Our Place

Sunday, July 04, 2004
Proper 9 (14)
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

1 After 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. 2 He 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. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house! 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain 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. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But 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.'

16 "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." 17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" 18 He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

I got an email from Jimmy last night. I connected and logged on shortly after 10:00, and there was a message from him, sent at 6:40, both Chilean and Eastern Daylight Time, which, for now, happen to coincide. It was a short note, which he'd sent to everyone in the family, just telling us he'd made it to Santiago, that everyone there was fine, that they send their love, that he would be leaving Santiago for the 14 hour bus ride to Osorno a couple of hours from then, and asking that whoever got the message first to please call the rest of the family to give them the update on his whereabouts. Since I'd not heard from any of the rest of the family, I figured I was the first to get the message, so I picked up the phone and called everyone.

Though we spent the last 4 days together, Jimmy and I only had one or two … substantive conversations about his upcoming move. I'd like to think that there's an understanding between us, a brotherly connection that doesn't require blow-by-blow conversations about what is going on in our lives to get an idea about what one or the other is feeling or how we are doing. I think I've mentioned to you before what it was like when we first shared an apartment when jimmy was in college in Louisville and right after I had returned from Spain. It wasn't very different with this visit. We spent some good time together, and I don't think we left things unsaid that needed to be said.

We were standing in line at BWI Friday, Jimmy and I, with his 4 huge suitcases and two slightly smaller carry-on bags, and as is usually happens, it was a case of hurry up and wait. We'd ended up rushing to get to the airport two hours early, as per current guidelines, only to find ourselves in a line that snaked back and forth in front of the American Airlines counter. We would move ahead a few steps, then stop, prop the suitcases up, or set the bags down, and just stand and say a few words or simply people watch.

Airports are the best place to people watch. The sheer number of stories represented by the people milling around or walking hurriedly down the hall makes it as entertaining as any good book.

We were standing a few feet apart, I was in front of him facing back, and he chuckled and said 'Don't you miss this?' (Referring to what we were doing; lugging heavy bags and suitcases all over creation, standing in line, wishing to be at the other end of the trip) "not really," I said, I thought a minute and continued "this is different, after this you leave the building on that side (motioning towards the departure gates) and I leave the building on this side (motioning to the way we'd come in). I didn't quite get it out in the joking way I'd intended, and my voice cracked. So I stumbled on, "that's not a BAD thing, in the least."

"No, it's not, he answered."

I think I realized then, to some degree, what was happening. That exchange was my commissioning of my brother for his trip 'home'.

The text today is one that finds Jesus commissioning 70 of his followers to do a sort of 'first run' with this whole 'ushering in the Kingdom of God' thing.

I suspect the story is somewhat familiar to you, but if it isn't here it is in a nutshell: at the beginning of chapter 9, Jesus commissions the 12 disciples, giving them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. There are a few instances of consternation on the part of townspeople who are confronted with the miracles that the disciples performed, and at least in the gospel of Luke, we find the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 shortly thereafter. We also find Jesus' entreaty to the disciples and to us today who are choosing to follow him to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him. The theme recurs in the text from last week, at the end of chapter 9, where we looked at the cost of discipleship.

Ultimately, though, Jesus' statement that we studied last week about how harsh conditions might turn out to be for those who follow him did not, apparently, dissuade some (at least) from following him. He is presented here with the duty of sending out the 70. He sends them out in pairs, with fairly specific instructions. Some of you might remember we touched on part of this passage last august, in the sermon where I thought I was asking you to remove both shoes from your feet but only got across that you should remove one of them. I apologize for that, and would like to say that, if you wish to, you may remove both your shoes now, though it might not tie in directly with the understanding of the sermon. :

What follows the introduction of the story is a series of instructions. Jesus is commissioning the 70, and we would do well to heed his words as well: travel together, GO, trust in God to provide for your needs, let hosts practice hospitality, and be gracious guests.

The traveling together probably had roots in the requirement of Jewish law that, in order for something, a message, an announcement to have legal standing, it needed two people to bear witness to it. But it also had a deeper purpose. The two who were traveling together offered each other support, Physical, emotional, and spiritual. It seems appropriate top mention that we are called to be in community for the exact same purpose.

Sometimes we think that when we are named to an office in the church, when we are asked to do a particular job, that this is an honorary designation. An honorary designation is one that gives us a title without an expectation of personally carrying out the task.

Jesus expects that disciples will go, now.

Jesus did not award these folks with an honorary title. In verse 3, Jesus emphatically tells them to get on with it. "Get the work done, he says. Go right now - don't wait for a phone call, or a meeting notice, set it up yourself and do it!

We are all commissioned to go into the entire world and proclaim the kingdom. Jesus' disciples were going out, telling the people they met "Jesus has been walking with us! We see a different way to live now." It's the proclamation of a new world, one in which the poor are made rich, the imprisoned are freed, the blind are given sight. It's the kind of world in which, according to Jesus, you are to walk into the house of a stranger bearing the peace of God. To proclaim the kingdom is to proclaim that the living Christ is with us, offering us love and grace.

The disciples were also commissioned to care for others.

The apostles were told by Jesus to "cure the sick." The Greek word that is translated as "cure" has a broader meaning than simply healing. According to the Greek understanding, the apostles were called to be servants of the sick, one's who cared for them and helped to relieve their burdens. We understand this today as care giving. Care giving is proclamation through action. It is about living out the values of the kingdom we proclaim in real and tangible ways.
The list I read at our invitation time last week ended with the statement: you're the messenger, not the message.

Jesus was trying to get that across to his disciples here as well. As we jump to verse 17, the 70 have been and gone, and they are coming back - and it sounds like they've just been to summer camp.

"The 70 returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!"

You can almost hear the giddiness in their voices. So excited about their experiences on the road, so eager to share about what they'd seen and done.

There's a key phrase that may get lost in the telling:

"In your name"

Whatever it is we are called to do, proclaim, lead, care, direct, teach, conduct, play, WHATEVER … we are to do in the name of the one who sent us in the first place.

What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?

What is "our place?"

Where is our home?

Jimmy's earthly home, until a few months ago, was Pennsylvania. He'd lived there for a few years, had his circle of friends, work, places he frequented. He'd built a life in Allentown.

Then that started to change. His childhood home beckoned, and he answered the call. He did not go as a missionary in any official capacity. But he is modeling for me what it means to hold two places dear in your heart.

So we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the declaration of independence of the United States today. We do well to give thanks for what part of our country models for us the kingdom, understanding that in many areas of culture and society we fall far short, as we would expect to see, this side of heaven. We can also take heed of the passages that tell us to shake the dust from our feet of those places that reject the kingdom, and work to change. Work to give a glimpse through the glass, dimly, of what the kingdom of God looks like.

Since most, if not all, of us were born here, we can't help but be citizens of the United States, and as such, we can be proud of that fact.

What is ever more precious is that we are, by the grace of God and the love of Jesus Christ citizens of the kingdom. And that reflects a CHOICE we made at some point in our lives.

It is because of THAT, and for no other reason, that we are gathered here, and that we go from this place to proclaim that kingdom to the world.

Let's pray.