October 18, 2015

Helen Jacobi

St Luke the Evangelist     Isaiah 35:3-7     Luke 10:1-9

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Jesus sends out 70 to represent him – the All Black squad has 31 players but I am sure by the time you add all the support staff and coaches you will get closer to a good biblical number of 70. We send our players out to take on the world and we watch their successes and their failures. There is much commentary on their training, their abilities and those of the opposing teams. We would never send our All Blacks out unprepared, without training; and certainly not without bags of gear – their uniforms, suits, boots; all with appropriate sponsor logos for maximum exposure.

Jesus on the other hand sends 70 of his disciples out with nothing but themselves. Why 70? Well Moses commissioned 70 way back in the days of the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 24) and 70 was considered a number which encompassed all peoples – because there were 70 descendants of Noah listed in Genesis chapter 10. So sending 70 meant sending enough to cover the whole earth and all peoples. (Let’s hope the All Blacks can keep managing with 15 of their 31).

Of the four gospel writers Luke is the one with the widest vision of how the Jesus movement is going to reach to the ends of the earth. Luke is the only writer to have Jesus send out 70 disciples (instead of 12). Luke (or the writer we call Luke) is also the author of the Book of Acts which records the expansion of the early churches. Luke places an emphasis on connecting with the Gentiles or foreigners. He tells more stories about women, has a focus on the poor and the outcast. Without Luke we wouldn’t have the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and the road to Emmaus. We also wouldn’t have the angel Gabriel visiting Mary, the shepherds in the birth story, and the Magnificat and the Song of Simeon.

The setting for today’s passage is Samaria – remember Samaritans were despised by their Jewish neighbours – and so Luke has Jesus send the 70 on their first mission to Samaria where they might expect not to be welcome. But they are not to take bags of camping gear in case no one welcomes them – they are to have no purse, no bag, no extra pair of shoes. If they are welcomed they are to stay, and if not they are to move on. They are to be clear that they come in peace and not with the usual Jewish / Samaritan hostility.

The 70 are just to bring themselves, their knowledge of Jesus, their desire for a better world, their faith, and the clothes they stand up in. Wouldn’t work for a rugby team. Or would it? Once the rugby team gets on the field, it is just them and what they have. They have prepared, trained, worked hard, but in the moment, it is just them and the clothes they stand up in.

The latest TIME magazine (Oct 19) has a series of articles about the refugee crisis. But the most powerful thing as often with TIME is a photo essay called “The things migrants carry” – beautiful pictures: a ring with a cross on it; a pendant with some verses of the Quran inside; a phone charger; some medical supplies; a small handbag; a watch; and someone with nothing, just the clothes they stand up in. Visual images of the exodus of refugees, walking with hope, walking in desperation, carrying nothing.

What do we carry with us each day – for at least a year after the Chch earthquake I carried my phone charger and a bottle of water in my handbag – those were the two things we needed that day. When I travel I always pack more clothes than I end up needing – just in case…

We are sent out each week from church by the deacon. The deacon who serves both church and community. The one who connects us. We are sent out to live, breath, serve, work, laugh, cry, care for others. And what do we carry? What are our tools? Our hands, our hearts, our knowledge and love of God, of the way of Jesus. How well equipped do we feel for our lives as followers of the Jesus Way? What training do we need? Our worship each week is designed to refresh us in the faith, to renew our hearts and minds; to remind us of our patterns of prayer, confession, forgiveness, commitment, service, our need to be fed by the word of God and the bread of life.

Is that enough? It may well be – I think of my father who I describe as an “economic” Christian. He went to church pretty much every Sunday, but never to Bible classes or study groups or prayer groups. He got what he needed on a Sunday morning. My mother on the other hand attends all the groups. For some of us Sunday is enough; others need more.

I have been wondering what we might need to offer here at St Matthew’s to equip us, to send us on our way. In recent weeks we have had a few sessions for “new” parishioners and that has been a fruitful discussion and learning. Next year we might offer that series again, and some other things too. There is a survey you have been given today – I would be very grateful if you could complete it before you leave today – and also I am sending it out by email this week. So if you fill it out today ignore the email! I have listed a few possibilities but you may have lots more ideas so put them down. Of course we won’t do everything but I feel we could do one or two things.

Jesus sent the 70 out with no bags because they had what they needed within themselves. They had a love for Jesus and for each other; they had sat at his feet and listened and learned; they had broken bread together and prayed together. All of this they carried with them; like the disciples on the Emmaus road “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us” (Luke 24:32)

What do we need as each week we are sent out to love and to serve? Think about it and we will see what we can do together.