Know this:
the kingdom of God has come near.
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.
If you recall,
last week Jesus set his face
to Jerusalem.
He’s on that path still,
and we’ll hear it for most of the summer.
Last week he was rejected by a Samaritan village –
don’t want rabble rousers around –
and invited people to reject him
by telling them
some of the costs of discipleship.
As his message continues to grow,
he tells those who have stayed with him
that even more may hear it.
He’s preached to Jews and Gentiles
and even Samaritans
and is now sending out 70 or 72
to carry his message with them.
Jesus’ movement is growing,
and it is making religious and government officials
antsy.
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem,
having set his face like flint,
to confront those same leaders.
He sends these groups of two ahead of him
Ambassadors of God’s reign.
He warns them
that they are being sent
like lambs among wolves.
They are to travel lightly,
and as they go to proclaim
to the houses that welcome them
“The Kingdom of God has come near.”
Not long ago I was meeting with the bishop
and observed to him that I’ve found
church growth is hard
because everyone wants to try everything
except what demonstrably,
research-based,
works:
inviting people to church.
His eyes grew wide
as he pursed his lips
with a knowing smile.
It was the facial expression best articulated as
“Welp!”
We have voted to grow,
and we’re on a tight timeline.
The hesitations we have
about inviting people to church
are legion.
What if they say no?
They’re already not here.
What if they think
I’m a religious zealot?
Depending on the invitation you offer
that should be a pretty big jump!
What if they think
I’m like those other Christians
whose politics seem committed
to destroying lives
in order to claim power?
I know y’all.
The way you live your lives
demonstrates that you’re not.
The way you live your lives
demonstrates that your faith
is what motivates and sustains you.
Am I willing to go ahead
as Jesus’ ambassador
like a sheep among wolves
traveling lightly
proclaiming that the kingdom of God
has come near?
That’s what it comes down to,
isn’t it?
The fields to which Jesus sends
these missionary evangelists
are ripe for the picking.
The harvest is plentiful,
Jesus tells them,
but the laborers are few.
These people on the outposts
of an empire that’s starting to die
have so much to be scared of.
The people around us,
living or working on 99
or working with us
or tending or needs
have plenty to be scared of, too.
Last week I talked about
my family not being safe.
Chris Geidner pointed out that
in this Supreme Court term
parents have the right to opt their children out
of learning about the existence of queer people…
but parents of trans children
don’t have the right to keep them safe
with life-affirming and life-saving healthcare.
It’s too early to see
just how bad people’s lives are going to get
with the implementation of
the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
These are the scenarios
that Jesus sends the 70
and to which Jesus sends us.
He’s warned them
that he has no place to lay his head
and that those who follow him
have to follow him,
without bidding their families farewell.
Jesus knows that they’re going
as potential subversives
and that is a danger to them.
He’s set his face to Jerusalem,
and he’s going to the cross.
Neither Jesus’ life nor following Jesus
is safe –
physically or emotionally or spiritually.
In spite of all that
because Jesus has come
to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
In that central message and ministry of Jesus
he sends the 72 out to proclaim
that the kingdom of God has drawn near.
It’s right here,
waiting to be seen and realized.
When the 70 return,
it’s not despondent or forlorn.
Jesus has told them to move on
when people aren’t ready to hear his message.
They return with joy, though
because even the demons submit to them
when they act and speak
in Jesus’ name.
The evil powers of this world
which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God
are powerless against God’s salvation!
When the 72 return,
they return with joy
because they have experienced first-hand
the way the kingdom of God has come near.
It’s not only that demons submit to them,
it’s that they know the fullness of life
that Jesus has given them.
The 70 are able to go ahead before Jesus
because he’s changed their lives
and they want to share that change
that good news
that hope
with everyone they encounter.
The technology of the first century
was clearly a lot simpler than we have today.
But the problems of life –
over-taxation,
the entropy of the body and fighting to stay alive,
food production relying on the weather –
weren’t that different.
Since ejection from the garden,
life has always been difficult
for this our species.
We just keep coming up
with ways to make it worse for ourselves.
Yet the kingdom of God
has come near.
God came into time in Jesus
and Jesus has sent the 72 and us
ahead of him as ambassadors
to tell the good news,
starting from here,
this embassy of heaven.
The harvest is just as plentiful now
as it was in the first century.
The problems are different,
but they’re the same.
We all long for love and connection,
to be delivered from isolation.
Know this:
the kingdom of God has come near.
The harvest is plentiful.
Will the laborers be few?
Go on your way.