A sermon for the sixth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
In the name of Jesus; Amen.
In college the chaplain often let those of us on the seminary tract preach in chapel on Sunday mornings. It was great experience and gave those of us who took the opportunity to have a head start for later on.
The first Sunday that I was to preach I was very nervous and so I called my mom and asked her if she would drive the 1 ½ hours up to Muhlenberg to see me. She told me that I shouldn’t get my hopes up but that she would try. Which meant I shouldn’t expect her.
That year I lived in a house on campus right on the border of the neighborhood and the campus. Except for the red call box at the door it looked like every other house on the block. The morning I was supposed to preach I woke up and was on my way to get into the shower when the doorbell of the house rang.
I was very excited because I thought, “My mom did come.” So I rushed to the door in my nightgown, swung it open and there they were. Not my mom, the Jehovah Witnesses.
I don’t remember what they said when they saw me. I do remember sending them on their way by telling that that while I would happily take one of their magazines I couldn’t talk because I needed to get ready to go preach in church.
The Mormons showed up the next year. Two incredibly good looking young men; they were invited in by three of my female housemates: a Jew, a Muslim, and an atheist. They didn’t seem to mind hearing about the church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints because these guys were just that cute.
I don’t know if any of you have ever answered the door to have the person on the other side try to sell you Jesus but most people don’t seem to enjoy the experience.
And if I was to suggest to you all today that we were going to start going door to door telling people about Jesus my guess is I wouldn’t get too many takers.
In today’s gospel Jesus has just set his face towards Jerusalem. Everything he does now he does with the purpose of getting closer to this holy city where he knows he will die. Surrounded by his twelve disciples he appoints 70 more and sends them ahead of him into the towns and places he knows he will pass through on his way to Jerusalem.
He puts them into pairs and tells them to go knock on doors. 3”Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain 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. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'”
Say what you will about the Mormon Church or the Jehovah Witnesses, they take this story seriously; they go out in pairs and spread a message that the kingdom of God is near.
I think we should take this story seriously too. The kingdom of God is near and while some people take this to mean that the end of the world is near, the reality is that God is near us every time we tell another person about Jesus. And while Jesus died a long time ago we proclaim that Jesus will come again. Every time we invite someone to church or offer to pray with them or enact a kindness we are preparing for Jesus’ salvation to come into this world.
One of the first things I learned about writing a sermon was that it should include two things. The first thing is the law. This is the thing that is supposed to point out our inability and our need for God. It’s supposed to show us our failings our faults and our sin. The second thing is the gospel. The gospel is supposed to show us God’s grace and love. It is supposed to remind us of the forgiveness that God has for us and the desire that God has for us.
And in this reading from Luke today the law can be summed up in one little phrase that Jesus speaks, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
There are so many who don’t know what the love of Jesus really is. Too many people are coming to believe that the message the church speaks is one of judgment and hypocrisy. Too many people are coming to believe that Jesus only loves you if you have money, if you’re straight, if you’re conservative, if you vote a certain way.
Too many people are coming to believe that the church teaches ignorance and discrimination. Too many people believe that the message of Jesus is one of intolerance.
And yet, the message that Jesus tells the 70 to take out ahead of him is “Peace.” That’s the gospel. The message that Jesus wants his followers to spread ahead of him, while he is on his way to die in Jerusalem is peace.
The Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses might corner the market on going door to door, but we know the message that Jesus wants the world to hear is peace and as Lutherans we have a unique understanding of peace.
We know that peace is not something we earn, but something that God gives us freely and solely on the merit of what Jesus did for us in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago.
Sometimes there is a third part to a sermon, something that comes after the law and gospel. This is what you call the response.
The response is what happens after the law has driven you to see your need for God and the gospel has given you what you need from God. The response is what you do to say thank you. Usually it is an unwritten part of the sermon because it is what happens after the amen and everyone leaves the church.
The response is what happens after we are sent.
Amen.
In college the chaplain often let those of us on the seminary tract preach in chapel on Sunday mornings. It was great experience and gave those of us who took the opportunity to have a head start for later on.
The first Sunday that I was to preach I was very nervous and so I called my mom and asked her if she would drive the 1 ½ hours up to Muhlenberg to see me. She told me that I shouldn’t get my hopes up but that she would try. Which meant I shouldn’t expect her.
That year I lived in a house on campus right on the border of the neighborhood and the campus. Except for the red call box at the door it looked like every other house on the block. The morning I was supposed to preach I woke up and was on my way to get into the shower when the doorbell of the house rang.
I was very excited because I thought, “My mom did come.” So I rushed to the door in my nightgown, swung it open and there they were. Not my mom, the Jehovah Witnesses.
I don’t remember what they said when they saw me. I do remember sending them on their way by telling that that while I would happily take one of their magazines I couldn’t talk because I needed to get ready to go preach in church.
The Mormons showed up the next year. Two incredibly good looking young men; they were invited in by three of my female housemates: a Jew, a Muslim, and an atheist. They didn’t seem to mind hearing about the church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints because these guys were just that cute.
I don’t know if any of you have ever answered the door to have the person on the other side try to sell you Jesus but most people don’t seem to enjoy the experience.
And if I was to suggest to you all today that we were going to start going door to door telling people about Jesus my guess is I wouldn’t get too many takers.
In today’s gospel Jesus has just set his face towards Jerusalem. Everything he does now he does with the purpose of getting closer to this holy city where he knows he will die. Surrounded by his twelve disciples he appoints 70 more and sends them ahead of him into the towns and places he knows he will pass through on his way to Jerusalem.
He puts them into pairs and tells them to go knock on doors. 3”Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain 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. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'”
Say what you will about the Mormon Church or the Jehovah Witnesses, they take this story seriously; they go out in pairs and spread a message that the kingdom of God is near.
I think we should take this story seriously too. The kingdom of God is near and while some people take this to mean that the end of the world is near, the reality is that God is near us every time we tell another person about Jesus. And while Jesus died a long time ago we proclaim that Jesus will come again. Every time we invite someone to church or offer to pray with them or enact a kindness we are preparing for Jesus’ salvation to come into this world.
One of the first things I learned about writing a sermon was that it should include two things. The first thing is the law. This is the thing that is supposed to point out our inability and our need for God. It’s supposed to show us our failings our faults and our sin. The second thing is the gospel. The gospel is supposed to show us God’s grace and love. It is supposed to remind us of the forgiveness that God has for us and the desire that God has for us.
And in this reading from Luke today the law can be summed up in one little phrase that Jesus speaks, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
There are so many who don’t know what the love of Jesus really is. Too many people are coming to believe that the message the church speaks is one of judgment and hypocrisy. Too many people are coming to believe that Jesus only loves you if you have money, if you’re straight, if you’re conservative, if you vote a certain way.
Too many people are coming to believe that the church teaches ignorance and discrimination. Too many people believe that the message of Jesus is one of intolerance.
And yet, the message that Jesus tells the 70 to take out ahead of him is “Peace.” That’s the gospel. The message that Jesus wants his followers to spread ahead of him, while he is on his way to die in Jerusalem is peace.
The Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses might corner the market on going door to door, but we know the message that Jesus wants the world to hear is peace and as Lutherans we have a unique understanding of peace.
We know that peace is not something we earn, but something that God gives us freely and solely on the merit of what Jesus did for us in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago.
Sometimes there is a third part to a sermon, something that comes after the law and gospel. This is what you call the response.
The response is what happens after the law has driven you to see your need for God and the gospel has given you what you need from God. The response is what you do to say thank you. Usually it is an unwritten part of the sermon because it is what happens after the amen and everyone leaves the church.
The response is what happens after we are sent.
Amen.
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