After Pentecost 7
Psalm 66:1-9
1Be joyful in God, | all you lands;
be joyful, | all the earth.
2Sing the glory | of God’s name;
sing the glory | of God’s praise.
3Say to God, “How awesome | are your deeds!
Because of your great strength your enemies | cringe before you.
4All the earth bows | down before you,
sings to you, sings | out your name.” R
5Come now and see the | works of God,
how awesome are God’s deeds | toward all people.
6God turned the sea into dry land, so that they went through the wa- | ter on foot,
and there we re- | joiced in God.
7Ruling forever in might, God keeps watch o- | ver the nations;
let no rebels ex- | alt themselves.
8Bless our | God, you peoples;
let the sound of | praise be heard.
9Our God has kept us a- | mong the living
and has not allowed our | feet to slip. R
GOSPEL Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke…
1After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ ” 16“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” 17The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Christ.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Hey ____ Can I come over to your house later?
I just want to hang out with you. I don’t have any agenda or any specific thing I think we should talk about or get done. Just want to see what the Spirit does if we are in each other’s presence. What do you think?
Ok, great!
_____, how about you? Can I come over to your house later?
______? _______? ______?
I know it is Independence Day weekend, so someone must have a party to invite me to? I’m not going to offer to bring any food or help with the party. I’m just going to show up. You’ll ask me why I am there and I’ll let you know about this great thing that happened to me the other day… I was talking with Christine on the way home from the synod assembly and we were disagreeing about stuff, and I saw God show up there. Then, I was running in my neighborhood and a man rode by on his bicycle collecting redeemables and I ran to catch up with him with my soda bottle, because God was in his eyes. And also – I’ll tell you the story of how exhausted I get sometimes, so overwhelmed by the people I encounter who are in chains to opiods or heroine and I just want a way to free them. And God is there too. Especially in the good news about the Southbridge police department offering a program with Harrington Hospital to anyone who asks for help with addiction. It’s called CARE.
And then, if you were a person who shares in God’s peace with me, you might share your stories of seeing God too. And I might be able to tell you that I see God working, not just anywhere, but in your life. And maybe you can do that for me.
That’s it. That’s all it means to be sent by Jesus. Telling each other the stories of where God is at work in the world, the places we see God conquer with love. The stories we tell to witness to God’s dream for the world, the dream he has for you and for me. It’s called sharing good news – Evangelism. Euangelos ‘bringing good news,’ from eu- ‘well’ + angelein ‘announce. Telling the good stuff.
Evangelical is a word that has been stolen from us Lutherans. The press names a particular kind of church and Christian “Evangelical” and they often report condemning words that do not sound much like good news to me.
But we are Evangelicals. We are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America… because we have some good news to share. /And it isn’t about converting people, that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. And it isn’t about making people into “good Scandinavian or German Lutherans” and hazing people with some disgusting food. /And it isn’t about deciding who is deserved of being consumed by fire from heaven – you might remember that last week, James and John wanted to call down fire on those who didn’t receive Jesus. And here Jesus adds instruction to his rebuke of them: shake the dust off and move on.
It’s about conversing, not converting. It’s about eating their foods and learning their cultural ways. It’s about being present as a guest.
It’s about sharing your story of seeing God in the world.
You are sent to do that.
This story of 70 people being sent out to all the places Jesus intends to go, reminds us, once again, that God has a mission and God’s mission has a church. God is already doing the work. We are just invited to join in. We are sent to be God’s church in the world, where God is already transforming darkness into light.
Sent not to receive visitors, but to be guests.
Sent to rely on others, with not bag, no extra resources, no backup plan.
Sent to eat their food to be connected to them, to be vulnerable.
Sent not to convert people, but to tell your story and God’s story (and where they intersect).
This month I have been working on being present as a guest in Southbridge. As a pastor from Sturbridge, one might think I am out of place. And in some ways I am. But I have been sent by God to see where God is working… and to be a guest. So I when Steven told me that kids in Southbridge would be without any daily meals for three weeks in August, I talked to my fellow journeymen, the pastors in the Tri-Community area, about it. Then I talked to the new Superintendent in Southbridge and to the Town Manager, and to the Deputy Chief of Police, and a bunch of other people, and I said… representing the church of Christ in this area, I have some good news. We have resources. And we want to help. We want to be sure that these kids get fed. And they have welcomed me as a guest.
I have been welcomed as your representative, and other Christians too in this neighborhood, who present ourselves at the doorstep with good news. Ready to take any invitation that comes our way. Ready to learn the ways of those who are in need of the good news. Ready to seek God in the faces of those who host us.
I guess we need some practice. You have an insert this week in your bulletin to write down where you have seen God recently, during Sacred Shelter time after the sermon. Get them out right now, if you are ready. What Good News has God given you to share? Sharing our God Moments with one another is the best practice we can get for living this Evangelism thing. Just naming the God who keeps doing great things for us!
This August when we help get those kids fed, I will be looking for God Moments, and I am confident they will show up left and right. In the meantime, we can prepare by stripping ourselves bare of all our usual reliance. And presenting ourselves with all God has asked us to do, be present as a guest, ready to share the good news of God’s love – whether it is with a warm smile, a game played with children, or a belly fed. We have been issued an invitation, an actual, literal invitation, to enter the Community Center in Southbridge – which may be new territory – to feed the kids. 75% of whom qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Come, feed, play, live, enter as a guest and leave with even more good news to share.
Amen.
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