Let me start off by saying how excited I am to have this opportunity today. As some of you know, I am a rising senior at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina studying Christian Education and going through the ELCA’s Candidacy process to be a rostered Associate in Ministry. I was born and raised in Leesville, South Carolina, which is a rural town about thirty-five miles south west of Columbia. Leesville is still home to my parents, my siblings, and my grandparents. My brother, sister, and I were very fortunate to grow up around family. As I’ve observed during my time here so far, there are many aspects of this community that remind me of home and how I grew up. It’s a blessing that few people experience nowadays, and one that is sometimes not seen as a blessing until much later in life.
In 2006, I graduated from Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Communications with a focus on Public Relations and a minor in Music. From the time I graduated up until the end of this past April I worked in State Human Resources, a few months for the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the remaining time for the South Carolina Office of the Adjutant General. I have always enjoyed helping, working for, and serving others. God has done amazing things in my life, and it is in listening to Him that I have been brought to Pine Ridge, South Dakota for the summer. I’m not sure where God will lead me next, but I know this will not be the last of my work with the reservation. God is doing amazing things here, and I want to continue to be a part of His work in this place.
So, July Fourth. The average person probably thinks about fireworks, hot dogs, and apple pie, maybe the American flag. For me, it never fails to bring back memories of my great grandmother. She was born on the Fourth of July, and she definitely was a firecracker up to the very end! As my family gathered together on this day, it was a celebration of life more so than one celebrating the achievement of independence from Great Britain. My great grandmother was one of the strongest women I know, and I was blessed to know her twenty-one years of my life. She helped instill in me Christian and family values that I will always carry with me and use when I have my own family. She joined the church triumphant in January of 2006, where she now experiences Shalom – more than peace, she is now whole again, she now is experiencing God’s kingdom as we will some day. This Shalom, this wholeness that she is now experiencing – the kingdom and reign of God, is a dominant part of the passage we heard from Luke. It is one of, if not the, most important parts of this passage. Jesus was sent into this world to restore it to completeness, to atone for the sins of humanity, to bring the kingdom of God to us. He did this by healing the sick, spreading his message, and by eventually being the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. This is why we are here today, this is why we can rejoice and give thanks to God. This is why we are also sent out into the harvest.
Jesus sent out the seventy extra laborers to take his message to others and to help restore all people. In Luke 9, Jesus sent out only the twelve disciples among Jewish towns and villages. This is good news for us because it assures us of the extension of the kingdom of God; it is not limited to just Jewish nations. It gives us assurance that all people of the world are meant to have a relationship with God, and He cares for all of humanity. Now, in this second mission, it is implied that Jesus is sending the seventy to cover the entire known world during this time – friendly nations as well as hostile nations and hated ones. This is why Jesus tells them that they are being sent out “like lambs into the midst of wolves.” As the seventy disappear two-by-two into the dusty roads before them, Luke tells us that they are empowered to share in the work of Jesus. The peace that they give will be the peace of Christ. This is why Luke is so careful to tell us that there were seventy. Just as god commanded Moses to gather seventy elders to share the unbearable load of the wilderness wandering, Jesus appoints exactly that number and then pushes them beyond their comfort zones and into the world. “Go on your way.” No longer safe on the sidelines, these followers are now sent out, to share peace and table fellowship, to cure the sick, to proclaim the kingdom of God. In short, they were called to live out and practice the faith that they had confessed. And it is in the doing that the seventy are transformed from bystanders to active participants in the work of God.
These seventy have been sent out in a highly dangerous and vulnerable state. They are to “carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.” They are to have nothing but the clothes on their backs. Can you imagine that, going off into a new town for a week or two and taking nothing with you? Can you imagine the faith and trust that took? This helps to show that their mission is one of peace, though. They are not a threat to anyone that they may meet because they have no resources. The order to greet no one gives them protection as well as shows how urgent their mission was. There was no need for them to establish positive relationships on the road. Their relationships were to be built once they reached their appointed town. They were to first offer peace whenever they entered a home. Secondly, they were to give their message: the kingdom of God has come near. Offering peace is a greeting and gift of the kingdom of God. It is the first gift of the government that Jesus will establish; shalom will be restored to all who believe and are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. Peace offers a spiritual power and establishes a spiritual relationship between the one who offers and the one who accepts. This peace then has the power to open the one who receives it to draw near to the message of God’s kingdom. But even if a town they entered rejected them, the seventy were to still proclaim their message as they left. The reception of the message was not dependant upon the messengers. “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me” (Luke 10:16). Authority has been given to the followers so that no evil will harm them and they are able to spread the message and heal with confidence.
Many may be tempted to disagree with Jesus in so strongly asserting that the God’s kingdom has come near. All we have to do is look around here and see that we do not live in what is promised to be an amazing place. There’s poverty, gangs, suicide, and broken promises all around this reservation. If we look further out, we see wars raging on with few signs of stopping. The gulf coast is still being damaged by the oil spill. Poverty and hunger claim the lives of so many while others live in comfort with more than enough. Many people are unsafe even in their own homes, while other enjoy the security of gates and fences. These are not the sign of the kingdom that we would expect. In fact, if the kingdom itself knocked on our door with no sandals, no food, and no money… we might be tempted to ask it to leave us alone.
Jesus is insistent, though. They proclaim to all, whether they receive the message of the kingdom or not. How could they do such a thing? The places they were going were not that well off either. If the kingdom has indeed come near, what are the signs of its coming? Let’s look again at the instructions Jesus gave the seventy: they were to enter a town and where welcomed they are to stay. This is Christian hospitality. Secondly, they were to eat what was given to them. This is table fellowship. Next, they were to cure the sick. This shows compassion and care. Finally, in the end, they were to proclaim that the kingdom of God had come near.
If Jesus’ sending the seventy is a function of God’s kingdom realized in Jesus himself, then God’s kingdom is exhibited in things like hospitality, outreach to strangers, compassionate healing, the proclamation of peace, and the ultimate sharing of good news. All too often today we see many congregations maintaining inward focused programs. They are far more concerned with what happens inside their walls than with what’s going on outside of them.
Have you felt the presence of the kingdom in your own life? Have you had those experiences when the thin veneer of ordinary human existence is broken and the glory of God shines through? Never have I felt God’s kingdom more closely than in this community. In our sharing, in being welcomed so openly, in the fellowship we’ve had at meals, in the care that has been offered me I know the kingdom of God is near and in this place. We are all fellow travelers on this road to bring the mission of the church to others. If we refuse to get our hands dirty and our hearts changed then we risk missing the kingdom that has already come near in Jesus. We risk missing the terrifying and empowering journey that requires nothing but faith in God to sustain us and trusting in each other for support. Like a song we used to sing in church when I was young says: I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together. All who follow Jesus all around the world, yes, we’re the church together! The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. We’re many kinds of people, with many kinds of faces, all colors and all ages, too, from all times and places. An when the people gather, there’s singing and there’s praying, there’s laughing and there’s crying sometimes, all of it saying: I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together. All who follow Jesus all around the world, yes, we’re the church together!
Jesus is sending us out into a complex and hostile world, like sheep in the midst of wolves. The bad news is that all we carry is a message. The good news is that the message is this: the kingdom of God has come near!
Amen :)
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