Get Out There!

 

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 10:1-11; 16-20
July 3, 2022

Equip us to know your will, O God, as we strive to labor daily
in the fields of your harvest. Amen

 

Get Out There!

 

Just what does it mean to take the good news to the world?

Jesus sends seventy of  his followers ahead of him to every town and place where he intended to go.  He is running out of time, and so he sends out disciples to multiply his work. Jesus had plans to go certain places and teach and heal but he doesn’t have time, so he sends his followers. It’s time for them to get out there and spread the good news about the hope of Jesus.

The number seventy is symbolic.  It implies all of humanity. Later today, take a look at Genesis 10 and the Table of Nations.[1] It lists all the tribes which spread across the land and led to all the nations.  This is the Old Testament reference to all the nations or all humanity.  Once again, we see Jesus is making it clear that salvation is available to everyone. No one is to be excluded.

The essence of the Christian message extends far beyond any particular time or space.  It is not limited by the person who shares it or the place in where it is heard.  The life-changing power of the gospel may be expressed in a wide variety of languages, an infinite number of places, and by many different types of people.  And yet always, at the center of the message is the hope offered to every person in the name of Jesus Christ.[2] The authority of Jesus’ name is still the powerful means by which every life is transformed. 

The seventy messengers may have long since died but God continues to call us.  Not just pastors and preachers, but you.  It is our job to prepare our congregations to be disciples – to get out there and be the hands and feet of Christ.  It is not our job to do all the work. Plus, that would be depriving our congregations of truly being disciples and being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Who the messenger is, is not the most important thing. Ordinary Christians like you and me who are living out our lives of faith are empowered to share the word of God and to encourage others to believe and follow.  We the church must be aware that the message, not the messenger, is the focus of our existence.[3]  It is always about God.  Never about the church.  Never about me or you.  We must always make it about God.  Not about ourselves or our church.  We are the hands and feet and mouth of Christ in the world. The message is the hope found in Jesus Christ.

Before you run out of the building scared to death that I’m going to make you stand at the corner of First and Main and evangelize, remember that one of my favorite quotes is that of Saint Francis, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.”  I don’t believe that preaching in people’s faces (except for yours of course!!) is the right way to share the message of the saving love of Jesus.  People are drawn to loving acts of kindness, when we want nothing in return.  People are  open to see the gospel when service is “our faith’,” whenever everything about us, all that we are is “our faith.”  They are open to that kind of invitation.  People are open to hear stories about how God has met our needs; why we believe, much more than hearing scripture or why they will go to hell if they don’t believe.

God prepares the harvest, not us.  God is responsible for the growth of our communities.  He sees abundance where we might see scarcity.  We are called to be open to this growth; to plan, to organize, and to work in a way that anticipates, rather than hampers the growth. It’s our role to pray for and invite others to join us in gathering.[4] 

In today’s world, we are going to find the growth outside these doors, doing things differently.  And then who knows, there may be some who will be drawn to us by the Holy Spirit and will join us on Sunday mornings and become part of our ministries in the community.  People are drawn to a church that is doing things; that is involved in the community; that is doing the work of Christ.

This has tremendous implications for the life and ministry of our community of faith.  Just as Jesus gives the seventy the power to resist negative forces and shake the dust from their feet in response, we also can try things and if they don’t work, we can just try something else.  We don’t have to be afraid of “making mistakes” or doing something that doesn’t work.  Remember, God is responsible for the harvest.  It is our role to get out there.  To answer His call to go and to do.

We tried to have a youth group.  In January, I had 7 youth at my home to brainstorm what a youth group would look like for them.  They were excited about it.  They wanted it twice a month on Sundays from 4-6pm. We planned the content.  I found 4 young adults to help lead it.  We started holding youth group in February and continued through the end of May.

Only 2 of the youth that attended the brainstorming and were so excited about a youth group, actually came to youth group.  We averaged 2-3 youth on a youth group Sunday.  That isn’t fun for the youth or for the leaders. I emailed parents, I texted parents, I texted students. We had flyers, we were on the reader board as you enter town.  Nothing seemed to work. 

But it’s not just us.  Youth groups are not working anymore.  Students are busy with sports and other activities.  Here in Fairfield, it’s livestock.  Parents aren’t committed to getting their youth to youth group.  Church is not a priority anymore. 

God will provide the harvest.  That is not our job.  We finally figured out that we were trying too hard to do a youth group.  It wasn’t working. We tried it and it didn’t work.  That’s O.K.   It isn’t the way we are supposed to reach and serve the youth of our community.  It doesn’t mean youth don’t matter to our church.  There is just a different way we are supposed to go out and serve.  And though youth group didn’t work, we did a wonderful mission project for the Union Gospel Mission in the process.

Katie Stark has some fun and exciting ideas of how other churches are reaching and serving youth that we can try.  Children and youth are a value of this church.  We will continue to serve them.  But in a different way.  We will try something different.  Something new.

In all this going out and doing, when it’s all said and done, what matters more than earthly and spiritual success of our ministries, is the eternal relationship with God we enjoy through Christ.  This relationship is ours through the grace in Christ.

Serving and doing – “good works” as some people call them do nothing to improve, increase, or assure our salvation.  We receive that simply through the grace of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross.  There is nothing more we need to do.  Not a thing. 

That is not why we go out and love and serve and do.  The things we do to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ and share the good news in our community is out of gratitude for all that Christ has done for us on the cross and to the share the joy and thankfulness we have in our faith. It truly is good news.  Thanks Be to God.  Amen.

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[1]Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Exegetical Perspective.  James W. Thompson.  P. 215. 
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Pastoral Perspective.  Richard J. Shafer Jr.  P. 214.
[3] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Pastoral Perspective.  Richard J. Shafer Jr.  P. 216.
[4] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 10:1-11;16-20.  Homilectical Perspective.  David J. Lose.  P. 217.