Our Gospel lesson covers a LOT of territory for a holiday Sunday in the summer time! It packs a punch! The story goes that Jesus has appointed 70 others (or 72, depending on which ancient manuscript of Luke you read) – meaning the Lord has appointed apostles. Apostle means one sent – as in an agent or ambassador (there were not only 12). The Lord appointed them for all the nations. Some ancient authorities believed there were 70 nations in the world; others insisted on 72. The number is also reminiscent of the number of elders appointed by God to help Moses. In the Hebrew language version of the Bible, the number was 70. In the Greek translation, the Septuagint, the number was 72. The point is, a whole lot of people were appointed to go out to the whole world, importantly, in pairs. In other words, they were instructed not to go alone. It’s not just more fun that way, it’s the law. Two is the minimum number for witness and for safety and for fun. The rule is, when you’re going out to do work for the reign of God, always use the buddy system! This is true whether the work you are doing for God is your household or your workplace or your school or your neighborhood or your church or someplace else altogether! Two is so much more than twice one in any endeavor. And if you want to build something sustainable – the minimum number is three (but that’s a lesson for a different day).

According to Luke, Jesus had other instructions for them as well: pray for workers because there is an abundance to harvest and not enough workers. It was true then and it’s just as true now. There is more than enough harvesting work to do when it comes to bringing in the abundance of God. Pray for more help, Jesus says. (And believe me, I do!) Furthermore, go and be vulnerable out there – be unguarded and open out there where the predators are. Don’t be defensive or defended. Don’t pack – take no luggage, no money, and don’t get distracted along the way – you’ve got work to do. When you enter a house, declare peace. If God’s peace is desired, it will rest there – if not, no worries, it will return to you. (What a wonderful instruction that is!)

The directions go on: Eat what they serve you. That instruction is given twice! This is not the same as what I say to my kids about eating what I’ve put in front of them – much as I’d like that. This has to do with an argument raging among early Jesus followers as the movement spread after his death, about whether people faithful to the God of Israel could eat food which had been sacrificed to other gods – to idols, as was the practice in all those other nations of the world. This instruction is saying that there are more important issues than following your own religious purity laws. Here’s what’s more important: curing those who are sick and declaring the proximity of the reign of God. And you’re going to get hungry – so don’t be so self-righteous that you won’t eat what they serve. And don’t go moving around from house to house trying to find a better deal. You get the idea that that’s just annoying to Jesus and everybody else!

Cure those who are sick and announce that God’s reign has come very close. The word for cure – “therapeuo” means be of divine service, restore, heal, attend to, honor, cure. The word for sick – “asthenes” means weak, powerless, feeble, without strength, unwell. Serve those who are weak – who lack strength – who lack power. Attend to them and honor them. Strengthen and restore those who are ailing. And let them know that God is very near. Say to those who are diseased, disheartened, and disenfranchised, that suffering is not evidence of abandonment by God. Say to those who are disenfranchised, disheartened, and diseased, you are not forgotten. We are here to be of service. Biblical scholar Alan Culpepper summarizes these instructions for mission this way: wherever you go in the whole world, create table fellowship, honor the needs of powerless people, and proclaim the good news of the love of God.(1)

If the people don’t welcome you, don’t lose your nerve. Don’t get discouraged. Just go on to the next people – leaving the evidence of where you’ve been behind. Don’t carry the dirt of rejection with you into the next conversation. Don’t be weighed down by the lack of welcome. Sure, the sin of withholding hospitality (that’s the sin of Sodom, which is referenced here in one of our missing verses) …the sin of withholding hospitality is very, very serious, but let God worry about that – you just move on with the assurance of the love of God. Rejection does nothing to invalidate the truth of God’s love. So don’t get stuck there. And don’t carry an ounce of it with you – shake it off.

Our lectionary omits the verses where Jesus damns the towns of Chorizin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Those verses are kind of embarrassing to the Church and not completely comprehensible – so we just skip over them. They are all towns on the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus and his disciples began their ministry. It’s not entirely clear what the people of Chorizin, Bethsaida and Capernaum might have done to provoke Jesus’ wrath, but the sense is that Jesus and friends have been run out of those towns. The same curses are found in the Gospel of Matthew, and it’s no more clear there why they’re being cursed. In Luke, the curses are between a response to rejection and the statement that rejection of Jesus is rejection of the very Holy One of Israel.  There is a sense that Jesus is not just preaching to others – he’s preaching to himself here with the direction to shake off rejection and keep up the work of honoring and caring for people who are on the margins.

And it really works, according to Luke! None of that rejection seems to have dampened the enthusiasm of this mission work, because in the next sentence, Luke tells us that, having followed the instructions, the 70 (or the 72) returned with joy – with great happiness – with dancing hearts! They reported that in the name of Jesus, even the gods of the foreigners (which is another way to translate the word demons) – even the gods of the foreigners are brought under our control! And the Lord said, “yeah, I saw the chief adversary flame right out! You guys are awesome! You’re invincible!” Clearly there’s some hyperbole at work here. “But you know what?” Jesus warns, “Don’t be exceedingly happy about the demise of other gods – that’s nothing to gloat about. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In other words, “Be exceedingly happy that the Holy One of Israel knows your name. It’s not just the destruction of evil, but the experience of right-relationship with the Holy One and with your neighbors.” (And just in case you’ve forgotten who your neighbors are, the Gospel of Luke has a story for you right after this – we’ll hear that next week!)

Joy – great happiness – a dancing heart is always an indicator that we are doing God’s work – even if it’s really hard work. If there’s no joy, we have strayed far from divine service – and it’s just self-righteous exertion, or mindless effort, or numbing labor. If we’re working for right-relation, for justice, serving those who we are called to serve, and we’re not experiencing joy, it’s time to stop and review the ministry checklist. My checklist has questions about spiritual well-being based on the Lord’s Gospel instructions:

are we working with a buddy?
are we praying for help?
are we unguarded – vulnerable – undefensive --undefended?
do we need to shed some physical or emotional baggage?
are we getting distracted along the way?
are we declaring peace?
are we taking in the nourishment that’s provided for us?
are we serving those who are without strength?
are we demonstrating by our actions the nearness of God – the love of the Holy One?
are we dusting ourselves off when we’re not welcomed and moving on?

What the Gospel of Luke wants us to know is something about the rejection-defying, and ultimately death-defying love of God. What the Gospel of Luke wants us to do is to lean all the way in to the fullness of joy that comes serving others – lean all the way in to the fullness of joy that comes from working God’s abundant harvest!