Sunday 12 July |
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Reading: - Luke 10:1-20 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Jesus sends out the seventy-two
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 ‘When you enter a house, first say, “Peace to this house.” 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 ‘When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal those there who are ill and tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgement than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.[b]
16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.’
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’
18 He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’
Footnotes:
Message
I would like to read you a parody on the text for today. My thanks to Adrian Plass for the original which is from his book called The Diary of Adrian Plass, aged 37 ¾
It portrays, all be it a bit tongue in cheek, how we, or at least many folks respond to being told to do something.
'After these things the Lord appointed another seventy also and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Take neither purse nor scrip, nor sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.’
And behold one of the seventy raised his hand and enquired ‘When you say “sandals”, Lord, do we take that to be a generic term which denotes all forms of footwear, or are you focusing on sandals in particular? I ask only because I possess an exceedingly fine pair of walking boots, ideal for those who hike around as you are indeed commanding us to do.’
Before the Lord could reply, another broke in and said, ‘Lord I hear what you are saying, but it’s like this, the skin on the soles of my feet and also the feet of my friend, Fidybus – he is the other half of a pair with me as we get on well over long periods and always have done since we played together as children … Er, sorry, I‘ve forgotten what I was saying……
Jesus said wearily, ‘Something about the skin on the soles of your feet, and those of your friend, Fidybus?’
‘Ah, of course, yes, it comes back now. The skin on the soles of my feet is the same as the feet of my friend Fidybus, in that it soon becomes extremely tender and painful on rough ground. And it just strikes us that the sight of two men who hold heavily on to each other and hobble slowly and painfully along, going “Oo!” and “Ah!” and “Ow!” whenever they put down a foot, might cause those who dwell in the towns and places to which you send us to scoff when we tell them the news that the Son of God comes presently. “What state must his feet be in, if he cannot keep up with these two clowns?” they will mock. Might, therefore, Master, we ask your blessing on the idea of wrapping strips of rag round and round each of my feet and each of those of my friend Fidybus? After all, strips of rag fall well outside the dictionary definition of sandals, do you not agree?’
And behold, a veritable babel of footwear-related queries filled the air, and Jesus raised his hand and said, ‘Hold on a minute! Let me make myself clear. No sandals, means nothing on your feet, all right? Nothing! Neither walking boots, nor strips of rag, nor tennis shoes, nor high-heeled slingbacks, nor Wellingtons, nor roller-boots, nor skateboards, nor anything that I might construe as a sandal in the broadest sense of the word. Do you all understand? Good! Now, depart, all of you in twos and -
‘Er, excuse me, Lord.’
‘Yes, Thomas?’
‘Regarding your command that we travel in twos.’
‘Yes?’
‘Er, no one wants to go with Thribbiel.’
And the Lord asked, ‘Well, why does no one want to go with Thribbiel? He looks all right to me.’ ‘He’s a bit funny, Lord.’ ‘Well, we’re all a bit funny, aren’t we? Anyway, I invariably organise it so that we have even numbers. Who goes with you Thomas?’
Thomas replied mournfully, ‘No one wants to go with me either, Lord. No one picked me even at junior school.’ ‘Well, for all you know, Thribbiel might like to accompany you?’
‘I doubt it, said Thomas!’ ‘Well, let’s ask him, shall we? Thribbiel, do you want to accompany Thomas?’ ‘Yeah, Lord, but can you ask him not to come over so negative? He can be a real Eeyore.’ ‘Thomas, can'st you do that?’ ‘I doubt it, but I will try.’ ‘Good,’ saith the Lord, ‘now, maybe, we can get on. Now, depart, all of you in twos and - ’‘Command Thribbiel to be less funny, Lord. There’s little point in me being more positive if he makes no attempt'.
‘Sort it out between you!’ said the Lord. ‘Unbelievable, this whole affair is beginning to feel more like a Brownie picnic than a commission to establish the Kingdom of God.’
He paused to collect himself. ‘Now, I repeat my command, that you depart in twos, take neither purse nor scrip nor sandals and do not greet anyone on the road. Now, go!’
But immediately, one of the seventy raised his hand to ask of the Lord if a small pink face-towel might be taken, and that set all the others off all over again. One enquired concerning his personal toilet kit which fitted nicely into a little pocket specially sewn into his robe by his mother, another pleaded to be allowed a small stuffed animal without which he feels insecure at night, and yet another put forward a situation in which he meet the Lord himself on the road, and queried whether the command not to greet anyone applied in that case, until, behold, there arose a great clamour of foolish enquiries.
Then the Lord shouted for silence, and said, ‘Look, I don’t think we’ve quite grasped the theory behind this trip, have we? The idea is not that you smuggle sundry items into your luggage using as a crummy excuse, the fact that stuffed toys don’t come under the Oxford Dictionary definition of sandals, but rather that you are dependent on me! Do you understand that? No purse, no scrip, no sandals, no teddy bear, no Barclaycard – just go!’
Then a lengthy silence came over them, and just as Jesus believed they are truly about to depart, a nervous hand raised itself.
Jesus regarding the owner of the hand with narrowed eyes. ‘Yes?’ ‘Er, regarding your command that we should take no scrip, Lord?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, er, to be honest, I know not what a scrip is, Lord, and, well, it worries me that I might er, take a scrip without realising I’ve got it. So, I just thought…’ On hearing this the remaining sixty-nine scoffed loudly, laughing, and crying, ‘Hah! You dolt! Do you not know what a scrip is? Surely everyone knows that! What a div!’ Then Jesus gritted his teeth and said, ‘Very well, who can tell us what a scrip is?’ Behold, the confidence of the sixty-nine instantly drained away. One hazarded a guess that a scrip is ‘what you use in a play’. Jesus shook his head and said, ‘All right, how many don’t know what a scrip is?’ All seventy raised their hands.
Jesus emitted a little sigh, and smiled to himself, and said, ‘Okay, take the weight off your feet. Behold, I ‘ll start again from the beginning…’
I know that I, as a child could need more than one telling by my mother before I would do what I was told to do. Even then I would start to do what I was told, perhaps tidy my toys for example. I would tidy away a toy or two then get distracted by the next toy and start playing with it. In other words, I was one of Jesus’s disciples in effect, on those occasions.
When we consider the events of this Covid-19 pandemic we will have heard blatant mis-quoting of the ministers by the media. When the Prime Minister said that he was confirming to a social distancing of two meters however where that was not possible a lesser distance of 1 meter plus could be used! The media, almost immediately mis-quoted the PM as saying a 1-meter social distance was to be the new requirement.
How then are we to listen to the Lord, understand what he tells us to do, and then finally to do it? As I have said before, we need the Holy Spirit. Just the same as the disciples did in our reading.
Once we consider what happened at Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holly Spirit, it was then that they received the power to do the will of God as they had always seen Jesus do and do it without wavering.
Jesus sends out the seventy-two
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 ‘When you enter a house, first say, “Peace to this house.” 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 ‘When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal those there who are ill and tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgement than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.[b]
16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.’
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’
18 He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’
Footnotes:
- Luke 10:1 Some manuscripts seventy; also in verse 17
- Luke 10:15 That is, the realm of the dead
Message
I would like to read you a parody on the text for today. My thanks to Adrian Plass for the original which is from his book called The Diary of Adrian Plass, aged 37 ¾
It portrays, all be it a bit tongue in cheek, how we, or at least many folks respond to being told to do something.
'After these things the Lord appointed another seventy also and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Take neither purse nor scrip, nor sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.’
And behold one of the seventy raised his hand and enquired ‘When you say “sandals”, Lord, do we take that to be a generic term which denotes all forms of footwear, or are you focusing on sandals in particular? I ask only because I possess an exceedingly fine pair of walking boots, ideal for those who hike around as you are indeed commanding us to do.’
Before the Lord could reply, another broke in and said, ‘Lord I hear what you are saying, but it’s like this, the skin on the soles of my feet and also the feet of my friend, Fidybus – he is the other half of a pair with me as we get on well over long periods and always have done since we played together as children … Er, sorry, I‘ve forgotten what I was saying……
Jesus said wearily, ‘Something about the skin on the soles of your feet, and those of your friend, Fidybus?’
‘Ah, of course, yes, it comes back now. The skin on the soles of my feet is the same as the feet of my friend Fidybus, in that it soon becomes extremely tender and painful on rough ground. And it just strikes us that the sight of two men who hold heavily on to each other and hobble slowly and painfully along, going “Oo!” and “Ah!” and “Ow!” whenever they put down a foot, might cause those who dwell in the towns and places to which you send us to scoff when we tell them the news that the Son of God comes presently. “What state must his feet be in, if he cannot keep up with these two clowns?” they will mock. Might, therefore, Master, we ask your blessing on the idea of wrapping strips of rag round and round each of my feet and each of those of my friend Fidybus? After all, strips of rag fall well outside the dictionary definition of sandals, do you not agree?’
And behold, a veritable babel of footwear-related queries filled the air, and Jesus raised his hand and said, ‘Hold on a minute! Let me make myself clear. No sandals, means nothing on your feet, all right? Nothing! Neither walking boots, nor strips of rag, nor tennis shoes, nor high-heeled slingbacks, nor Wellingtons, nor roller-boots, nor skateboards, nor anything that I might construe as a sandal in the broadest sense of the word. Do you all understand? Good! Now, depart, all of you in twos and -
‘Er, excuse me, Lord.’
‘Yes, Thomas?’
‘Regarding your command that we travel in twos.’
‘Yes?’
‘Er, no one wants to go with Thribbiel.’
And the Lord asked, ‘Well, why does no one want to go with Thribbiel? He looks all right to me.’ ‘He’s a bit funny, Lord.’ ‘Well, we’re all a bit funny, aren’t we? Anyway, I invariably organise it so that we have even numbers. Who goes with you Thomas?’
Thomas replied mournfully, ‘No one wants to go with me either, Lord. No one picked me even at junior school.’ ‘Well, for all you know, Thribbiel might like to accompany you?’
‘I doubt it, said Thomas!’ ‘Well, let’s ask him, shall we? Thribbiel, do you want to accompany Thomas?’ ‘Yeah, Lord, but can you ask him not to come over so negative? He can be a real Eeyore.’ ‘Thomas, can'st you do that?’ ‘I doubt it, but I will try.’ ‘Good,’ saith the Lord, ‘now, maybe, we can get on. Now, depart, all of you in twos and - ’‘Command Thribbiel to be less funny, Lord. There’s little point in me being more positive if he makes no attempt'.
‘Sort it out between you!’ said the Lord. ‘Unbelievable, this whole affair is beginning to feel more like a Brownie picnic than a commission to establish the Kingdom of God.’
He paused to collect himself. ‘Now, I repeat my command, that you depart in twos, take neither purse nor scrip nor sandals and do not greet anyone on the road. Now, go!’
But immediately, one of the seventy raised his hand to ask of the Lord if a small pink face-towel might be taken, and that set all the others off all over again. One enquired concerning his personal toilet kit which fitted nicely into a little pocket specially sewn into his robe by his mother, another pleaded to be allowed a small stuffed animal without which he feels insecure at night, and yet another put forward a situation in which he meet the Lord himself on the road, and queried whether the command not to greet anyone applied in that case, until, behold, there arose a great clamour of foolish enquiries.
Then the Lord shouted for silence, and said, ‘Look, I don’t think we’ve quite grasped the theory behind this trip, have we? The idea is not that you smuggle sundry items into your luggage using as a crummy excuse, the fact that stuffed toys don’t come under the Oxford Dictionary definition of sandals, but rather that you are dependent on me! Do you understand that? No purse, no scrip, no sandals, no teddy bear, no Barclaycard – just go!’
Then a lengthy silence came over them, and just as Jesus believed they are truly about to depart, a nervous hand raised itself.
Jesus regarding the owner of the hand with narrowed eyes. ‘Yes?’ ‘Er, regarding your command that we should take no scrip, Lord?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, er, to be honest, I know not what a scrip is, Lord, and, well, it worries me that I might er, take a scrip without realising I’ve got it. So, I just thought…’ On hearing this the remaining sixty-nine scoffed loudly, laughing, and crying, ‘Hah! You dolt! Do you not know what a scrip is? Surely everyone knows that! What a div!’ Then Jesus gritted his teeth and said, ‘Very well, who can tell us what a scrip is?’ Behold, the confidence of the sixty-nine instantly drained away. One hazarded a guess that a scrip is ‘what you use in a play’. Jesus shook his head and said, ‘All right, how many don’t know what a scrip is?’ All seventy raised their hands.
Jesus emitted a little sigh, and smiled to himself, and said, ‘Okay, take the weight off your feet. Behold, I ‘ll start again from the beginning…’
I know that I, as a child could need more than one telling by my mother before I would do what I was told to do. Even then I would start to do what I was told, perhaps tidy my toys for example. I would tidy away a toy or two then get distracted by the next toy and start playing with it. In other words, I was one of Jesus’s disciples in effect, on those occasions.
When we consider the events of this Covid-19 pandemic we will have heard blatant mis-quoting of the ministers by the media. When the Prime Minister said that he was confirming to a social distancing of two meters however where that was not possible a lesser distance of 1 meter plus could be used! The media, almost immediately mis-quoted the PM as saying a 1-meter social distance was to be the new requirement.
How then are we to listen to the Lord, understand what he tells us to do, and then finally to do it? As I have said before, we need the Holy Spirit. Just the same as the disciples did in our reading.
Once we consider what happened at Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holly Spirit, it was then that they received the power to do the will of God as they had always seen Jesus do and do it without wavering.