For this Fourth Sunday after Pentecost in RCL Year C, the Gospel text is the story of Jesus sending out the 70 in Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. The direction of this sermon was inspired by a comment from David Betzner on this week’s Dear Working Preacher column.
Since we were in our fellowship hall worship space for both services this weekend, I was able to project some graphics during the sermon, including the visual of the two walking, which comes from this site. Here’s the sermon:
I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite mindless TV shows is House Hunters, where a person or family look at three options and select a house to buy.
Recently, Christin and I have been watching Tiny House Hunters. It’s the same formula, but the houses are all under 500 square feet, and they’re usually on wheels.
Living in a tiny house requires some minimalism and downsizing, so every 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?”
As Jesus sends out the seventy in pairs, 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.
In less than two weeks, we have a group of 22 people leaving for Houston, and we’re all going to fit in two vans. At our trip meeting a few weeks ago, Christin demonstrated how to pack 8 days of clothing into a carry-on size suitcase and backpack. Taking more would only be a distraction slowing us down.
The disciples are traveling quickly in pairs. 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 people they meet won’t be receptive to the gospel message, which is 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 mission trip 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.
In our day-to-day lives, being flexible means 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 being 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. As the Blues Brothers said, “We’re on a mission from God.” As Christians, as witnesses to Jesus sent out on a mission, we need to focus on what Jesus is calling us to do.
The mission is to proclaim “the kingdom of God has come near to you.” On the one hand, that’s a vast mission. Jesus actually gives three commands to the messengers. 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. Stay with them, live among them. Find a place to live and 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 delivering meals, or blessing a prayer shawl. Maybe it’s advocating for just public policies to help those in need. Maybe it’s teaching kids at VBS. 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.
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?
Traveling light in a spiritual sense means focusing on words and actions that proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom.
And of course, traveling light spiritually means relying on God. We don’t have to have everything figured out before we’re sent out. Clearly, the disciples don’t completely get it—look at how surprised they are when they return from their trip. They return with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”
It turns out they have everything they need. They’ve been given the authority to proclaim God’s kingdom, even though they don’t fully grasp what the kingdom looks like. We have that authority too.
Most of all, traveling light spiritually means realizing our mission’s ultimate success is up to God, not us.
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.
As you are sent forth from this place today, may you travel light, bearing witness to Jesus. May you share 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