Apparently, 72% of people flying on aircrafts carry with them a laptop computer, and many of those an iPhone as well.  And just about everyone who is interviewed about how well they pack when going on vacation say they take far too much stuff with them; half of which never comes out of the suitcase.  They could have managed with far less.  Today's gospel is for them!

Luke tells us today that Jesus appointed seventy people and sent them out to represent him.  None of them are named.  They were just ordinary people on the road with Jesus, when one day he commissioned them to go to the towns he’d be coming to and prepare the people there to receive his message.

Imagine the scene.  Here were these seventy eager, excited rookies chosen by Jesus himself.  Earlier, back in chapter 9, Jesus had sent out the twelve apostles on a similar mission.  Those were the leaders, the ones who’d been with Jesus the longest.  Now he’s sending these ordinary folks, giving them authority over the forces of sin and death, and saying, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me”  That means they were to be nothing less than the mouth of God.

Some of them probably felt the way Moses did when God called him from the burning bush and tells him to go to Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go.”; Or Jeremiah when God calls him to be a prophet.  Moses said, “But I’m not good at public speaking.  I haven't done a public speaking course”.  And Jeremiah says, “Gosh, God, I'm only a kid.  I'm not ready for this”.  And God says to both of them, “So what?  I’m sending you anyway, and you’ll speak whatever I command you, and I’ll be with you the whole way.”

Some of these 70 probably felt pretty inadequate for the task, like a child who is asked to perform some task he/she isn’t ready for.

Luke tells us Jesus sent them out in pairs.  They headed out, pausing along the way as Jesus had commanded, to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his field.  On they went, like lambs into the midst of wolves, barefooted, without cash or credit cards or a change of underwear; defenseless, and completely dependent on God.  It's a wonderful testament to their faith and discipleship that they just did as Jesus bid them.  They were focused, and told to “greet no one on the road”.  There was no time for idle chitchat.  They were on a mission.

Some of them made it no farther than the first door, because when they declared, “Peace to this house”, the occupants welcomed them in and were open to Christ and his kingdom, eager for the message of salvation.  A sense of peace and wholeness – of shalom – settled on that house, and that team of two would sit at table with the family and tell them everything they knew about the One who was coming, Jesus the Messiah.

Others, when they were welcomed into the towns, began to heal the sick.  The power of God flowed through them, just as it had done with Jesus.  As they laid hands on people, the lame began to walk, the blind received their sight, the lepers were cleansed, and even the feared demons obeyed them.  With great power they proclaimed, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”

But some of the seventy were rejected.  Doors were closed in their faces and some people refused to have anything to do with them.  And as Jesus had directed them, they didn’t get mad or try to get even, or call down fire from heaven.  They shook the dust  from off their feet, and moved on.  The kingdom of God may have come near – but the people there had shut their hearts and minds, and tragically they’d missed it.

But, with what joy must their return and reunion with Jesus have been laden!  Seventy excited missioners, with stories to tell of God’s power working through them.  “Lord,” they said, “in your name even the demons submit to us.”

And Jesus joined in with his accounts: “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.”  How exciting that these early ministry teams were spreading Jesus' teachings, and Satan’s power was being undermined; proof, indeed, that the power of God works in and through ordinary people as they obey Jesus.

And, that was and is reason to rejoice.  But, remember that Jesus said that’s not the greatest joy.  Rather, he said, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven,” -- written there by our Lord himself, never to be erased.

He has chosen us and made us his own and loves us now and forever.  He has claimed us, and will keep us eternally.

“Don’t rejoice in your service.  Rejoice in your salvation.  It’s not about what you do.  It’s all about whose you are,” says The Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563.  “What is your only comfort in life and in death?  That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”

At the end of the day, it’s not about what I’ve done or what I’ve failed to do.  It’s about the fact that I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to Jesus Christ.  I am his, and he has chosen to write my name in heaven, and that’s reason to rejoice.

But what does this look like in our modern hectic times, when worship happens in this one hour of sacramental worship and prayer?  What does the Peace of God look like for us?  And how do we live our busy, over-scheduled lives and still know peace in our houses?

How often do we long for peace and quiet, which really means, "I want not to be bothered, hassled, argued with, talked to or disturbed."  But what Jesus offers is a different kind of peace.

"Peace to this house", is really an invitation to live our busy lives as part of the Kingdom of God.  When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God being near, he means the places where God reigns supreme.  Heaven is part of the Kingdom of God, of course, it's also about life down here, now, today with us who are still alive, living our lives fully under God's will.

And, through Jesus, it has come near.  God is down here with us, loving us and helping us to live the ways he wants us to in this world.  The Kingdom is all of us living side by side in peace with no war, hunger, hoarding, scarcity, corrupt and unjust governments, no greed and no grinding down the poor and the weak.  And, in the Kingdom of God, we are all invited; invited and welcome, whoever we are.

We can choose to enter the Kingdom or not.  Jesus says that some will not want to enter, and will insist on living apart from God.  I imagine determined atheists like Richard Dawkins are among those.  For those of us do choose God, we can enter any time.  We don't have to die to get in.  We enter the Kingdom of God by following God any time.

And what is it like?  Much will be about forgiveness:  the kind of forgiveness that frees us from resentment and bitterness and revenge; the kind that we get from God when we confess.  God does not hold our past mistakes over our heads, waiting to punish us after we die.  The forgiveness we ask from God flows through us out into the world.  The forgiveness we claim and the forgiveness we offer is living in the Kingdom of God.

Charity and generosity are also big parts of the Kingdom of God and why it's a major preoccupation of church life.  God has been charitable and generous with us.  God has given us every blessing we have.  So, to live in the Kingdom of God today means to embrace charity and to be generous to others.

Forgiveness, charity and generosity are parts of the Kingdom of God.  To that, we add love which is the foundation of the Kingdom of God.  “Love one another as I have loved you.”

God has done all this first and we respond.

We could keep adding other ways to live in the kingdom of God, like justice, hope, devotion, mercy, healing.

For us to live in the Kingdom of God, we must fortify and strengthen our lives with love and forgiveness and charity and generosity.  We're still going to lead busy lives, but our lives in the Kingdom of God will be glorious and Christ-centered, and, our lives and our houses will be peaceful.

Peace to this house, for the Kingdom of God has come near.  Thanks be to God.

AMEN

Return to Grace Church Newsletter Page