The Gospel of Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 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. 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. 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. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 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. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 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, `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.’
“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 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. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Let us Pray: Lord of the harvest, You sent out the seventy-two with purpose and urgency. Send me, too. Let me go not in fear, but in faith—knowing that even as a lamb among wolves, I walk in Your strength. Prepare hearts in the places You send me and make me attentive to Your Spirit’s leading. This, we pray in your Name. Amen
How many have seen a stranger not welcomed into a community or even into a church? Those strangers could be a disciple of Jesus or even Jesus Himself. Not everyone that comes into a community or visits services at your church are well dressed and supposedly pillars in the community. When Jesus sent out the seventy, he did not condition their offers of peace on who the recipients might be, their worthiness, what they had done, or what their response might be. Neither can we condition our offers of peace or acceptance of others. All need to be accepted if they desire to be. This lesson speaks to mission, vulnerability, hospitality, and the joy of spiritual authority. It is also about PEACE. We need to understand why Jesus sent those seventy out in the world. They were to go ahead of Him; preparing hearts and communities for his message and spread the need to recognize the Peace that Jesus can bring to each of us. It is to remind us that we are all called to be forerunners of Christ’s love, wherever we are planted, whether in our families, workplaces, or neighborhoods. In looking back to last week’s gospel one of the things Jesus told His want to be followers that the price of discipleship was high, no looking back if you want to follow me. Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat the mission. He tells them they are like lambs among wolves, vulnerable, exposed, and dependent. This dependence on God and the hospitality of others is a lesson in humility and trust. It challenges our modern obsession with self-sufficiency and national isolationism. Can you imagine these disciples going into a strong Christian Nationalist community today? I will leave it at that.
I can’t help but ask, where is the peace of God today? I think that is a question many are asking. It’s a question I suspect God might also be asking.
if our hearts are at peace. Is our understanding of peace too small and too narrow. Are we limiting peace to a particular set of behaviors and usually they are the behaviors we expect or want from the other person. We think of peace as an ideal to be attained and more often than not we define it as the absence or elimination of conflict. We’ve convinced ourselves that peace will come when this person or that group changes or stops doing something. Ultimately, we condition peace on our ability to change or control another. We let them determine whether our hearts are at peace or at war. That’s craziness and it doesn’t work.
The struggle for peace begins not between me and another but within myself. So let’s consider what a heart at peace might look like. What if a heart at peace is about loving our neighbor as ourselves?
What if a heart at peace is about loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us?
What if a heart at peace means being merciful and not judging?
What if a heart at peace offers forgiveness not seven times but seventy times seven?
hat if a heart at peace means feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned?
All these “what ifs” about peace are not so much prescribing behaviors as they are describing ways of being. Peace does not begin with our behaviors toward each other but with our way of being toward each other, our seeing each other as human beings created in the image and likeness of God. (1)
We can be at peace with God while God walks among mankind and still says “My peace I give to you.” It is that peace to which we are called to be givers and makers.”
Jesus has given us a mission. The joy in following Jesus is NOT in the results; the joy is in our relationship with him. Remember: The real victory is not in power, but in belonging to God.
Let us Pray: Loving God, open our ears to hear your word and draw us closer to you, that the whole world may be one with you as you are one with us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(1) Michael K. Marsh and Interrupting the Silence,
Reflections by Bob 