4th of July Sermon, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY

This sermon was also preached over at our sister church in Green River, Union United Church of Christ, Green River, WY

How Far Are You Willing to Go?
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY & Manface UCC, Green River, WY
July 4, 2010
Based on Galatians 6: 7-16 and Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20

The other evening I went to the cinema and watched the latest film directed by M. Night Shyamalan, titled The Last Airbender. The basic story goes this way: The world is divided into four kingdoms, each represented by the element they harness, and peace has lasted throughout the realms of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire under the supervision of the Avatar, a link to the spirit world and the only being capable of mastering the use of all four elements. When young Avatar Aang disappears, the Fire Nation launches an attack to eradicate all members of the Air Nomads to prevent interference in their future plans for world domination. 100 years pass and current Fire Lord Ozai continues to conquer and imprison anyone with elemental "bending" abilities in the Earth and Water Kingdoms, while siblings Katara and Sokka from a Southern Water Tribe find a mysterious boy trapped beneath the ice outside their village. Upon rescuing him, he reveals himself to be Aang, Avatar and last of the Air Nomads. Swearing to protect the Avatar, Katara and Sokka journey with him to the Northern Water Kingdom in his quest to master "Waterbending" (the first needed before mastering the other remaining two elements) and eventually fulfill his destiny of once again restoring peace to the world.
This mythical story pulls heavily from various faith traditions for the Avatar character, such as how the Dahlai Lama is chosen and of various aspects of the Christian story, with Christ being the one who is to restore balance within God’s creation. The question for Katara and her brother Sokka were, “just how far were they willing to go” in order to help and protect the Avatar until he had mastered all of the elements in order to complete his destine.
Jesus might have been asking himself this same question as he was sending out the newly appointed 70 to go out into the regions where Jesus was personally wanting to go, but couldn’t because his time was running out. Jesus had just finished having an encounter with Moses and Elijah on a mountain top, what we have come to know as The transfiguration. In this experience Jesus was having conversations about the final confrontation in Jerusalem and in the tradition of a Prophet, facing the corruption of the Priests.
There is a significant shift is taking place in the way that Jesus has been handling his ministry by the time we reach this morning’s Gospel reading. In the early part of Luke’s story, Jesus has primarily been the main person of the stories. Jesus has been the one doing the teaching and the healing. Then a couple of chapters back, we see where Jesus sends out the twelve disciples to go out in his name. In today’s story, we read where Jesus has recruited 70 more and has sent them out “in his name” into the villages and countryside to do the teaching and healing. Jesus is realizing that he has very limited time and starts to expand his ministry through authorizing more and more people to do this work in his name.
There are four aspects to the Gospel reading that I would like to share with you as seen through the eyes of Rev Dr David J Lose, Chair of Preaching at Luther Seminary, in St. Paul, MN.
The first aspect is in Jesus’ promise of abundance in harvest, but sees that the number of harvesters is few. Jesus sees abundance where others might see scarcity. Jesus does not commission the seventy to prepare a harvest; that remains God’s responsibility. Rather, Jesus commissions his disciples to gather the harvest in and to pray that other laborers will join them in this important work. Feasting on the Word Commentary How often do we think that the success to God’s work solely depends on our own efforts? That it is we, who are to be the planters, the cultivators as well as the harvesters.
The second aspect is in the inescapable vulnerability that is involved in the mission to which Jesus calls his disciples. The seventy will be going into a hostile world, yet Jesus does not arm them for battle; rather, they will go out like lambs. Similarly, they are to bless those homes that receive them and even if they are rejected, they are not instructed to offer curses. Feasting on the Word Commentary
The example that comes to mind is, “how willing would you be to quit your job, pack up the family and move to a completely different part of the country, without a job waiting for you?” You might do that when you’re twenty something or even if you are thirty something, but how inclined are you to take chances like this when you get into your forties and fifties? I would say the same challenge comes to churches; when the majority of their membership is in their twenties and thirties, the willingness to take risks in developing new ministries is greater, and as that congregation grows older, the willingness to take new risks in new areas of ministry dramatically diminish.
The third aspect is in the successes of the seventy. While their accomplishments are, at one level, no more than echoes of Jesus’ earlier work, Jesus declares that they portend the downfall of Satan and the inauguration of a new age. There is more happening here than meets the eye, as the net effect of the disciples’ acts of fidelity far exceeds what is apparent. Similarly, to this day, wherever we attend faithfully to our Lord’s mission and accomplish acts of mercy in Jesus’ name, the kingdom of God is being announced, the reign of evil is being challenged and the promise of God’s consummation is being made. Feasting on the Word Commentary
At the Annual Conference this past June at our camp in La Foret, there were a number of video clips shown dealing with the topic of Our Churches Wider Mission. The clip that jumps out to me was the story of an aging congregation of twelve people, the youngest being 80 years old and ranging into their mid-nineties. This congregation was in the heart of Alabama. They took a chance on a newly graduated seminary student, who identified himself as openly gay, and hired him to help them rebuild their church. This was in a very conservative and at times hostile environment toward non-heterosexuals. This small band of believers knew in their hearts that they needed to step out not only in faith, but put substance to their belief that God’s love is for every person. Over the years this church has grown in membership and is now a young congregation in age, solely because of their willingness to attend faithfully to God’s call of love, mercy, and reconciliation.
The fourth aspect and perhaps most importantly, Jesus declares that there is something even more significant than the triumphs of the seventy: “I have given you authority… 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” (vv. 19-20) What matters more than the earthly and spiritual successes of Jesus’ followers is the eternal relationship with God they enjoy through him. Feasting on the Word Commentary
It is natural for us to revel in our successes, but truly it isn’t in the success that the reward is found. It is in what we learn during the journey. As members in a faith community, we far too often look to growing numbers of members or in attendance in our worship as the sign of our success in sharing God’s message of love and reconciliation. Those things are important bench marks with respect to the ability of the faith community to continue to provide the opportunity for the mission of that community to continue, but if that community of faith hasn’t learned the true message that God has for them, then they are as the Apostle Paul puts it, nothing more than clanging gongs.
The size of the church doesn’t speak to the depth of ministry that is going on within it. The depth of a churches ministry is how open it is in sharing God’s message of love! This message cannot come from hardened hearts, but rather through the openness of those who call themselves ‘disciples of Christ’. It isn’t our success that we should be rejoicing about, but rather the fact that we are aware of God’s love; love for us and for the entire world. It is through our presents in our communities as representatives of Christ, as scripture says, “The kingdom of God is near you”, and it is up to those we touch as to whether they choose to welcome or ignore this reality.
“How far are we willing to go” in developing our faith and trust in God? Are we willing to go out into the wilderness, so to speak, without a safety net, as did the seventy that Jesus entrusted to carry his message? Are we willing to see beyond the obstacles, and trust that God has prepared the harvest and all we need to do is go out and gather it, as did the twelve members of an Alabama Church? These may sound like simple things to do, but I think they are not; otherwise, we would already be doing the things that are awaiting us. Jesus has empowered his church to go out and gather the harvest, what we need to do is to grow into a trust that will allow us to step out and trust in that power. Just how far are we truly willing to go? That is the question. Amen