Eat What is Set Before You

Common English Bible Chapter 10

10 After these things, the Lord commissioned seventy-two others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every city and place he was about to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest. 3 Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry no wallet, no bag, and no sandals. Don’t even greet anyone along the way. 5 Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘May peace be on this house.’ 6 If anyone there shares God’s peace, then your peace will rest on that person. If not, your blessing will return to you. 7 Remain in this house, eating and drinking whatever they set before you, for workers deserve their pay. Don’t move from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a city and its people welcome you, eat what they set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘God’s kingdom has come upon you.’ 10 Whenever you enter a city and the people don’t welcome you, go out into the streets and say, 11 ‘As a complaint against you, we brush off the dust of your city that has collected on our feet. But know this: God’s kingdom has come to you.’

Common English Bible (Chapter 10)

16 Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”The seventy-two return17 The seventy-two returned joyously, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit themselves to us in your name.”18 Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Look, I have given you authority to crush snakes and scorpions underfoot. I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. 20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the spirits submit to you. Rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.”

Introduction- A Picky Eater Travels The World

As some of you have caught on if you’ve been to a meeting with me that involves a meal or something like that, I am a world class picky eater!

The best I can describe it, I love french fries like they’re going out of business.

I can’t stand mashed potatoes.

I need to be clear, I generally hate this about myself. I wish it weren’t so.

One of the places that this was hardest was on all of the mission trips that I’ve taken over the years.

Typically when you are on trips like this, staying in someone else’s home at their hospitality, they offer you dinner.

For most of the folks that I was with, you come with this gnawing sense that the meal that they give you is something that they’ve had to save for months to be able to offer.

So if they serve something like mashed potatoes or something like that, it’s not like you can send it back and ask for a grilled cheese or something.

When someone sets a meal before you, it’s insanely rude to turn it away.

It’s even ruder to gag while you’re eating, so it was a bit of a struggle there!

Jesus seems to be keyed in on how rude this gesture would be in our scripture lesson this morning.

Usually I pick apart a text line by line, but today I want to key in on three distinct things that Jesus says to his Apostles (literally: sent ones) in this story.

Bible Breakdown

The Harvest is Plentiful

Discouraging Stats

If you have spent any time with church leaders in the last decade or so, you might start to wonder if this is really true.

In 1980, 70% of Americans identified as being members of a church.

Today that number is 47%

31% of the milennial generation, which I will happily throw under the bus because I’m one of them, have no religious affiliation at all.

In 2020, the PC (USA) closed 100 congregations, and saw a decline of 56,000 members.

These aren’t great numbers.

And you can see them everywhere you look, particularly on the weathered and cranky faces of pastors in our denomination!

This points to two different views of the world:

Abundance vs. Scarcity

A view of scarcity says that resources are scarce, and we should prepare accordingly.

There isn’t much money to go around, so we need to have a rainy day fund.

There aren’t that many members, so we ought to make sure not to offend anybody lest they leave.

There just isn’t enough to keep our doors open until the next year.

I’ll admit that I fall in to this sometimes.

But Jesus is inviting us in this passage to see God from a sense of abundance.

God will abundantly provide for his congregations.

God will abundantly lavish love on his people.

God will always provide the resources needed for those he cares for.

Jesus is convinced that there must be more people out there (Are we?)

Jesus isn’t so swayed by declining numbers.

The harvest is plentiful.

Finding people isn’t the problem.

The laborers, those who are willing to go out in the world as “sent ones” and bring people in to these communities?

Those are what we’re missing.

Jesus is certain that the harvest is plentiful.

I wonder…are we?

You Must Be Vulnerable

Take nothing

In the age of Amazon PRIME two day free shipping, instant gratification, and having our needs met at any moment of the day, this sounds crazy.

Nothing to purchase with

Take no purse.

You’re not buying a first aid kit.

You’re not buying food.

You’re not staying at the quality inn express.

No creature comforts

No sandals.

No cushy shoes.

No make up kit.

No hair dryer.

Nothing to defend yourself with

No staff.

If robbers attack you, let them have what they want.

Which, for what it’s worth, don’t even greet anyone along the way.

Who knows what kind of trouble you could find otherwise!

Jesus wants you to depend on God, not on yourself.

Eat What is Set Before You

This must be important, because Jesus says this twice.

Jesus does not allow the Apostles to change the culture around them.

You don’t get to go some place and get things the way you want them.

You have to allow them to set something before you, and then participate in what they’re setting there.

They have their culture, and as long as you are a guest in that culture you will not change them.

The Church sure wants to!

These are all complaints that I have heard in one form or another in the last few weeks:

No one comes to church any more! They’re all too busy!

No one came to our worship service on Saturday because they were all busy being at PRIDE!

The Neighborhood didn’t used to be like this! Why can’t we go back to the way we’ve always done it?

Jesus imagines that the work of proclaiming the Kingdom carries on regardless of what the culture around us is setting at the table.

If the culture is setting before us people who are too busy, what does it look like for us as a church to go to them instead of demanding they come to us?

If the culture around us doesn’t do church the way we did when we were growing up, if they connect in a different way spiritually, what does it look like to eat what’s set before us instead of sending it back to what we like?

If the culture around us happens to have a great deal of homeless folks, what does it look like to welcome them in and provide for their needs rather than keeping them at arm’s length?

If the culture around us is desperate for a sense of belonging and welcome, can we be the ones who provide that rather than insisting that they change before they come to us?

We still hold our values!

We’re not going to cave on what Jesus teaches us.

But one of the biggest things that Jesus taught us is to eat what is set before us.

Love Wins

When Jesus says that he saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning, he’s not being literal in that moment.

That was a poetic way back then in their tradition to say “Good has triumphed over evil.”

When the sent ones of Jesus love their neighbors, evil doesn’t stand a chance.

When the sent ones of Jesus teach kindness and gentleness and love, the demons of the world can’t hold up.

When the sent ones of Jesus are leaving the comforts of home to take the message out to the world, there’s not one thing the evil ones can do to stop us.

Another challenging question for our faith is whether we believe love will ultimately win?

Do you believe love will win, or is your hope still in a particular politician or party?

Do you believe love will win, or is your hope still in how much money is in your bank account?

Do you believe love will win, or (hardest question) are you more interested in making sure things are the way you want them?

Like we talked about last week, the reality is that life is a lot more liberating and freeing if we can let go of everything else and just let Christ win.

How do we do that?

Apprentices

What is the culture setting before us?

I told someone this week that I had handouts, and they got really excited.

I’m sorry to say that it’s just paper plates...

But I want you to do something with these:

Take them home, and think hard about this question:

What is the culture setting before us, and how can we best meet that need?

Maybe one of the examples that I mentioned earlier struck you

Or hopefully, maybe you have your own example.

Then take this home and write on it!

Sharpie will probably be best!

Bring it back, and we can make a little board here in the church to remind us of what the culture is setting before us, and how we can rise to meet the occasion.

Are we bold enough to be harvesters?

Jesus was not the slightest bit worried that there would be enough people to fill our churches.

I’m actually not any more either.

Jesus was worried that there wouldn’t be enough folks who were bold and brave enough to go out there and spread the gospel.

There wouldn’t be enough folks who were bold enough to speak about the peace and love they experience because of their faith.

There wouldn’t be enough folks who were bold enough to go into the world and preach good news.

There wouldn’t be enough folks to go.

I know, I know. This can sound scary.

It does in fact require some boldness.

And that’s why it’s so very important to remember that we’re not in this alone.

Nourish yourself for the journey

Jesus didn’t ask us to go in to this journey with nothing at all because he wanted us to suffer.

He sent us out with nothing because he wants us to get used to leaning on God’s provision in our lives.

And in the same way, Jesus gave us this meal before us to nourish us.