Sermon preached at Our Savior for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost on July 11, 2010. Sermon text: Luke 10:1-12,16
That's kind of how it works on Sunday mornings, right? In the announcements after the service, I might announce some sort of project that the church has going on or some need we have at the moment. I won't say "On your marks! Get Set! Go!," but I might say words almost as energizing: "sign-up sheet." Then, when an usher is excusing the different rows it's like a race has begun; people practically sprint to that sign-up sheet. Sometimes you can hear them, "I want to clean the church next month!" "VBS?! Make sure to sign me and the whole family up for the entire week!" "No! The snack schedule is all filled up again!" Yes, it can be quite the sight. And when it's all over and the dust has settled, I quietly go and pick up all the full sign-up sheets and try to make sense of it all.
Maybe you're starting to sense that I'm telling a pretend story here. I'm not saying that sign-up sheets are the greatest thing ever; they're not. Usually, I'm more surprised when anyone has signed up for something than when no one does. Do we treat opportunities to serve our Savior -- not Our Savior the congregation, but our Savior Jesus Christ -- do we see those as opportunities? Do we see them as a great way to show our thanks? Or do we see them as a burden? Do we just hope someone else does it so we don't have to? Do we just ignore it and not give it a second thought?
Jesus gives a very simple command in our text for this morning: "Go!" (Lk. 10:3) He's not commanding the start of a race; he's sending people out to serve. And if the call to serve our Savior isn't appealing, or if we can always think of something better, it's time for us to reevaluate our priorities and change what we're doing. Fortunately, we have our Lord to help us with that. He leads us with his love. He motivates us with his forgiveness. And he sends us out with his message. So, the time for getting on your marks and getting set is over. Because Jesus says, "Go!"
Our text starts with Jesus laying out the mission for his followers. After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. (Lk. 10:1) Jesus was essentially sending out these 72 people to canvass the neighborhoods that he would be visiting next. In case you're wondering how Jesus found seventy-two people, you have to look back into the previous chapter of Luke.
There, Jesus was trying to get people to follow him; it was sort of his version of a sign-up sheet. But things didn't go well. Wouldn't you know it -- people had all sorts of excuses! They had this and that other thing to do. So finally Jesus gives them the bottom line. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. (Lk. 9:62)
As a Christian, serving your Savior is not an option. Jesus doesn't mince words here. When we refuse to serve him, no matter how long our list of excuses, that's a sin. That's a sin that cannot stand before God. And that's a sin that can only find forgiveness in Jesus himself, his blood, his death, and his resurrection. There, in the joy of his forgiveness, in the shadow of his cross, there we have the reason to serve, the motivation. We love because he first loved us. (1 Jn. 4:19)
So you think, OK, I want to serve, but what do I do? Where do I go? The story of our text shows us some good things to remember. Listen to Jesus' words to those who would be serving him. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (Lk. 10:2) When Jesus says, "Go!" you pray.
You pray because look at all the work there is to do! Think of this world we live in; think of how many people don't know their Savior. Think about how those who don't believe in him have rejected the salvation he won for all. It's overwhelming when you think about it. I don't care how motivated you are, you aren't going to be able to travel all over the world and reach everyone with the gospel.
And it's not much better when you look in our immediate area. Sure, there are a lot of churches here in Springville, or in the greater Buffalo area, but does that mean everyone's a Christian? How many people still don't believe in Jesus? How many people had believed but have fallen away, or are straying from their Savior and in grave spiritual danger? I don't think you have to look very far around you to find people like that. It's overwhelming. How could we ever reach them all? And then we look around at our congregation... It's a small group. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
So, what do we do? We pray. Our heavenly Father knows the need around us. He knows it better than we do. He's the one in charge of this all. We pray to him. In fact, this is the way that everyone can listen to Jesus' call to "Go!" I don't care how old you are, what your physical abilities are, you can pray. And what a powerful thing that is! We get to approach God's own throne with our requests, and he's promised to hear us! So go! Pray!
Most of us will have lots of opportunities beyond our prayers, too. Jesus showed us this as he sent out the workers. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. (Lk. 10:3-4)
Jesus isn't shy in telling us that serving him can be dangerous. "Like lambs among wolves." Wolves eat lambs; it's dangerous to be a lamb. And we've seen time and again in God's Word the dangers and troubles we face as Christians. Our lives will not be easier because we are Christians; they may in fact be much more difficult.
So doesn't it strike you a bit odd that Jesus sends his sheep among the wolves, he sends his soldiers into the battle, with nothing! He tells them to bring nothing with them. Shouldn't they pack up everything they can think of? Shouldn't they be packing weapons, maps, strategies, psychological profiles of those wolves? Why would Jesus send them into danger completely defenseless and powerless?
He doesn't. And this is the second thing you need to remember. When Jesus says, "Go!", you go in his strength alone. When you know there's an opportunity to serve your Savior, what stops you? Think of some of the excuses that might come to your mind. "No one will listen to me." "They'll laugh at me." "I don't want people thinking I'm some sort of nut." "I won't know what to say." "I'll say something wrong and make everything worse."
To those excuses, Jesus says, "Go!" Go out and serve him, but don't worry, it won't be your strength, it will be his. His strength at work in you by the Holy Spirit through God's Word. One of the reasons we study the Bible is because there Jesus strengthens us, he prepares us and equips us to serve him. That's why we continue to go to the strength found at the Lord's Supper time and time again. Jesus wants to give us his strength to go!
When you go up to someone and tell them about Jesus, I'll tell you right now, you have absolutely no chance of convincing them to believe. No chance! But with Jesus' power, with the Holy Spirit working through the Word, people are brought to faith. Miracles do happen! The responsibility to do those miracles doesn't rest on you. It's Jesus' strength.
And when you come with Jesus' strength, remember what the message you speak really is. Jesus said in our text, When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. (Lk. 10:5-6) Of course, in this specific case, Jesus was having his workers go out and stay in people's homes. That's probably not going to be our goal most of the time as we serve our Savior. But there's still a principle here for us. When Jesus says, "Go!" you go with a message of peace.
That's what the gospel is. It's peace. Peace between us and God. The book of Romans tells us, Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:1) It's tempting when you talk with someone to get into an argument or to talk about what our church is against and all sorts of things like that. The most important message you have is peace. Jesus won us peace. He won us eternal life and forgiveness and salvation. That is your message.
And don't think you don't have the right to share it. You do. Jesus said it in our text. He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. (Lk. 10:16) We might not think it's any of our business to tell someone about their Savior. We might think they'll say, "Who gave you the right to tell me what to believe?" But remember, when Jesus says, "Go!" You go with his authority.
Spreading Jesus' message is spreading good news! It's news of peace, news of salvation! It's not your ideas; it wasn't your plan to share this. Jesus commanded it. He has sent you. And if someone doesn't like it, their problem is with Jesus, not with you. Remember that. Take comfort that you have the Savior and God of all behind you when you tell others about him.
So when you put it all together, it's clear. We need to go. We need to go and share our Savior's love. Now, that's going to look differently for different people. It doesn't mean you have to sign up on every sign-up sheet at church. Yes, there will be opportunities for you to serve here. But there will be many more opportunities in your everyday lives outside of this building.
You work with people. You have people in your family. You see people when you're out and about. That's your mission field. That's where God has placed you. And if God has placed you in a place where you can't go anywhere or talk to anyone, you can still pray. Yes, this is a mission for all of us.
So let's go! Let's go into this world with the good news of our Savior's love. Let's stop with the excuses and fears and the paralysis of sin. Instead, let's hear Jesus' command and go! Go in prayer to your heavenly Father. Go with Jesus' power alone. Go with a message of peace. Go with the authority of Jesus himself. There's a big world out there. There's a lot of people who need to hear about their Savior. On your marks! Get set! Your mission field starts when you leave this church today. Go!
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