Thoughts on Luke - Day 44

                                             Luke 10: 1-16

 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two 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 the sick who are there 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 judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.
¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”


         The disciples had just been sent out, along with 60 other serious followers, to the surrounding areas to tell people about the kingdom of God. Jesus' time on Earth was drawing to a close and He was giving them a preview of what it would be like and how the gospel would spread when He was gone. Thus, we need to pay attention to this because we too live in this day and age where Jesus is not with us physically and we are commissioned to spread the gospel. What are some principles we can learn from this passage?

         First, we need to go in pairs. I don't think literally go in twos but we need to not be in this alone. It is so important to have someone to lift you up when you get beat down; someone to share failures with who can empathize and pray for you, and someone who you can share successes with who will rejoice with you and remind you that it wasn't you. Even when I am eating with a fellow believer at a restaurant, I have seen myself be emboldened to share the gospel, pray, and turn my mind to spiritual things, really without even "trying". It is just a true principle of "pairs".

       Second, they were sent ahead to places that Jesus was about to go. We need to realize that the salvation of souls is not dependent on us. In a sense it is, only because Paul says in Romans 10 that they can't hear the gospel unless we speak it, but when it comes right down to it, Jesus is the one coming in after the words. He is the one who saves. He is the one who transforms the hearts. We don't need to get inflated or deflated by results - it is Jesus who accomplishes that.

      Third, we need to recruit. We have these visitation days at our church and the same people go out every time. I send around a list in Sunday School class for people to sign up for visitation and the same three people sign up. Jesus tells us to make this a matter of prayer because the gospel could grow exponentially if we were all involved. The whole, "What about the innocent native in Africa who has never heard?", question, is really our fault because we should have reached the whole world by now. The other thing we can do is call people and say, "I'd like to take you with me on this visit tonight. Will you go?" Maybe this would take their fear away and give them a taste of the joy that comes with reaching the lost for Christ.

     Fourth, our message is politically incorrect and Satanically incorrect, and if we share the Gospel, we will be hated and rejected. But don't take it personally because they did that to Jesus. We are in a time, and I vent on this often, where Christians want to present a watered down gospel and preach a message of love that the world would actually like and embrace Christians. It's not going to happen because number one, Satan opposes the gospel and unless my theology is wrong, I believe he is still the prince of this world, and number two, we say that Jesus is the only way to God and that's offensive, and number 3 we say that there are behaviors that are wrong as if they are violating an absolute moral standard which sounds arrogant. A remnant will accept the truth but most will reject it. Don't get discouraged, just go looking for a new audience to hear. You have done your job of sharing the truth. Remember it's Jesus who does the saving. And don't get bogged down on one skeptic/cynic and spend your entire life trying to reach them. What if Satan put them there to take up all your time so you can't reach others? We are short-timers here. Be sensitive to the Spirit's leading here, I could be wrong, but that's kind of what I get from the feeling of the passage and where He says, "Don't greet anyone along the road."

       Lastly, be low maintenance. Man, there are a lot of Christians out there who shoot their witnessing efforts in the foot because people don't want to be around them. Be congenial. Accept everything. Be flexible. Be deferential. Be humble. Be a blessing to the world not a drain on it. Be such a stellar citizen that although they hate your message, when push comes to shove, they would at least say, "they were a pleasure to be around".

   Lord, give me opportunities to witness the good news that You have entered this world and made a way to bring us back into an eternal relationship with our creator. Help me to do this with boldness yet grace. Help me to be a good example of what I'm proclaiming. Help me not to give up when I get beat down. Deliver me from the Evil one. May others join in with me. Amen