July 4th 2010
Luke 10: 1 – 11, 16 – 20
“Traveling Light”

Grace, mercy and peace to you this day in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

We are “moving on” today; moving on from our sermon texts of the last two Sundays. For the past two weeks the words of Jesus and the words of Paul have encouraged us to love inclusively, to bring the Gospel message to all of God’s people. We decided as a community that it was far better to be a good example of the inclusive love of the gospel then horrible warnings of what happens when we are not. Today, we hear of fellow sojourners for the Kingdom who took steps out in the direction Jesus had pointed them. Today we are taking the message of God’s love and salvation in Christ “on the road.”

In today’s gospel 70 or 72 followers of Jesus (depending on which manuscript your read) were sent out into the world with the message that God’s reign had broken into the world and brought His kingdom in Christ to a dying, starving, hopeless people. The 70 or 72 followers in this message were to bring this message of Shalom, a peace beyond peace. In order to do so they were told to “travel light”.

One of my personal goals in life is to minimize my “stuff”, something I fail to be able to do with any success. I’d love to get to a point of a “paperless” office” as an example. Just yesterday Jodi and I were discussing what it would take for me to “free” myself of the burdensome “stuff” in my basket case, my computer case, my lunch carrier, my purse and any of a variety of other things I simply MUST have with me in order to function as a pastor. What did I need to shed in order to travel light as did those 70 or 72 in today’s gospel text? As a disciple what did I really need to bring the message of God’s love and salvation to Christ to the world?

Friday night Dave and I were watching the History Channel’s marathon presentation of the story of the United States. We heard an interesting fact about the war of 1812, a vignette on the battle of North Point. Immediately my mind slid to today’s gospel. The British soldiers, fresh from successful raids in Bladensburg and Washington were on their way to Baltimore for one more engagement. On their way to North Point many succumbed to the heat of the September sun, the fatigue from carrying all of their gear and military arms. They literally fell dead on to the side of the road, unable to complete the campaign which cost the British the battle of the day. I got to thinking….. is that what happens to Christians as we carry the message of God’s love and salvation for all into the world? Jesus sends disciples out for three reasons: to preach, teach, and heal in God’s name and to God’s glory. How can we participate in this mission if we don’t “travel light? How can our hands be free to touch and heal giving comfort to the sick if we are busy counting heads, money and possessions? What happens if we waste time and energy carrying our purses tightly closed forgetting that what is in them is to be used to serve the people of God? How can our hearts be open and receptive, ready to preach the saving grace of God if we are carrying the weight of hurt, pain, anger, and resentment here in our own chests? How can we speak the good news of Christ if our words are strangling in our throats because those to which we have been called live, act, smell, eat and dress differently then we do? How can we teach that the kingdom of God is at hand to all of God’s children if we are too busy building and storing up in our own earthy castles ;“stuff” that gives comfort for a season and only leaves us wanting more?

Jesus promises that the harvest to which we are sent is plentiful, ripe for the picking. We will need to have open hearts, open hands as we go on the road with his message of love. Jesus calls us to a vulnerability on this road as well. The soldiers on the North Point road did not want to be caught “off guard” yet their “stuff” became their ending. We too often seek to find strength in the wrong things of the world. Jesus calls us out as “lambs among wolves” to trust him and his message as all sufficient. We are to be open and empty as bearers of God’s word of love, his Kingdom in this world; hands open, hearts free, purses untied trusting the master on the road for all things. Jesus then and now empowers his disciples for the mission he has set before them. He did not and does not do the work for them; he empowers them to accomplish that to which he has called them. We cannot accept this empowerment my friends if we are burdened with the stuff of the world which we feel gives us power. God is responsible for the growth of the communities called in his name. We are called to be open, plan, organize and work in such a way that anticipates God’s work and provision. This knowledge lightens the load of any traveler!

Jesus reminds us, as he did the 70 or 72 that there is something even more significant then the successes of his disciples with the harvest. The eternal relationship with God that we enjoy through Christ matters more that any earthly and spiritual successes. Open hands and arms carrying the message of God’s grace in Christ is an invitation for all to be one in mission and love, to be a good example of that grace for all of God’s people is what we are called to be, to God’s glory!
Pastor Bettye