July 3, 2022 Discipleship 3 St. Andrew Church
First Lesson: Galatians 6:7-16
7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh, but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all and especially for those of the family of faith.
11 See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. 14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but a new creation is everything! 16 As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
Second Lesson: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you. 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘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.
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
We are continuing our discussion of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and follow him. The first week we talked about not following the crowd, the legion of influences in our lives, but being true to our faith and following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Last week we looked at the excuses we have in our lives, about who we are and the things we don’t want to do. We also considered the excuses we use in our faith pursuits. This week we seek to be empowered in our faith as we explore what the first disciples, beyond the 12 apostles, were told and how Jesus asked them to be in the world. Jesus sent 70 people out in pairs, to prepare the way for him to enter these towns and villages. Listen now for God’s word to you Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Harvest, reaping, sowing, laborers frame both our texts today. Paul reminds us we can sow and reap either in the flesh or in the Spirit. He concludes with let us work for the good of all in the family of faith. So often these passages are interpreted to mean we must grow disciples, create them from our labors. Yes we are asked to spread the seeds of faith, to live in the Spirit, to share the fragrance of Jesus with those we meet. But that is quite different from crushing a person and their culture until they can “be saved” and become a Christian. Barbara Brown Taylor in Holy Envy, writes of the 1846 Protestant Missionary Map of the World where Protestants were colored in blue, Catholics in red, yellow for Muslim and everyone else was classified “Heathen” with a brown colored region. (p.150). Vestiges of those thoughts remain today. Respecting humanity is vitally important to sharing our faith, and allowing each person to decide for themselves if the good news is right for them. When talking about sharing our faith Richard Halverson writes, “You may treat ideas as bullets…or seeds! You may shoot ideas…or you may sow them! You may hit people in the head with them, or you may plant them in their hearts. Use them as bullets, they kill inspiration and neutralize motivation. Use them as seeds, they take root, grow, and become a reality in the life in which they are planted. The only risk taken when seeds are planted is that they become a part of the one in whom they grow. The originator will probably get no credit for the idea. If one is willing not to get credit for an idea, a rich harvest will be reaped.” (sermons.com). So as we consider how we might share out faith as we learn how Jesus commissioned the first 70, let us examine how we move through the world as disciples, empowered to be true to our faith and humbled by the fragrance of Christ we share.
Trust, Peace and Authority are all woven through our gospel passage and teach us something about our mission as disciples.
Trust
Sharing the gospel is God’s work, we only come alongside to support the endeavor. So we must trust God is doing the leading and that this is not done for our own ego or motivation. As Jesus sends the 70, he says, I am sending you out like lambs to wolves. I would add, and you need to trust me. This will be hard, you will face challenges, but lean into your faith as you spread seeds across the region. Trust is the cornerstone of how we share our faith. Jesus then gets the sent disciples’ attention, “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.” That last bit seems hard for me with my foot pain. But seriously, when was the last time you took a trip with no luggage, no clothes and no money? Jesus is asking for our dependence and trust and then to give that same trust to strangers along the way. We certainly could not think of them as heathens if they are the ones who feed us. Jesus is leveling the playing field. We are not superior because we have faith, we are humbling charged with sharing the greatest gift we have ever received. By de-equipping the disciples Jesus is creating greater dependence and trust on him. What matters is your trust in God and Jesus.
Peace
Once we trust Jesus, we offer his peace. Jesus said, my peace I give you (Jn 14:27). So we too offer peace, “Peace to this house!” In other words, Jesus’ blessing. When we encounter someone, we do not argue, or try to convince them about Jesus. Rather we offer the blessing of peace we have in our Lord. If they are not receptive to the seeds of faith, then the peace returns to us. We did not fail; we don’t have to worry what we did wrong. We simply shake the dust off our sandals and move on. But if they do welcome us, receive Christ’s peace, we break bread together and we heal them, we support who they are in creative ways.
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. Shalom is more than just simply peace; it is a complete peace. It is a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, well-being, and harmony. But for us to share that peace we must do some work. Jonathan Sacks wrote, “Peace involves a profound crisis of identity” (Holy Envy, p. 159). To share Christ’s peace means we have surrendered our ego to the love and blessing of our Lord and seek to share our shalom with others. Engaging others means not treating them as objects upon which we act, but as sacred others with whom we are called to be fully and peacefully present. Once peace is shared, the disciples are asked to say, “The kingdom of God has come near to you” (9). How might we say that today? How could we share the good news and God’s promise today? Amy Ogden suggests saying, “I can see God’s love in your life right now” or “God is at work in all of this” (Working Preacher). When we name the works of God here and now, we are proclaiming God’s kingdom is near and inviting others to join in. I encourage you to try this every day this week, bearing witness to how God’s kingdom is near. Offering your own words to a family member, co-worker, or store clerk, or even to yourself either out loud or silently in your heart. Let us share peace and proclaim God’s kingdom is near.
Authority
First, we trust Jesus, then we share his peace with others, proclaiming God’s kingdom is near. Now as we follow these 70 disciples, we are promised authority. Jesus says, whoever listens to you listens to me, whoever rejects you, rejects me and the one who sent me. Jesus is conferring power and authority to these early disciples. Yet we see them get tempted by this newfound power. Jan Campbell writes, “Like teenagers who get to drive their dad’s sports car for the first time, these disciples came back with great enthusiasm over the power they had at their command. But Jesus reminds them to focus their joy on their Father in heaven rather than on the horsepower of their mission. Often, we are tempted to act like teenagers when it comes to the gifts God has given us. We are excited about our money, our friends, our good looks, our work, our spouse or children, and even our religiousness — as if these things were really entirely ours to have and to keep. We forget the God who has given them to us, the God to whom they shall all return when we come to the end of our life on earth” (Sermons.com).
As disciples of Christ we are given authority. Maybe not to cast out demons but to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. So let us rejoice as we embrace the power of discipleship as we live out the words of St. Teresa of Avila.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours.
Amen.
