Blessed 18th Sunday after Pentecost to you. There are but six Sundays until Advent begins. We will continue in Luke until we wrap it up in late November. During Advent, we will be looking at the fruit of the Spirit through the lens of Jesus’ teaching. Back to our regular programming…
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I was remarking to someone yet again the other day that the more I read the gospels, the more I see I didn’t before. So many variables can change between the last time one reads a passage and the next one. The context of life, marriage, children, vocation, current events, medical/health - all these things can bring new meaning or understanding to the Word. Even the day of the week and what’s happening in one’s life that very day can bring a fresh perspective on something read many times before.
For instance, today’s passage is the one in which Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to prepare the way for his arrival (this is unique to only Luke’s gospel, by the way). Today, being Sunday, my mind is on the Church gathered around Christ, the Word, and his Table. So it sets a particular framework as I take this passage today: How has the Church been sent? Are we faithful to the sending?
This passage isn’t all that well-known. There’s no great single miracle (though it is quite remarkable what these seventy-two end up doing). There’s no back-and-forth one-on-one conversation between Jesus and an individual. And frankly, there are some difficult words from Jesus that don’t fit the warm and fuzzy savior that many take him to be.
But Jesus is pretty clear: Go. Travel lightly. Eat other peoples’ food. Move on where there is no reception.
It could be interpreted that these travel instructions are for this group of seventy-two people and not necessarily a framework for Jesus’ disciples today. The resurrection and Pentecost seem to particularly shape the Church’s message in ways that were not available at the time of this sending.
And yet, we can prayerfully and carefully draw from Jesus’ instructions even today. There will be people who are not interested in Jesus. Those who reject Jesus are rejecting God.
What Jesus says about intelligence is particularly challenging, but we must deal with it. What Jesus says about wisdom is particularly challenging. He not only calls fishermen and tax collectors to lead his movement but delights that the Spirit’s truth isn’t dependent on intellect or learning.
Listen, I have three degrees in Christian theology and ministry. I’ve benefitted from each one. In different ways, I’ve received the grace of God through each. But it’s clearer and clearer to me that these things can be - not are - a significant hindrance to faith. I’ll reserve a longer development of this thesis for other places.
For now, this passage ends with Jesus overflowing with joy because of the Spirit’s revelation to his disciples. Maybe that’s our cue too: to find joy not in what we know, but in what the Spirit continues to reveal among those who go where Jesus sends.
Luke 10:1-24
After these things, the Lord commissioned seventy-two others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every city and place he was about to go. He said to them, “The harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest. Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves. Carry no wallet, no bag, and no sandals. Don’t even greet anyone along the way. Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘May peace be on this house.’ If anyone there shares God’s peace, then your peace will rest on that person. If not, your blessing will return to you. Remain in this house, eating and drinking whatever they set before you, for workers deserve their pay. Don’t move from house to house. Whenever you enter a city and its people welcome you, eat what they set before you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘God’s kingdom has come upon you.’ Whenever you enter a city and the people don’t welcome you, go out into the streets and say, ‘As a complaint against you, we brush off the dust of your city that has collected on our feet. But know this: God’s kingdom has come to you.’ I assure you that Sodom will be better off on Judgment Day than that city.
“How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin. How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida. If the miracles done among you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed their hearts and lives long ago. They would have sat around in funeral clothes and ashes. But Tyre and Sidon will be better off at the judgment than you. And you, Capernaum, will you be honored by being raised up to heaven? No, you will be cast down to the place of the dead. Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
The seventy-two returned joyously, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit themselves to us in your name.”
Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Look, I have given you authority to crush snakes and scorpions underfoot. I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the spirits submit to you. Rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.”
At that very moment, Jesus overflowed with joy from the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and shown them to babies. Indeed, Father, this brings you happiness. My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.” Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Happy are the eyes that see what you see. I assure you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they didn’t.”
Psalm 67:1-2
Let God grant us grace and bless us;
let God make his face shine on us,
so that your way becomes known on earth,
so that your salvation becomes known among all the nations.
Prayer (from the Book of Common Prayer for this Sunday)
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.