Good News! the Kingdom of God Has Come Near!
(Preached on July 3rd at Nazareth Lutheran Church, Rural Hall, NC) Once again, in this Sunday’s reading from Luke, we are presented with a vision of discipleship, one which presents following Jesus as, well, not at all easy to do. We meet Jesus sending out the seventy…people he had chosen and appointed…and how significant that must have made them feel… sending them out two-by-two…okay, so far so good, at least they won’t have to go it alone. But then he gives them their instructions, and what should have been a kind of pep talk, a motivational speech, went something like this… ”I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” Now wait just a minute, Jesus,” can’t you hear them saying- or at least, thinking? But he doesn’t stop there: “Carry no purse (which means no money), no bag (you mean we won’t have a change of clothes?), no sandals (Hold on there, Jesus. We’re supposed to go bare- footed? On this hot, hard, dusty ground?) ...