Here's a question for you: Are you willing to be a laborer? Jesus sent out a minuscule 70 people to proclaim the kingdom of God and to prepare the way of the Lord.
Those 70 were disciples, that much is obvious. If they hadn't been, Jesus wouldn't have, or couldn't have, appointed them for the mission for which he sent them. They were disciples because they were following Jesus to Jerusalem. Last week, remember, Jesus rebuked those who wanted to follow him. Or, if not rebuked, at least let them know that discipleship was serious business and they needed to understand that.
Jesus had set his face towards Jerusalem and he needed to let would-be disciples know that foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. These 70 knew that. These 70 were ready for the hard work of discipleship. So Jesus sends them out to evey place he himself would be going.
It was in that mission that they were also prophets of God. One of the jobs of a prophet is to proclaim and prepare people for the kingdom of God. Our role model for this is John the Baptist. He was sent ahead to prepare the way of the Lord. These 70 are doing that exact same thing. They were sent ahead to prepare the way of the Lord.
Notice that he didn't send them to convert people. He sent them to prepare the people for his coming. They were to meet people where they were. They were to develop relationships. And if people weren't willing to accept them, they were to simply say that the kingdom of God has come near and depart with a warning. The 70 weren't responsibile for the choices of the townspeople.
The 70 were disciples. The 70 were prophets. The 70 weren't responsible for converting people. But the 70 were responsible for faithfully following Jesus, for proclaiming the kingdom of God, and for meeting people where they were.
There is also something else the 70 were: They were in the minority. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. There is more to be harvested than are sufficient workers. But that didn't stop Jesus from sending them, nor did it stop them from answering his call.
Also notice that they were sent without a purse, bag or sandals. This small group of people were sent out with basically nothing but their faith to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near.
They had no prepackaged VBS program. They had no PowerPoint presentations. They had no praise band, single men's group, single women's group, contemporary worship, traditional worship, Wednesday night bible study, teen group, young adult group, or even a copy of Seven Habits of Highly Successful Congregations or The Purpose Driven Life. In short, they had exactly what we have here: not much.
If anybody can relate to the 70, it shoud be us. No programs. No small groups (heck, we ARE a small group). No multiple services. No snazzy stage show. But we have exaclty what they had -- faith and a willingness to proclaim the gospel.
And you know what? It's enough. They were successful. They came back from their mission rejoicing that even the demons submitted to them. It reminds me of my younger days at summer camp, or of seeing someone come back from a retreat or successful mission. You feel like there isn't anything you can't accomplish. You almost feel spiritually invincible.
Amidst all that excitement, Jesus reminds them that it isn't about them. Don't rejoice that the demons submitted to you. This isn't about what you can do. It's not about your power. It's not about how many people you think you've converted. Rather, it's about rejoicing that disciples and prophets are written in the book of heaven. It's about rejoicing that people who were invited have accepted that invitation.
Today, we are the few laborers of the plentiful harvest. We are the ones who should be rejoicing. What we need to be successful, what Jesus needs to be successful, is you. You need to be willing to follow. You need to be willing to proclaim. You need to be willing to rejoice. If you aren't willing, then we might as well close the doors right now.
You see, we don't need snazzy programs or flashy stage shows to proclaim the kingdom of God. We don't need as ASA of 150 with three kinds of services to be successful. What we need to be successful are people who are willing to follow Jesus on the hard road to Jersualem. What we need to be successful are people willing to be prophets and prepare the way of the Lord. What we need to be successful, is you.
Those 70 were disciples, that much is obvious. If they hadn't been, Jesus wouldn't have, or couldn't have, appointed them for the mission for which he sent them. They were disciples because they were following Jesus to Jerusalem. Last week, remember, Jesus rebuked those who wanted to follow him. Or, if not rebuked, at least let them know that discipleship was serious business and they needed to understand that.
Jesus had set his face towards Jerusalem and he needed to let would-be disciples know that foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. These 70 knew that. These 70 were ready for the hard work of discipleship. So Jesus sends them out to evey place he himself would be going.
It was in that mission that they were also prophets of God. One of the jobs of a prophet is to proclaim and prepare people for the kingdom of God. Our role model for this is John the Baptist. He was sent ahead to prepare the way of the Lord. These 70 are doing that exact same thing. They were sent ahead to prepare the way of the Lord.
Notice that he didn't send them to convert people. He sent them to prepare the people for his coming. They were to meet people where they were. They were to develop relationships. And if people weren't willing to accept them, they were to simply say that the kingdom of God has come near and depart with a warning. The 70 weren't responsibile for the choices of the townspeople.
The 70 were disciples. The 70 were prophets. The 70 weren't responsible for converting people. But the 70 were responsible for faithfully following Jesus, for proclaiming the kingdom of God, and for meeting people where they were.
There is also something else the 70 were: They were in the minority. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. There is more to be harvested than are sufficient workers. But that didn't stop Jesus from sending them, nor did it stop them from answering his call.
Also notice that they were sent without a purse, bag or sandals. This small group of people were sent out with basically nothing but their faith to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near.
They had no prepackaged VBS program. They had no PowerPoint presentations. They had no praise band, single men's group, single women's group, contemporary worship, traditional worship, Wednesday night bible study, teen group, young adult group, or even a copy of Seven Habits of Highly Successful Congregations or The Purpose Driven Life. In short, they had exactly what we have here: not much.
If anybody can relate to the 70, it shoud be us. No programs. No small groups (heck, we ARE a small group). No multiple services. No snazzy stage show. But we have exaclty what they had -- faith and a willingness to proclaim the gospel.
And you know what? It's enough. They were successful. They came back from their mission rejoicing that even the demons submitted to them. It reminds me of my younger days at summer camp, or of seeing someone come back from a retreat or successful mission. You feel like there isn't anything you can't accomplish. You almost feel spiritually invincible.
Amidst all that excitement, Jesus reminds them that it isn't about them. Don't rejoice that the demons submitted to you. This isn't about what you can do. It's not about your power. It's not about how many people you think you've converted. Rather, it's about rejoicing that disciples and prophets are written in the book of heaven. It's about rejoicing that people who were invited have accepted that invitation.
Today, we are the few laborers of the plentiful harvest. We are the ones who should be rejoicing. What we need to be successful, what Jesus needs to be successful, is you. You need to be willing to follow. You need to be willing to proclaim. You need to be willing to rejoice. If you aren't willing, then we might as well close the doors right now.
You see, we don't need snazzy programs or flashy stage shows to proclaim the kingdom of God. We don't need as ASA of 150 with three kinds of services to be successful. What we need to be successful are people who are willing to follow Jesus on the hard road to Jersualem. What we need to be successful are people willing to be prophets and prepare the way of the Lord. What we need to be successful, is you.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment