- Sermon - Mickey Anders

Text: Luke 10:1-11

In my last meeting with the Cabinet moderator, one of the topics was setting in motion the process for this year's nominating committee. The nominating committee is responsible for recruiting volunteers for the various committees and other leadership roles in the church. If you have ever served on this committee, you know it is always a challenging position.

Every church, whether large or small, scrambles to find the workers for all the committee and teaching positions. The church is a volunteer organization, and has been from the start. We are reminded of that fact in our text for today.

Verse 1 says, "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." Some manuscripts read seventy and others read seventy-two, and we cannot determine with authority which is correct. I suspect it doesn't matter if it was seventy or seventy-two.

But there are some symbolic possibilities for the number seventy. The most like one is that Genesis 10 lists seventy as the number of the nations of the world. If that is the case, then Jesus was symbolically sending a representative to every nation of the world to spread the news about the Kingdom of God.

Jesus was doing the same thing that we in the church do every year - recruiting volunteers. Jesus appointed seventy and sent them in pairs. We get the impression from this text that they were to go as an advance team to prepare the way for him to come later. We almost get the feeling of a modern day campaign throughout the area.

1) A sense of vision

Verse two may be the key verse in the whole passage. In it, Jesus says, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

The first requirement for this mission was to have a sense of vision. Jesus looked on the surrounding areas and saw, not a hard-hearted and sinful people who were not likely to respond to the Good News, but a harvest that is plentiful.

I remember the importance of the harvest while I was serving as a pastor in a small farming community in Eastern Arkansas. The whole community waxed and waned according to the seasons of the crops. In the dead of winter, there was very little business activity. The farmers were waiting for the spring time when their work could begin. Then when spring finally arrived, there was a mad dash to get the crops in. Tractors kicked up dust in every corner of the county, soon followed by crop dusters laying on fertilizer and weed control. When the crops grew to a certain stage, they were said to be "laid by." The crops were laid by, and there was once again nothing to do but wait. Finally, the time for harvest came. There was another mad dash to get the crops out before storms laid them down or heavy rains prevented them from getting into the fields. I will never forget the sight of thousands of acres of golden rice bending over with the heavy fruit.

Jesus looked at people and saw such a harvest scene. He said, "The harvest is plentiful." I suspect that not everyone saw what Jesus saw. Some looked around and saw only difficulty and problems. But Jesus saw a harvest.

I wonder what we see. I am convinced that seeing is one of the important keys to church growth. Some churches see only drought stricken weeds, and others see a ready harvest. I wonder which kind of church we will be.

I really do believe that a sense of vision is one of the great needs for our church. What do we see? I suspect that for almost 200 years South Elkhorn Christian Church has seen a vision of itself as a pleasant and comfortable country church. Many of you came to this church with just such a vision. It was the church with the red doors outside of Lexington. It was a small country church. It was a family church.

But what do we see today? Lexington has come to us! We are now surrounded by thousands of homes with thousands and thousands of people. It would take a blind person to look at this church field and not see a plentiful harvest waiting for laborers.

I hope that we will have the kind of eyes that we can see as Jesus did. I hope that we will see men and women, boys and girls who need to be welcomed into the Kingdom of God. I hope we will see a mission field all around us and see ourselves a missionaries.

Some people see the glass as half-full; others see it as half-empty. Which will we be? Some people will only see our problems and our weaknesses. They will only talk about what we can't do, what we don't have the resources to accomplish. Others will dream big dreams and see the possibilities that lie before us.

I am convinced that our future is as big as we can see it to be. Let us see like Jesus did - the harvest is plentiful.

2) The Need for Laborers

But Jesus saw things from a nominating committee perspective as well. He followed up by saying, "The laborers are few." Isn't that always the case? There never seem to be enough workers for the tasks at hand in the church.

In business circles, they often talk about the Pareto principle, which says that eighty percent of the results can be attributed to twenty percent of the causes. That means that a few star salespeople typically account for most sales. So 20% of the sales force produces 80% of the sales. This rule also applies to the church, where 20% of the people give 80% of the money, where 20% of the people do 80% of the work. I think our church has a higher ratio than that because our people are wonderful volunteers, but there are never enough. The laborers are few, Jesus said.

Many people don't feel they have to be laborers in the church. They usually think, "Someone else will do it." I recently read a humorous article which was an obituary for "Someone Else." It went like this:

The church was saddened to learn this week of the sudden and unexpected death of one our church's most active members - Someone Else. All of us must reflect upon this very sobering news.

Some Else's passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person's share of the work. Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results: "Someone Else can work with the Children's Church." When there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend… "Let Someone Else do it." And Someone Else did.

It was common knowledge that Someone Else was one of the largest givers in the church. Whenever there was a financial need everyone assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference.

Someone Else was a wonderful person it seems, sometimes appearing to be super-human. But a person can do only so much. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. And now Someone Else is gone!

We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do those things we were always willing to let Someone Else do? This tragic death means, of course, that we can no longer depend on Someone Else to do everything for us. If all the areas of ministry and needs that exist here are to be taken care of, then we must do them together. (anonymous)

The pew-sitters are many, but the laborers are few. We must pray that the Lord will persuade the less active to become more active –– but we must also trust the Lord to provide for the church's true needs.

3) A sense of urgency

In verse 4, Jesus told them to avoid greetings on their journey. Oriental greetings were often long-winded and involved elaborate protocol, and the task was too pressing for such. A sense of urgency is essential to mission. Without it, some other concern will always arise to delay it, and mission will continue waiting for its "tomorrow."

Jesus is not calling disciples to be rude, but is rather telling them not to be sidetracked by social niceties. The mission is urgent, and requires their full attention. Disciples are to be as single-minded as an athlete in a crucial game –– or a firefighter at a fire –– or a paramedic at a crash scene. Distraction can be fatal.

The church today needs to hear this. Many Christians today do not feel this sense of urgency.

For a farmer, harvest-time is the most urgent season of the year. Modern equivalents include tax season for the accountant; Christmas season for the merchant; final exams for students and teachers; deployment for soldiers; and deadlines for the journalist.

Theologian James McClendon tells us that he believes that they are traveling "under sealed orders." Before a difficult, perilous voyage, sometimes a captain of the ship was given sealed orders. These orders were not to be opened until the ship was well underway. Perhaps the ship was given sealed orders because, if the sailors knew the destination in advance, they would never dare to set sail!

And this journey may be dangerous. That is one reason why Jesus sent them in pairs. Going in pairs also strengthens resolve. A person alone quickly becomes discouraged; partners are more likely to persevere.

In verse three, Jesus says, "Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves."

Jesus only recently foretold his death and resurrection and "set his face to go to Jerusalem," where he will suffer and die. He experienced rejection in a Samaritan village. He told his disciples that they, too, would bear a cross and lose their lives. Now he warns them that he is sending them as defenseless lambs into the midst of wolves.

4) Freedom from material concerns

"Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals" (v. 4a). Jesus gave similar instructions at the commissioning of the twelve. The disciples are to trust in God to provide for their needs, and are not to encumber themselves with possessions.

The seventy were to be supported by those to whom they witnessed. The Christian witness was to stay in a home receptive to his message, a place where he was welcome. He should expect to be fed and lodged there, to be free from the concern of meeting his physical needs.

When Jesus bade the seventy to carry no coin purse, no bag for clothes, no sandals other than those on their feet (v. 4), he was not calling them to be beggars but was urging them to take as few encumbrances as possible on their mission. The task was urgent, and they were to strip themselves of all other concerns as much as possible.

"Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide" (v. 7a). A self-serving disciple would be tempted to move from hospitality to hospitality –– always seeking better food and lodging. Jesus commands the seventy to forego that kind of self-serving behavior and to focus on the purpose for which they have come.

"Eat what is set before you" (v. 8b). For the time being, the issue is only the quality of food and not whether it is kosher –– the seventy will be working among Jews and Samaritans who observe similar dietary laws. However, in later years, Christian missionaries will move into Gentile neighborhoods where Jewish dietary laws are not observed, and the same principle will apply –– effective witness is more important than the disciple's personal sensibilities (Acts 10; Romans 14:13-23; 1 Corinthians 8).

The missionary task is urgent because its message is ultimate - salvation or destruction, life or death. Jesus' final instructions to the seventy emphasize this. To those who respond to their message, the kingdom of God has come near. Those who reject it are themselves rejected. The disciples are even to openly demonstrate this by the symbolic act of shaking the town's dust from their feet. They are obviously to move on to the next town where there may be "sons of peace" open to the message of God's kingdom. The ultimate judgment resides with the response to the hearer. The messenger's responsibility is sole to be faithful to the message.