As followers of Jesus, we are people who are sent out into the world. In this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke 10:1-11, Jesus instructs his disciples to travel light as they go from place to place proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom.
The mission is not easy–Jesus warns, “I’m sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves”–but the harvest is plentiful and the work has eternal significance. Unprepared, facing rejection, the disciples nonetheless proclaim, “The kingdom of God has come near.” That’s good news our world needs to hear–and it’s good news trusted to us to proclaim.
Today’s sermon is a lightly adapted repeat of my sermon on this same story of Jesus sending out the 70 in Luke 10:1-11 from July 7, 2019. The direction of that original sermon was inspired by a comment from David Betzner on that week’s Dear Working Preacher column, although the comments no longer appear to be visible, so you’ll have to take my word for it!
Here’s the sermon audio podcast from Christ the King and the livestream from Living Hope.
Powered by RedCircle
Grace to you and peace from the one who was, who is, and who is to come, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Do any of you have mindless TV shows you watch? Something you can just put on in the background and enjoy without actually paying attention to it?
One that Christin and I have occasionally watched is Tiny House Hunters. It’s an HGTV show with a person or a family looking at three options and selecting a house to buy, with the twist that each house is under 500 square feet, and they’re usually on wheels.
Living in a tiny house requires some minimalism and downsizing, so each episode has a friend or family member whose job it is to point out over and over how small the space is, and ask, “Are you really going to be able to fit all your stuff in here?”
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus sends out seventy of his followers in pairs, to go ahead of him and proclaim the good news that God’s kingdom is near.
And as he sends them out, he instructs them, “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.” He tells them to travel light, to not burden themselves with extra things.
I want to look today at what it means to travel light as disciples in three ways: Physically, Mentally, and Spiritually.
Traveling light physically is the most straightforward. I think Jesus has two physical reasons for his instructions. First, he wants to eliminate distractions for them. Traveling light means no need to worry about keeping track of luggage. They don’t need to worry about avoiding pickpockets, or about how they’re going to transport anything.
Next week, Christin and I (and Deb) are going to St. Louis with some youth from Lighthouse. Unfortunately, we had a couple youth who were going to go but had to back out, so we’re a pretty small group.
The good news is that now we all fit in one minivan. The bad news is that there’s only a tiny bit of room for luggage. We each get to bring the bare essentials, and that’s it. The more we take, the less comfortable we’ll be.
The disciples are traveling quickly in pairs. They’re on a mission: They don’t have time to deal with a pack animal. There’s no need, Jesus says, for a spare pair of sandals, or a big bag to hold a bunch of money.
Beyond the physical minimalism, physically traveling light forces them to be dependent on others. Similar to the people on the Tiny House Hunters show, instead of spending all their energy taking care of their stuff, their goal is to focus on relationships, on other people. Relying on others for food and money forces them to engage in relationships, giving them the opportunity to carry out their mission.
However, Jesus warns, sometimes the people they meet won’t be receptive to the gospel message.
That’s where traveling light mentally comes in. When you go somewhere and they do not welcome you or your message, shake the dust off your feet in protest against them and move on.
Often, we interpret shaking the dust off and moving on as a condemnation against those who reject the message, which it partially is. But it’s also more than that.
Have you ever had a bunch of mud caked on to your boots? Each footstep is like lifting a weight. It doesn’t take much before you start walking differently, lifting up your feet more slowly. Shaking the dust off your feet means refusing to carry the junk from a situation into a new setting.
It’s unburdening yourself, rather than dwelling in the rejection. Jesus says to wipe the slate clean and move on to the next town for a fresh start, traveling light rather than getting bogged down.
I always tell groups rule number one of going on a mission trip is to be flexible. Sometimes projects go as you planned, and sometimes the reality is totally different than what you’ve prepared for. Traveling light mentally means going with the flow, meeting the needs as they arise, even when the situation is not what you expect, even when it means trying something we’ve never done before.
As a church, perhaps traveling lightly includes being willing to let go of things that were once meaningful, but are no longer helpful. In our church visioning conversations, things from the past have come up, some good, and some bad, that are part of our history that we’ll need to let go of to move forward.
In our day-to-day lives, there are plenty of opportunities for us to practice being flexible, letting our plans adapt to the needs of the world around us. Sometimes people don’t appreciate the ministry you do. Sometimes your expectations aren’t met. Sometimes when you love you get taken advantage of.
Shake it off. Traveling light mentally means willingly putting others and their needs ahead of ourselves, constantly reminding yourself that the Christian mission is not about you, but about Jesus and the people you’re serving.
Physically and mentally traveling light allows you to move quickly without getting bogged down, but it’s pointless if you don’t know where you’re traveling to.
We are also called to travel light spiritually by focusing on our mission. In baptism, through the Holy Spirit, we are given a mission from God, a purpose. And in the midst of all life’s distractions, our focus needs to be on Jesus’ call.
The mission Jesus gives is to proclaim “the kingdom of God has come near to you.” That’s a vast mission, but Jesus gives three specific commands.
Once they’ve entered a town and been welcomed, they are to (1) eat what is set before them, (2) heal the sick, and (3) speak the proclamation they’ve been given. There’s a lot there.
They’re not supposed to just come into town, find a street corner, and start hollering at people. Instead, they’re supposed to get to know people, eat with them, accept them as humans, as fellow children of God. How much of what’s broken in our world right now comes down to not seeing and valuing the humanity of other people? Stay with them, live among them. Accompany them in life. Get to a place where they are no longer “them”—no longer “other”—but where you and them see each other as neighbors.
Part of knowing people is recognizing what they need, and then doing something about it. Jesus tells his messengers to care for the needs of the people they meet. For some, maybe that is literally curing the diseases of the ones who are sick. For others, perhaps it’s simply getting to know them.
Maybe it’s befriending the lonely, comforting the bereaved, finding opportunities for the poor and oppressed. Maybe it’s sending a card to someone in prison like we heard a few weeks ago, delivering some soup, or sewing a quilt/knitting a hat. Maybe it’s advocating for just public policies for all our neighbors, working for that ideal of liberty and justice for all, where everyone has access to food, shelter, and healthcare. Maybe it’s serving a meal on a mission trip, making a difference one meal at a time. Whatever their and our specific witness to God’s kingdom looks like, it certainly involves more than merely words.
But at the same time, witnessing to God’s kingdom does involve words. This occasionally comes as a shock to those of us who try to put faith at the center of our lives, but you don’t need to be a follower of Jesus to love your neighbor! You don’t need to go to church to live a good life and help people.
To proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom, we need to use words. You’ve probably heard the great quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi – “Preach the gospel always, and if necessary, use words.” It’s a great sentiment if it’s used to mean our actions need to support our words.
But it can also be an excuse to avoid using words, to avoid the risk of offending someone by having a religious conversation. Sometimes the words are necessary. We love our neighbors because of Jesus.
There are many good, worthy causes we as the church can support. But do they fit with our mission? Do they proclaim the promise that God’s kingdom has come near to you? We can’t do everything. Traveling light in a spiritual sense means focusing on words and actions that proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom, that share the good news of the Gospel.
And of course, traveling light spiritually means realizing the ultimate success of our mission is up to God, not to us. It’s the Holy Spirit who’s working; and we’re blessed to be part of the Spirit’s work. All we can do is be faithful.
One of my pet peeves in the church world is when pastors or churches list in reports how many people they’ve saved. You and I don’t save anyone. That’s up to the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes we are the ones the Holy Spirit works through to bring people to Jesus, but it’s never our doing. We can do our best to be faithful witnesses pointing to Jesus, but the most we can do is allow the Holy Spirit to work through us.
We don’t have to have it all figured out, we don’t have to have all the perfect answers. Our call is to be faithful, to trust God to work in and through us.
Beloved of God, as you are sent forth from this place today, may you travel light, bearing witness to Jesus.
May you go to the world, sharing through word and deed the good news of God’s kingdom’s coming.
And may the Holy Spirit work in and through you as you serve Jesus. Amen