Seventh Sunday in Pentecost (9C), July 3, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of the plentiful harvest, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Our Gospel lesson covers a LOT of territory for a holiday weekend in the summer time! The story goes that Jesus has appointed 70 others (or 72, depending on which ancient manuscript of Luke you read) to be sent out – meaning Jesus has appointed apostles. Apostle means one sent – as in an agent or ambassador (according to Luke there were not only 12 apostles). The Lord appointed the number of 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 willing to be 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 to go with a partner; 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 in your household or extended family, 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, (certainly no weapons), and don’t get distracted along the way – you’ve got work to do. When you enter a house, offer peace. If God’s peace is desired, it will rest there – if not, no worries, let it return to you. (What a wonderful instruction that is!) In his weekly Gospel translation blog, Mark Davis, points out that declaring peace is not simply speaking a word or expressing a feeling, it is “conferring a real entity that either rests on someone or returns to someone…things like ‘peace’ do not just ‘disappear’ but only re-locate.” [1] Remember that, Biblically speaking, there is no difference between words and deeds.

The directions go on: Eat what they serve you. That instruction is given twice! This is not the same as what I used to say to my kids about eating what I’d put in front of them. 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. Luke’s Jesus is arguing that there are more important issues than following your own purity rules. Here’s what’s more important, according to Luke: 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. It’s possible to look back and appreciate both sides of the bitter argument that divided the early Jesus movement. Jewish New Testament scholar, Amy-Jill Levine, has generously written, “Had the church remained a Jewish sect, it would not have achieved its universal mission. Had Judaism given up its particularistic practices, it would have vanished from history. That the two movements eventually separated made possible the preservation of each.” [2]

In the instruction to 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 (Love) 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 to you because of Love.

If the people don’t welcome you, don’t lose your nerve. Don’t get discouraged. Just go on to the next people – leaving behind the evidence of where you’ve been. 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 the 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 the dirt with you – wipe it off. Wiping off dirt is a gentle act, isn’t it? It’s like Paul’s direction in Galatians that “if anyone is detected in a transgression, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.” How ironic that verses seven and eight of Galatians gets used as a weapon of justification of harm against enemies when the preceding verses urge the Church to bear one another’s burdens and list fruit of the Spirit as love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. [3]

Our lectionary also omits the verses where Jesus curses 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 in our lectionary reading. They are all towns along the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus and his followers began their ministry. It’s not entirely clear what the people of these three towns might have done to provoke Jesus’ wrath, but the sense is that Jesus and friends have been run out, rejected. The curses are tucked between a response to rejection and the statement that rejection of Jesus is rejection of the Holy One of Israel, so my sense is that Jesus is not just preaching to others – he’s preaching to himself here with the direction to wipe off rejection and keep up the work of honoring and caring for people who are on the margins, keep up the work of finding others who identify with the peace movement.

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 interesting 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.” Remember, heaven is not a place, but a religious euphemism for God’s realm which is Love. In other words, “Be exceedingly happy that Love knows your name. Rejoice not in 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 our work is just self-righteous exertion, or mindless effort, or meaningless 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. I’m a big fan of checklists. My checklist has questions about spiritual well-being based on the Jesus’ Gospel instructions:

are we working with a buddy?
are we praying for help?
are we unguarded – vulnerable – undefensive?
do we need to shed some physical or emotional baggage?
do we need to loosen our grip on our money?
are we getting distracted along the way?
are we making 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 Love?
are we dusting ourselves off when we’re not welcomed and moving on?
Are we rejoicing that Love has written down our name in the book of Life?

These are the peculiar honors that Love desires. The Gospel of Luke wants us to know something about the rejection-defying, and ultimately death-defying love of God. The Gospel of Luke wants us 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!

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