Pastor Wesley Howell July 8, 2007
Will you go?
In today's Gospel, Jesus gets his ministry rolling by calling 70 people and empowering them to be his disciples. Luke began with Jesus calling 12 to be his disciples. With a simple, "Follow me," he called a group of ordinary folk to work with him. But 12 is a small group of people. A group of 70 is a bigger group, but even so…would you think of starting a World-Wide Ministry with only 70 people?
I saw the other day that the average-size Protestant Christian church in North America has less than 60 folk gathered in attendance on a Sunday morning. We get wigged out. Seventy is small…tiny. “Well, don’t expect too much from us…there’s only seventy here.” But Jesus isn’t going to let you off the hook. Seventy’s good. That's the way Jesus works.
His first 12 disciples have already shown us, by their lack of understanding and their half-hearted discipleship…they are not going to be all that great as his assistants. Even with that sorry experience behind him, Jesus launches out again and calls even a larger crowd of assistants.
And this morning, aside from the fact that Jesus, despite his past unfortunate experiences with us, continues to call more of us. This morning the thing that impresses me is the job description that he gives the 70. He sends these ordinary folk out to do the very same things in the world that he is doing.
Maybe it's what any of us wants - to make a mark upon the world. Sad…but in our culture, too often the only way to do that is to go out and find a job that will enable us to make lots of money, build a big house, accumulate a great many things, and then we can say we’ve "made our mark on the world." High School reunion success!
When God calls, people respond in a variety of ways. Some pursue ordination and others put pillows over their heads, but the most of us try to answer God by changing how you live your more or less ordinary lives. It can be a frustrating experience, because deciding what is called for means nothing less than deciding what it means to be a Christian in a post-Christian world. Is it a matter of changing who you are - becoming a kinder, more spiritual person? Maybe…probably. Trying to learn what you can about Jesus and then walking in his footsteps. Or is it a matter of changing what you do - looking for a new job, becoming more involved at church, or witnessing to the neighbors? What does God want from us, and how can we be obedient?
In many ways, those who go the ordination route take the easy way out. We choose a prescribed role that seems to meet all the requirements, and take up fulltime residence in the church. Those in the pulpit may know where they belong but I think it’s tougher for you….you hold dual citizenship. When you come together as the church that is where you belong - in God's country which is governed by love. But when you leave this place, you cross the border into another country governed by other, less forgiving laws - and you live there too.
One person describes it like this, "On Sunday morning," he says, "I walk into a world that is the way God meant it to be. People are considerate of one another. Strangers are welcomed. We pray for justice and peace. Our sins are forgiven. We all face in one direction, and we worship the same God. When it's over, I get in my car to drive home feeling so full of love it's unbelievable, but by the time I've gone twenty minutes down the road it has already begun to wear off. By Monday morning it's all gone and I've got another whole week to wait until Sunday rolls around again."
A few weeks ago I sent out an e-mail to council members. A great “thought for the day” came across my daily devotions and I wanted to share it. SOMEBODY must have had their blackberry or something on. A few minutes later I had a response. “I’m sitting here in a business meeting and this all seems so foreign.”
It is not a new problem he describes. From the very beginning, being a Christian has meant being a sojourner in a strange land.
Question: Will you go? Will you take the risk, step out, move out with the 70 and go where Jesus is about to go? There's risk, yes, but also joy, the joy of doing what God means for you to do. Jesus is looking for about 70 good women and men to take what he has into the world, to do the very same ministry that he does.
To take the best of what we are here… a world that is the way God meant it to be. People are considerate of one another. Strangers are welcomed. We pray and work for justice and peace. Our sins are forgiven. Here we believe in a God who made it all…and each and every one of us…who loves each person as precious and knows that this whole thing can work. Take that with you…Will you go?
