The Lord appointed others and sent them out. Luke 10:1
Proper 9
The reading from Luke provides instructions on how to be an evangelist. These instructions show us how we to share the Good News and how to install God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
The reading begins with Jesus appointing and sending 70 others. Luke 10:1 The word “other” is used because the people sent were not Apostles or Disciples. So, the first thing we learn is that Jesus intends ordinary believers, not just religious leaders, to be evangelists. Sharing experiences of God and building God’s kingdom, are the responsibility of all baptized people and not just of ordained people.
Next Jesus warns the 70: “I am sending you as sheep among wolves.” Luke 10:3 The work of evangelism involves risk. This is why Jesus told them to work in pairs. Working with another person allows for reality testing and support. Jesus also told them to travel light: no money, no camping gear, no shoes. Luke 10:4a Traveling light forced the 70 to rely on the hospitality of those people willing to accept their help or listen to what they had to say. Traveling light, in the era before 7/11s and motel 6s, generated the need for hospitality and fostered the offering of hospitality. The 70 were also told not to talk to people on the road as the traveled. Luke 10:4b Jesus did this to prevent them from being distracted or waylaid. Before the printing press, radio, tv, cellphones and social media, news was communicated by travelers. Not talking to people on the road was the ancient world’s equivalent of putting down our cellphones during meetings and meals. From these verses we learn to avoid the distraction of current events when sharing our experiences of God. We learn not to let political differences derail our acts of compassion.
Jesus sent 70 others to the places he planned to visit. They were his advance team. They located people in need and familiarized themselves the causes for their suffering. You are the advance team for God and the church. As you go about your daily life, notice who is interested in matters of faith. Be on the lookout for people in need of mercy, yearning for justice, or wanting to preserve the glory of God’s creation. Identify the reasons residents in the community are struggling to make ends meet, cannot cope with illness, are unable to deal with family conflicts or failing to live with loss. After this, share what you notice with God in pray, tell vestry members about the struggles you identified (so they can use this information to shape church outreach and allocate church funds) and introduce your priest to people needing hope and help. Just as Jesus relied on the 70 to be his advance team, vestries and clergy need church members to be their advance team.
Jesus directed the 70 to accept the hospitality offered to them. They had to eat the food served, even if it did not aligned with their religious rules or dietary preferences. The 70 were to rest in whatever place was provided. Luke 10:7-8 They were not to search for people who could afford to offer higher quality food and more comfortable beds. Jesus told them to say to people who received them and to people who rejected them, “the kingdom of God has come near you.” Luke 10:9a The 70 should not indulge in anger, resentment or seek vindication. Indulging in these would allow the hostility of others undermine their commitment to God and their love for others. When the 70 met with rejection, they were advices to wipe the experience from their hearts and minds as they wiped the dust of the town off their feet. Saying “the kingdom of God has come near you” conveyed a truth about God. God is with us whether acknowledge or ignore God. God is with us whether we believe, doubt or say we have no faith. The corollary truth is that God’s kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven whether or not you and I help God build it. God’s will will be done. Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed to this truth when he wrote, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Before Jesus taught the 70 on how to evangelize, he prayed with them. Jesus said,
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Jesus prayed for the 70 and for all of us. Jesus prayed for God to make more people ready, willing and able to share the Good News and install God’s kingdom. Jesus prayed in this manner because there are people all around us like Naaman. Naaman, in the reading from the Second book of Kings, needed hope and help. To a casual observer, Naaman seemed like a wealthy accomplished professional who made vital contributions to king and country. He was a hero and patriot of Aram. But those who knew Naaman were aware of his struggles. He had a chronic disease that was disfiguring and disabling. A disease that would cause his death. A slave in Naaman’s house, captured during one of his military campaigns, spoke to his wife. This nameless young female, did not speak about her resentment at being violently removed from her homeland. She did not give voice to her righteous indignation at being separated from her loved ones. Instead of allowing anger compromise her faith in God and derail her love of neighbor, the nameless slave girl told Naaman’s wife about her experience of God. She described her God. A God who empowered a prophet in her homeland with the ability to cure leprosy. 2 Kings 5:3 When Naaman’s wife shared this good news, he immediately got permission from the king to travel to Israel. He had to ask for permission because Israel and Aram were enemies. Naaman traveled to Israel and presented his request for healing to the king of Israel. The king mistook his petition for a provocation; a diplomatic disaster unfolded. Before long Elisha, the court profit, heard about the political problem and Naaman’s petition. Elisha reminded the king to have faith and directed the king to send Naaman to him. God used a nameless young woman to facilitate Naaman’s healing and foster diplomacy between hostile nations. In verses not included in the reading from Second Kings, Naaman asked to carry soil from the Israel home so that he could stand on holy ground as he worshiped the God who made possible his healing and diplomacy between warring nations.
Evangelism and building God’s kingdom, are less complicated than we image. We can follow Jesus directions in the Gospel. If that is too difficult, we can what the slave girl did. As members of God’s advance team, we can identify people in need of hope or help. We can assess the causes for alienation and suffering in our community, avoiding distractions that undermine our love for God. We can share what we’ve experienced of God’s grace, healing, justice, mercy and forgiveness while navigating detours that draw us away from loving our neighbors. Then we pray for the people and problems we encounter, share what we notice with the Vestry and text the priest to invite them for coffee with the person in need of hope and help.
