1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 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. 3 Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you. 7 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. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘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.’
Luke 10:1-11,16-20
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
My sermon from the 4th Sunday after Pentecost (July 6, 2025) on Luke 10:1-11,16-20.
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Growing up, I had a very specific idea of what it meant to be truly wealthy. Wealth wasn’t only about the size of your house, the car you drove, or where you went on Spring Break. To me, what made a person rich was if they could visit anywhere on earth and leave everything but their credit card behind. All they needed to bring was themselves because their money would take care of the rest. I’ll admit this wasn’t really the most thought-out opinion because I’d assumed we’d have the time, energy, and ability to shop in stores that carried stuff exactly in our size. Yet there was something about living a life where we could leave all our carry-on and checked bags behind. When we define wealth strictly by a number – a value that is, nowadays, primarily digital rather than rooted in any real material things – it’s easy to treat wealth as something other people have. For the majority of us, there will always be someone who has so much more. But when we remember all wealth lets us do, that value becomes very real. Wealth is knowing where our next meal is coming from and not having to figure out what – and what isn’t – covered by SNAP benefits. Wealth is being able to complain about how expensive our electricity bill is while knowing we’ll sleep comfortably tonight with our room at a crisp 65 degrees. Wealth is opening a closet full of clothes and claim we have nothing to wear. And we know we’re really wealthy when we skip our annual appointment with our doctor since we assume we can always go to the emergency room when something comes up. One of the things wealth does is give us a sense of security we assume we’re entitled to. Wealth is what we trust will get us through the tomorrow that’s already on its way. Our experience of what wealth shapes how we live our life and how we treat others. But it’s also why Jesus’ words to his friends feel so strange because instead of helping them feel more secure, he orders them to leave all their wealth – and their safety – behind.
Now today’s reading from the gospel according to Luke reminds us that Jesus’ ministry was, on occasion, very big. He wasn’t just one person wandering from village to village with 12 friends in tow. Sometimes Jesus showed up with a crowd of faithful followers. After setting his face towards Jerusalem and the Cross, the route he picked wasn’t a straight line. Jesus chose to meet all kinds of people in all kinds of places between Galilee and the Holy City. And he picked 72 of those who followed him to go out as a kind of advance team for the kingdom of God. These disciples would do more than simply announce Jesus’ coming. They would also be like Jesus – curing the sick, casting out a few demons, and eating some meals at tables other than their own. The power they would manifest in these places would be like their own kind firework show, overwhelming everyone with a deep sense of holy awe and wonder. But before we get to the light show, we notice these messengers were given a very strange set of instructions. Jesus sent them out into places they’ve never been with no money, no bags, and not even with an extra pair of shoes. This was, I think, more than simply asking them to leave any of their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual baggage behind. It was, rather, an invitation to be way more vulnerable than they were before. They were called,in the words of Richard Swanson, Professor (Emeritus) of Religion at Augustana University, to “arrive [in these unnamed places] and find themselves radically in need of hospitality.” This might seem somewhat reasonable for those of us who would love to visit a new place bringing only a credit card. Jesus, though, expected there to be someone in every village ready to take care of them. Someone they didn’t know would feed them. Someone who didn’t think they belonged there would provide them shelter. And while that a person might be wealthy, with a few extra rooms and lots of space around their table. There was also a chance the one who opened their door would be like the widow who sheltered the prophet Elijah with barely enough food for herself. These messengers would go out with no resources; eat whatever was set before them; and deal with all the anxiety, fear, worry, and joy that comes with meeting someone new. The followers of Jesus would go to be welcomed and to welcome those who might not be ready for the Jesus who was already on his way. Jesus doesn’t promise that this work will be easy. He doesn’t hint that the word of peace they bring would actually make peace in the lives of those they met. But he does promise that it isn’t the special effects, the displays of power, or even the miracle of healing that proclaims God is truly near. Rather, it’s in the receiving and giving; in the welcoming and the being welcomed; in the time spent at each other’s tables learning one another’s stories and doing what we can to help strangers thrive – that’s when the presence of God is fully experienced and made completely real.
When the disciples finally returned to Jesus, the first words out of their mouth were focused on one of the firework-type-of-things. The unclean spirits, those forces that do all they can to drive us apart, couldn’t withstand these messengers from Galilee. I suspect all the stuff that came out of their experience inflated their egos just a bit since they had access to some of the cosmic power Jesus did. Yet his words showed how their otherworldly experiences – even as one as potent as Jesus witnessing Satan fall from heaven – is nothing compared to the gift of grace and belonging God had given to them. It wasn’t all the wealth of all that heavenly stuff which would secure them through whatever life might bring. Instead, what would carry them through was the fact their name was already etched and held within the everlasting heart of their God. Our name in God will always be our greatest treasure; a precious gift we did nothing to earn and one we’re not entitled to. Even if our credit cards are maxed out and a life full of carry ons and checked bags is the best we’ll ever do, our true wealth – and our true identity – is secure in the gift of baptism and the gift of faith we’ve already received from God. And because this is what will always hold us, we’re invited to live this kingdom of God out right now. We get to be a people who heal rather than cast others aside. We can choose to welcome and be welcomed by everyone rather than exclude and bully those we don’t want to get to know at all. We get to be a community that takes the risk of extending our table since we’re made richer through the many people God brings our way. God’s kingdom isn’t defined by the biggest display of power we might see in the sky. It is, instead, proclaimed by the love our God – and we choose – to share. And when we share this love freely, abundantly, and in ways that bring goodness into the lives of all, we reveal the true wealth shaping our lives and our world.
Amen.