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 - August 24, 2015

Monday - A New Idea - Finding Rest

Work and Rest

It can be very hard to find rest in our world. Between a Blackberry, kids, the home phone and social media, it can be hard to focus on anything, much less rest. One study found that people who are interrupted by technology score 20 percent lower on a standard cognition test. A second demonstrated that some students, even when on their best behavior, can't concentrate on homework for more than two minutes without distracting themselves by using social media or writing an email. We always wonder what we’re missing, what we should be doing, even when we’re supposed to be resting. With technology, we don’t have to suppress that – we can always know, we can always be available. People say it’s harder and harder to unplug. Even as I wrote this, I found myself turning to all kinds of distractions – it’s always when I try to focus on writing that I decide some amazing new change needs to be made to the app or social media. This makes it hard to work and rest – I’m constantly blending the two, and doing neither well as a result. For this year’s vacation, I committed to turning my smartphone off, and only checking in once a day to make sure things are running smoothly with Redeem the Commute. I’ll have to physically make sure my phone isn’t around, because I know I’ll be tempted otherwise. But that isn’t a foolproof formula – I can always go get my smartphone if I get too curious. Find rest can’t just be about strategies – because our problem is inside us. There is something inside me that is still wanting to check email, check the news, etc. We’ll explore what that is, and what to replace it with this week. Question: How do you “unplug” and rest? What strategies do you use?

From Series: "Work and Rest"

Just in time for summer's blend of work and rest, Redeem the Commute is starting a new series of daily challenges to help busy people restore life to the commuting lifestyle. This seven week series will look at the meaning and purpose of work, rest, and ancient practices that have helped followers of Jesus to keep the two in perspective and balance for centuries.

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