probably all have a go at naming them and if we were really clever we would go to our Gospels and read the names there (Matt. 10.2-4). The interesting thing about this passage is that they are actually called twelve disciples, not apostles. However, if we are to be pedantic it is in the following verse (Matt 10.5) that they become apostles as they are sent out into the world to begin the journey of bringing love, hospitality and care into the world. So are there any apostles in the world today or are we just disciples or people striving to become disciples?

Are there only 12 apostles or are new ones sent each day?

If we were to take a bit of a skewed look at what we call and who we call disciples and apostles the reality is that there are, strictly speaking, many apostles in the world and many disciples who may become apostles. However, we do not recognise them but reserve the exalted class of "Apostle" to the twelve. It is perhaps an inheritance from history that we have refrained from using this word apostle in an everyday manner. In reality we are all sent out into the world from our baptism onward, there is nothing special about being an apostle other than the fact that we have been sent into the world to bring love, hospitality and care to those who are in difficulty. We are still importantly disciples following God's teaching demonstrated by Christ on how to bring God's grace into the hearts of others. The first step towards any form of civilisation is the bond of companionship and love. The quickest form towards community is to ensure hospitality which is a given within the culture of the Middle East. If we look at the first reading in Genesis (Gen 18:1-15) where Abraham offers hospitality to three strangers. This is the point we can relate to in our own journeys as disciples but as disciples we become those who are sent or apostles as soon as we begin the process of showing love and compassion to the world around us. Particularly when we open our arms to embrace those that we despise in an emulation of Christ upon the cross. Christ sent his disciples and that turned them into apostles (those who were sent).

In deed the basis of the disciples sending is a basis in compassion and hospitality, that is love. Once they were on the road it was compassion for others that Christ sent them to undertake. In today's world it is often difficult to undertake this when so many of our "services" have been overtaken by the state and as a result have become political footballs. Things such as homelessness, poverty, mental illness, the stateless and refugee are all places where the Christian ideal of compassion and love make a difference. If we are to become those who are sent, for we are sent out into the world at our baptism / confirmation and at the end of each Eucharistic service, we need to remind ourselves that we are not just disciples but are indeed apostles of God. Being sent by God means that we need to uphold all the ideals of disciples of Christ and God's unending love. The moment we step outside the doors of our own homes we become the messengers of hope. Messengers who bring the grace of God into the lives of those we interact with on a daily basis. It is our hospitality and love which generate the possibility of companionship and civilisation in our places of life. COVID 19 as a disruptive force in the world has broken many of those bonds of civilisation in places around the world but has also stirred up the image of love that God provides. More recently the total disruption of life itself through an increasingly prejudicial outlook to the presence of the other has negated Christ's gift of reconciliation (Romans 5). An increasing Christian apathy towards injustice in the world and our understanding of the apostle, or one who is sent, disturbs the genuineness of God's gift and our ability to offer love without recompense as we ourselves struggle with our own biases and discriminatory behaviour. This suggests that being sent is no longer a thing and we do not believe the prayer we pray at the end of the Eucharist. Yet, by the grace of God we are still sent into the world and it is our own behaviours that need to be re-assessed if we are to claim our own apostleship to God. For we are the sent and need to stand up to that calling not just as disciples but as God's apostles in this age. It is not recognition but the ability to initiate community and civilisation with love and empathy a narrow difficult path that brings change into our corporate lives.