On this holiday weekend, as we explore today’s gospel reading, we again discover Christ’s call to be vulnerable and hospitable, two aspects of life that I fear are diminishing in our culture. For this reason, I find Jesus’ words to us today to be very meaningful. They are also helpful because he talks about community. And, we live in a culture that is continually experiencing the disintegration of community life.
As Americans, we have fallen in love with the idea of the self-made person. We love the rags to riches story. We have created the myth that if you make it to the top of your profession, you deserve a huge salary because you are the one responsible for getting to the top. We have this sense in which we are to live as invulnerable human beings. This rugged individual ethos permeates virtually every aspect of our lives. It infuses the way in which we think about achievement, education, vocation, the way we are to live and raise our children, the way we perceive others, the way we relate to others, the way in which we welcome others, and even the way in which we understand religion and faith.
When writing about the challenge of individualism in our present culture, theologian, David Lose, suggests, “this individualism we celebrate is as much a myth of the culture as is our invulnerability. The pilgrims and pioneers who settled this land were incredibly aware that their survival depended on each other. The colonies they eventually established, after all, we called ‘commonwealths,’ places where the good of any individual was inextricably linked to the good of the whole. And as Benjamin Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, ‘We must hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.’” The truth of the matter is, the people who founded this country needed each other and needed community in order to survive.
It is striking to me that, on this holiday weekend as we celebrate our nation and our identity as people, we have a Bible reading that teaches us about vulnerability, hospitality and community. When it comes to a life of faith the reality is that the Bible paints a picture of life that rarely coincides with our culture’s most commonly held assumptions. Today, the writer of Luke’s gospel presents the antithesis of an individualistic, self-sufficient, invulnerable way of thinking and being as we learn about Jesus sending his disciples on a mission. Jesus sends seventy disciples out and he does not send them to be self-sufficient. No, he sends them out completely unprepared! Inescapable vulnerability is implicit in the mission to which Jesus calls his disciples. Their well-being is utterly dependent on the people to whom they have been sent, some of whom will respond with hostility rather than hospitality. And you can never tell which you’re going to get until it’s too late.
I love the way this story is told in The Message translation of the Bible. We hear Jesus say the following:
“What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So, on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands. On your way! But be careful – this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack. Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage. Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way. When you enter a home, greet the family, ‘Peace.’ If your greeting is received, then it’s a good place to stay. But if it’s not received, take it back and get out. Don’t impose yourself. Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don’t move from house to house, looking for the best cook in town. When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, ‘God’s kingdom is right on your doorstep!’ When you enter a town and are not received, go out in the street and say, ‘The only thing we got from you is the dirt on our feet, and we’re giving it back. Did you have any idea that God’s kingdom was right on your doorstep?’”
Yes, inescapable vulnerability is implicit in the mission to which Jesus calls and sends his disciples. He sends them out in pairs, not individually, and instructs them to rely entirely upon the hospitality of others. He is also blunt about how difficult and dangerous this mission might be. The seventy will be going into a hostile world, yet Jesus does not arm them for battle; rather, they will go out like lambs among wolves. Jesus sends them seemingly unprepared and quite uncertain of what they will encounter. And, no matter how hard they try, they cannot control the outcome. The outcome depends totally on God. Some of the people they visit will not share in the message and peace they offer. Sometimes, whole towns will reject them. But, the gift Jesus gives as he sends them is the gift of his presence, the promise that he goes with them, and the gift of teamwork and trusting obedience. As they work together, entering into this shared mission, their hope and welfare are inextricably linked to that of those around them and those they meet. Jesus commands vulnerable dependence from his disciples as they go proclaiming the good news that God’s kingdom has drawn near. And, the role of hospitality in their mission cannot be overstated. The hospitality of this group of disciples is shown in their mission of peace, in which they avoid all forms of exploitation, self-centeredness, and personal gain. Their single purpose is to prepare others to encounter Jesus. They are told to do this through relational, grateful presence and gracious conversation.
Today’s reading is instructional for us on this holiday weekend. We live in a world that is increasingly narcissistic. We live in a world that is increasingly “I” and “me” centered with progressively harsh edges that divide, a culture in which weaponized rhetoric and hostility against any we perceive as “other” spews forth. Yet, we follow in the footsteps of the seventy messengers. We have been called as a community of people, not individuals, a community of people to live and share with all others the good news of God’s love, grace, healing and peace. This is the mission of the church. This is how we are called to live as we relate to all others, and this is what we are called to proclaim. We are not to stay cocooned in this building. We have been sent out to do the work God calls us to do. We do not work alone because our mission is a shared mission. We work together as the community of Christ and our hope and welfare are inextricably linked to that of those around us. Together, we have been appointed to go out into the world and announce that God’s kingdom is right on people’s doorstep! And we go remembering Jesus’ promise that he is with us as we invite others into this mission of which we are a part.
This Jesus mission is always one of compassion, one that respects the dignity of all persons. This Jesus mission is always one of grace, forgiveness, meaning, purpose and peace. This Jesus mission means working and living together in intimate community, becoming vulnerable and, yes, giving up our need to control. And, guess what? When we live in this way, it makes this this mission and the work we do a lot more fun because it is all about what God is doing and has already done and it is not about us. All we need to do is live into God’s call and tend to the harvest God has already planted!