Social Religion 7-3-22
Social Religion
Gal 6:1-6; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Gal 6:1-6
My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads. Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
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. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain 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. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Prayer – Gracious God, we give thanks that you have chosen to pour out your grace upon us, not as isolated individuals, or lone free agents, but as a group. You have set us within the church. Thereby you have introduced us to friends whom we would not have known without you, you have given us people we need to share your passionate story of love, grace and peace – as a social religion, help us to follow and share the gospel – amen.
Jesus sent out seventy people in pairs, empowering them to bring peace, to heal the sick, and to proclaim the kingdom of God. Initially, he sent them to every town and village where he intended to go, saying, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few . . .” I believe this particular story in the life of Jesus and the early Christian church has implications for our own communities of faith. This story gives us a rare window into what it looked like to follow Jesus in the first generation.
Sending these disciples out with the first proclamation that sounds deceptively simple – whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” This word of peace is the first word, the opening word, the announcing word. Notice that Jesus doesn’t tell them to do any sort of spiritual assessment before making this proclamation. He doesn’t ask them to determine whether this house follows the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or whether this house has kept the law or whether this house is likely to receive the good news Jesus brings. Jesus doesn’t ask them to do a risk assessment or pre-judge whether this house is worthy of their time.
Jesus sent those first seventy out to do as he has done – to preach and to teach and to heal. Jesus came to reconcile human beings to the God of all creation AND to one another. Jesus didn’t come to change God’s mind about us, rather to change our minds about God. And so he reminded his followers that God’s love surpasses anyone’s understanding and the importance of living into that love by engaging others in the ministry of justice and mercy. Jesus said to that first seventy as he says to us today, “Go.”
Those first disciples were not the only travelers on the road who had to rely on the hospitality of people who didn’t know them. The first seventy join people of every time and age who travel without resources, a group of wanderers and refugees, of aimless people and people who have a goal, whether it is asylum or escape, or even a chance to earn money to support their family. There have always been people on the road, then and now, and they have most frequently been met with hospitality and sometimes with hostility.
I don’t know about you but I’m a light packer when I go on a trip, very different from my wife who packs way too much. We are headed to Colorado week after next for a few days of relaxation before we move and I’ve got my stuff laid out – several pairs of hiking shorts, t-shirts, a couple of golf shirts for dinners, underwear, socks, hiking shoes, Birk’s, and my toiletries – a carry on suitcase and my book bag for my IPad, meds and snacks. Valerie hasn’t started packing but I can imagine hiking clothes, several pairs of jeans, shirts for hiking and going out at night, hiking shoes, Birk’s, tennis shoes, bathing suit, and her toiletries – probably not a carry on. Jesus wanted the seventy to take far less – as in nothing – no money, no anything – just what they happened to be wearing. They are to be dependent on the kindness of strangers.
Hmmm, not sure I could go on the road for Jesus – I would at least need clean underwear, that was a life lesson my mother taught me. And some soap because I sweat like a moose and need a daily shower. But those first disciples were sent out with no clean underwear or soap for a shower, and they will find out who their friends are – the ones who welcome them, whether they are known or not.
As those disciples entered into the homes of strangers, announcing peace to those who live there, it was done with a dependence on the hospitality of their hosts. In ancient Palestine, hospitality was highly-valued, but just like today, not everyone welcomed strangers even those who bring peace. Back then, just like today, there are some homes and communities where peace is spurned because it may mean giving up power over others or may be perceived as weakness. It the residents are unwilling to hear words of peace, then the disciples moved on to another place where it may be welcomed.
While I was in seminary we took a 3 week immersion trip to Central America. I was more often than not stunned by the gracious hospitality of the people of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala. While in Nicaragua we went out from the cities to learn more about the indigenous people of the country. Poverty was beyond anything I had ever seen, the average annual income of many of the people we visited was around $1500. Yet, what I found were people who not only opened their homes to us, but shared everything they had. One family I stayed with lived in a combination cardboard and tin shanty. About three rooms, no indoor plumbing, an open fire outside to cook the meal – they shared their last chicken with me at that meal, they offered me the bed the parents shared and they literally bent over backwards to make me feel welcome. I recall the peace in that household; I remember the deep hospitality offered even though we could barely communicate because of language; and I remember the deep humility I felt at their kindness and graciousness.
In contrast to that I remember walking around the capital of Nicaragua, Managua, encountering military in some areas and seeing barrios filled with thousands of people right across the street from wealthy neighborhood where homes were guarded day and night. We had weapons pulled on us by military and police more times than I want to remember and the contrast between the hospitality of the poor and fear of the wealthy was marked. It was a life lesson about who is willing to give and who wants to protect what they have.
After Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, the good news of the God’s reconciling work depended on a network of people who had witnessed what God had done. It became a social religion where two or more gathered to remember the life of Jesus, who frequently shared in a meal, and remembered the love of God shown through Jesus. If Jesus had not empowered those disciples to go and proclaim God’s kingdom, this important message may well have been silenced. Proclaiming the kingdom is a communal and relational activity to which the whole body of Christ’s followers have been commissioned. Those first seventy went out together, two by two, and met with others, gathered as a small groups to share peace, a meal, and a promise that God’s kingdom is real, now and always.
This intentional empowering and sending out reminds the church today that we need to be engaged in the same empowerment and reconciling activity. Too often Christian churches today are captured with concern over a leaky roof or outdated buildings. We anguish over a lack of participation in worship; we spend an inordinate amount of time feeling anxious about the demise of our church and forget that like the seventy of our gospel story, we have been empowered and called to go out and share the good news of God’s reconciling work in the world today.
Being willing to go out and share the good news of peace and of God’s reign is hard work, it isn’t easy by any means. People today are busy with this and that and the other, as my grandmother used to say. Church today has lost much of its drawing power – it has become a place of feel good messages, of prosperity and of loud music – and far too many are indifferent about the church today.
So our challenge today is whether we are willing to go into a world that may not want to hear, a world that has become indifferent. Our challenge today is to find the places where peace and wholeness is needed, where healing and reconciliation is welcomed rather than discarded, where food and sustenance is shared. That is why we can’t just focus on our four walls, the insides of this church, but go out, go where we can bring God’s love and peace to fill in the broken places of our world. That is what it means to ‘go’; to share in a social religion that indeed can bring about the healing and reconciliation that makes God’s kingdom as real and relevant and making a difference as ever – may it be so – thanks be to God – amen.