Many people
today do not believe in God. Even more people do not believe that being
connected to a faith community, even if one does believe in God, is necessary
or helpful. In fact in 2010, the
Association of Religion Data Archives
found that 41.5 % of people in Stevens Point are not connected to any faith
community. As someone whose relationship with God is foundational, I spend a
lot of time wondering what this 41.5% know that I do not know or what I have
experienced that they have not experienced.
This is something the Church, not just Intercession Episcopal, but all
of the Institutional church needs to understand, and be willing to wrestle
with, if we believe that we still have good news of God’s love to share.
If you haven’t
seen it yet, leadership has put out a draft of a three-year Vision for this
community of Intercession Episcopal.
This Vision maps out a different way for us to be the church, with hopes
that we will be more effective in achieving God’s mission: to restore all
people to unity to God and each other in Christ (page 855 in the BCP---memorize
it). If you have seen the Vision and you
are wondering where the ideas in it come from, you need look no further than
today’s Gospel reading. Let’s see what
God is up to in Luke, chapter 10.
First, Jesus
chooses 70 apostles to go out two by two. Other Gospels tell of this sending
out of apostles, but Luke is the only evangelist to choose the number 70, and
it’s a very interesting one to choose.
In the tenth chapter of Genesis (just after the flood), we are given a
list of the nations; there are 70. The number 70 represents all of humanity.
So, what is
God doing with these 70---these apostles?
- · appointing them and sending them. And in this appointing and sending, each apostle is given the same authority as Jesus to reveal God’s Kingdom in word, in example, in healing, and in sharing God’s peace. They are to go where Jesus intends to go (to all of humanity—throughout all of Creation) empowered by the same authority as Jesus. These apostles are extensions of Jesus—extending Jesus’ ministry out to whomever will listen, whomever they meet, with whomever they cross paths.
- · Jesus says they are sent as lambs amidst wolves. This sending is risky, a bit dangerous; there is real evil in the world. This sending requires vulnerability. This vulnerability is not a weakness---it’s not the equivalent of rolling over and exposing your underbelly. This vulnerability is a strength that comes from believing that your authentic whole self is exactly what is needed and trusting that you are enough.
- · Jesus instructs the apostles to carry no purse, no bag, no sandals. Sounds like bad planning to me; what is this “travel lightly” bit all about? First of all, with no purse, there’s no shopping; this journey isn’t about accumulation for one’s personal gain. Secondly, traveling lightly also means the apostle must be reliant upon the hospitality of those they meet; it obliges the apostle to be dependent upon others. This requires great humility. Traveling lightly, then, requires the recognition that this mission isn’t first and foremost about individuals; it is about a communion, the people of God and the Body of Christ. Traveling lightly shakes the apostles out of their self-centered way of being and requires them to become other-focused. Traveling lightly means that they are not mere benefactors because those to whom they are going have items, ideas, beliefs and resources they will need.
- Jesus tells them it will be important to eat and drink with the people. This mission is all about creating relationships with those to whom they are going. And in these relationships, the apostles are to let people know—by action and word---that God’s Kingdom is near; it’s right here. Share the peace, Jesus, says: share the peace you know. And, if God’s peace is not wanted or accepted, Jesus says, just shake the dust off your sandals and move on. Let it go, Jesus says, move on.
.
Beloved, we
are these apostles being sent out. For
it is in our baptisms that we too are given the same authority as Jesus---the
authority and mission to go out to God’s people as an extension of Jesus’
redeeming and healing love. We are sent
out to share God’s peace, to heal, to forgive, to love, to show compassion and
mercy---seeking and serving Christ in all persons, respecting the dignity of
every human being, striving for justice and peace for all people, proclaiming
by word and action the good news of Jesus, resisting evil and returning to the
LORD.
Yes, like
the apostles at the end of today’s reading, we return to the LORD each week to
give thanks and remember who we are and whose we are----our names written on
God’s heart and carved into the tree of life.
This is a
New Exodus God sends us on. Moses gathered 70 elders to join him as agents of
God’s work in the first great Exodus, and Jesus gathers 70 apostles as agents
of Gods’ work, and so it goes. A New Exodus
of leading God’s people to know and experience God’s love which frees each of
us from the constrictions, restrictions, and binding powers of fear, anxiety,
uncertainty and darkness. Faith isn’t believing without proof. Faith is trusting without reservation. And as we trust God more and more deeply, we
are freed from no longer being the center of the universe, and instead
recognizing we are a member of the Universe and the good of the Universe is my
good, and my wholeness only comes as a result of my brothers and sisters’
wholeness.
God is
inviting us to consider that the way those 41.5% of our neighbors will “come to
church” isn’t by walking into our buildings on a Sunday morning---but by
crossing paths with us---the Church---and experiencing God’s grace through
us. Perhaps it is a very brief
connection. Perhaps it is a short-term connection. Perhaps it’s a bit longer.
But Jesus doesn’t send out 70 apostles to get
more butts in the pews. Jesus sends out
70 apostles so that more and more people can experience and taste God’s love
right where they are. Taste and see that
the Kingdom of God is near. What happens next? We do not know. Scripture
doesn’t tell us any more about those who experienced God’s love through those
apostles. All we know is that the church
grew, and 2000+ years later, here we are.
Still here.
Jesus is
sending us out---asking us to shun the ways of self-centeredness, exploitation,
and personal gain---and to live a new way, as lambs amidst wolves. Yes, it is
risky, dangerous, vulnerable. But the
fruits are peace, shalom, living in gracious relationship with one
another---even among all our differences and variances---creating a beautiful
mosaic---incarnation—God made flesh in humanity.
Let us not
grow weary of doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time—the
gathering of all people and all of Creation into God’s Kingdom---let us work
for the good of all. Beloved, we are
being sent, and the Kingdom of God draws near.
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