Psalm 66:1-9
66:1 Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
66:2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.
66:3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
66:4 All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name.” Selah
66:5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in him,
66:7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations– let the rebellious not exalt themselves.
Selah
66:8 Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
66:9 who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
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. 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.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may be aware that I just got back from a week-long canoe trek through the boundary waters between Minnesota and Canada. The complicating factor of this is that I don’t particularly like boats. I don’t really like water that I can’t see the bottom of and I do NOT like being out of swimming distance of land. I really don’t like rough water as it freaks me out in ways that I can’t fully explain. So it is interesting that I might choose to undertake a week-long canoe trek in the boundary waters where there are storms and winds that can and do make swells that will swamp your canoe and dump you and your gear in a lake that might be a couple miles wide. We won’t talk about whether or not you can see the bottom of said lake.
I was one of two adult leaders that took 5 young men out into the wilderness to explore and camp for a week. In total there were 8 of us. Our crew of 7 and our interpreter for the week. We had a couple guys in our crew that had done treks like this before, so they had some experience and were kind of used to the process. There were also a few of us who were new to the process and thus were learning as we went and beginning to understand what it meant to be a co-laborer and participant. The first couple days were a bit of a challenge. We didn’t have it all together yet. We did not make the mileage we wanted to make. We were not quite practiced at getting all the gear and the boats down the portage trails as a group. We got there, but we were not quite ready to fire on all cylinders.
However – a couple days into our trek I noticed that something had changed – a group had formed. The jokes were now easy and free. The work of camping and portaging canoes was done without complaint and the process was smoother. It was all work – but the work was done more comfortably and we moved forward to see the next thing or to cross the next lake. To paddle the next few miles. What started as a group of individuals had become a team. We were working together – laughing together and overcoming different challenges together. We had a lot to carry, but together, we were able to do hard things.
We managed to travel 75 miles via canoe and portages – most of which was done without cell phones or electronics of any kind. We had maps and compasses, gear to cook with and food to cook. But all those modern conveniences we went without. We had the occasional bits of service, but for the most part, it was quiet. Relatively serene. Just the water, the birds, and the animals who have absolutely no interest in getting to know you.
To prepare for this trek, everyone had a gear list of stuff they needed, including clothing, sleeping gear, tents, wet and dry shoes, wet and dry clothing, cooking gear and most importantly – food. Enough food for 8 people in the wilderness. All that gear and all that food adds up – not just in monetary cost – but also, in how much it weighs. Weight is a big deal. Everything you take in, you also have to take out. All your gear that you carry, all your food, and eventually all your trash. It all comes with you. It is a pretty hefty endeavor to undertake.
There is something freeing in not being tied down by our expectations and electronics. It allowed us to be free to see and experience what we were doing. That might be a side effect of the distance, but it is worth noting in a world that constantly is screaming for your attention, that the necessity of working together without external distractions allowed us to accomplish some pretty challenging things.
As I was reading our gospel lesson for today it occurred to me that in contrast to Jesus’ instruction to go out carrying nothing, we carry a lot with us wherever we go. When we go out for a weekend, it might be a single bag of stuff, a week, and it’s even more bags of stuff. Maybe you are prepared for camping a week in the wilderness? In our case, that meant 3 canoes and many hundreds of pounds worth of equipment and gear. Because, It takes a lot to ensure that we have what we need to survive – even if it is just for a week in the wilderness.
There are some additional parallels (with what) for us to note in this passage as well. I note that Jesus sends the seventy out as pairs – as partners in doing the work. Because the work, no matter what it might be, is easier if we do it together. To be fair, I understand that there are times where it might feel easier to just do a job yourself, because you don’t have to teach another person what they are doing wrong, or show them how they might do a job more efficiently, but if we do the work alone, we are deprived of the joy of sharing the results or the burden with another person. Carrying 100 pounds of gear and a canoe might feel like a solitary endeavor, until you look back and you see that the person behind you is also carrying 100 pounds of gear, is cheering you on and is helping make sure you are not dropping the canoe. It’s a partnership and a process – and it makes the burden easier to bear.
There is also something to be said for teaching and learning in a team. The more experienced members of the team have wisdom to share and the less experienced members offer enthusiasm and a new way of looking at things. We can find new ways to do the work together. It might not look like the ways each of us had done the work before, but the work – no matter what it is – will get done. I had a teacher once tell me that there are 100 wrong ways to do something right. Part of the joy of working together is finding the next new way to accomplish the goal and do something right.
As I was reading our gospel again, I began to wonder what Jesus meant when he said take nothing – I mean, taken at face value it’s a simple statement – Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. take nothing more than what you have on your person and get to your destination. Don’t allow anything to distract you from the goal. But taking nothing is hard – no matter where or when we go, we take with us all the physical and mental things we can’t let go of – all of our worries and cares go with us. There are things that we have a hard time putting down – our preconceptions, our misgivings, our fears. We carry those with us every time and everywhere we go.
Those thoughts can give us strength, and our experiences can give us wisdom to see new ways through difficult situations, but they can also bind us to the past and blind us to new ways of engaging with each other, and discovering new ways of doing the work. I think that is part of what Jesus is telling us – go together.
Don’t take anything more than you already have.
Take only what you need.
You might read it like Jesus is saying don’t do this or don’t do that. But I think we can use his words as a guide to ask some questions that might help us as we set out:
Do we need that extra bag? Do we need that extra pair of shoes? Will they help us get to where we are going or will they just be extra weight we have to carry?
It can be hard but, I think it is necessary work to figure out what you need vs. what you have been carrying. Overcoming our fears, being willing to put those things that we have been carrying down or working to overcome fears can be really hard. It can cause you to lock up and only see what has been done, not what might be done.
So when Jesus sends out disciples with the first proclamation I think its sounds deceptively simple: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’” I think it is worth noticing that Jesus does not tell the people that he is sending to do any sort of assessment or risk analysis or to take the time to pre-judge whether this house will be worth their time before making this proclamation of peace. He doesn’t ask them to determine whether this house follows the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or whether this house is likely to receive the good news. He just tells them to announce “Peace to this house!” This word of peace is the first word, the opening word, the announcing word to those within.
Take only what you need – take love and proclaim it to everyone who will listen. Show the world what love looks like. When you find people – tell them they are loved saying ‘Peace to this house!’ and if they return the peace, stay a while. Show them how they are loved.
Jesus goes on to say “if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.” I love that Jesus assumes that these apostles that he is sending, do in fact, have peace. That assumption tells us something about what Jesus’ expectations for us are – that our fears and anxieties – while part of us – those things are not the whole of who we are. Rather, those things that might be limitations for us, Jesus tells us are subordinate to the peace and trust we have in Jesus. It is worth noting that Jesus says “Your peace” specifically, not just random, generic peace, will rest on others or return to you. Your peace.
Friends – As we engage others, as we set out to do the work – we must first be well-grounded in God’s peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding. That peace – that shalom – it is more than being calm. It is confidence in God’s abiding presence so that we also share that presence with others. Engaging with those we meet means not treating people as objects upon which we act, but as sacred others with whom we are called to be fully and peacefully present. We are called to reflect the love and peace of God to all we meet – to all we travel with.
Now, If those we meet do not share this peace, Jesus does not advise us to react with fear or anger. Instead, he reassures us that our peace is not diminished and cannot be taken away from us: “it will return to you” no matter the situation – no matter how you are received, your peace will return to you.
Jesus then instructs us in a second proclamation: “The kingdom of God has come near to you” This proclamation applies whether we are welcomed or not. The kin-dom of God is promised to all, to those who receive as well as to those who reject. The peace and work we are called to and called to share is a new kinship, a new way of understanding all human relationships, indeed, God’s ordering of all things, is a life-changing proclamation not just for the select few – it is for everyone!
However, if these proclamations are not welcomed or if the work cannot be done at this time – Jesus does not instruct us to argue, convince, or threaten. He advises us to signal our moving on by shaking the dust off their shoes. In other words – take only what you need – do not be weighed down by rejection, or paralyzed with trying to figure out what went wrong or could have done differently to produce a different outcome. Instead, move forward in the confidence of these two proclamations, “Peace to this house!” and “The kingdom of God has come near.”
Friends, I believe that these two proclamations – “Peace to this house!” and “The kingdom of God has come near.” are the root of the good news that we have to share.
We have been sent out – as a community – a crew as it were – into the wilderness, carrying only what we need, taking all that we can’t leave behind carrying no more than we can support with help to share good news with everyone we meet. Scripture does not say that we will always be successful, or even that the outcome is guaranteed. Rather, we are sent together to do the work together – to care for and to love one another inside and outside of our communities.
The good news is for all of us – the good news of the kin-dom of God that has come near. Peace be with you friends. In stormy weather, uncertain times, and moments where we might ask what is next, take comfort in the good news and proclaim it – “Peace to this house!” and “The kin-dom of God has come near.”
Thanks be to God.
Matthew Messenger 