Wolves and Promises: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

¹After 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. ²He 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. ³Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. ⁴Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. ⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ ⁶And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷Remain 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. ⁸Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; ⁹cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹‘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.’ ”

  ¹⁶“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

  ¹⁷The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” ¹⁸He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. ¹⁹See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (NRSV)

pack of wolves by Cloudtail the Snow Leopard.  Creative commons image on flickr

One by one, they sent us out: selling “band hoagies,” door-to-door.  To go on the annual band trip, you had to sell seventy hoagies, five times per year—which, I should add, we made ourselves…

This was one of my first tastes of adulthood—because it was competitive.  I had plenty of doors slammed in my face, and even an angry phone call from a fellow band-member’s mom accusing me of stealing her son’s customers.

But the worst was a hoagie delivery.  I rang the bell, and nobody answered the door.  Instead, the biggest dog I’ve ever seen snuck cornered me on the front stoop.  His teeth were so big and so sharp they’d make “Jaws” the shark jealous.  I was ready to leap ten feet off the porch onto the concrete driveway below when I had an idea—I began unwrapping the foil off the hoagie, to throw it in hopes that the dog would eat it instead of me… 

That’s when I heard a woman yell “Chase!”  The dog immediately turns away, and I’m safe.  I never went back to sell hoagies there again. 

I can’t help but think of that dog—and those teeth—as Jesus sends seventy of his disciples out into the towns and villages he has chosen for them “like sheep among wolves.”

There is no formal training for the mission; no pre-arrangements for their room and board.  Their only provisions are their partners, the clothes on their back, and the peace of God to share.  If they’re welcomed, they are to go throughout the town, curing the sick and proclaiming the God’s reign.  If they’re not welcome, they are to give them their dust back and move on.

If I were among those seventy, I would not be optimistic at this point.  Failure is not the worst that can happen…  All I would be thinking about is those wolves.  Like many places in the world today, you can put your life in danger simply by sharing your faith openly.  But they could also get lost, get sick, get robbed; and then there was the question of whether or not anyone would even listen to them, let alone provide them room and board…

When Jesus sends these people out, he sends them vulnerable, and they know it…

Neither you nor I need to be missionaries to know that there are wolves in our world, too—and we face them every day.  There’s drugs, there’s terrorism, there’s domestic violence, there’s poverty.  All around us are broken homes, broken families, broken people.  The world, in general, feels so hostile—as if to say that when you step out of your home, you do so at great risk.  This is how you become a prisoner to fear.

But facing so many wolves, you and I can become like wolves in gaining and defending what we see as our rights.  This is, I believe, why our society is in the miss it’s in right now…  If we all act like wolves, we are in danger of devouring each other…

Jesus looked at the world differently…  He sees the world God loves—a bountiful harvest of precious lives to be gathered into himself.  He sees how badly God’s people are hurting.  This is why he sends his own out into the world.

And he sends them—not with provisions, but with a promise of grace. As they love the people and do just what is in their ability to do, God’s will shall be done.  Broken lives will be healed.  People will be at peace.  And—the disciples’ needs will be met.

The fact that Jesus sends his disciples out so vulnerable teaches us one of the most important truths about ministry: Jesus doesn’t send only the people who have the “right stuff.” He sends people who are willing to go and do the work.  Our vulnerabilities do not hinder the Holy Spirit.  In reality, they magnify the Spirit’s power!  If you’re scared, the joy of the Lord will be your strength!  If you don’t know where to go or what to do, the Spirit will guide you!  If you don’t have what you need to do God’s will, the Holy Spirit will provide!  If you fail, the Spirit will use that failure to teach you and make you wiser.  And if you get bitten by the wolves, the Spirit will heal your wounds and use those wounds to heal others. 

Face the wolves and you find the grace—or; better said “God’s grace will find you.”

Earlier this week, I spent the day up at Camp Lutherlyn.  Every time I visit, I’m always reminded of how unwilling I was to go there as a child.  That place embodied everything I was scared of: being deprived of the comforts of home, making new friends, playing sports, swimming, sleeping in un-air conditioned cabins!  At camp, they have a rule: no technology or phone calls, all week—and this is always a major sticking point for campers and their parents.

Most of the youth who go to camp, especially the first time, are scared—and understandably so.  But by the time the week’s over, they don’t want it to end.  Their lives are changed by the experience—because they go in vulnerable, they do without, and God’s grace is amazing. 

This is how you and I need to think about ministry—and church—and our Christian faith.  Yes, there are wolves.  And yes, there’s baggage you will need to leave behind.  The Christian journey will be full of disappointments, setbacks, and failures.  But these don’t hinder the Holy Spirit.  Instead, they magnify the Holy Spirit.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Wolves are many.  Therefore, ask the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers into the field.  Be ready to say, “yes, Lord” when Jesus sends you.