Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Pray and Go. That is Jesus directions to the seventy-two He is sending out ahead of Him to proclaim the peace of Christ and the Kingdom of God is near. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers and Go proclaim the gospel message that the Kingdom of God is near.

Pray – Jesus begins the “training” for the seventy-two by asking them to pray. He says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” (Luke 10:2-3, ESV) Jesus doesn’t begin with why they were chosen or what skills they had to do the job. He begins with putting things into perspective. This mission is the Lord’s. It is His harvest, His workers, His sending out. The prayer Jesus asks them to pray puts them, and us, in a frame of mind to know what is going on – the Lord’s plan is what they are a part of, not their own. God invites us to be a part of His Kingdom proclaiming and draws us into His peace. By prayer we put the outcome all in God’s hands.

Then Jesus tells the seventy-two to go. There is an urgency in Jesus message that they are to go now and proclaim now the kingdom of God in Christ Jesus. The plan of salvation is already happening and they are to go and proclaim it. But Jesus gives interesting directions on how they were to go and travel from town to town.

Travel Light – Jesus says, “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.” (Luke 10:4, ESV) The seventy-two were rally to travel with nothing but the clothes on their back. That is traveling light! Traveling light seems to be something hard for my family with young children. A couple of weeks ago we were on vacation. Planning for the trip we wanted to bring with us whatever we thought we would need for the trip. Early on we knew that we were not going to get the entire luggage into the minivan and all of us. So we planned on having a luggage carrier on top. We loaded all our suitcases with all the things we needed. We loaded the van with snacks, toys, pillows, diapers, TV and videos, etc. It was a miracle that we even got all of us to fit into the van. But we were set, right?

Well a funny thing happens with having all the things we think we need. The focus of a lot of the vacation was on the packing and unpacking. We would get our stop and unload, take it all into the hotel, unpack what we needed. In the morning we would repack out stuff, reload it into the van and reorganize for the next day of travel. A lot of attention was focused on our stuff.

Jesus knew the danger of “stuff” getting in the way of the Gospel message. So He says to the disciples, “Get rid of all the stuff of travel, things to keep you preoccupied, and focus on getting the Word out.” Remove the distractions that would take away from the Gospel and travel light.

But there was also another side to this. Traveling light would force the disciples to trust in God and others. They would have to trust that God would provide for them wherever they went. No GPS systems, five-star hotels, or rehearsed speeches. This would be a total trust mission. God designed and God led and the disciple would have to trust God. And trust others. Wherever they were welcomed they would have to trust in the hospitality of the “hosts.” An interesting thing happens when you have to trust in others. You start to get to know them better and they actually are more open to hearing you when they know that we trust them even for our very livelihood. God was setting the stage and preparing the way. The disciples are called to go and trust in the plan.

Traveling light is God’s call to us to share the Gospel message. Too often we think that we have to be careful packers, we have to prepare for every contingency or situation we come in contact with. We think we have to read more of the Bible, pray more and prepare better messages to convey the Gospel. But what we are doing is over packing. We are preoccupied with the stuff and not traveling light – trusting in God’s mission and knowing we are a part of something bigger. God asks us to travel light, remove the distractions of the world, and proclaim the message of peace through Christ.

Lets turn those words around to see another message for us – Light Travel. Not about the stuff, but the purpose of our traveling message. We are traveling in the Light of Christ. We are Messengers of the Light. We are on a mission to bring the light of Christ to the world. We are Light Travelers.

Luke points this out that it is all about Christ and not us in the words he conveys about the message of the seventy-two. A phrase is used that brings this message home. Lets look at it in detail. To the towns that accept them and their message of peace they are to say, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:9, ESV) To those towns that reject them and their message they are to say, “Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.”(Luke 10:11, ESV) There is a strong message here that may be lost in our English language.

First is the idea of near. When we think of near we think of something in sight range. But Luke’s use of “near” is something right in front of us or even upon us. So the kingdom of God is right in front of our noses, so to speak. To those who accept the message the Kingdom is near to you. They see it and accept what is already happening. To those who reject the message the kingdom of God is still near to them, but they do not see it or accept what is already happening. Whether they accept or reject doesn’t change the Kingdom’s nearness, just the “sight” of the people.

But this also has a message for those who are bringing the message, or should I say, bringing attention to the Kingdom. The disciples are not dragging along the kingdom and waiting for someone to “buy” into it. The kingdom is already near, the messenger is just bringing light to the situation. It is still God’s plan, God’s working, and God’s harvest. We are just along to proclaim with joy the peace we have in Jesus.

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16, ESV) Jesus says that even the results are not even our own. Success or rejection bears more weight on God than on us. The results are in God’s hands. Jesus goes on to say after they return amazed at what happened, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20, ESV) Again the focus is on God and on His working in our lives. It is His plan of salvation at work in the world. It is His kingdom that is near. It is His peace in Christ that we are called to go and proclaim. So we are to prepare the only way we can, by praying to the Lord that His plan would unfold through us. We are to travel light by removing all things that get in the way of the Gospel. And we are to be Light Travelers, proclaiming what God is already doing among us and in His name.

I would like to close with a prayer from another traveler for Jesus. The Apostle Paul traveled to many places proclaiming the Gospel. To the Thessalonians who hear and accepted the Peace of Christ he writes, “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, ESV) Amen.