Proper 9

Preparation

    Please begin by reading Luke 10:1-10, 16-20 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Sent Out  

    Luke devotes a large portion of his gospel narrative (beginning at 9:51) to events that take place as Jesus and the disciples slowly make their way toward Jerusalem and Jesus’ death and final victory. Among other things, we find today’s story of the sending out of a large group of followers for mission.

    Jesus knows that the time that he will have with them is limited. It is time for some serious training. This brief training manual tells us a lot about how we should conduct ourselves, and what we should expect, as we engage in the tasks God has for each of us. Here are some of the principles.

• Two-by-two is still a great way to do ministry. We are seldom called to be solo artists. We are called to serve in community, and with companionship and reinforcement.
• There is no question about being needed. There is always plenty of God’s work to be done. The harvest is still ripe and waiting. Someone you know needs desperately to hear from you, or to see demonstrated in your life, God’s passionate love for God’s people.
• We are still like sheep sent out among wolves. To borrow from the title of an old country and western song, God might say to us “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.” Opposition and rejection WILL happen. The reality is that forces are at work in the world that are not of God. “Keep on keeping on” anyhow. Our task is to present Christ the best way that we can in gentleness and love. The rest is up to God. A seed you plant may well bear fruit years later. And there will always be those times when you will know the joy of seeing lives changed right away by your ministry.
• When God does use you for transformation, savor the joy of it, but remember that the transformation happens through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus still send us where he already intends to go. If we neglect our mission, we will have missed out, but God will send someone else. Our work is to be willing instruments, but we are not the master artisan. Forgetting that distinction will destroy our ministries quickly. Our real joy comes from knowing that our names are written in the book of life and that we are faithful to One who loves us beyond words.
• The time to start doing what God has given you to do is not when all those steamer trunks are packed and loaded with everything you think you might possibly need along the way. You know, “I know God wants me to move in this direction, but I just need [fill in the blank] before I begin.” The harvest is ripe NOW. The time to begin is NOW.

The ticket for your journey is trust. God will provide. God is waiting. Are your ready to go?

revclay

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Luke 10:1-10, 16-20

 
    After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 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. Go on your way.

    "See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.

    "Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 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.

    "Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, 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.’”
 

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    “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

    The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”

    He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

[NRSV]