Sermon at St Peter’s Church, Pitton -
Sixth Sunday after Trinity – Morning Worship – Sunday 7 July 2013
Galatians
6: (1-6); 10-14; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
May the words of my
mouth and the mediation of all our hearts be always acceptable to you, O
Lord. Amen
I am just about old enough to remember seeing on the
television those immortal lines spoken by a young newly elected President of
the United States – words which have gone down in history as marking the
beginning of what was hoped to be a glorious new era in American politics and,
which sadly, ended 1,000 days later in such enormous tragedy – “Ask not what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country”?
Words spoken on a cold January day in 1961 by John F. Kennedy.
In recent years there has been much controversy about where
those words came from and accusations about presidential plagiarism – it being
suggested that they came from one of his previous headmasters in Connecticut,
Mr. George St. John. They were certainly
powerful words with a powerful sentiment.
If they did come from Mr. St. John, then I would equally
accuse him of plagiarism for I think the sentiment is expressed well in both of
our New Testament readings this morning and I would interpret those passages as
saying:
“Ask not what God can
do for you, but what you can do for God?”
In last week’s scripture we looked closely at the way in
which God calls us to service, to ministry, service for him, doing his
ministry. It was appropriate that we did
so, for last weekend saw the ordination of priests and deacons in Salisbury
Cathedral by the Bishop including the deaconing of Mark Phillips from this very
village and I add my congratulations and prayers to those of others as he and
Claire settle in their new parish on Portland.
Last week Jesus was explaining to those who wanted to follow
him what the conditions were that they would have to meet – not to delay in
their actions to follow him; to leave everything behind – their comforts,
family, possessions, jobs; to be prepared to live under the stars; to be
prepared to rely solely on the hospitality of others; and as we know, to face
persecution and misunderstanding from family, friends and those they were yet
to meet.
In today’s passage from Luke we move on. Jesus has clearly chosen his seventy
followers (who are in addition to his 12 close disciples) from amongst those
who had felt the call. These
instructions which he gives to them make it abundantly clear that having a call
to follow is only just the beginning and that from that call we are expected to
carry out God’s word by our actions in the world. Even with seventy followers it is also clear
that Jesus is expecting that the work will be intense. This may have been because the sending out of
the seventy occurred towards the end of his ministry and he realised that there
just wasn’t a lot of time left.
How often have we heard those words in our daily lives? - The harvest is plentiful but the labourers
are few? In these days of economic
austerity it is often the cry of those who struggle in employment when they see
the work increasing but the numbers of employees falling through redundancy.
In this passage I think Jesus is saying that there is so much
work to be done in spreading the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven but so
little time left to do it. Jesus would
have known that he was only on this Earth for a short period and that he wanted
his followers to utilise that time to the best advantage. There is a really quick pace to this passage
– a feeling of utmost urgency.
I love the bit where he says “I am sending you as lambs into the midst of wolves”. One thing you
can say about Jesus is that he never minces his word when talking to his
followers”! In the words of that famous
song “[He] never promised [them] a rose
garden”.
That well known writer and theologian Jeff Lucas tells a
wonderful story about the first time, as a newly qualified preacher, he stood
in the pulpit and announced that “If a
Christian has a problem they only have to pray about it and God will take the
problem away; but if they pray about it and it doesn’t go away then maybe they
are not really a Christian which means that they now have a bigger problem than
the one they started with!”
Jeff now readily admits that it was the most dreadful piece
of theology he has ever uttered.
Jesus is at great pains to tell the seventy that following
him along his path will be tricky and tells them to be prepared to be rejected;
but he also emphasises that he is with them;
for when they are rejected him, Jesus, is also being rejected and when
Jesus is rejected God the Father is also being rejected. They are in good company. It is a powerful
message of authority to be told that if one is being treated in a certain way
then it is also being done to God himself.
Interestingly enough, today’s reading as set out in the
Lectionary misses out five difficult verses from this chapter of Luke’s –
verses 12-15: -
“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off
in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” I
tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
‘Woe
to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in
sackcloth and ashes. But
at the judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And
you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down
to Hades. ‘
Strong
words indeed. Last week you will recall
that Jesus rebuked James and John for suggesting that Jesus should call down
fire to destroy the Samaritan village which rejected them any hospitality but
here Jesus is himself suggesting that those cities which reject his gospel will
receive judgment more terrible than Sodom and Gomorrah – and that judgment is
left to God.
What
I think Jesus is saying here is that such judgment will be greater against
those who have been given the opportunity to hear the message of God’s Kingdom
and then reject, than those who have not.
When
Jesus sends out the seventy he is actually sending out his second mission - for
earlier he had sent out just the twelve disciples with almost similar
instructions. The difference here
appears to be that the seventy additional followers have been set specific
tasks and specific places to go and evangelise.
Important
amongst his instructions, as before, are that they should travel light and rely
upon the hospitality of others. Again
time seems to be of the essence and he is expecting them to cover a large
amount of ground very quickly. Interestingly,
he suggests that when visiting a town or place they should stay in the one
lodging and not move around. This
suggests that their ministry was very public.
They should also not worry about observing strict food laws but eat
whatever is offered to them. This shows
that Jesus’s ministry was being prepared for the time when the word would be
spread amongst the non-Jewish world and all men, Jews and Gentiles, were to
believe in the gospel.
For
many Jews, the strict following of their food rules and regulations was an
essential part of the religious observance but here, Jesus is making a clear
statement that spreading the good news about the coming of the Kingdom of
Heaven was far more important than worrying about observing ritual.
And
this, I think, is the heart of the message from this scripture to us
today. Time is short in eschatological
terms – we are in the end days – the days following Christ’s resurrection and
ascension – and who would not agree that in terms of disciples the harvest is
indeed plentiful but the harvesters few in number. At Pentecost we were given the power, gifts
and fruits of the Holy Spirit to become his eyes, ears and in particular hands
and feet. Amazing gifts just for
agreeing to follow him.
God
calls us to his service just as JFK called the citizens of America - to think
and reflect about what they could do for their country. Having called us God will direct us to what
he wants of us and we have to listen attentively. He wants us to spread his word, his gospel,
his good news. He will tell us how but we must be ready to listen and obey.
We
read that through their obedience to Christ’s word, they returned with joy –
with joy – describing how in the power of Jesus’s name even the demons
submitted to them. It reminds me of the
hymn “You will go out with Joy” etc.
etc. only here they came back with joy. Jesus remains calm and utters no
surprise or disbelief. He remarks that the power they have they have been given
by his authority and it is a foretaste of those words uttered by Jesus to
Pilate when he answers the Roman governor with the words “You haven’t a shred of authority over me which was not given to you
from heaven above” (John 19:11).
Let
us pray:
Dear
Lord, as you sent out first, the twelve and then, the seventy on those great
missions to spread the word about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, so send
us out with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to do likewise. We pray that you will show us each what it is
that you want us to do and where and how you want us to it. We ask you Lord, not on this occasion what
you can do for us but what can we do for you?
Amen
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