Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on July 3, 2016.

There are few better metaphors for the spiritual life than “journey”; the concepts of movement, growth, purpose, and destination resonate with and illuminate our experiences. The same metaphor is equally apt for congregational life, especially as we consider the church’s presence, identity, and mission in our current cultural landscape. Luke’s long and intriguing motif of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem can be instructive. For the pastor looking to sustain a congregation’s self-understanding and growth during the more relaxed months of summer, Luke provides plenty of material for reflection. In the crush of preparing weekly sermons, many of us get in the habit of reading only the assigned Scripture, or perhaps also the passages immediately before and after it. Given the importance of the journey motif in Luke, the preacher would be well served by reading this entire section (Luke 9:51-19:28). This overview can give a helpful framework for preaching from now through October, and might help the pastor even structure the sermons over this sweep of time as a kind of journey with Jesus.

This passage from Luke 10, which follows immediately from the previous week’s lection, takes place very soon after the journey has begun. Jesus had been rejected by a village of inhospitable Samaritans (Luke 9:53) and then pursued by some enthusiastic would-be followers (Luke 9:57-62). Having previously sent a pair of messengers ahead of him to prepare a village to receive him (and before that, having appointed and sent out the Twelve to heal, to exorcise demons, and to proclaim the kingdom of God), Jesus now commissions a much larger group. There is a sense here already, this early in the journey, of the growth of his mission.

We see in this story Luke’s characteristic concern for the mission to be carried forward, expanded by many people into many places; ours is a faith that travels. Jesus and his followers were still in Samaria, where Jesus had already been rejected. This is hostile territory. To venture out into these towns and places, not with a group but in pairs, not with Jesus but on their own, is a vulnerable move to make. His instructions make that vulnerability even more striking: “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals” (Luke 10:3-4). The mission will be carried forward by people who, like Jesus himself, are willing to make themselves vulnerable.

It would be interesting for the preacher to explore the resonances between what these seventy were facing, and what the church on mission faces today. It is still true that the harvest is plentiful (Luke 10:20), but the culture is different. How is our own culture hostile or receptive, suspicious or welcoming? What sort of rejection is at stake? What kinds of unexpected hospitality might be encountered? What are our fears about our culture, and how do such fears inhibit our vulnerability and our willingness to take risks?

Such an exploration could then consider Jesus’ very practical instructions to the seventy. In many ways, his words are context-specific; within his instruction, however, can be found timeless principles that can inform the church in our contemporary context. The first instructions offer direct, easily accessible teaching about being on mission. “(A)sk the Lord of the harvest” (Luke 10:2) – the work of mission begins in prayer. “Go on your way” (Luke 10:3) – the mission is active, not passive; it takes us out into the world. “I am sending you” (Luke 10:3) – we do not go on our own, but are sent; our mission and our message come from Christ. “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals” (Luke 10:4) – how might simplicity, flexibility, and a willingness to let go of baggage aid us in our mission?

Jesus’ words then go deeper, offering substantial teaching for our reflection. “Say, ‘Peace to this house!’ and ‘The kingdom of God has come near you’” (Luke 10:5, 9) – our mission is a message. We carry it out in many ways, but this is always the core of it: a pronouncement of peace, a proclamation of God’s redemption drawn near. Jesus’ instructions about the pronouncement of peace and the reception or rejection of that peace also point to how reciprocity is at work in the church’s mission; we do not force our message on those who are not open to it, but when it is received, the blessing is mutual.

“Eat what is set before you” (Luke 10:8) – we work within whatever context (cultural, religious, or otherwise) is set for us; we do not dictate or impose our own preferences (cultural, religious, or otherwise). For the seventy, this might mean eating non-kosher foods, which they had been taught was morally and religiously unacceptable. What does this look like today? In what ways have we mixed up context with content? How have we elevated cultural commitments to the level of gospel truth? The instruction to “eat what is set before you” pushes us beyond our traditional understandings of what is correct or acceptable, towards a radical understanding of what is truly essential: the gospel message.

Sometimes that message will be rejected – “Whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘… know this: the kingdom of God has come near” (Luke 10:10). The message – “the kingdom of God has come near” – is the same to those who accept it and to those who reject it. Our faithfulness is not measured by our success but by our witness. Even when people respond favorably and our work seems “successful,” this is not the basis for our joy; our joy lies in our identity, as people who know we are redeemed (Luke 10:20).

With the harvest as plentiful as it has ever been, Jesus’ words here are both timeless and timely. The church is still on a journey, and often in very hostile territory, but in this passage we find plenty of light for our path.

 
Stacey Simpson Duke
Co-Pastor
First Baptist Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan
staceyduke@gmail.com

 

 

Tags: mission, journey, message, witness