SENT OUT BY CHERI HOLDRIDGE (with an assist by Kurt Young)

 Do you remember who brought you into the faith? Who first told you about Jesus? I remember a Sunday School teacher who made an impression on me. I can’t remember her name. But she was kind and patient and compassionate. Through her, I caught a glimpse of the power of God’s love. I remember her teaching us that little song about Zacchaeus.  “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he, he climbed up in the sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see, and when the Master came along, he looked up in that tree, and he said, Zacchaeus, you come down, For I’m coming to your house today, I’m coming to your house today.” 

No one liked Zacchaeus because he was a tax collector. He was an outcast. But Jesus picked him out of a crowd and went to his house. Jesus loved him. I learned from that story that even when I feel like I don’t fit in, Jesus loves me and I’m part of Jesus’ family. I have a place in Jesus’ family. That’s why I want to pastor churches that create space for people who don’t fit in. There are times when we all feel like we don’t fit in, but with Jesus, we all have a place at the table. 

Do you remember who first brought you to the faith? Was it your parents? A youth leader? A friend? It was probably more than one person. I know it was for me. For me, it was a series of people who embodied the love of God. They loved me and revealed to me the power of God’s love. 

You know, “One of the fascinating things about the Jesus story is how far and how fast it spread. The book of Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends 1500 miles to the west in Rome. … By the year 635 believers confessed Jesus as Lord in China. A hundred years after that, Syrian believers had spread the gospel to Baghdad, Tibet and India. Do you know how far the apostle Paul traveled?  The apostle Paul traveled 10,000 miles proclaiming the good news of God's love. (Source: http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20130701JJ.shtml).  And yet, right here in Toledo there are tens of thousands of people who do not know Jesus and who do not know the power of God’s love. After all these centuries, how can that be? But it’s true. 

That brings us to today’s story. The story is about multiplication. You know Jesus started out with twelve disciples. That’s not really very many to start a world-wide movement with. So eventually he found seventy, and he sent them out. He said, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.” Have you ever planted a garden? Did you ever go on vacation just as some of the vegetables were ready to harvest? It’s not a pretty site. When you have to leave your beautiful garden untended. Jesus saw a world where there was a harvest full of people ready to hear the message of God’s saving love, but there were few workers to go out and share that message. There was a sense of urgency that he needed to get those seventy out into the towns and villages sharing the good news. So he sent them out. 

But he warned them that they would be like sheep among wolves. Some would not welcome them. Some would fight them and persecute them. Being a Christian was not an easy thing in Jesus’ day. People were afraid of this new religion. So they were not welcome everywhere they went. 

And then where was another odd thing about their preparations. Jesus told them not to pack anything: no bag, no purse, not even a good pair of walking shoes. He wanted them to depend upon God and upon the hospitality of strangers. He said that when they entered a town they would find people of peace who would welcome them into their town and give them a place to stay and food to eat and that they should stay with these people. And while there they should heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God. And sure enough when the disciples came back they were filled with joy because they had been well received and their work had been fruitful. 

But Jesus said in some towns they would not be welcome, and when they left those towns they should just shake the dust off their feet and be on their way. Those people were not ready to receive the message of the kingdom of God.

Some people think this message of being sent out today only applies to pastors – that we are the ones who are supposed to be the evangelists. But these seventy were not priests. They were ordinary people, baptized Christians like you, being called to share the Good News. Jesus sends every one of us out too, to share the Good News. Now I know that sounds scary, right? We don’t think of ourselves as evangelists. We don’t want to go knocking on the doors of strangers and sharing our faith. And I’m not asking you to do that. I don’t think Jesus calls many of us to do that in Toledo, Ohio in 2016. It’s a turn off to people.

But there are millions ways to witness to our faith. There are all sorts of ways to share the love of God with a hurting world in ways that are authentic for us. What about this? You see a customer in line being rude to the cashier at the grocery store. They complain and berate the cashier. After that customer is gone you come up next in line and you offer words of compassion and kindness to the cashier. You are showing the love of Jesus by your actions. You are doing an act of healing.

Imagine yourself by a grieving person in a funeral home. Everything in you tells you to cut and run. You hate funerals and funeral homes. (I’ve got news for you, no one likes funerals.) But you stay. You make conversation with the person who is grieving. You offer words of comfort. You are modeling the love of Jesus by your actions. You are doing an act of healing.

Imagine there is a fight in your household, I know most of your houses don’t have fights (don’t laugh too hard now). Two other people are arguing. You step in and invite them to calm down, to take a time out. You remind them that we are a family and that we love one another. Or maybe you are the one who is fighting. You take a deep breath and remember that you love God. You ask God to help you calm down and talk to your family member and treat her as a child of God. You are doing an act of healing.

Or maybe you are talking to a co-worker who is going through a divorce or dealing with a child with drug abuse issues. You listen patiently while your friend tells his story. And then you say, “I find comfort in going to my church. Could I pick you up Sunday and take you to church with me?” You are doing an act of healing.

There are so many ways we can be sent out to share the love of God. You don’t have to be “in your face” about it. Be genuine. Be authentic. Now, sometimes, people may reject you. You many invite someone to church and they may say, “No way, I’ve tried church and it’s not for me.” You might try to tell them that The Village is different but they may not believe you. So, like in the story, when it says to shake the dust off your feet, you may just have to let it go. They are not ready to receive God’s love. They are not open. So say a quiet prayer to God, commending them to God’s care, and let it go. Trust that another person, on another day, will reach them. 

But this is the message of the story. You can be an evangelist. I know that word is scary. But evangelism simply means Good News. So an evangelist is a bearer of Good News. You can share the good news that God loves us. You can give a message of hope to someone who is hurting. You can give a message of encouragement to someone who is beaten down by life. You can give a message of comfort to someone who is grieving. You can be a messenger of Good News. 

Think back with me to the beginning of my message. Who was the person who brought you to faith? Was it a parent, a teacher, a friend? I’ll bet it was an ordinary person whose life had been touched by the extraordinary love of God. And that person was so moved by God’s love that she could not keep quiet. 

 

Be that person. Be so grateful for God’s love in your life that you can’t keep quiet about it. Tell your friends and neighbors when the opportunity arises. Show love. People need the love of God. They need the Lord. When life gets rough, they need the love of God. So reveal the love of God to them, by your actions. We are a people sent out into the world for God’s purposes. Share the Good News of God’s love with everyone you meet. Amen.