Breaking the law. Breaking the law? That's only a part of it!

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
July 7, 2019

So in last week’s text from Luke, if you’ll recall, we encountered three people who wanted to be disciples of Christ…to go with him and proclaim the good news throughout the countryside.  And as much as these three really wanted to go, they just “couldn’t”, for one reason or another.  And I don’t know about you, but last week’s text left me wondering if it was (or is) truly possible for someone to be a fully committed follower of Christ…the way Christ requires!  But, today’s text in Luke shows us that from that famine we then come to a feast, because Jesus has commissioned 70 missionaries…here is a large group of people who are, indeed, giving up everything to be workers of a plentiful harvest, going out into all the land, sharing the Good News.  The actual number might be significant…70 could actually signify the 70 elders Moses empowered in Numbers, or the 70 Jewish nations…so this “70” likely alludes to “every single person”, “every single nation”. 

So they are sent out, in pairs, and they are given very direct instructions:  Carry no bag, no money, no shoes…don’t speak to anyone along the way; this, accompanied with the reference to “harvest” clearly speaks to the urgency of the situation.  At harvest, it’s all hands on deck!  Call every friend you’ve got, every spare hand you can muster up…it was such an urgent and serious situation, that they are told not to weigh themselves down with all this “stuff”…stuff that we would indeed call necessary, but, they were obviously better at following directions than me.  But along with this task at hand to “go”, they are given one more task: to pray for others to join them in this task.

They aren’t being sent into completely friendly territory, either.  Like a lamb to the wolves…and that’s quite the loaded statement, given what we know about the truly polarized nature of these two animals…one grazes, one hunts lambs; one eats plants, the other eats lambs….  So if you’re one of these 70 being sent out, this isn’t really promising!  If this is Jesus’ way of giving a pep talk, he needs to really try again…from a different approach.

They are to go (something we’re familiar with), and when offered hospitality, share peace with the house and the inhabitants, and to embrace, fully, the hospitality they are being shown.  Sleep in the bed they’re given, eat the food they’re given, wear the clothes they’re given….  And this doesn’t sound like a huge request; we would do this out of common courtesy.  BUT, culturally, we don’t have a long list of “don’ts” surrounding our diet (other than unsweet tea).  But Jewish people had quite the list!  Pork, shellfish, or even fish if it’s been fried.  So here Christ is telling them NOT to obey the laws they’ve adhered to their entire lives…to disregard policy.  And this isn’t the only time we see the authorization to vacate these laws.  In Acts 10, we find Peter, who is hungry, praying and falls “asleep”.  In the dream he is instructed by God to eat the things that have always been prohibited by law…and when Peter questions him, God tells him not to make unclean what God has made clean…the law doesn’t trump God; it can’t.

So that’s the “best case” scenario…which means there’s a “not so great case” scenario as well. 

Remember those wolves?  Sooner or later (probably sooner), they will encounter one or a whole village.  And when they do, they have a way to deal with that:  kick the dust of that town off your shoes, and move on.  The caveat is, whoever hears these 70 hears Jesus; whoever receives them receives Jesus…and the same is true for the opposite, in rejecting the 70, they you reject Jesus, because these 70 are actually extending the work of Jesus on his behalf.

We like to look at this as a blueprint for ministry, don’t we?  Over the past few years I’ve heard this text more times than I can count…because the common misconception is Jesus is calling these people out as what we refer to as “ministers” (which isn’t wrong), but he isn’t commissioning ministers in the clergy or pastoral sense.  This is a call to the whole church!  This is a call that became your call at your baptism.  This is your charge.

And there’s 4 things I want us to talk away with this morning…4 things that are the true meaning of this text:

First, we are to see that the harvest, today, is still abundant.  We may see scarcity, but only because that’s what we choose to see.  And we are not sent to prepare the harvest (because that’s the work of God)…we are called to gather the harvest.  A harvest so abundant that we are to pray for others to join in our labors.  While God is responsible for the growth of our communities, it is our responsibility to plan, to organize, and to work this harvest in such a way that not only anticipates this abundant harvest, but also in no way impeded such growth. 

Second, we are to be vulnerable.  Jesus is sending the pairs into a hostile world, but he is not preparing them for battle.  They are going out like lambs.  Lambs aren’t aggressive, they don’t fight…they don’t even defend themselves.  They are to be vulnerable, opening themselves to and depending on the kindness and generosity of strangers; depending on themselves in no way for the care they require.  We, too, are to be this vulnerable and open to those with whom we  evangelize. 

Third, we are to acknowledge that the revelation of our work isn’t for us to perceive.  The success of the 70 was far greater than they could even imagine.  Jesus tells them that by their actions they have brought about the downfall of Satan and a new age is now upon the people.  We get too focused on results.  We are all about the instant gratification. 

And fourth, realize that there is something even more significant going on here:  Jesus has given the authority over their enemies to these 70.  They have everything they need to be on this journey, and to be wildly successful with the harvest.

Have we, as the church, lost our way?  We want to see people join the church, and we want to clothe people and feed people and do all these great things…which there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that (and in fact that is how we as a church “do” theology), but know that, in this case, witnessing the fruit of our labors isn’t necessary the point.  We are tasked with, and our primary objective is, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  Our job is to feed the hungry, and heal the sick, and care for the stranger, and free the oppressed…but it’s not our mission.  It isn’t what we’re commissioned to do.  We are commissioned to GO…to go to the wolves and share the loving, grace filled, amazing good news…in a multitude of ways that don’t even involve words.  Look at the way these 70 were instructed to carry and present themselves.  Humble, kind, approachable.  Evangelism, in many ways, relies more heavily on the non-verbal communication than in the words we speak. 

So how does the church articulate its mission today?  Are we transforming the world?  Are we making disciples of Jesus Christ in all the nations?  Are we gathering the harvest?

Not like we should.  So, why?  What’s holding us back?  What’s holding YOU back? 

There are a lot of things in our lives that weigh us down; and just as these 70 are instructed to literally leave their baggage at home…you and I are told to do the same.  What baggage is slowing you and keeping you from going, and doing likewise?  Maybe it’s something obvious in your life…a grudge you’ve been harboring, an unspoken work; maybe it’s a secret hidden so devastatingly deep that it’s been holding you captive, and still does.  Maybe it’s anger, maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s fear of failure.  We all have “something”.