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7. Sunday after Pentecost, 07/07/2013
Sermon on Luke 10:1-20, by John E. Priest
Luke 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead
of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!' 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
16 "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" 18 And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (ESV)
I Want You!
Most of you have probably seen the billboards. There's a big picture of Uncle Sam all decked out in his red, white, and blue outfit. His finger's pointing at whoever's passing by. "I want you!" the poster proclaims. It's a recruiting add for the armed forces.
Well - take Uncle Sam out of the picture. Put Jesus in instead. Not in red, white, and blue, but His usual attire. But His finger's pointing, pointing at you. "I want you!" He says. Except He's not recruiting for the army. He wants workers for the harvest, the harvest of souls for the kingdom of God. That's what He wants you for.
Except the army recruitment image works too. For there's a war going on. Not a war waged with bullets and bombs, but a spiritual warfare waged with words, the Word of God against the words of the devil, the angels against the demons, good versus evil, life against death. This war's going on all around us and in us. And Jesus wants you to fight on His side.
Mind you, there's absolutely nothing new about this war. It's not like it was declared yesterday. It's been going on ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. And it'll keep going on until our Lord Christ comes again to establish once and for all His kingdom over all. Furthermore we know what the outcome of this war's going to be. God wins. God wins for sure. We know this because Jesus, who was crucified, lives. But that doesn't mean He doesn't want you fighting on His side. Because the only other choice is to fight on the other side. So Jesus points. He points His finger at you and He says: "I want you! I want you now." "The harvest is plentiful," He says, "but the laborers few. Pray then," He says, "pray earnestly to the Lord to send out laborers into his harvest." They would be you. "You are my witnesses ... to the ends of the earth," Jesus said to His first disciples just before He ascended into heaven. "You are my witnesses," Jesus says to you today.
Witnesses, of course, give testimony. They speak. That's what they do. Which is why the world would like nothing better than to silence us. And the sad, sad thing is that - to a certain extent at least - they've succeeded.
It ought to be the most natural thing in the world for us Christians to talk about our Lord. And yet too often we don't. Sometimes our silence is deafening.
Why is that? Maybe it's because you're not sure what to say. Maybe it's just because you don't want to get into an argument. You don't want to give offense, in which case you may as well never say anything at all, there being so many people these days so eager to take offense. Opposition to the Christian message should come as no surprise. It is in fact testimony (albeit unintended) to the power of the Christian Gospel. People don't go out of their way to squash what doesn't matter. We're onto something here - we who love the Lord. And the world knows it. Doesn't want to admit it, but - yes - the world knows it. And we are called by our Lord Himself to share it. "I want you," says Jesus. "You."
On a Mission
Today's Gospel lesson reminds us that we are people on a mission. We are swept up in the great historical movement called the Church of Jesus Christ, the whole purpose of which is to tell people who's coming. Christ the Lord is coming to establish His kingdom and rule over all. The only question is, will people be prepared to receive Him? That's where we come in. He has sent us before Him to prepare His way.
When politicians are coming to a certain city or town, they send out a team of advance agents to make sure people know they're coming (don't want an embarrassingly small crowd, you know) and to see to it that all the arrangements are properly in place. Now politicians you can take or leave, depending on what you think of them. But when Christ comes again, it will be impossible to ignore Him. The Bible says some - those who believe in Him - will rejoice. His coming is the answer to theirs prayers. Others will wail on account of Him because they've been His enemies. The Bible is also clear that Christ is interested in keeping the wailing to a minimum. He much prefers the rejoicing. Which is, as I said, where we come in, we who are advance agents of the Lord.
You see, there's a cosmic dimension to the mission of the Church. And we should count ourselves as truly blessed to be given a share in it. It involves the whole universe and where it's headed - including every man, woman and child in it. It's about Satan falling like lightening from heaven and Christ our Lord enthroned at the right hand of God.
The mission of the Church poses to the world the crucial question, around which everything else revolves: do you know who your Lord is? And if you don't, don't you think you ought to know?
The so-called gods and goddesses of this world - those who would be our lords and masters - don't want this word to get out. Which is why they try to muzzle us. But we have the God of all gods and the King of kings behind us. As it says in today's Psalm, the 66th, "Because of His great strength, His enemies cringe before Him." Even when they had Him in their clutches and crucified Him, even then He won the victory over them, rising from the dead. Nothing and no one can stop Him.
Our mission then is not to accomplish his victory for Him - because that we could never do - but simply to extend His gracious invitation to one and all "to make the voice of His praise to be heard."
As I said before, so I'll say it again. "The harvest is plentiful," He says, "but the laborers few. Pray then," He says, "pray earnestly to the Lord to send out laborers into his harvest." They would be you.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.