Return to Sender

Pentecost 6 (July 7, 2007)

Rev. Steven D. Spencer –Pastor

Luke 10:1-20

1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 "Go your ways; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 "Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. 5 "And whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.' 6 "And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 "And stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. 8 "And whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10 "But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 'Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' 12 "I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. 13 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 "But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment, than for you. 15 "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! 16 "The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me." 17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18 And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you. 20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."

Jesus has just finished a successful ministry tour – He has taught, He has preached, He has healed. The crowds have responded. Jesus considers the crowds who have been drawn to Him and He has compassion on them. He looks out at the crowds and realizes they are like sheep without shepherds; they have no leaders, no one to tend them.

"The harvest is plentiful." There are many people who still need to be taught, who still need to hear the Good News proclaimed, who still have diseases and illness, who still need to be healed. "The harvest is plentiful … but, but the laborers are few." Many people need to hear, but too few speak the Word of God.

Jesus looks out at the landscape of His day – and sees the fields are ripe, the harvest is at hand, the people are hungry, ready to hear and receive the good news. For the harvest is plentiful" – those words of Jesus ring true still today. The fields are still ripe, the people are out there, spiritually hungry, ready to hear “the Word” -- that satisfies the hungry heart, that touches the searching soul.

We know the people are out there. People, who are not connected to God, not connected to a community of faith, a church. Yes, the crowds are out there. Our fields in our neighborhoods are not filled with wheat or grain or livestock, they are filled with houses, with neighborhoods. They are filled with people who, by and large, are not connected with the Shepherd, the giver and source of all Life.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." So, what did Jesus do? Did he go the best religious schools in Jerusalem to find the best students to invite them to be part of his mission? Did Jesus recruit the finest, the most theologically trained? Did He design a psychological test to insure that the missionaries would be suitable? Did He create an Evangelism Committee to develop a process to insure the success of the mission?

Well, not exactly. This isn’t what the Gospel tells us.  This isn’t what Jesus did at all! Jesus appoints 72 followers, the ones who had responded to Jesus, to His ministry, part of His church. The fact is these people didn’t pass any rigorous religion or psychology test. There was no interview process. So what qualified them to share the Good News? Jesus chose them!

Not 72 of the best theological minds of the day nor were they steeped in rabbinical training. There were everyday people, fishermen, farmers, tax collectors and even the unemployed.

The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few and Jesus sends out his rag-tag group of disciples. He sends them out two by two on a kingdom mission. They are on a mission from God.

Almost 2000 years later, and the mission for those who follow Jesus is still the same: go out and tell the Good News that the Kingdom of God has come near. That’s our mission at Messiah. It’s a Mission from God. We have affirmed and restated that mission and made it our mission statement: "Sharing God's Message of Salvation with All" – yet it’s the same mission.

This isn’t just a mission for those on our Evangelism Committee – who, by the way, might feel a little bit like the Maytag repair people at Messiah – the loneliest committee in church. For some reason, evangelism frightens people. Most people would rather have a tooth extracted without Novocain or walk across a bed of coals with no shoes than to face the prospect that they might have "to evangelize". Religion is a personal matter, faith is an individual concern. We don’t want to force our views on another person – it’s private. Let me tell you, Satan has been whispering that in the ears of believers since the beginning. 

If someone wants to know about a restaurant or a doctor, if someone needs advice buying a car or a computer, if someone needs a recommendation about a phone service or new investment opportunity don’t we will give it, gladly? We might even assert our point of view that something is a good value, or at least important to consider.

People are very willing to share information, to share opinions, to talk about things they think are valuable. Except, it seems, when it comes to faith. So what is the problem about sharing information about our church or your faith? When was the last time you spoke to someone about your faith, about God about Jesus, about something happening at Messiah? When was the last time you "evangelized"?

As you may know, the word Evangelical is in our name? All Missouri Synod churches are supposed to have the word evangelical in their name. We are the "Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church". The word evangelical comes from the Greek word meaning Good Message – Good News. We have Good News to proclaim, to share, to live. We are baptized children of God to whom the kingdom of God has come near!

Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Jesus sent out 72 disciples in His day. Think of our day. Think of our day at Messiah. Think of the mission we can accomplish.

Jesus doesn’t ask us to be theologians or Biblical scholars; Jesus doesn’t ask us to have all theological questions figured out, all mysteries of faith explained. Jesus just asks us to go out and share the Good Message: "kingdom of God has come near". That’s all Jesus is asking.

Today, Jesus looks out on the crowds and says the harvest is plentiful. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers. Jesus is talking to you. Jesus came to bring the kingdom of God near to us. Jesus died to bring the kingdom of God near to us, Jesus rose from the dead to guarantee that the kingdom would be ours forever, Jesus calls us to be bearers of this Good Message – God’s kingdom has come near, it is ours for the asking, it is our for the living, it is ours for the telling.

So, with all that’s happening here at Messiah, with VBS, with Neighborhood Sunday, with the Car Show next Sunday is "Evangelism Sunday!" So let’s make it a bit of a Rally Day. We are Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church, We are on a mission from God! We are Disciples of Jesus. And the good news is that at Messiah – we have many disciples. The harvest is plentiful, and I pray that laborers are willing!

Summer is here, it can be a time of harvest, a time to share a Good Message – the kingdom of God has come near in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There is a story I heard many years ago about a man who loved his son. The man was a draw bridge operator over a major river. Each day at work he would lower the enormous bridge for the trains that used the bridge. Ships would sail by under the bridge the people waving joyfully as they passed. One day the man decided that he would take his son, his only child to work with him. The boy was fascinated with bridges and couldn’t wait to see where his dad worked. So there were father and son. The father was proud to have his boy with him work. He would yell out to the ships, those he knew, the regular passerby’s introducing his boy. He was so happy to have his son there. The boy wanted to see the working of the big bridge. So his father took him down the steps, down, down, down they went, far below the control house to the walk by the huge gears that caused the bridge to raise and lower. The boy was thrilled to see the giant gears. How do they work dad? But before the father could answer a train whistled blew in the distance. It was the daily passenger train and it would be there soon. There were many steps to climb to return to the control house. And a large bridge takes time to lower. So the man hurried to the control house. As he entered the control house he noticed his son didn’t follow him in. Where was his boy? The train was fast approaching but where was his son? The man was struck with terror! Down below bridge playing on the giant gears was his son. He looked at the train, and then he looked at his boy. He didn’t have enough time to save his son and still lower the bridge. What was he to do? He looked at the train and then looked at his son, and pushed the large lever forward. He heard his son’s cries as the gears crushed him. A moment later the train went buy and some people waved but most seemed busy with task of the world. None of them knew about the sacrifice that took place for them. How the only begotten son had paid with his life that they might live.

Summer is here, we are Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church, and we are on a "Mission from God", for we are disciples of Jesus. And it is Jesus who sends us out to share His message. No one will no of the sacrifice unless we tell them. May that message go out and return to the sender Jesus Christ hundred fold. For tied to that message is a promise that Jesus gives to the hearers.  Verse 20: rejoice for your names are written in heaven." That is the Good News, which is His promise. He that sends us out will return us to Himself in heaven.  Returned to Sender, for your names are written in heaven.  In Jesus name, Amen!