July 7, 2019 Luke 10.1-11, 16-20 Savior Sends Seventy

July 7, 2019  Luke 10.1-11, 16-20 Savior Sends Seventy Pastor Jacqueline Hines

Just like our United Methodist Church appoints pastors to at least 500 churches and ministries beyond the church in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, Jesus appointed seventy disciples to – as Luke tells us – with the purpose of going to every town and every place that Jesus intended to go himself.

Jesus sending 70 persons has historical significance. Numbers become sacred when they are used in a context of holiness. Throughout our Judeo Christian heritage we see the significance of numbers and the number 7 particular. The number 7 represents perfection, meaning maturity; fruit that is ripe and ready has fulfilled its purpose in growth, it is ready to be eaten and enjoyed. It is perfect fruit. A wound that is healed, allowing one to get back to one’s routine is perfectly healed.

Because the number 70 is 7 times 10, we recall that 10 represents completeness, so 70 is interpreted as a sacred moment when God’s will and way is not only ripe and ready, but it has completely fulfilled and satisfies God’s sacred purpose.

So Jesus sends 70 disciples who are ready, who like United Methodist Disciples, are trained, equipped, committed, and now ready to be deployed to a particular mission.

Jesus sent them in pairs, two by two. The number two is sacred for choices. [slide # 1  Adam and Eve] Adam and Eve, or any two in partnership constantly have to make good choices in order for connections to be correct in the eyes of God, in order to alleviate chaos and exemplify good character for the children.

Jesus sent the seventy two by two to save some from their sins and to save them perhaps from the sins of their family, friends, and neighbors.

What stands out for me in this text is the idea that Jesus sent them to prepare the way for his work. Jesus sends disciples to places where he is planning to show up! That is exciting. There is always a blessing when Jesus shows up.

We as today’s disciples can learn from the way Jesus appointed and sent the early disciples.

First, Jesus instructed the disciples on prayer, and that prayer is still for our instruction as disciples today. Jesus said in verse 2, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord [ slide # 2 Ask the Lord] of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. There is so much goodness and so much salvation and so many blessings that we can reap. The harvest is plentiful. There are only a few who can make holy things happen. There are only a few who are willing to accept those who have been rejected. There are only a few who are willing to learn and train for a job no one else wants. There are only a few who are available to clean up as well as to mess up. This week news reports told that there are fewer and fewer men and women entering the armed forces these days. Many want peace and protection, but there are fewer and fewer willing to train as peacekeepers.

The harvest is plentiful. There is plenty of good spiritual fruit to satisfy and delight us, but there are few who are available to pray and work to make it happen. We need to pray that God would stir hearts and minds to great and important work in this world.

The other day, I asked someone to help with an important task. They said many golden words we can all appreciate: “I have something else planned pastor, but I will work it out so I can be there.” “I have not done it before pastor, but I will do my very best.” “What time do you want me to arrive?” Those are golden words, and we are so grateful when we hear them when we have an opportunity to be a blessing great or small! Jesus said the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few and he instructs us to pray that our God, the Lord of the harvest would send laborers, and indeed God hears our prayers.

It stands to reason that the next thing Luke records Jesus as saying is that he was sending the seventy disciples like lambs among wolves. [ slide #  3  I am sending you like lambs among wolves] If you are in a situation where all the good that can be done is not being done, then there are bound to be some wolves who are not doing good, but rather undoing the good; not building but tearing down, not planting but uprooting, not improving but deteriorating.

Jesus sends us into this world like lambs among wolves. Being a disciple is not always a picnic. It is said that we come to the church like sweet little lambs, giving no thought to the idea of wolves and other predators.  Still, each of us has a wolf that has an eye on us and drools at the thought of devouring us.

Jesus understands that the good we Christians do is considered bad by some. Jesus understands that not everybody wants what we want. There are wars fought to keep Christianity out of schools, out of countries, ot of families. Christianity brings peace only to those who want the peace that Jesus brings with justice, truth, and mercy.

That is why Jesus tells the disciples when you go ^6…… if anyone shares  peace with you, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, let it return to you. Keep peace yourself. [slide #   4  keep the peace] In other words, they were not sent out to defend the political cause of Christianity, create conflict, or to fight for their faith. They were sent to bring peace. They were sent to care, to be calm and considerate, even when others were neither caring, nor calm, nor considerate to them, they were to be such to themselves and to everyone else.

Jesus also instructed the 70 disciples to eat what was put in front of them. Disciples are to be gracious and accepting. It doesn’t mean you have to do what Andrew Zimmerman does while exploring food around the world, eating snails, and snakes, snickers, or knickers. [slide #  5  Andrew Zimmerman with strange food]   [slide #   6  food/ kabob] We have to be ourselves as long as we are our best selves, gentle and kind and loving and accepting!

The most intriguing thing Jesus commands disciples to do is to heal the sick. [slide #  7  heal the sick] To heal in this text is not only to restore to health, but to heal in this text is to serve as in to do something to bring solace.

Through the ages, Christians have been disappointed when looking for a Jesus who is a butler, [slide #   8  butler] who does whatever we command. Or we look for a Jesus who is a magician who can make whatever we want come or go until we applaud and cheer. [slide # 9  magician] As we dig deeper in the text, we understand that the work of healing is not like a drive through in McDonalds but more like a farmer in a field, working and watching for the harvest, giving thanks for whatever the Lord of the Harvest gives and resting in spite of the worries, trusting in spite of the losses. [slide #   10  farmer lady]

We are not medical practitioners, but even medical practitioners tell us that there are many medical problems that have spiritual or environmental roots. Correcting attitudes, developing hopeful and positive mindsets and ridding the environment of harmful chemicals can bring health and healing to many.

In order to follow the command to heal, we have to know what is going on around us. We need emotional intelligence. We need training on the environment. We need to pray for direction and information that we can only receive from God.

There is so much to know that we need to be in partnership with others who can assist us and teach us. That is why the Church is so great, especially our United Methodist Church. With laity academy coming up in August and trainings every week in the classroom or online, we have access to more information than we can take in.

In order to heal people and help people, we need to be healed, and helped ourselves. We need to know Jesus as healer whether in ways small or great. [slide #   11  he is my healer]

Many of us have dozens of ways the Lord is in our lives to heal us. We do not always appreciate being healed because we are focused on the pain or the process of being sick or not being perfectly whole, but healing is a part of life and we have all experienced it. Therefore, as disciples, we can all be healers, in little ways or big ways.

Disciples always have something in our hands and our hearts to bring healing to someone’s mind, body, soul, or spirit. We have a kind word, a referral to a great doctor, therapist, or knowledge of a supplement, or a sermon, or a story that heals or some humor that helps, a joke that makes you jolly, a quip that makes you quake with laughter. We all have something!!! We are disciples sent to heal.

In Germantown, I recall someone vandalized my car and a colleague brought healing and refreshment by putting a little flower on the broken window or whatever it was. I don’t remember the details of the vandalism. I do remember the flower. Both Edie’s of Bethel, bring healing with flowers, others bring smiles, hugs, humor, honey buns, and sweet words. We all have something and you better use it because we are disciples sent to heal.

Jesus sent the seventy and when they returned they rejoiced. It was party time. Jesus had given them authority and power. We also have authority and power from Jesus. Some of our authority and power come from our officially elected positions. Some come from informally using our gifts and talents. We need Godly power and authority. It is what makes the engine of our mission run correctly to get us from one point to the other.

The Saviour sent seventy and they rejoiced as they returned to report their results to Jesus. Even then Jesus reminded them that the real reason to rejoice was that their names were written in Heaven, that they were acknowledged as being on the Lord’s side, that they were known for doing the right thing for the right reasons and that in the end they would reap the good they had sown.

In the end of all good work, only one thing matters. At the end of the day, at the end of a life, at the end of the world, only one thing matters. Are we on the Lord’s side? One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is an angel with a sword crept up on Joshua when he was ready to fight the battle of Jericho and Joshua immediately asked the angel, “Are you on my side or are you on my enemy’s side.” The angel said he was not on either side. He was on the Lord’s side. “Take off your shoes,” he said, “the ground you are standing on is holy ground!” [slide # 12  this is holy ground] Wherever we are, God is with us, helping us to stand on holy ground, to be grounded in love and faith.

In the end Jesus is our savior who can save us from the quick sand of our sins that Satan has for us. In the end, only one thing matters: knowing Jesus is our Saviour. Some may know him more than others or in different ways, but the bottom line is when we hit bottom or we need saving from anything or anyone, he is the only one who can save us. If you need saving today or know someone who does, remember Jesus saves and he sends us to that holy work, too! Amen. [slide# 13 Please, help me Jesus]