Isaiah 66:10-14
10Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her -
11That you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom.
12For thus says the LORD: I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees.
13As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bodies shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the LORD is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies.
This is the Word of the LORD
Thanks be to God
Luke 10:1-12
1After 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. 2He 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. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace; your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain 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. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11’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.’ 12I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom that for that town.
This is the Word of the LORD
About a month ago, the Session followed the Holy Spirit out of our comfort zone. On the Tuesday before Pentecost, I felt called by the Holy Spirit to worship outside our sanctuary, to go out into our neighborhood for worship. I emailed the rest of the Session, because where we worship is a Session decision, not mine alone. None of us knew how the congregation would respond, how the neighborhood would respond. Once we checked the weather, we didn’t even know if it would be possible for us to worship under the picnic shelter in the middle of weekend full of thunderstorms. It was a risk, but Jesus warned the seventy “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.”
But the Session trusted God, even if we didn’t know how God would lead us. Members of the Session set up the worship space, prepared communion, moved furniture multiple times. The staff, under the Session’s instruction, prepared to try this new thing, including completely retooling the bulletin so it could double as a fan. Severe thunderstorms rolled in over the weekend and none of us knew how God would provide, but the Session trusted God.
Sunday morning came, in the middle of a flash flood watch, with low-lying areas underwater. But there was no thunder. There was no lightning. The light drizzle did not blow under our shelter. The Session trusted God, did something we had never done before, and God held off a thunderstorm so that we could see what is possible when a church trusts that God will provide. It was, in every sense of the word, miraculous.
The kingdom of God has come near.
Scripture is the story of God’s ongoing relationship with God’s people, and we are part of that ongoing story. We have a choice to let that story pass us by, or to contribute a verse. Our salvation is in God’s hands either way. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. We who call ourselves Christians know that the Kingdom of God has come near, and we have the opportunity to go out into the harvest and help gather it in.
The kingdom of God has come near. Would you like to do some ministry between now and whenever it is that we are all gathered in?
“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.”
The first three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, each contain a story of Jesus sending out the twelve, but only Luke adds this second story of sending out seventy disciples. It’s a chapter later and this expansion of the earlier story matters, because spreading the gospel is not limited to those who are called to leadership, as the twelve one day would be. All of those who choose to follow Jesus are sent out. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Ministry is not limited to the Session. Ministry is not limited to a handful of church members who are willing to overfunction. Ministry is not limited to the 11 men and women who have served as installed pastors for the Presbyterian Church of Lowell. Jesus sent not only the twelve disciples who will become apostles, but also seventy others to do ministry, preparing the towns and places to encounter Christ. The kingdom of God has come near, we need every laborer we can get to bring in this plentiful harvest.
And all it takes is a willingness to trust God. That’s the only qualification that matters. “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.” You don’t have to have money, or supplies, or the ability to travel great distances, or connections with important people. “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.” Go your way and trust God. “Our authority is not in our status, possessions, or abilities; but like those first messengers, we are to encourage everyone to follow and submit in the name of our Lord.” The harvest is plentiful, the Lord of the harvest will provide. Go your way and trust God.
I’m not asking you to trust God with your soul after you die. That’s too easy. Trust God with your life right now. “You shall see, and your heart shall rejoices your bodies shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the LORD is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies.” Trust God and see what is possible. The kingdom of God has come near, and you have a chance to contribute a verse to this ongoing story.
The kingdom of God has come near. I have been sent out into the harvest. The rest of the Session has been sent out into the harvest. Every member of this congregation has also been sent out into the harvest.
So why is it so hard to trust God? Why are we so hesitant to “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road?” We know what is possible, we’ve seen it. And yet, as one commentator wrote, “Too often Christians are shut up in sanctuaries, concerned about leaky roofs and outdated boilers, counting the attendance, and wringing their hands because people do not seem to be worshipping God as they did in the past.” When I read that line in the commentary, it struck me as much truer of our congregation than I would like it to be.
Do we trust our tradition more than we trust God?
Do we trust our facility more than we trust God?
Do we trust our numbers more than we trust God?
Do we trust “the way we’ve always done it” more than we trust God?
Y’all, I love this congregation, and so does God. From day one, I wanted to make us the best Presbyterian Church of Lowell we could be. The harvest is plentiful, and we have it in us to labor faithfully on behalf of the Lord of the harvest. When I look at the incredible blessings God has given us so that we can do ministry in this community, I know that we can do more. The kingdom of God has come near. Every member of this congregation has been sent out into God’s plentiful harvest.
God has provided us with a beautiful worship space, talented worship leaders, and a prominent position in town, across the street from the post office. But when our average worship attendance for the year is less than half of our membership, I know the harvest is more plentiful than that.
God has blessed us with almost a million dollars in designated and invested funds, not including the various scholarships or the vehicle fund. But when our expenses outstrip contributions by tens of thousands of dollars, year after year, I know the harvest is more plentiful than that.
God has gathered us into probably the most educated congregation in town, and many of us are current or former educators, and conversations at Bible Studies can rival those of my seminary classes. But when counting attendees at a Bible Studies rarely requires all the fingers on one hand, I know the harvest is more plentiful than that.
God placed us near the center of town, and when the community has events, our parking lot is the most convenient. The town of Lowell is pulling for our church and has begged us to be present at multiple community events over the years. But when we have the opportunity to set up a booth and finding volunteers becomes nearly impossible, I know the harvest is more plentiful than that.
God has raised up faithful and imaginative leaders from our congregation, filled with energy and love for this congregation. They see things that we cannot, their perspective can push us into the new landscape of ministry that has already surrounded us for a generation. But when they have new ideas, or propose changes to traditional events, are are met with significant skepticism and sabotage, rather than excitement and support, I know the harvest is more plentiful than that.
The kingdom of God has come near.
Jesus tells the seventy “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.” Trust God, not your money, supplies, or connections. Trust God. Show me, show the Session, show one another, what it looks like to Trust God. The kingdom of God has come near, and the harvest is plentiful. “For thus says the LORD: I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Take risks for the sake of the gospel. Contribute a verse to God’s ongoing story. Do not just passively spectate as the story unfolds before us.
The seventy went out into every town to which Jesus intended to go. “Their sole purpose is to prepare others to encounter Jesus. This is done peacefully, through grateful presence and conversation.” We don’t need special skills or techniques in order to do the ministry which every one of us has been sent out to do. You just need a willingness to trust God.
If we trust God enough to do as Jesus tells us, and are welcomed, then will share meals with those who need Christ’s comfort, and find ourselves fed as well. We will cure the sick, even when God’s healing touch doesn’t mean medical recovery. And we will see all around us that the kingdom of God has come near.
And if we are not welcomed, we will still offer the good news, even as we protest the way we have been rejected. We trust God to provide, our task is to tell all we meet that the kingdom of God has come near.
And if the ten of us on the Session trusting God leads us to see the kind of miraculous, weather-changing worship that we saw this past Pentecost, imagine what could happen in Lowell, in Gaston County, in North Carolina, throughout the country if the whole 110 of us trust God enough to take a chance. If we trusted God enough too set ourselves up to fail so that God might succeed, imagine what we might see.
Jesus is sending us out like lambs to wolves. So we can expect to be ignored, more than we can expect to be welcomed. That is what we can expect. When we tell people the kingdom of God has come near, we can expect a look of judgment and dismissal.
But, we can also expect to see that God is at work in the world. We can expect to see peace, where there had been no peace, filled with the kind of sabbath rest that we cannot work hard enough to earn.
Jesus is sending us out like lambs in the midst of wolves, sure. But the kingdom of God has come near. And in the kingdom of God we know that the wolf will lie down with the lamb, and God’s peace, which passes all understand will spread over us all.
Let us go out into the harvest. Let us go out and see the Kingdom of God which is already near, breaking into creation. The kingdom of God which is already changing out hearts and lives, and able to change the hearts and lives of others as well.
Let us go our way, extending God’s peace, for the Kingdom of God has come near.
Thanks be to God for that. Amen.
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