After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “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.”
‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’
The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’
Luke 10:1-11,16-20
My sermon from the 7th Sunday After Pentecost (July 3, 2016) on Luke 10:1-11,16-20.
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What does the kingdom of God look like? That’s the question – that’s gnawing on me today. And it’s seems fitting, on this July 4th weekend, to think about kingdoms. This is the weekend when my social media feeds are filled with images of the founding fathers and mothers wearing sunglasses with the caption “we Brexit’d before it was cool.” We are celebrating the new future that some men and women imagined for themselves in 1776, a future away from the British Kingdom. So Jesus’ words about God’s kingdom isn’t strange to us but…it’s still a little odd because we don’t have kings. We don’t live in a kingdom. That’s a word that belongs in fantasy books and tv shows like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Words like emperors, kings, queens, and lords – are words that are always at arm’s-length from us because we don’t live with, or under, them. There’s a gap between us and Jesus’ words, a distance between what’s spoke out-loud and the meaning that we readily grab onto. We live embedded in the American ideal where all people, through the power of voting and representation, have some say in how the government rules and functions. Even when such an ideal fails to embrace everyone who calls the United States home, we react almost instinctively against anything that takes that power away. When we watch state governments gerrymander congressional districts so that one side always wins or when they pass laws that unduly target the voting rights of African-Americans, Hispanics, or even spouses who took their partners’ last names when they married, these violations become personal because we know what’s being taken away. We know that another person’s authority is being removed. We understand that because that’s what we live. But the ideal kingdom – the word as Jesus is using it today – is different because a kingdom is centered around the king, around the ruler. In Jesus’ day, the Roman Emperor was on top, with appointed governors and small puppet kings serving as his representation on the ground. Power didn’t trickle down from the top because power, and authority, was stuck at the top. The people listening to these stories of Jesus – the people who would welcome these disciples that Jesus sent out – they were part of a kingdom where authority and power belonged to someone else. The disciples and their future hosts – they just lived there. So when Jesus sends out his disciples, two by two, to go ahead of him – he reminds each of them that something extraordinary is happening. These disciples aren’t only going to share stories about Jesus with people they haven’t met yet. These disciples are giving voice and embodying just what the kingdom of God is. They are bearing witness to God’s kingdom – God’s authority – God’s power – entering our kingdoms and sharing a vision of what God’s kingdom actually looks like.
And that vision – involves food.
Now, Jesus gave this set of 70 disciples – or 72 – depending on the translation – special instructions. Unlike the 12 apostles who were sent out earlier, Jesus offers these 70 a more detailed briefing. He tells them to bring nothing with them – not even a bag or an extra pair of sandals. And when they arrive in the place where they are going, the first words out of their mouth is “peace.” That’s what these 70 are bringing. But this peace is more than just a feeling of peace, they’re not just bringing a sense of calm. Jesus is telling to them to bring actual peace into the homes they’re visiting. And this kind of peace is only happens when community, and relationships, are formed. The barriers, fears, mistrust, and anxieties that put distance between us and others – Jesus’ disciples are to bridge that reality with His peace. For peace to happen, a connection between people and Jesus is being offered – and that connection happens best around meals.
But what kind of meals? The disciples are told to sit at the table – and eat whatever is given you. The host is invited to give these visitors whatever they have. Now those words “just eat it” are…well…terrifying if we’re a picky eater. These are words my parents used on me when I would stare, blankly, at the food that they placed in front of me. The disciples aren’t invited to pack their own lunch or pick and chose something they like from a menu. They’re told to just eat. These disciples are bringing peace, they’re bringing connection, but they’re also asked to participate in that relationship as well. They are invited to receive what is offered in return, to eat something strange and different, and embrace everything that meals offer. Meals are always more than just food. They’re events where people share conversation and share each other. The disciples will learn who is sick and who is suffering. They’ll learn who is celebrating and who is concerned about the future. The disciples will discover who their hosts really are. Their hosts are not kings and queens. They are people living in someone else’s kingdom. But Jesus cares about who they are and the lives they are living because they are living in God’s creation. The disciples during these meals will share Jesus and, in the process, discover what God is doing in the lives of the people they’re meeting.
So peace, food, connection with God and with each other – that’s a bit of what God’s kingdom looks like. This peace is a peace that forces us to meet someone we don’t know and for both of us to lose our fear of the other. This connection involves seeing the job that Jesus has given all of us – to participate in what God is doing in the world and form relationships with all who God loves. And this food…well…this food is everything. The food Jesus tells his disciples to eat isn’t just the food that’s local to Israel or the Middle East. Even though Jesus’ earthly ministry stays pretty local, Jesus isn’t telling his disciples to only eat the food that they know. The number 70 is more than a number; it’s an old, biblical, symbol that represents all the nations other than the Jewish people. 70 disciples are sent to visit 70 nations. All the disciples are sent to visit all people. And when we get there, when we enter their homes and bring God’s peace, we’re going to embrace celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s motto and “try anything, at least once.” Because when we eat, we recognize differences and what makes us different. But we also see that our kingdoms and nations do not compare to God’s kingdom of love and care. In Christ’s cross, God brings all of us into the One body of Jesus Christ. And it’s through this one body of Christ, that God’s kingdom of love, connection, peace and hope is shared through all of us. This is God’s vision for the world. This is what God’s kingdom is all about. The kingdom of God is here – and we’re to live that kingdom out, right now.
Amen.
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