“The Proclaimers”
Proper 9 C (5 Pent C) –
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace and Peace to you from the Triune God: Father Son, and Holy Spirit.
In last week’s gospel, Jesus spoke harshly to the disciples. He was reminding them that, as disciples, they were following Jesus on the road that led to
This truth leads directly to another aspect of what it means to be disciple walking with Jesus. In the gospel today we hear how Jesus is equipping and sending the disciples, especially the 70 newly appointed disciples – we assume that they are the people who have come to Jesus and the twelve as they walk the road to
There is a sense here of gathering momentum today. The numbers of people on the road are swelling. There is more activity, a steady hum background conversation that mingles with the noise of more and more sandals tramping along the dusty road. From those new followers Jesus appoints seventy. He calls them specifically and then sends them out, in pairs, “to every town and place where he himself intended to go.”
Sometimes, the Scriptures tell us, being a follower of Jesus means going out ahead of him. But Jesus takes great care to instruct and prepare the seventy before they leave on their mission. He is very specific about where they are to go, what they are to do, and how they are to behave.
These seventy are to go before like heralds proclaiming the coming of Jesus. But their proclamation is not made with royal trumpet fanfares and the unrolling of great scrolls. There is to be no great display of kingly power: “Hear ye! Hear ye! Here’s comes Jesus! Bow down before Messiah!”
Instead, the seventy are to speak a blessing of peace whenever they enter a house. Imagine the impression that would make if it is your house. They will proclaim the fellowship of the Kingdom by eating and drinking with the householders. They do not tell the people that it is good to break bread and share wine together – they do it. They are to act out fellowship in the home. And when there is a need for healing, they will heal, curing the sick.
And when things do not go well, when the people do not welcome them, they are to remind the people of the town that the
I can’t help that if you were a bird looking down on the scene, you would see the mass of disciples and among them Jesus on the road below, and suddenly like a great fan, the mass of people spreads out, two by two, along and either side of the road, into every town village that Jesus intends. And woe to those towns and cities who do not respond to the proclamation of the Kingdom and turn it aside.
And so Jesus sends out the seventy. Disciples called and sent into the mission field -- all along the road to
In all that we do, in all aspects of our lives, we must be witnesses to Jesus and no other person or power.
When we speak, our words must proclaim his existence, the word made flesh in whom the
Any power in our proclamation comes from comes only from our commissioning and sending by Jesus. Only as we are called and sent can we proclaim
Last, by certainly not least, Jesus self-proclamation is the content of our proclamation. What we have to say must BE Christ.
One of the dictionary definitions of proclaim is: to make known or manifest, to intimate, or prove. By that definition, everything Jesus instructs the seventy to do -- even eating and drinking or healing -- is proclamation of Jesus as Lord.
If we call ourselves disciples, then we must ask ourselves how we are obeying Jesus’ instructions to the seventy. Does our speech proclaim Jesus? Do our deeds proclaim that the Kingdom has come near?
When we hear those questions we often assume them to be demands that we always exhibit perfect moral behavior. It means always doing the right thing. Not doing the wrong thing. But that’s not what Jesus is talking about.
What Jesus is talking about is focused in verse 16 hen he says: “Whoever listens to you listens to me . . .”
When I read this verse it rocked me back on my heels. The enormity of what Jesus is saying here. The enormity of the task he entrusting to us. Whoever listens to you listens to me. And not just in the sense of spoken words but of deeds and actions.
Examples.
Sometimes, the Jesus tells us, being my follower means going out ahead of me. But I take great care to instruct and prepare you before you leave on your mission. There is your baptism, in which your sins are forgiven. There is the Holy Spirit, my Spirit, to lead you and to speak for you and for me, when you are speechless. I have called you into a community of other proclaimers who will speak my word or be my face before you when needed.
Jesus has called and sent many. He continues to call and send many more.
As we have heard today, he is very specific about where we are to go, what we are to do, and how we are to behave. It says you are to be a proclaimer of Christ and His Kingdom.
Jesus came to reconcile and redeem a sinful humanity and a broken creation. When we believe, in the midst of our sin, that faith in God’s grace and mercy means we need not fear God’s judgment. Then we proclaim Christ. For Jesus’ death and resurrection make faith and redemption not just possible, but certain.
Amen.
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