GOD’S MISSION, GOD’S MESSAGE, Luke 10:1-20 I today’s text we read of the sending of the seventy-two according to the ESV. This commissioning is a foreshadowing of the Great Commission that applies to all of us. That being the case we need to ask ourselves what it is we can learn from this story. If you would put yourselves in the shoes of these seventy-two men you get a sense of how frightening this situation would be for them. This is the first time Jesus is sending them out alone to declare the kingdom, to preach the gospel, as they understood it to a completely foreign audience. Jesus is sending them out with nothing but the clothes on their backs in order to teach them to trust God in their mission endeavor. They are to learn that this is God’s mission and his message. Jesus leads with a word of encouragement. We all need encouragement don’t we when it comes to doing new and somewhat fearful things. Jesus word of encouragement is also a call to prayer. Prayer is always important when we are engaged in the work of the kingdom. Remember Jesus tells them, “the harvest is plentiful…” I saying this Jesus is pushing them toward success in the mission. The harvest is ripe. In telling them this Jesus is revealing a lot these men. He is telling them that the Holy Spirit is at work already in the people they are going to encounter. The ripe harvest is the work of the Spirit. We are only called to gather it in. As you think about this city and your sphere of influence and contact the word of the Lord is clear; the harvest is ripe. But that isn’t the whole story. Though the Holy Spirit as been at work big time preparing hearts to receive the word so that faith might be engaged too salvation there is a great need for laborers. There are not enough workers in the fields to bring in the harvest of new believers. So why one is encouraged by the fact that the Holy Spirit has been at work in the hearts of men the fact remains that not enough of the people of God are engaged in the work of the mission of God. And so Jesus tells us to pray. Are you gathered here this morning praying for the Lord to rise up more workers for his mission? It is the command of the Lord that you pray. But if you pray you must also see yourself as a answer to your own prayer. Isaiah, when asked of the Lord, who would go on his behalf, Isaiah replied, send me, send me. Are you praying for laborers and if so are you willing to go? Jesus then sends them out into his mission field. Jesus has sent each on of you as well into the mission field. The last thing we were told before Jesus ascended to the Father was that as we go we were to make disciples. You have all been sent into the world to declare the kingdom and make disciples. You might be feeling a little uncomfortable about now. This is not your gift, it is not your calling you argue. Jesus is the one who sent you. He didn’t ask you how you felt about the idea he just said, “Go!” Witnessing the kingdom is not always easy of comfortable but it is the command of the Lord to each of us and so we are left with no other choice if we are to obey the word of the Lord. The interesting thing about our text is that Jesus speaks to our fear. He knows the uncertainty that you are feeling and addresses it directly. “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Well that’s encouraging, isn’t it? There are some legitimate grounds for your fear and uncertainty. You are being sent out as wolf food. Wolves eat lambs. What Jesus is in effect doing is inviting you to follow him. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. One of the most vivid pictures in Revelation is found in chapter 5. God is sitting on the throne and in his right hand is a scroll with seven seals. An angel cries out, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break the seals?” There is no one in all the earth capable of opening the scroll and John begins to weep. At that point one of the elders says to him, “Weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” When John turns he sees before the throne a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain. The only creature strong enough to open the seals is the Lion of Judah who is in fact the Lamb of God. Do you feel like a lamb before wolves? Jesus the Lamb of God defeated Satan. We win in weakness not on our own strength. In sending us out Jesus is calling us to follow him. So Jesus has sent you out, but in weakness so that you can learn to trust in him. He even acknowledges your weakness calling you lambs before wolves. This is a scary city. We are the minority in this place. One of the things that the city represents is a place of worship. People come to this place to worship. They might not understand that and they probably don’t but it is a fact of city life. People are drawn to the city for many things. People come for entertainment, success, money, power, many things. Their hearts are drawn to the god’s of this world and they seek satisfaction in what these gods have to offer. Some worship in the stores on 5th Ave. Others worship in the halls of economic strength on Wall St. Others worship in the place of power in and around City Hall, and still others in the temples found in the Theater District. Whatever reason they might give for coming to this place, they have in fact come to worship. The hope is that they will find satisfaction in their pursuits, but the gods of this world always fail to deliver. Whether you find success of failure the gods of this world will never bring satisfaction. We find ourselves as Paul did, in a very religious city declaring to a lost people the way of the unknown God. Sent into the city, as lambs among wolves we are given a glimpse of hope and encouragement by Jesus. Remember the opening words; the harvest is ripe. Among the pack of wolves as we declare our faith we will come in contact with people of peace; those who don’t yet know the savior but are predisposed to our message because the Holy Spirit is working on their hearts. This is the reason why I encourage you to join one of the mission groups or start your own. What happens in mission group is that we tell our stories and encourage one another with what God is doing as we enter his harvest field. What you learn is that there are many stories about people of peace. When you step out in faith you see the hand of God at work. When you talk with others you find out you are not alone. Ask Sean, or Jennifer, J or Catherine, Sharon or Philip, they all have people of peace stories. God is at work. Just before vacation I was at a party with some people from Manhattan Together. Our lead organizer is leaving and we gathered to say goodbye. I got to sit next to some I had never met before. Throughout the diner we joked and carried on as you do but at one point the question, “What do you do when you are not doing Manhattan Together things came up.” For good or bad my response is I pastor a church. That is either a conversation killer or it opens doors for further discussion. It turns out the man I was speaking with grew up in the church but it was a bad experience. He was more than aware of the history of inter church fights and internal church fights and he had lots of questions. If we have the truth why don’t we all agree was the root question. It was not the time or place for the long answer but at the end of the night we exchanged information and he made it clear he wanted to talk more. I made one contact before leaving for vacation and we agreed to get together when I returned. Tomorrow I will reach out to him. He is a man of peace. Jesus told those he sent out to stay with the people of peace when they found them. The problem is sometimes the people of peace are not the people we would chose to be with. People not like us but Jesus says when he opens the door walk through. To often we want Jesus to work in a certain way and we miss what he is doing. Jesus then reminds us that this is not our work but his. We all fear rejection but what we need to remember is that if they reject the message of the cross and the kingdom they are rejecting Jesus not us. This is not personal. We are just tools in God’s hands. This is his message and his mission. So we have been sent by Jesus to declare the kingdom. Our weakness is evident and recognized. We are guaranteed success because the harvest is ripe and there exists people of peace who are open to God’s message. And finally and most importantly we have been invited into the work of the Lord. So you are left with one question and one question only, will you go?
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 14:24:45 +0000
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