After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ (Luke 10:1-9 ESV)

Here we see Jesus in delegation mode.  He’s spent loads of time with his disciples, teaching them with his words and way of life.   Now, it’s time for them to learn by doing.  They have been in gathered mode, now is time to scatter.  So he sends them out with little…no moneybag, knapsack, sandals.   He sends them with so little they will need to have refrigerator rights in other people’s homes to survive.

He wants them to rely on others.    Full dependence on others, will teach them full dependence on him.

He asks them to find these people of peace by saying “peace on this house”.  It almost sounds like a code word, but this was more about who the people are, and what God has already been doing in their lives to prepare them for the missionary’s arrival, and less about their response to a code word!  If God has been making these people seek the peace of the kingdom of God, a travelling preaching proclaiming that message will be welcomed.

Look how deeply he wants these relationships to go.  He wants them to stay with one family, and not go from house to house.  He wants them to become family, to be vulnerable, completely known and trusted by others.

Question: Describe what you think a person of peace would be like.  How would the disciples’ travels be different if they had more supplies?

Ryan Sim - July 3, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Knowing

Yesterday, we saw one misunderstanding of Christian faith – that's it's just about saying the right words to go to heaven. Words can be faked, spoken out of fear or manipulation, or we may be afraid of their power. So it’s tempting to say Christian faith is not at all about words, and only about good works. You may know people like this - I knew one who said they didn't need to be part of a Christian community, or church, simply because she was a nurse who cared for sick people. People regularly quote St. Francis of Assisi, who the current Roman Catholic Pope named himself after, as having said something like “Always remember to preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” But it’s a misquote, he probably never said it, and probably didn’t belive it. Neither did Jesus. That's why this is the second misunderstanding of Christian faith Jesus wanted to confront. Jesus says he’ll send away those who say, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?" It seems these people did amazing things in Jesus name. They performed many of the same deeds as the disciples. They would prophesy – speaking God’s truth. They were casting out demons, and doing other mighty works – miracles! But these things aren’t enough. For example, with the miracles, it seems God could do great things through people like this. But that didn’t make the person great, and it's apparent they considered themselves great because of their deeds. The problem is their dependence on those great acts. They plan to show up at heaven and explain all they’ve done. Like a celebrity stalker showing up at the celebrity’s house, to tell them how great their imaginary relationship is, and all the things he’s been doing to earn her love. No thank you. I don’t know you. Something is missing. It can’t just be words, can’t just be actions. We'll see tomorrow what it is. Question: If Christian faith was just about doing the right thing, how would this contradict what Jesus said earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, or elsewhere? We meet for coffee every Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto. Maybe we'll see you there?

From Series: Sermon on the Mount | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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