Least Likely ...

Back in the time that High School yearbooks were a thing; there were often people voted for categories of “most likely …” to succeed, or star in a Hollywood movie, or get married and have 5 kids.  It was meant as a playful guess at the future of students who were indeed just starting out in life.  No one could really know anyone’s future, everyone understood that.  You simply took what you knew about a person at the time, and used it, to make a playful prognostication about where they mind wind up in 20 years or so.  It is that “playful” aspect that keeps the opposite idea from showing up in our yearbooks.  The idea of voting someone “least likely …” brings up negative connotations.  Seems as though whatever you attach to the end of that phrase “voted least likely to …” would not be so flattering.  So it is not in there.  But while it does not appear formally in any of our yearbooks, it does appear in our minds – back then, and even right now.  We can all remember some poor kid who we imagined would never succeed; or despite their interest in the arts, would never become famous.  Hint: if you can’t imagine that someone – it was probably you that others imagined – color me in this group.  Not sure if you could call my life any kind of success, and I am certainly not famous for any artistic gifts or talent I fancied myself as having.  If you looked at me back then and surmised; “least likely …” – you probably were not far from the truth.

But there is another way of looking at “least likely” that carries more surprise with it, and more weight.  Imagine being on the receiving end of love from someone you least imagined would ever be sharing it with you.  Most of us get used to the idea of familiarity with the people who show us love.  We know who they are, that list, such as it is, never seems to change much.  My mom loves me.  My dad loves me.  My wife and kids love me, etc.  But what I never imagine, is my enemy loving me.  And we all have someone like that in our lives.  Somebody we just never clicked with.  Maybe they bullied us in high school, or maybe they bully us right now at work.  Maybe they were a romantic interest at one time that ended badly, very badly, and now we use words like hate, when once we used words like love.  There are plenty of reasons why people seem to find their way on to an enemies list.  Some folks are just hard to love at all.  Ask yourself, do you really love Trump?  If you are part of his base the answer may be a quick yes, so substitute Nancy Pelosi’s name for his and then ask the same question.  Chances are if the politician is not part of your team, the best you do is to tolerate them.  More often is to dislike them.  And a few folks go so far as to hate them (most often without ever having met the person they claim to hate).  Now if you can picture that person in your mind; imagine having that person show you the most profound mercy and love.  That is what the parable of the Good Samaritan is supposed to illustrate.  But it has a deeper meaning for us as we give it a second look.

Luke sets the back story in chapter ten of his gospel letter to his friend Theophilus on what we believe and why we believe it.  It starts out as most sticky-wickets start out; with a lawyer. 😊  Luke picks up in verse 25 saying … “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  For context, Jesus was popular with the people.  He genuinely loved them, how could he not be popular.  He freed them from the pain of sins, as well as the pain of disease and deformity.  The people were beginning to return that love.  It was yet another reason why the Sanhedrin began to hate Jesus as much as the people loved Him.  The Sanhedrin, or ruling body, was made up of priests, scribes, and lawyers – essentially the educated class.  They thought themselves better than any of the common folks.  These were the ones who would have easily been voted “most likely to succeed” in their day.  Jesus would not have.  He was nothing like them.  So they go about to set a trap for Jesus, one of many they would attempt, to get Jesus to trip over His words or answers, in order to discredit Him with the people.  As if the people were only interested in words.  That is what the Sanhedrin cared about.  The people, not so much.  But nevertheless, if you are hammer, everything looks like a nail.  So the lawyer, asks Jesus his trick question.

Jesus responds in verse 26 saying … “He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?”  And here we see the lawyer must have been a rookie.  Jesus answered His trick question with another question of His own.  First rule; don’t let the client ask the questions.  But note the subtlety of Jesus’s question, He asks the lawyer what the Law has to say on this topic.  The Law is a reflection of the love of God.  It is not a definitive list, but it is a starting point.  We were never meant to attempt to find loopholes in the Law, exceptions, or other ways to circumvent the Law.  Why would you attempt this if the Law itself, is only a beginning definition of what it means to love?  The problem most of us have (and a lot of lawyers have too) is that we want to see the Law as a “complete” outline of what God requires; instead of a starting point of what it means to love.  If the Law is complete, we can run our lives by the lists of requirements it proscribes.  But if the Law is only a foundation, we must spend our lives looking to start there and figure out what else love means.  The second road is harder, and so why most of us have messed up ideas about what God’s Law means.  You will note in any case, the Law is still the Law.  So Jesus begins here to ask the lawyer what that means.

The lawyer answers Jesus in verse 27 saying … “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”  The lawyer has his priorities straight at least.  Love God first.  Then love others at least as much as you love yourself.  Also the lawyer has zeroed in on the true topic of the law, it is all about love.  How is it that the legalist of his day gets it, and we still don’t?  The lawyer never actually specifies one single commandment.  He never explicitly states that we should not steal.  The reason; you don’t steal from someone you love.  But “not stealing” is hardly a comprehensive list of the ways someone else knows you love them.  It takes more than just not stealing.  It takes more than all the other commandment no-no’s combined.  Do all of that.  But don’t stop there.  There is more to love than that.  This is why the lawyer does not have to list each commandment out separately.  The only part the lawyer has omitted is “how” to go about living this way.  It is the cause and effect of submission.  We submit to Jesus, and He remakes us to love this way, to think this way, to live this way.

Jesus responds to the lawyer in verse 28 saying … “And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”  Jesus says, good answer.  This is how we should live with our families, our neighbors, when you think about it, our communities, our nation, and our world.  But the lawyer, sees the relative ease of living this way with the list of people who love him already.  And the lawyer sees the relative difficulty of living this way with others he knows or cares for less.  So the lawyer wants affirmation that the list of people he loves is good enough for Jesus (and by proxy, for God).  Luke continues in verse 29 saying … “But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?”.  This is the question we actually ask when the topic of loving others comes up.  Isn’t it good enough to love my mom, or my dad, or my wife and kids – do I really need to love others beyond that?  The implication being, that loving people outside of my immediate circle is too hard.  Easy to love nanna, too hard to love that person who sits next to me in church who I am not that fond of.  But Jesus has an answer for the lawyer and for us on this topic as well.  He offers it in the form of a parable or story.

Jesus begins in verse 30 saying … “And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.”  Let’s make a few substitutions to Jesus’ parable to make it more personally relevant to you and I.  First, the “certain man” is not just some random guy, its you.  Yes, you personally.  And second, crap happens.  Yup, you get mugged.  Not just robbed.  But beaten as well.  Left for dead.  This is not your best day.  You are a believer, why does crap like this happen to someone as good as you?  But it does.  Not because God loves you any less.  But because Satan hates you just as much as God loves you.  And sometimes the servants of Satan do his will, at your expense.  So mugged you are.  Beaten.  And left for dead.  You would hope the people who love you would fix this.  But they are not around.  You are nowhere near your home.  Maybe traveling to a far away city.  Someplace you do not normally go.  But if things don’t get better soon, you may just bleed out and die.

Jesus continues in verse 31 saying … “And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.”  OK, here comes your first opportunity for help.  It is a pastor from your particular denomination or church.  Not just a fellow believer, but a preacher, who you recognize from the audience, even though he may not exactly recognize you.  At least you know he shares your beliefs, and preaches them from the pulpit every week.  You are beginning to take hope.  But what’s this?  He sees you.  He sees your need.  And he crosses the street to avoid getting anywhere near you.  You cannot even talk to the guy.  He is too far away.  And He did it on purpose.  He sees you bleeding.  What’s wrong?  Didn’t want to get his nice suit dirty with your blood?  How could this happen?  A minister.  Really?  Really?  But nevertheless you still lay there bleeding.

Jesus continues in verse 32 saying … “And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.”  Now here comes the head elder/deacon of your church.  You do know this guy.  You know he shares your beliefs.  You know he is a worker in your church.  You’re sure he will stop and help.  I mean, you would, right?  But the deacon/elder just does exactly what the preacher did, he crosses the street to avoid even talking to you.  Neither of these guys call 911.  Neither of them even want to acknowledge you have a problem.  Can’t they see.  Can’t they hear you?  How could someone who claims to follow Jesus be this cold to someone like you?  What did you ever do to offend them?  They don’t even know you enough to be offended by you.  This is crazy.  You could die, I mean really die.  Your getting cold.  The lack of blood is taking a toll on your body.  You’re starting to think you will never get to say goodbye to your family.  The thieves took your phone and your wallet (or purse).  You have no I.D..  You have no money.  Not even change for a payphone if you could find one of those long-gone necessities.  Could not walk to it anyway I guess.  Your dying.  This sucks.

Jesus continues in verse 33 saying … “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, [verse 34] And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”  And here is where the story goes sideways.  “Least likely …” comes into play.  Remember that enemy I told you to imagine (for Democrats we will use Donald Trump, for Republicans we will use Nancy Pelosi).  They are the Samaritan (whichever one you happen to like least).  Not just their staff, or a person who knows them, but one of them personally, depending on who you hate the most.  Keep in mind, you have likely never met either one of them.  So they do not know you at all.   As far as sharing your beliefs goes, they don’t.  I mean, really, they don’t.  They are the anti-version of what you believe.  Completely.  And it is one of them that discovers you bleeding on the street.  They get out of the limo.  They come over to where you are and put pressure on the wound with their own hands.  They yell at the staff to call 911 for you.  All the while they sit there on the ground with you, getting filthy in the city gutter and street, holding you, holding your wounds, keeping pressure on it.  And telling you, you are going to be alright.  Don’t give up.  Help is on the way.  They take off their outer winter overcoat and put it around you.  Now it is they who are getting cold.

You can hear the sirens.  The EMT’s put you on a gurney and hoist you into the back of the ambulance.  Donald or Nancy, get in with you.  They ride with you to the hospital.  You cannot even speak anymore.  You have no I.D.  The hospital is not sure they want to admit another John/Jane Doe with no insurance card.  So Donald or Nancy takes out their wallet/purse and pulls out several large bills, and their own personal insurance cards.  Put it on my tab they say.  What is your name the hospital asks?  Too weak to respond.  Can’t answer.  Donald says he is part of my family.  Take care of him like you would take care of me.  Spare nothing in his healing.  I will take care of everything.  At this point you are sure they are going to leave you, or at least call the local press in order to get a photo-op out of this tragedy.  They do neither.  They cancel their appointments.  And then quietly sit with you all night long.  You wake up in the morning just long enough to hear them continue to assure the hospital they will be back later this day.  Once again to check in on you and make sure you make it, and figure out how to get word to your family.  And neither wants anything from you.  No selfy.  No photo-op with the press.  No kind words in public from you about how heroic they are.  A complete press black out.  They did not do this for press.  They did this only for you.  Just you.  Just because it was right, the right thing to do.  Your mind cannot even imagine a story like this.  These two are beyond least likely to ever … cause your mind has already judged what they are like, even though you have never met either of them.  Yet this is the story Jesus offers, just modified in language and people we understand and feel about today.

Jesus concludes starting in verse 35 saying … “And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. [verse 36] Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? [verse 37] And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”  The lawyer wanted to know who his neighbor was, at a minimum his “Jewish” neighbor.  But Jesus states, it was a Samaritan.  An enemy, a person hated for the things they believe.  Someone lesser than.  Someone least likely.  Someone homeless who does not deserve our pity let alone an all out barrage of mercy and financial offerings.  I cannot imagine Donald Trump taking the time to do this for me.  But what is worse; from an ever deeper perspective, the homeless person on the street, cannot imagine “me” taking the time to do this for him.  “I” am the priest, or the Levite; not the Samaritan.  I have walked by too many.  Which means I love too little, to see the pain I cross the street to avoid.  That is what must change in the core of who I am.  And I cannot talk about Commandments or the Law, while I cannot see the needs of others, and call myself a Commandment keeper.  I am not.

Its not enough to do this for people I love, who are already in my inner circle.  Until every person on planet earth breaks my heart in sympathy, I have not learned to love like Jesus loves yet.  It is not enough to take actions, but still care less, or care pragmatically.  I must learn to care with total abandon.  To care like Jesus did and Jesus does.  When I care like that, I will reflect who Jesus is.  Until then, I am a poor reflection of the name of Jesus.  And I know, my heart of stone will take the Master’s touch to ever feel differently than it does today.  But Jesus can and is remaking me.  Like Jesus can remake Donald Trump or Nancy Pelosi.  He may already be working on Donald; am I willing to let Jesus work on me as well?  Or do I spend too much time assuming Trump has no hope, while I squander my own hope in bitter pre-judged accusations?  I hope not.  Here is where submission must become everything.  I wish to look deep into the eyes of that person in need, while there is still time to do something about it.  And before my heart has become nothing more than stone focused only on the shortcomings of others.

 

Brown Privilege ...

These days there is a good deal made about “white privilege”, at least if you tune in to the democratic party from time to time.  Being a member of that privileged category myself, I tend to think I am immune to seeing it in my life.  What I do see, is the transference of legacy from one generation to another.  If your great grandfather, and grandfather, and father all went to Harvard – chances are much better you will be joining them in attending that institution.  But if no one did, your odds at getting in fall as far as your wallet’s emptiness will permit.  I seem to remember applying to Harvard when I was graduating high school back in the days of covered wagon travel 😊.  I don’t remember being accepted.  But even if I were, my single mother’s finances permitted food on the table, not attendance at a school that even back then cost more than two fortunes to attend.  It would have been a privilege to be admitted, it also would have been a life sentence to the debt that would have gone with it.  Me being white, seems to have little to do with it.  Unless you think that “to dream” in my younger years, was the privilege after all.

But when you think about it.  We seem to measure privilege in monetary terms.  Harvard is a steppingstone to a better job, with higher pay.  It is a steppingstone to introductions to the elite of our nation.  To having friends that serve in the white house, or the senate, etc.  Money, power, influence – mostly all boil back down to money again.  If my grandfather had been rich, he would have passed that wealth to my father.  My father would have passed it to me.  I would pass it on to my children.  That kind of legacy, where wealth is transferred from one generation to the next, I have seen up close and personal in others.  That is real.  That is a privilege I understand.  Don’t get to participate in it mind you, but I understand it.  When someone from that legacy in motion of wealth falls on hard times – they are given special attention to rectify their problems.  Think about it.  When the rich get in trouble with the law, it is an entirely different experience than when the poor do.  Lawyers like Alan Dershowitz can talk his client out of nearly anything.  The lawyer you get at the public defender’s office is a 50/50 bet at best.  When the rich get sick – they fly in experts, or to experts at hospitals all over the world to seek treatment.  When you or I get sick – we go to whatever facility is closest that takes our version of insurance (if we have it).  That is two entirely different experiences based on privilege.

If we were however to lift our eyes from the things of this world that so demand our attention for a moment.  And begin to measure true privilege in spiritual matters we might have to turn our thinking on its head.  At least from a racial basis anyway.  Jews, Arabs, and people who in the days of Jesus originated from the middle east, in that specific geography – where not white – they were brown.  Various degrees of brown.  This means Jesus was not the Lilly white bread picture painted by most renaissance artists (who came from whiter countries).  Jesus too was middle eastern.  He was brown.  His disciples, men or women, were also brown.  Those tagged from Ethiopia, or perhaps Egypt, or areas to the south of there were likely black.  White folks were entirely absent from the hero list of these times.  They may well have been present as the enemies of the day in the form of Romans.  Yikes.  Not only were white folks not privileged to share lineage with Jesus, but instead were the ones helping to wipe out that lineage.  Sound typical, at least in a historical context?  Seems it takes us white folks a long time to get on the right side of history in any age.  That is not privilege, it is the willful lack of it.

When Jesus however looks at privilege (and He does), He does not define it based along racial lines either.  In fact He sort of bucks the norms of catering to the intelligentsia of His day.  And He does not look to the lineage of kings and the dynasties they fight to maintain.  He skips right past the “smart folks” from the Harvard’s of His day; and then wizzes right by the Kings of it, and settles in on His target.  Or rather His Father’s target – the babies.  Luke talks about just this very thing in his gospel letter, in chapter ten, picking up in verse 21 saying … “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.”  Wow!  You will note Jesus does not mention that the revelations of wisdom regarding Himself and His Father were given specifically to brown people (even if that was the statistical result).  Nor did brown, or white, or black have any mention in the revelations being revealed.  But babies did.

There were Hebrew schools of the day, that prepared students by studying the Torah and the prophets every day.  But none of their attendees were gifted with these revelations.  Instead, relative babies were handed out the knowledge.  Fishermen.  Perhaps nearly illiterate.  Tradesmen.  People of the masses.  A women of former disrepute, and definitive demonic possession.  The blind, the lame, the healed, all considered blessed.  People who consistently knew they were not educated, or the smartest folks in the room.  People who knew their need where it comes to wisdom.  Babies.  The Father and the Son seem to always zero in on babies.  Babies are fully dependent.  They don’t carry out arguments about who is going to go to work today and earn the living for the family.  They don’t speak.  They don’t walk.  So none of their kind is prepared for providing anything.  They are instead blessed to be provided for.  That is supposed to be us.  Is it?

Jesus continues in verse 22 saying … “All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”  And here is the entire Bible summed up in two sentences.  “All things”.  Not some of them.  Are already known by the Father, including the most important thing, the identity of the Son.  It is that knowledge that is shared by the Father God, with those babies standing around following Jesus, both men and women.  And as far as who the Father God is; that is a portrait only the Son Jesus Christ can truly reveal.  To know Jesus is to know the Father God.  To reject Jesus is to reject the Father who sent Him.  For most of us the picture of who the Father is, is a complete shrouded mystery.  We think of Him in terms of retribution, revenge, punishment, and judgment.  But the Father is NO DIFFERENT than the Son in “who” He is, or what He is like.  He loves.  He loves so hard, He was willing to give up His only Son for you or me.  Take Jesus out of the equation and the Father goes back to sheer mystery.  Don’t count on your intellect to reason you a definition – cause only babies truly get it.  You can forget your legacy of wealth to help you here, cause again, only the fully dependent even begin to understand.  The folks who think they “can take care of themselves” have no idea who God really is.

This kind of truth, was Truth for the ages.  Since Adam, mankind had longed to see it up close and in person.  But Adam would die before it came.  Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samson, David, and all the OT prophets would pass away before Jesus enters the scene.  Even Biblical heroes were not so blessed as to see Jesus for 4000+ years.  Jesus recognizes this as he continues in verse 23 saying … “And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: [verse 24] For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”  Here Jesus lays out what real privilege is.  It has nothing to do with status.  No riches, or smarts, or even faith of the patriarchs gone by – it has to do with being babies who see their need, and cling to God to meet it.  Harvard would have netted me nothing with Jesus.  It might have even done damage to my faith in Him.  Legacy of wealth would have done nothing to recommend me to Jesus, it might have instead done damage to my ideas of self-reliance and kept me away from Jesus.  After all, why do the rich need anything from a Santa-clause God when they already have everything they want.  But Santa, is not who Jesus really is.

Babies however, are first in line at the privilege counter.  In times past brown babies had the advantage for many years, but eventually white babies were able to get in line when they finally started wanting to.  At this point in time however, we should not be thinking about this in racial terms at all.  But we should be thinking about it in the terms Jesus outlined for the favor of God the Father.  Are we self-aware enough to know our need?  Or have we determined we know everything we need to know, and have everything (even if only spiritual) we need to have.  As it turns out, I would love to be granted the privilege of knowing the identity of God the Father, and the Son.  If that means relinquishing all my acquired human wisdom for the doo-doo that it is; I am fine with that.  I understand that this wisdom is not a legacy I can pass on to my children, or have gifted to me by my parents.  It takes a one-on-one connection with Jesus – something that is just between Him and me.  My parents can point me to that, just like I hope to point my children to it.  But to grasp it, requires getting in baby mode, and submitting the core of who I am, to the One who is the source of all this Love and wisdom.  So much for Harvard, please enroll me in the cradle roll that Jesus leads.

 

An Army of Evangelists ...

If I want just two seconds of your attention these days, I need to creative about it.  In our society that seems tethered to cell phone screens (having little to do with actual conversations), media is king, and content is currency.  Attention spans are short, so if I can tweet about it, and perhaps attach a picture, or brief video; I have a shot.  But if my video is not about bunnies in teacups; or my kitty riding my dog like a horse – in exchange for which she provides extended professional masseuse sessions on his aging spine – I may still not hold that initial attention grab for very long.  So if you are an evangelist, attempting to still spread the word in a civilized country like ours – figuring out how to grab attention is a real conundrum.  Most of the evangelists I ever knew used fear.  Giant posters or road signs with horrific artist renderings of the end of the world.  Fire is a big staple on those images.  It is all around the edges, as if to say, don’t forget the hell fire.  That is the alternative if you do not listen to me.  And it worked, sort of.  People paid attention back in my day (but only for a while).  Fear wears off.  Daily life and routine win out.  And before you know it, life is back to whatever it used to be before encountering the evangelist.

Consequently, I have only ever encountered evangelists every so often.  They are not common, at least not as common as regular preachers, far more rare than deacons, and nearly a unicorn if measured against the regular member roles.  Maybe it takes special training to be an evangelist.  Maybe it takes special college degrees, not just divinity studies, but real extended practical training courses.  But then, who would give those courses?  Does Billy Graham have a summer study in this stuff?  Or maybe his son?  And given the attention span degeneration that has occurred over the last 2 decades, how effective is evangelism in the civilized world today?  Has it gone the way of the dinosaur?  I don’t think it was supposed to.  Seems to me there are still plenty of people right here in America, who barely know who Jesus is, let alone why He is important.  Maybe all those images of fire, have finally burned themselves out.  If so, good, if you ask me.  There has got to be a better reason to pay attention to Jesus, than to use Him as a fire escape in an afterlife with no tangible rewards in the here and now.  There is.  Just most of us have forgotten them, because we have been too busy, avoiding fire later, instead of embracing love now.

But then, our version of an evangelist, is quite a bit different from the first version.  I wonder if a remake is in order.  Luke provides quite the instruction manual in his gospel letter to his friend Theophilus about what they believe, and more importantly, why they believe it.  For this object lesson Luke picks up in chapter ten beginning in verse 1 it says … “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.”  Wow, so let’s begin at the beginning.  It is Jesus who picks out seventy more disciples or apostles, or in this case evangelists to go throughout the countryside and spread the word.  He pairs them up 2-by-2.  I wonder, was it one male and one female, like in the garden of Eden?  Most modern Christians just immediately assume the entire number of seventy were all men of roughly the same age, but there is nothing that specifies that.  In addition, no relative ages were ever identified.  And given Jesus’ fondness for the innocence of children, I wonder if any of them made up that number.  They may have been more effective than their aging counterparts in any case.  But once we blow away our preconceptions about “what kind of person” can be an evangelist, we boil the qualifications back down to “who” was willing.

What scripture also omits, is the idea that these 70 were all vetted through evangelism school.  There was no degree required.  No Rabbi approval list prior to engagement.  Nope.  Seems more like, if you knew who Jesus was, believed in Him, and you were willing to accept the call, you could qualify.  Jesus then gives some advice to the 35 pairs of evangelists he has just called continuing in verse 2 saying … “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. [verse 3] Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.”  Next, then just like it is now, even in our own country, the harvest is ready.  Many Christians in America are familiar with the “idea” of Jesus Christ, but so few really know why that is important and what it could mean to them personally.  And beyond the Christian community, the average American citizen is in such desperate need of a better life, a fuller life, a life where love exists without limits.  That is what Jesus brings.  That is only the beginning of why it matters for those who truly know Jesus.   And because those who don’t know Him ache to hear that message.

What kind of attitude the evangelist is to carry in his/her work also matters.  Jesus says we are to be lambs (baby sheep) among wolves (adult killing machines).  This is not a lamb to puppy comparison.  It is a lamb to ravenous wolf comparison.  And there is intent in that comparison.  We are not supposed to be going out there armed-to-the-teeth with weapons of self-defense, ready to kill any wolf who even looks cross eyed at us, or gets too close to the flock.  No, if we live, is a question of how God thinks our lives best serve His cause, and the redemption of those we are looking to save by pointing them to Jesus.  Jesus could have armed us up, and sent us out as lions among wolves, but He purposely did not.  He wants us to think of ourselves as sheep, not even adult sheep in this case, but as baby sheep, as lambs.  The average Roman soldier in the days of Jesus was an adult killing machine.  So was the average militant Sanhedrin member intent on maintaining his power and authority.  You don’t change their minds by killing them.  You begin to penetrate those walls of hatred by shining only love on them.  Indeed, the Roman empire was not conquered by enemies, it was transformed from within by love that is more powerful than martyrdom.  That is not a popular message for modern Christians, but it is still one we need to adopt.

Jesus continues his admonitions in verse 4 saying … “Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. [verse 5] And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. [verse 6] And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. [verse 7] And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.”  Church, even back then, was not to be stagnant.  It was to be ever moving forward.  Evangelists were not to be content going to the Temple and waiting for the penitent to come to them.  No, instead they were to be going to every single place a person lived, and bringing the gospel to them, right where they were.  And how were we to prepare for this motion, for this movement.  Well to start, forget about the finances.  Right up-front Jesus says, take no money.  Nada.  Nothing.  No accumulated missions’ funds designed for such a purpose.  No preplanning.  Just go.  And while you’re at it, don’t bother with extra shoes, or extra clothing.  Take what you have on, and go.

No time to salute, or make niceties along the way, that have nothing to do with your destination or purpose.  Let even your small talk, be small talk about new life in Jesus Christ.  And so how will you be cared for, i.e., where will you sleep, eat, etc.?  In a stranger’s house, who is willing to provide these things to you for the sake of charity.  And if this house is open to the message of Jesus, it will be blessed with peace, from your stay there.  If it is not open, then your peace will depart with you when you leave it.  While you are there as a guest, you were to eat and drink such things as the homeowners were willing to share with you.  So much for preplanning menus, food allergies, taste preferences, etc.  Just eat, drink, and be grateful.  Jesus reasons that the work of evangelism you do, is worth having someone else provide for your needs, so that you are able to focus on that work of pointing souls to Jesus.  Mind you, this was not a get rich quick scheme.  Nowhere in this was any mention of gold or silver or donations of any kind past that of food and lodging.  Evangelists should least of all be worried about wealth.  At least the wealth of this world measured in money.  But instead the wealth of the next world measured in souls pointed to Jesus who we will one day spend eternity with as Jesus saves them and us.  To this end, the evangelist need not move from house to house once they find a home that is willing to share.  Instead stay put there, and do your work from that place, until you are ready to leave that region.

Jesus continues in verse 8 saying … “And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: [verse 9] And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”  Again Jesus makes the point about being grateful to your host and your God for the food that is set before you.  But then your duties are to heal the sick, and to preach unto them that the Kingdom of God has come near to you.  So let’s hold the presses right there.  An evangelist, be it a man, woman, child, or person of elderly experience, is to heal the sick of the region they are ministering to.  No preconditions for “sick” listed either.  All diseases.  All conditions.  Anything that involves health, should be remedied.  And for anyone in need, not just the rich, not just the poor.  Since none of these 70 were presumably doctors, and even doctors have limits as Luke could attest, the healing would be miracles and that power could alone come from Jesus and in His name.  A better life begins with the removal of health problems that distract our attention.  None of the evangelists I ever met, were also healers.  In fact, healers today are more rare than unicorns or dinosaurs – and for no explicable reason given what I read here.  But I would bet that if someone cured your cancer in the name of Jesus Christ, you might be extremely interested in Jesus – cause that is life and death to you – quite literally.

You will notice the lack of hellfire threats in this message entirely.  But there is to be cognizance of your decisions to accept or reject Jesus.  That decision is not a casual one.  It is the most important one any human will ever face.  There will inevitably be those who prefer their riches, or their unbridled lusts, to what looks to them a very boring Jesus Christ.  Yet those who prefer sin, are not to be killed (remember the baby sheep thing).  They are still targets for saving.  But to illustrated to them how important this decision remains, Jesus had further advice.  He continues in verse 10 saying … “But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, [verse 11] Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. [verse 12] But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.”  Shaking the dust off was meant to impress those who refused Jesus that there was still time, and it was still needed, to change their minds.  It was not instant death.  Nor was it instant judgment.  But it was important and meant to impact them.

Then Jesus thinks about His own ministry and how despite His successes there still remain those who refuse His love.  Imagine that.  Those who refused His love right there in person.  But then, don’t we do the same thing every time we choose to sin instead of choose to love?  Jesus continues in verse 13 saying … “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. [verse 14] But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. [verse 15] And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. [verse 16] He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.”  And there it is.  These cities Jesus mentions had great works performed in them.  Capernaum was Peter’s home, and Jesus spent no small amount of time stopping in there periodically.  Yet despite how much time Jesus spent in Capernaum, too many still refused to accept Him there.

Then comes the domino theory no-one today likes.  When people reject the evangelist, they reject Jesus who sent them.  When they reject Jesus, they reject the Father God who sent Him.  Yikes.  Might make you more willing to host an evangelist next time they come to town huh?  But deeper than our charitable instincts, this also has a profound impact even on religions where we share a great deal in common.  The Jewish faith was the precursor to our own.  But when it rejects Jesus, it rejects the only way back to the Father God.  In effect it cuts itself off from Abraham’s God through its own choice of non-belief in God’s only Son.  This is not beyond redemption, but it requires a new way of thinking and believing to get back on redemption’s road.  One does not have to abandon the traditions of the Jewish faith, to add Jesus and evolve them going forward.  But to omit Jesus, is to extinguish hope.  And for Islam, which relies upon it’s own sacred text, and traces its roots back to Abraham’s God.  Again, delegating the title prophet to Jesus, is simply not enough.  It is generous, but not generous enough.  And these are faith’s where we share so much.  Imagine the total blackout that occurs in pagan traditions and cultures where Jesus is completely unimportant.  Those roads can only lead to utter darkness masquerading as something else.  There are not many pathways to God, there is only one, and it travels through Jesus.  Your journey may well be unique.  But your Savior is not, there is only one of Him.

So what happened with this original army of evangelists Jesus sent out?  Luke continues in verse 17 saying … “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. [verse 18] And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. [verse 19] Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. [verse 20] Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”  It went awesome!  The evangelists reported that even demon possession was undone in the name of Jesus Christ.  When was the last time you met a modern evangelist who in addition to being a healer was also an exorcist?  Jesus reminds them that Satan will always plot to kill the gospel whenever he can.  One of the most common ways to get rid of somebody in those days was to poison them.  Slip some snake or scorpion venom in a drink, or sprinkle it over food, and you get a dead guy with nobody to blame.  Kings had food tasters for this very reason.  But Jesus says, evangelists don’t need to worry about it.  While they do their important work, none of this poison will be allowed to affect them.  This was not an invitation to live carelessly, but it was an invitation to live without fear.

But says Jesus, casting out demons is not the happy news.  Having your names written in the book of life in heaven is the outstanding news.  That is more important than miracles.  It is hard for me to imagine an evangelist who in addition to healing, casts out demons, and is immune to poison.  That seems like a lot to ask.  But no less than 70 new evangelists lived exactly that way.  And how many more, when the new church exploded after the resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Maybe that is what we need.  A look backwards, way backwards to the first army that went out like baby lambs in the Lord’s name.  What I find noticeably missing in this entire object lesson Luke recalls is the mention of threats, and hellfire as part of the message that needs to be delivered.  Prophecy was not brought up once.  Conjecture about the end of the world was not brought up once.  The end of the world is NOT supposed to be the focus of any first-tier evangelist.  Instead, the gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ is supposed to be the only message we focus on.  Jesus is not a threat.  He is a promise fulfilled.  Jesus is more than a means of our salvation, He is a means of finding a better life, a real life, a healthy life, a demon free life.

No matter what age we live in, that message is STILL relevant.  Love never gets old.  Being healthy never gets old.  Finding a way to become someone better than you are today, never gets old.  And since Jesus does the work to make sure all of this happens, connecting people with Jesus becomes so dramatically important.  Nominal ideas about “Jesus” are not the same as a trusting relationship with Jesus that yields benefits to you in the here and now.  Let’s ditch the flame pictures; and put up pictures of superman with a caption that states – this could be you.  Let’s start focusing the mind’s eye on just how good, good can be.  We spend too much time mired down in mediocrity.  It is time to reimagine church as a movement, evangelists at the forefront of that movement, and the wake of it filled with happy, healthy, people who would not trade Jesus for anything.