"The Message is Mission" by The Rev. Donald L. Hamer
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Sermon Preached at Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford
Pentecost 7, Proper 9 July 7, 2013
By The Rev. Donald L. Hamer
Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20
“The Message is Mission”
We are now seven Sundays into this season after Pentecost. It is the time in the liturgical year when our New Testament lessons review for us the development of the early Christian church. Our vestments and banners are green to symbolize growth. And this morning, our Gospel lesson draws us to look at the growth of God’s mission.
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel is one of the cornerstones of the way God’s mission is laid out in the New Testament. So this morning, mindful of the temperature, I would like to take just a few moments to highlight several parts of this passage – and if you have a highlighter or a pen or pencil with you, you might highlight them as well for further study or meditation.
At the very beginning, we see Jesus appointed 70 others “and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.” Now this is significant in two respects: First, we see a gradual expansion of the scope of Jesus ministry – Jesus first appointed 12 disciples, and now he is expanding that to 70. It will be only a matter of time before Jesus’ disciples go “to even the ends of the earth” as Luke writes in Acts 1:8. And secondly, we see how important those 70 are, Don’t you find it interesting that Jesus sends them to places where he himself intends to go – they are the advance scouts who will prepare the way for Jesus. Sound familiar? Think Advent – prepare the way of the Lord. Think John the Baptist. That is the role of the 70 – to prepare the way for Jesus. We’ll come back to this in a moment.
The second aspect I’d like to highlight is the harvest and the laborers. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Note that Jesus doesn’t make the 70 responsible for creating the harvest – that’s God’s job providing the harvest. The job of the 70 is to help gather the harvest that God has provided and to pray for and recruit others to come join in the harvest. And the harvest here is not just a literal harvest – it is figurative as well. Harvest here refers to the followers of Christ gaining full maturity and being gathered into the reign of God. Where others see scarcity, Jesus sees abundance and opportunity. That is the job of the 70 - to follow Jesus’ lead.
The third aspect to underline is the very next line: Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no nag, no sandals. . . The 70 are called to share not only the mission of Christ but its dangers and risks as well. Remember in last week’s Gospel when Jesus said “birds have their nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head?” The 70 are to share in the vulnerability of the one who has no place to lay his head, and who depends upon the hospitality of others. That’s why Jesus tells them to carry no extra supplies – they will be cared for by God through the hospitality of others.
That’s not exactly the way we are used to doing ministry. It doesn’t presume an endowment or great wealth in order to advance God’s kingdom. It brings to mind the mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans, who were God’s messengers and lived by the gifts of others. The authority of the 70 is not in their status, or in their wealth, or in their power, or in their abilities – it is in the message they bring.
And while there is much more in this passage that we will study over the coming months, a fourth aspect I would like to highlight this morning is the way the 70 proclaim the kingdom of God. Note that there is no success or failure. If people in a village embrace them, they have experienced the nearness of the kingdom of God. But note what Jesus tells them to do when they are rejected: Go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near. Whether they experience it as success or not, the 70 are always advancing the kingdom of God wherever they go.
The medieval theologian Erasmus wrote, “Bidden or unbidden, God is present.” And that is Jesus’ charge to the 70 – to bring the Kingdom of God near, wherever they are. While the context has changed over the past two thousand years, the message has not. Jesus’ charge to the 70 is also his charge to us. The message, NOT the messenger, is at the center of the mission. We, along with the 70, are the messengers – the instruments whom God has chosen to continue to bring the Kingdom of God near. The message is universal. At the center is the hope offered to all in the name of Jesus Christ. The message is the nearness of God and our call to live each day in Jesus name to make that kingdom known.
When you think about it, it’s an awesome opportunity that Jesus provides us. Please join me in prayer: Lord God, Almighty and everlasting, you have brought us in safety to this new day: preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.