Our Gospel
today contains one of my favorite injunctions.
Jesus tells the disciples, and us, “Whatever town you enter and they
welcome you, eat what they set before you.”
I follow that religiously.
Actually, our
Gospel is a bit odd. The other Gospels
contain a sending out by Jesus of the Apostles to preach. That also occurred in the previous chapter of
Luke’s Gospel. But Luke is the only
Gospel to contain a second sending out for mission, but this time not by the
Apostles, but by 72 disciples. Jesus gives
basically the same instructions, down to shaking the dust from your feet. It is a repeat performance.
Why 72? Scholars think this is an allusion to the
Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, which Luke used, which
lists the total number of nations on earth as, you guessed it, 72. In
other words Jesus is symbolically sending them out to the whole world. This instruction is for you and me as well.
Jesus tells
them, and us, “I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” That is an interesting image. What do you think it is like to be like lambs
among wolves? Hmmm.
Jesus
instructs us: “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals, and greet no one
along the way.” I take this to mean
that we are not to get weighed down by lots of stuff, an injunction most of us
could take to heart. Who here has too
much stuff? It is easy to fall into that
trap. Jesus tells us “greet no one
along the way.” Jesus does not mean
that we should be rude and ignore people, but rather not to get sidetracked and
waste time socializing, chit-chatting, passing the time in small talk, but
rather to remain focused and on task. Because
the message is that important.
The essence of
the message we are to give is this: “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.”
The kingdom of God is at hand. It is just around the corner. It is coming, It is here!
In other
words, NOW is the time to open your heart to Kingdom of God. Your heart is where the Kingdom is planted
and where it starts. If God is your King
then the Kingdom is at hand for you.
What does it
mean to live with God as our King? First
of all it means that all the other claimants for the throne in your life have
to be pushed aside, whether that is ease and comfort, or money, or power, or
pleasure, or revenge, or status, or success, or fear, or pride, or
whatever. For God to be King in our
hearts all other forces and powers have to become secondary and
subservient.
Who or what is
King in your heart? Maybe it is a little
confused. A bit mixed up and not very
clear. Perhaps there is some palace
intrigue going on in your heart, a struggle between jealousy and righteousness,
or greed, and God.
Jesus in the
Gospel is calling us to act. “Yet
know this, the Kingdom of God is at hand.” It is here.
It is here (point to chest).
Again today we
hear that urgent call to not live the old life of sin, of selfishness and focus
on me, me, me, but rather to inaugurate the Kingdom of God in our heart. How?
By making God our King, in all that we do, in all that we say, in all
that we feel, in all that we have, in all that we are. God is King!
And that makes all the difference.
Today in the
Gospel we are the 72 others, the disciples, appointed and called to proclaim
the Kingdom of God. Not primarily by our
words. But rather by our actions, and
ultimately by our lives.
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