Year C

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

The Rev. Denise Vaughn

Work, Pray and Receive the Kingdom

It seems very appropriate that the gospel text today falls in the season of Pentecost, the green or growing season which emphasizes the growth of the church, because this lesson is all about growth and the mission of the church. Two questions Jesus will answer for us this morning are: Just what does it mean to take the good news to the world and what is the mission we are called to? We witness in this passage of scripture what has great implications for the life and ministry of the church, if taken seriously. This account establishes that proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God is not the exclusive calling of the twelve disciples. Many faithful voices are needed.

Award winning author Frederick Buechner in his book ‘The Faces of Jesus-A life Story’ writes; “To everybody who would listen, what was his holy pitch? He proclaimed the kingdom of God. He said the kingdom was coming-a new order of things in which God’s will was to be done on earth as it was done in heaven so that at last people would love their neighbors as themselves and God as their Father. He said it was coming soon and was indeed already partly present in his own healing work of proclaiming it. He said that there was nothing people could do either to hasten it or prevent it, but they were to work for it, pray for it and be ready to receive it.”

This is the message Jesus proclaims as he sets his face toward Jerusalem with a sense of urgency. The time that was available for him to share his message of the kingdom was growing short, so he commissions and sends ahead of him seventy missionaries with these instructions: lightness of equipment, reliance upon hospitality. They are to be vulnerable like lambs sent out among wolves and like him they will experience both hospitality, and inhospitality, acceptance and rejection. They will bless the homes that receive them and curse the ones who do not. Their work was to offer peace, cure the sick, and share the good news that the kingdom of God was near. They were to work for it, pray for it, and be ready to receive it.

The message they brought to the people was essential. They preached that the kingdom of God was important to all, both to those who received them and to those who did not. This kingdom had the power to transform lives and would be realized in the presence of Jesus Christ. This was a time for decision. This was not a time to delay because as Jesus drew nearer to Jerusalem, the prospect of the cross would propel the urgency to get the message out. The harvest is plentiful Jesus said, but the laborers are few, you are being sent out into the harvest to prepare for my arrival—to be witnesses that prepare the way for me.

The plentiful harvest calls for a large work force to reap the crops before they spoil. Jesus sees abundance because of his faith in “the Lord of the harvest” where others might see scarcity. He does not commission the seventy to prepare the harvest because that is God’s responsibility. Rather, he asks his disciples to gather the harvest in and to pray that other laborers will join them in this important work. To work, to pray and to be ready-open to this growth; to plan, organize and work in a way that anticipates abundance; knowing God is at work though the Holy Spirit to grow the kingdom. The seventy had many successes because their hearts were open to receive God, to do God’s work and to love their neighbor.

As they journey to Jerusalem, they will see the depths to which God’s grace extends. They will be called to witness to what they have seen, confident that regardless of the visible outcomes, the kingdom of God is present and at work. This continual growth of those drawn into Jesus’ mission anticipates Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles and the transfer of responsibility for mission from Jesus to those who receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and beyond; to us and to all those who will come after us. It is God’s purpose to provide every person an opportunity to respond to his love and grace so that they will be redeemed. Jesus told his disciples just before he ascended that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and they would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Today, the apostles and seventy missionaries have long since died, but God continues to call new evangelists, teachers and preachers to extend the message of the gospel. We have been appointed by the Lord to go out into the world ahead of him. We have been given specific instructions; to become vulnerable to the Lord and to our neighbor, sharing the good news with vitality and anticipation of the abundance. We have been empowered to share the word of God and to encourage others to believe and follow. The focus of our message must be the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. Jurgen Moltmann, a theologian, in one of his books made this observation, “Anyone who gets involved with Jesus gets involved with the kingdom of God. For who is Jesus? Simply the kingdom of God in person.”  Our focus is to work for it, pray for it and be ready to receive it.

Yet, for many, the immediacy of the kingdom dims with the passage of time. We are practical people, living within parameters that we can see, touch and feel. The coming of the kingdom demands a change in our perspective. Time leads us away from the urgency of the coming kingdom and dims our sense of expectation. This is why we need to be reminded that we have a powerful calling and reminded that we don’t have to find our own way to live in Jesus’ footsteps; instead we have been given specific instructions and our authority is not in the things of this world but in the name of our Lord through the power of God’s Spirit. There is urgency. The harvest is plentiful and we are being sent out into the harvest to prepare for Jesus’ arrival-to be his witnesses, to share the word of God and to encourage others to believe and follow. We are to work for it, to pray for it and to be ready to receive it.